About Sea

Have you ever noticed that the night sky is no longer inky black and full of stars like it used to be? Have you noticed the strange orangish glow that’s replaced it? The strange orangiy glow is a form of light pollution referred to as sky glow.

Sky glow is probably the most recognizable aspect of light pollution. By far the largest segment of the population equates sky glow with light pollution. This is wonderful, as it shows a growing awareness of the problem. As a quick refresher, sky glow is the glow we see above cities and towns when viewed from a distance. The intensity of the sky glow is an indication of the quantity of exterior lighting which is wastefully shining up into the night sky.

To put the problem in perspective, estimates place the cost for the US alone in the neighborhood of$5-10 billion dollars annually. This is not the sum total of all outdoor lighting, this is just that portion of outdoor lighting that is so misdirected as to light up the night sky. This is an incredible sum of money to simply waste, and yet that’s exactly what we do year after year. In fact, the problem is actually increasing in magnitude and cost.

A consequence of sky glow is the dramatic reduction in the number of stars visible in the night sky. Under pristine conditions, some 4000-5000 stars may be seen. In the most light polluted cities, perhaps a dozen or two are visible. You may think that this only impacts astronomers, but you’d be wrong. We are all affected in a profound way. The human race has looked to the stars through out history in an attempt to understand our place in the universe. It is highly unfortunate that the most technologically advanced civilization to inhabit this planet should also be the most detached from the cosmos. It is no wonder that more and more people feel detached, alone and overwhelmed in our continuous motion society. They simply have lost their reference points and are unable to find their way.

Sky glow also changes the surrounding environment. In many areas, it never really gets dark at night. This seriously impacts local wildlife. Many species are simply unable to adapt. Sea turtles are a prime example. All sea turtles that inhabit Florida waters are either threatened or endangered, and according to the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission, light pollution is a major contributing factor.

If you’d like to change this situation, its easy to do your part. Simply choose a night sky friendly light fixture. Night sky friendly lights put all the light they emit onto the ground beneath them and do not shine any wastefully up into the night sky. By choosing a night sky friendly outdoor light fixture for your home or business, you can feel better knowing that you are doing your part to reduce sky glow in your area and help to reclaim the majesty of the night sky.

A small seed becomes a big Tree, gives shed in summer and in winter all of the leaves of the Tree falls down to indirectly provide us more sunlight and the atmosphere becomes more warm.
Flower on threes give joyfulness to us. Fruits satisfy our hunger.

They (Trees) always take away polluted air (Carbon Dioxide) from the environment and in return they give fresh, purified oxygen.

Tree provide home to the Birds, Animals and Human Beings also.

Some tree have medicinal values also, their every part starting from the roots to the top are full of medicinal values, Neem (Botanical Name: Azadirachta Indica) is a very famous tree and best example of this.

Trees help in controlling temperature of the environment. You have noticed that the place where there are trees, are much more cooler and hygienic for living. That’s why people prefer to spend their life in regions which are away from concrete jungle of cities Like New York, New Delhi, Tokyo, Mumbai, London, Cairo and all other big cities.

Deforestation is normal these days, this is creating a lot of problems. Some of the hazards from deforestation are as follow:

1) Soil Erosion: The trees help in keeping the soil intact with their roots but when there is lot of cutting of trees, the soil is washed away with water during the rains. And during floods the it creates havoc. Due to soil erosion the water level also falls down.
2) Pollution: Trees help in controlling the pollution in the air and if their are no trees, we have to face more air pollution.
3) Lack of Pure Oxygen
4) Environmental Imbalance
5) Imbalance in the Food Chain of the Ecosystem.
6) Global Warming is becoming a major problem these days due to this. Due to this Glaciers are melting and the Sea Level is rising day by day. This is indirectly creating lot of environmental problems.

If you want to give your garden, flower bed or lawn a real boost, try a seaweed fertilizer. These organic, all-natural fertilizers have become increasingly popular over the last few decades with the heightening awareness amongst the general public in regards to the harmful and even life-threatening effects of chemical fertilizers.

The list of problems associated with the use of regular chemical fertilizers continue to grow and include infertility, deformities, cancer, pest invasion, soil depletion, water pollution, air pollution and less nutritious produce.

If you have a garden, you can avoid these health problems associated with chemical fertilizers and pesticides by not using them and instead using an all-natural fertilizer. One of the all-natural fertilizers you may want to consider is seaweed fertilizer. Though it may be new to you, it has been around for centuries.

Usually cheaper (heck, even free to those who are fortunate enough to live by the coast), seaweed fertilizers are rich in nutrients and hormones that plants love. These hormones and nutrients help your plants grow faster, bigger and increase the rate of fruiting and flowering. You may also see an intensification of color in your blooms and grass blades if you opt to use a seaweed fertilizer. (It is particularly nutritious for roses.)

Usually a seaweed fertilizer is a liquid fertilizer that is safe enough to use anywhere. The great thing about it is that if you use it on your lawn, your pets and children can play on it shortly after treatment with no adverse effects.

Some seaweed products are also blended with fish emulsion. This type of seaweed fertilizer is also available as a spray which can be applied directly to the plants without burning them. Liquid seaweed fertilizer can also be diluted and applied directly to the soil. Usually, the ratio is one tablespoon of the seaweed fertilizer to one gallon of water. It can be either misted or sprayed on. It is best to spray seaweed emulsion on plants early in the day when evaporation is lower so that the plant can enjoy maximum benefits from the application.

Gardening experts who use this type of fertilizer recommend applying it three times a year. The first application should be when plants are first leafing. The second application should be when buds are forming and then the final application should be after the buds have formed.

By using this safe and effective form of an all-natural fertilizer, you are doing a lot to protect the environment, your health, and the health of your children, pets and neighbors.

Many people have problems with psoriasis. Psoriasis sufferers have tried using salt water to have their painful and itchy skins healed. Some of them even made pilgrimages to the the Dead Sea.

The Dead Sea can heal Psoriasis according to Lawrence C. Parish, M.D. who studied in Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. The Dead Sea reaches to the lowest point on our planet, and the area has its own climate. The area receives a different and distinctive kind of ultra violet spectrum from the sun.

The Dead Sea’s climate offers very low pollution, a great climate year-round with dry air and sunny skies. It only has about less than 50mm of annual rainfall and has an average temperature between 32 and 39 °C every summer. Its winter temperature ranges about 20 and 23 °C. This region has a low ultraviolet radiation, and it has an atmosphere with high oxygen content.

About more than 5% of the world’s population are now suffering from Psoriasis. Psoriasis is a skin disease, which occurs in the skin in dry and red patches. For now there is still no total cure for this psoriasis disease. Soaking in bath water containing Dead Sea salts or Epsom salts seems to aide in the treatment of psoriasis by removes the scales of psoriasis and bringing comfort to patients.

The minerals in the Dead Sea salt and it is detoxifying properties, salts and mud, cleanse and detoxify our body naturally, pulling out the toxins away from our skin. Many people who are affected with the ailment only turn their hopes to Dead Sea cosmetics. These cosmetics are made with Dead Sea Salt and minerals for a more natural based and effective source of treatment.

The Dead Sea is located in Jordan and Israel and attracts thousands of tourists every year for a bathe in the first legendary waters and experiences the beautifying and healing powers of it. The Dead Sea attracted many legendary biblical and historical figures, for instance, Cleopatra. She was fond of the high mineral composition of the Dead Sea.

We consumers have become unwittingly hooked on plastic. Manufacturers have increasingly resorted to plastic in packaging their products. (Don’t you just love those deceivingly humongous packages that hold a tiny product when unwrapped leaving you with a big mess?) We buy them, unwrap the product, and discard the plastic. In the trash it goes to be carted to the landfills of America where it sits for hundreds of years before disintegrating. Sometimes it doesn’t even get there – it is discarded as litter along our highways and byways, on our beaches, in our streams, waterways, and oceans. Plastic is a big problem – bigger than we may even expect or of which we are aware. We must now address this problem seriously. It isn’t a simple one nor will it take extreme sacrifice to resolve. But we must begin now.

Plastic pollution has become an epidemic of environmental destruction. The facts are alarming and it is worldwide in nature. In the United States alone, consumers use $4 billion in plastic bags a year numbering in the hundreds of millions. It is estimated less than 5% are ever recycled. The rest end up in landfills – or worse, in our environment as litter – where they can take hundreds of years to decompose and even when they do so they are pollutant in nature. The chemicals of which they were made enter our water supplies in some quantity. They become harmful fodder for animals and birds.

Marine debris contaminates the world’s oceans. Sixty to eighty percent of this debris is man-caused plastic from littering ashore washed into the oceans via storm drains or rivers. Ocean currents carry this debris far and wide, sometimes thousands of miles from the source. It may not disintegrate for many, many years.

Marine mammals and birds confuse lightweight floating plastic as food and ingest it often times resulting in a prolonged struggle with starvation and death. (A sea turtle sees a floating plastic bag as a jelly fish, a sought after delicacy to the turtle. Eating it may eventually kill the already endangered turtle.)

Collection, hauling, and disposal of plastic bag waste create an additional environmental impact. An estimated 8 billion pounds of plastic bags, wraps and sacks enter the waste stream every year in the United States alone putting an unnecessary burden on our diminishing land fill space and causing air pollution if incinerated. These numbers are unfortunately growing day by day.

Some cities and states are recognizing the problem and are becoming proactive in solving it. San Francisco has initiated a policy whereby large retailers are encouraged to provide alternatives to plastic virtually discouraging plastic bags. Many other are doing the same including Boston recently considering possible city rules restricting the use of plastic bags.

However, the plastic bag makers are not going quietly into the night. The small town of Fairfax, California found that out when they decided to ban plastic bags in local stores. According to an article in E Magazine in their July/August ‘08 issue, “Plastic Industry Strikes Back”, the plastic bag makers threatened to sue whereupon the town retreated from immediately initiating the program. Other cities such as Oakland, Annapolis, and Philadelphia followed suit, intimidated by the threat, according to E Magazine’s rendition.

The basis for the legal stance by the plastics manufacturers was that substituting paper was far more environmentally harmful than plastic bags. In that they are probably somewhat correct. Research shows that making paper bags as substitutes for plastic is even more wasteful of energy resources and emits more greenhouse gases making that choice one of prime consideration. However, are the manufacturers considering the overall polluting aspects of plastic in their arguments? No, apparently not – just the manufacturing aspects. And, to argue that plastic is somewhat less environmentally costly than paper is rather a disingenuous approach to the problem wouldn’t you say? Find a better way to package and, when using plastic, do not overdo the packaging – a far too common mistake.

In fairness, work is being done on a biodegradable plastic bag which appears promising. But not until the current uproar did this take place; again, industry is always behind the power curve based on their profit motive, bottom line approach to any problem. When enough pressure is applied, they have the talent and innovativeness to change

There have been numerous entrepreneurs jumping on this trend away from plastic into a more environ-friendly reusable bag for shopping, etc. The internet is replete with ads for various types of alternatives. Some are good, others complicate the problem for while the bag is reusable it is also another plastic product. As an example, one large chain, with more than one hundred supermarket locations in California, offer their customers a bag with the company’s logo on it for a low price of $.99 each. Two major problems with this though. First, the bag is made of polypropylene which is another pollutant cousin of plastic. Their bag does not appear designed for long term use, exceptionally sturdy or durable, and will undoubtedly be another discard on the way in short order to the landfill. Secondly, the bag is imported from China! Just what we need now – another polluting product from our biggest trade deficit rival. Must China solve all our problems?

What can we do as consumers? Well, let manufacturers and retailers know that you are watching them and their practices. Nothing ever happens until the buying public becomes active in solving a problem. Problems can seldom be legislated no matter what politicians say. In fact, many times legislation complicates the matter and results in more problems than the one legislatures tried to solve.

Most manufacturers and retailers have websites. Email them with your concerns and complaints. Write them letters. Get your local newspaper reporters involved. Bad press is the last thing a company wants.

Take individual responsibility. Even the small act of buying a canvas tote bag or two to take to the market can eliminate hundreds, maybe thousands of plastic bags over time.

I recently interviewed Mr. Frank Tinelli, aka ‘Go Green Bag Man’, and wrote an enlightening article on his own battle with plastic bags. Frank has recently begun making a reusable canvas tote shopping bag with goals in mind to make a difference in the war. He formed a business, Go Green Aid Company, which appears to be doing well and is a supplier of ammo in the plastic wars. Wish him well. It’s a start. His motto is ‘Go Green is More Than a Slogan; It’s a Lifestyle!’

No need to become a ranting and raving fanatic on this issue. We don’t need more enviro-whackos to go overboard on the problem. However, each of us can and should do something on a daily basis to reduce, reuse, and recycle. We have an increasingly fragile earth. As population increases by vast leaps and bounds – especially in Third World countries – the problem of polluting plastic will continue to plague us unless we take action as individuals now and each do some small part to reduce our dependence on it.

Have you done your part today? If not, please do.

In 2008, the effects of the rising sea level will be more obvious than ever, as global warming moves to the forefront of international concern. Especially, to the United States who has seen disaster.

When Hurricane Katrina hit the coastal city of New Orleans in 2005, the world watched with horror the devastation it created in an American city. As global warming continues, unforeseen levels of natural disaster will become increasingly common, while erratic weather patterns will plague our natural seasons. It is not a coincidence that one of the warmest years ever recorded all occurred between 1995 and 2006.

And scientists predict the rest of 2007 and 2008 will be even hotter. The extreme levels of carbon emissions released by human activities have reached all time high, a shocking 379 parts per million in 2005- the highest amount ever in the last 650,000 years! No wonder heat is getting trapped at incredible rates in our atmosphere.

So what does all this mean? As the earth’s temperature continues to rise, our natural reserves of ice caps and glaciers continue to melt. Scientists are already alarmed at the unprecedented rate at which the world’s frozen bodies are melting, from Greenland and the Antarctic to the glaciers of the Himalayas.

As more ice sheets and glaciers melt, more water gets added to the seas and oceans around the world, increasing their level in general. But it is also natural for water to expand upon warming. So not only will the sea levels rise, its waters will in fact take up more space as it heats. The large ice sheets have also traditionally worked as reflectors of the sun’s heat. But as the size of these sheets gets smaller, instead of reflecting the heat, it begins to observe it and melts ever faster.

Of course, this a disaster for the world’s ecology, it has already forced Polar bears to become an endangered species, but just as devastating for humans too. In India, scientists have already recorded an annual rise in sea levels at a rate of 3.14mm in Bay of Bengal, and as much as 10mm in the Khulna region of Bangladesh. It’s the same case in coastal towns and cities across the world. Its evidences have become clear in the US too. While the edges of Mangroove forests are already dotted with submerged forests in the Bermuda, as much as one third of the marsh at Chesapeake Bay’s Blackwater Natural National Wildlife Refuge is gone!

Major cities like San Francisco, Manhattan, to Mumbai are all at risk. Increasing sea levels will not just mean loss and erosion of land, but also more frequent occurrences of super hurricanes such as the one that drowned New Orleans or cause the Tsunamis of 2004.

Another humanitarian crisis that could be caused by the rising sea level is that they will also create an acute shortage of fresh water reserves on land. Scientists have confirmed that at this rate the Himalayan ecology in South Asia will now almost certainly face extreme floods followed by extreme droughts. And hundreds of millions of people in the region will experience water and food shortage.

When global warming was first discussed, it seemed like the consequences would be in many life times later. But today, within our own life time, the possibility of witnessing the havoc cause by global warming and the rising sea level has become distinctly clear.

Boats in Marinas often leak a little and whatever leaks ends up in the water. When walking on the docks at the Marina you will notice the shiny stuff on the water; this is pollution and should obviously not be there. We must be careful not to hurt the local surrounding sea life, birds and fish, because they are all part of the eco-system and food chain. If we eat fish, which feed on polluted waters and other creatures, which have taken in this pollution, we too are affected in a negative way.

The environment is proving to be quite resilient indeed. Yet, we want to enjoy our Lakes, rivers and oceans since it is a place for boaters, fishing and fun. It is a shame to see our water so often in such disrepair after we have accidentally released sewage, chemicals or small oil spills into it. I would therefore like to propose that we coat the pillars holding these Marina Docks with a special coating, which will clean as they support the structure. We have modern coatings and environmental dispensers, which can do this. Timed released bio-eating bacteria which feasts on oil and fuel might be a worthy idea.

I propose putting small boxes near on the dock near each slip, which would release encapsulated timed pellets. These pellets would be made of spongy material, which would not hurt the boat hulls of vessels, which might bump into them as they float. The spongy material would also be made very distasteful to birds, fish, sea life and wildlife; yet would clean the local waters and eat the oil and gas spills. If there were no spills these small sponges would not release their coating material and would remain inert. The same coating on the sponges would be on the pillars of the dock. Timed released biological and environmental remediation is nothing new, many environmental engineers use this to help reduce large algae blooms which threaten drinking water supplies, affect water quality or are a danger to sea life. Think on this, we can solve this problem.

God gave humankind the role of manager over the natural world. This task includes the care of all life on the earth, not just human life. It requires thought for future generations, as use of earth’s resources can do irreparable damage.

Acid Rain
Power stations and some other industries discharge sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere. At certain concentrations this returns to the earth in acid rain, which may fall hundred’s of miles from the point of discharge. Trees begin to die and rivers are poisoned.

Air Pollution
Densely populated areas with many industries suffer a reduction in the quality of the air people breathe. This is not good for people or for natural life. Petrol fumes in some countries also have a high lead content that may damage children’s mental health.

Dangerous Chemicals
Chemical factories are often built in populated areas where labor is plentiful. Relatively small mishaps can have disastrous consequences, as when a gas explosion in Mexico City, or a cloud of poisonous gas in Bhopal, India, killed many hundreds of people.

Deforestation
The urgent need for wood products, especially for the paper industry, tempts countries shot of cash to allow excessive tree-felling. It takes years to replace a tree. Deforestation has catastrophic effects on soil fertility, and on the rich natural life of the forests.

Land Degradation
The soil can be used for short-term gain so as to impoverish its future fertility. This can happen through over-intensive farming and fertilization; or through burning manure and trees for domestic fuel, as in many poor countries.

Nuclear Testing
In the early days of testing nuclear weapons (1950s & 1960s), remote areas such as the Pacific Islands and Australian deserts were badly affected by fallout. Test ban treaties have improved things, but what could be the results of extending conflict into space?

Radioactive Waste
As nuclear fuels are increasingly used for energy, the radioactive by-products have to be disposed of. Sometimes they are dumped at sea. No disposal method has yet been found that is guaranteed harmless in the long-term and radioactive long-term is very long indeed.

Water Pollution
Rivers, lakes, and seas are sometimes poisoned by industrial waste, and sometimes polluted by oil spillage. Seabirds, fish, and other marine life are gravely affected, and the balance of nature disturbed.

With a record-high dumped wastes of 30.5 billion tons, the Yangtze River in China can be considered as a “giant toilet bowl” of Asia as waste production and illegal dumping in the area continue to worsen. Xinhua news agency reported the recent case of industrial, farming and human waste production in China has doubled compared a couple of decades ago with a 3.1 percent increase or 900 million tons of added trash being thrown in the river.

Experts are predicting the situation of Yangtze getting polluted will be more alarming in the coming days with the presence of Three Gorges dam trapping a bulk sewage that makes the river unsafe and may cause all possible threats to human health, particularly those living near the vicinity.

Even the Asian Development Bank was anxious about the fate of the Yangtze River and pointed fingers at the industrialization and urbanization activities as culprits to its pollution. It said the river has reached its alarming levels calling the proper authorities to do something about it. Based on the study of the Yangtze River Water Resources Commission, 2006 posted a seemingly high sewage dumping after its alert waste levels were raised by less than five percent.

Earlier this month, a Swiss-China report said the enormous pollution brought about by too much dumping in the Yangtze can be resolved if the Chinese government will be aggressive enough to take initiatives in restoring the river.

Fishing activities and survival of the unique species living in bodies of water were greatly affected by the waste dumping in Yangtze. In time, it is feared that the other sea creatures like the white-fin dolphin and sturgeon will totally be extinct.

Ocean Pollution is a major problem that directly affects wildlife, ocean habitats and human health. Oil spills, toxic wastes and illegal dumping are some of the many sources. Environmental awareness and education programs play a vital role by sharing knowledge that helps changes behaviors that improve the health of the oceans.

Unfortunately, birds and marine mammals do not avoid oil spills. Oil sticks to the fur, feathers and feet causing serious problems and some fish are attracted to oil because it looks like food. Marine mammals, such as seals and dolphins, swim and feed near oil spills because, like sea birds, they are attracted to the schools of fish who gather below.

Oil poisons the food chain when predators eat large amounts of organisms that have absorbed oil. Oil Pollution interferences with breeding by diminishing capabilities and by reducing egg production. When ingested, oil damages the airways and lungs of mammals and other species resulting in congestion, pneumonia, emphysema and even death. The sticky oil causes hypothermia in birds by destroying their feathers and in seal pups by destroying the insulation of their fur. Birds and marine mammals become easy prey when covered in oil quickly spreading the damaging effects up the food chain.

Toxic waste is the most harmful form of pollution being dumped into our oceans. These poisons get into the seas by run from landfills, dumps, mines, and farms, from factories that spew chemicals and heavy metals from their stacks and drains, and from improper disposal in the private dumps of people who unaware of the problems. Toxic chemicals and metals such as lead are proven to damage the brain, kidneys, and reproductive system, cause birth defects, slow growth, and cause hearing problems.

Scientists and anglers believe that toxic chemicals are depleting fish population. Illegal dumping of human waste and plastics exasperate the problems of vanishing ocean habitats. Most pollution dumped into the ocean over the last thirty years remains today with garbage dumping often occurring when sewage pipes share their space with storm water drains. Rainfall causes the sewage pipes to overflow into water resources such as a lakes, river and stream that inevitable lead to the ocean.

Small amounts of pollution add up to a major problem. In order to reduce this treat to life, all citizens must participate in the solution. Oil spills, toxic waste and illegal dumping are major contributors to the spread of this disease. Whenever pollution enters the ocean, environmental harm is done. Is it too late? Have the use of harmful products such as chemical pesticides, harsh detergents and cleaning agents, batteries, and plastics ruined our oceans and virtually eliminated the future?

Environmental organizations such as Touch Tanks for Kids, Blue Ocean, Island Dolphin Care and Greenville Eco Family believe that the oceans can be revived if people are motivated to join together and move people to make responsible environmental choices. These groups use interactive activities to motivate students to motivate their communities to take action that improve the health of our oceans.

“With persistence, a positive attitude and an undying passion to improve the awful condition of our oceans, my grandchildren will experience a whale watch instead of reading about them in a history book or through some kind of virtual tour.” Mike Martin-Executive Director- Touch Tank for Kids