http://www.treehugger.com/ocean-conservation/australia-proposes-creation-of-worlds-largest-marine-reserve-in-coral-sea.html

This past Tuesday, Australia announced its proposal of the largest ever Marine Protected Area. The park will encompass 999,000 square kilometers (roughly 380,000 square miles) of the Coral Sea near Papua New Guinea. Possibly the most interesting aspect of this designation is that over 500,000 square kilometers will be allocated as “No Take Areas” where no fishing of any sort is allowed.  This leaves roughly 500,000 square kilometers where fishing and recreation will be heavily regulated. Many environmentalists are outraged calling for a greater proportion of the MPA to be a No Take Area, but the government is trying to balance the interests of their fishing industry as well. The environmentalists stress that No Take areas are crucial in keeping many species from becoming endangered, as they represent their feeding and breeding grounds.

            The site is part of Australia’s larger effort to make all of their waters protected. What might be more accurate is saying that Australia plans to heavily regulate all of their waters, considering the absence of No Take Areas. Yet the government is determined to protect and uphold the many treasures that can be found in the waters off its Coast. The MPA proposed has 20 isolate reefs, deep sea plains and canyons, as well as spectacular biodiversity.

Overall, while this park is clearly a step in  the right direction for protecting marine and aquatic life there is the overall feeling that more could be done, but because of our reliance on fisheries it has become an interesting predicament for governments to handle.

Based in a system of aquaponics, the Farm Fountain presents a unique combination of art and science. It is a system that grows edible plants and fish indoors in an aesthetically pleasing and sustainable manner. The way that it works is the waste filled water from a fish tank is pumped up to the top of the structure and then filtered back down through several 2-liter bottles with edible plants growing in them. The plants then absorb the water and nutrients from the fish waste and the excess water then trickles down back into the fish tank where the process starts over again.

Some of the examples of farm fountain structures can be seen on the farm fountain website. In these examples the structures are used to grow lettuce, cilantro, mint, basil, tomatoes, chives, parsley, and many other garden herbs and vegetables. The fish tank can include fish like tilapia, which can be eaten along with the vegetables. The system offers a great way to grow your own food at home in a cool and sustainable manner. The structures can be set up to use solar power to power the grow lights so that the entire process is sustainable.

This concept applies to our course because earlier in the year we discussed the concept of virtual water and how far food travels before it reaches your plate. With the farm fountain all of your food can be grown right at home. This site gives instructions on how to build your own farm fountain and offers suggestions on what vegetables to grow.

http://www.treehugger.com/climate-change/taking-close-look-last-ice-area.html
“I’m melting…I’m melting!!!” (Wicked Witch of the West, Wizard of Oz). This article takes a closer look on how the extreme melting of polar ice caps in the arctic have over-arching effects on several animal species, people and will have long term consequences for our environment.

It has become apparent that this cycle of melting is moving in a clear direction “an ice-free arctic.” There have been projections that the Arctic will experience its first ice-free winter in 2015; what will this mean for the animals and people who depend on this ice environment for survival?

The three major species that will be affected are polar bears, seals and walruses. Polar bears, who have a unique way of hunting seals and fish through gaps and holes in the ice need the sea ice for survival. Without it, polar bears have been driven to dire straits, swimming upwards of 500 miles to find icy hunting grounds, and others resorting to cannibalism for survival.

In terms of other species, it is predicted that the arctic habitat will overlap with that of the grizzly bears by 2040—creating additional threats for animals like walruses and seals. Forced into the Last Ice Area, this small number of remaining various species are clustered extremely close, raising competition levels and making it nearly impossible to find adequate food needed in order to carry on and reproduce.

For the people of the arctic, though warm temperatures might seem as a nice change to many of us, this actually is not the case. These warmer temperatures are in fact destroying their environment, livelihood and economies. With a warmer climate, as “ice melts, shore lines are becoming increasingly unstable, threatening entire towns with rapid erosion and rising sea levels.” Ice trails, important for crossing the ice in the past are disappearing, and as the arctic animals dwindle in population, so thus do the economies of these arctic towns, who depend on these species for the success of their market and general sustenance. As animal species are being forced to move closer and closer inward towards the coast due to the destruction of their icy habitats, this results in “more dangerous interactions between humans and animals.”

This article relates to many of the topics we have discussed in class this semester, showing the very real effects that global warming is having on our environment, and demonstrates what the future holds if we do not take global warming seriously and begin to take substantial action to reduce global emissions. If we do not, ice caps, polar bears and other arctic animals may soon be a thing of the past.