Droughts- Natural Disasters Quest Chain

I don’t think that we are at risk of another Dust Bowl, because even though we are having a period of drought in California it isn’t as bad as the ones during the Dust Bowl. I think that something similar to the Dust Bowl could occur again in the future though maybe not soon. We have hopefully learned how to farm differently from that experience. People could prevent things like the Dust Bowl from happening by stopping global warming, like using natural gasses up, and have everyone start using these improved farming techniques. We have started using and introducing techniques that are not as harmful to the environment and benefit us more too. However, we will probably have another Dust Bowl situation because of global warming or something similar to what caused the Dust Bowl.

Notes: Here

Sources:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/ericmack/2015/02/12/climate-change-will-probably-force-me-to-move/#3782f162788a
http://news.discovery.com/earth/weather-extreme-events/drought-dust-bowl-120719.htm
http://drought.unl.edu/droughtforkids/whatisdrought/causesofdrought.aspx
http://drought.unl.edu/DroughtforKids/HowCanWeProtectOurselves.aspx

Our Breathable Eggshell- Climate Change Quest Chain

https://www.thinglink.com/scene/782383059394625536

My notes are here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1I72BVtI_sawwtTHw9FXBlV2BiiSstGxAc076PuPZn9E/edit?usp=sharing

World Without Oil- Documentarian

Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2htGadwrhcI

This documentary is talking about how we use oil for almost everything that we currently use and how it is a big part of modern lives. They give a scenario that if the world were to lose all oil then cities and other places would start to stop functioning without oil. In the scenario oil begins to disappear and then gas station begin to run dry. It also talks about how food companies, hospitals, and other areas begin to lose power and thus they can no longer function. This documentary shows the world from a post-apocalyptic point of view.

Sinkholes- Natural Disasters Quest Chain

Causes of Sinkholes:

Rainfall percolating, or seeping, through the soil absorbs carbon dioxide and reacts with decaying vegetation, creating a slightly acidic water. That water moves through spaces and cracks underground, slowly dissolving limestone and creating a network of cavities and voids. As the limestone dissolves, pores and cracks are enlarged and carry even more acidic water. Sinkholes are formed when the land surface above collapses or sinks into the cavities or when surface material is carried downward into the voids. Drought, along with resulting high groundwater withdrawals, can make conditions favorable for sinkholes to form. Also, heavy rains after droughts often cause enough pressure on the ground to create sinkholes. Sinkholes can also form due to several manmade actions. These actions include drilling new wells, creating artificial ponds, over withdrawal of groundwater sources, and diverting surface water from a large section of other surface water.

For the area that I live in, I am not in any danger of a sinkhole forming. The bedrock under us is not very soluble to let water in and there is not much withdrawal from our well. We also have no other conditions that may lead to sinkholes.

Landslides- Natural Disasters Quest Chain

A few ways to tell if a landslide might occur in your area are a sudden increase in water levels, new cracks or unusual bulges in the ground, structures tilting, and/or rumbling sounds.


https://res.cloudinary.com/roadtrippers/image/upload/c_fill,h_316,w_520/v1369763596/mount-katahdin-51a4ef057f3d7726960045a7.jpg

I am doing mount Katahdin as the mountain I analyze. I think that the risk is very high, because the mountain is one of the tallest mountains in the Appalachian mountain range, and a large amount of trees have been killed off by acid rain, invasive species, and other things. This means that the soil is now very loose and can fall easier. By looking at a map of where landslide risk is the highest, the Appalachian mountains were rated as having a very high risk.


http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8532/8573212579_c404c9003c.jpg

My notes: Here

Floods- Natural Disasters Quest Chain

My house is not at risk for flooding. I am kind of near a flood risk area but am far enough away that I have less than a 10% chance of my house flooding.

• The environment can help prevent flooding. Things like trees, ditches, etc. You can dig a ditch that leads off of a body of water and the ditch leads into a large open field. This way the water can just pool into the field and maybe ruin those weeds but this way you don’t get flooded. Trees can either be planted or they can be laid across a river or stream. When laid across a river it prevents little to no water from getting past so it floods sideways. When you plant trees the trees soak up all of the water and catch the water when it falls downhill. 
• Sustainable drainage systems are another way to prevent floods. For this to work you replace things like concrete with a material that absorbs the water. With something like concrete the water just runs off of it into a drainage system. Drainage systems work until there is tons and tons of rain and then they get overwhelmed. Materials that absorb rain would soak up all of the extra like a sponge. Buildings being designed so that water runoff hits the soil instead of concrete is also helpful. 
• A third way you can prevent flooding is with flood barriers. They are used more in areas that have tons of flooding but you can use them anywhere. The barrier is usually close to the sides of the river. These are not expensive but only work to a certain extent. 

My notes: Here

Offshore Oil Drilling Industry- Documentarian

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jNSTIpBa1U
There is the link to the video. (Warning: Terrible quality)

Offshore drilling typically refers to the discovery and development of oil and gas resources which lie underwater. Most commonly, the term is used to describe oil extraction off the coasts of continents, though the term can also apply to drilling in lakes and inland seas. This also presents environmental challenges, especially in the Arctic or close to the shore. This is like controversies including the ongoing US offshore drilling debate and many other things. Oil also became more pricey once companies had taken most of the oil that was obviously in an area, making it harder to get oil for other companies.

See the world 2- Desert Biome

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1_XwzW5fUdu0ba1BTH3thbce3jj9XE02sB0BXXeMGb4I/edit?usp=sharing

This is the link to a slideshow presentation I am going to be doing for these quests! Thes quests were done with information from the Planet Earth documentaries on Netflix! The one I am doing for this submission is the Jungle or Tropical Rainforest biome. The information is in the presentation on the second slide! This biome is on the third slide of the presentation.

The Right to breathe- Documentarian

Here is the link to the film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1M894GH4q4

The Right to breathe is a documentary about air pollution from major cities and factories in Southern California and how the smog from this pollution harms the environment and makes the area less and less attractive. The documentary creators interview a couple of different people and they give their experiences with the pollution. One girl talked about how she could actually see the mountains around her one day after it had rained because the rain had turned into acid rain by carrying down the pollution from the air. It talks about how pollution is coming from people trying to make their lives easier like with cars. Cars are supposed to make it easier to travel but it also pollutes the air around us.

Natures Bounty- The Energy Crisis Quest Chain

In the Class Spreadsheet, I focused on air and how it is a renewable natural resource. It is renewable because we can not deplete the amount of winds we are going to receive unless we were to stop the sun. Another thing that was asked was if wind was sustainable. The answer to that is yes as long as people have turbines to collect the air energy, and as long as the conditions are met for winds to form. Air will not go away until many things, such as the sun, go away.

My notes: here

The Promised Land- Side Quest

So an article on the bad things about fracking is here: https://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/problems/fracking
Fracking is pretty dangerous in the fact that it damages a lot of the area around where it is done, it can lead to water pollution, and it being a fossil fuel means that it is not renewable and harms the atmosphere.

An article on why fracking is good: http://www.usnews.com/debate-club/is-fracking-a-good-idea
Fracking can be useful for getting the fossil fuels out of the earth for use.


I would vote against fracking though because it is overall really bad for the environment and I don't agree with it.