Chicago closer To banning Hand-Held Cell Phone
I think talk while driving that can cause drivers to be distracted. So, I agree with the author says that the ban was supported by cell phone companies.
Summary and Response #2
In the article, “Coral Reefs”, J.S Levinton describes coral‘s growth, types, areas of distribution, and threats. In the first place, he explains that coral’s size depend on the “amount of carbonate calcium”(Levinton, 1982) in its frame, also different types of corals can grow quick or slow, for example branching corals can grew very swiftly, but they are easily destroyed by strong storms or human activities. In addition, the coral’s age can be calculated, like calculating the tree’s age. There are two kind of coral’s propagation, which are asexual reproduction or sexual propagation, also the producing of sexual reproduction is very wonderful which it happens on “August full moon in the Florida Keys” (Levinton, 1982) every year. Next, the coral reefs have three different types, which are “barrier reefs, fringing reefs, and atolls” (Levinton, 1982). Moreover, the distributional areas of coral reefs depend on their level of emerge and “amount of wave action” (Levinton, 1982). For example, Soft corals are Caribbean characteristic, such as sea whips and sea fans. In the most important thing is the function of coral reefs, which are preventing the shoreline from being to destroyed “tropical storm waves”, and offer habitat for several hundred species of marine lives, such as fish. Furthermore, coral reefs also offer coast’s economic benefits, such as diving, snorkeling, and sport fishing…etc. Unfortunately, the aggravation of the oceanic environment causes condition of coral health that became to go down. For example, In Florida Bay, there was a decreased freshwater flow that caused “sponge and seagrass die-offs, and fish kills” (Levinton, 1982). Also, the tourists damage the coastal environment, which can be discriminated between “direct human impacts” and indirect human impacts (Levinton, 1982). The coral reefs bring or offer to marine life and human economy and entertainments, but some people don’t know how to treasure the valuable coral.
To begin with, humans usually only consider how to have fun on their trip, but they forget the coral reefs are the most important things that offer habitat for many beautiful marine life. Assuming there weren’t any coral reefs, and then there would not be many beautiful marine lives. At the same, if the human will go to diving or fishing, or not. After that the local economy will descend. So, people should consider more about their activity if can effect the coral life or not.
The valuable coral reefs offer many species life, and supposing they are destroyed, then human will not have delicious food from sea to eat, because the coral protect these marine lives from tropical storm waves. Humans dump a lot of pollution into sea that can effect these coral’s health and marine life’s survival. Such as, tourist waste, pleasure-boat waste and dash against coral. So, human activities are most important key to destroy coral.
So, when people travel to beach, I hope people don’t make any human waste into seawater. Also, when people leave, they can do some things to protect the marine life and coral reefs such as picking up and clean up your own trash. Encourage your friends to protect and don’t touch coral reefs with you, if you are a dive.
In conclusion, coral reefs offer to human economy and entertainments, and give many species to life. So, people should know the protecting coral is very important thing because human and marine lives should depend on its functions.
Summary and Response #1
In the article, “Some Tropical Corals Can't Take the Heat; Smith College Study Shows Some Reefs May Disappear If Sea Surface Continues to Warm”, Kristen Cole writes that the researchers of Smith College found if the “sea-surface temperature” changes, this can impact coral subsistence. To begin with, the researchers made a test which separates some corals from the heating sea waters to observing the death of corals. They found if the “sea-surface temperature” keeps changing it would impact the marine ecosystem. Moreover, the main thing the different temperature will affect is the protein, which is most element affecting coral flexibility or frailty. The protein allows it to adapt to temperature change if it has it will live, if not it will die. The Temperature anomalies unusual change had caused many corals to die in 1998, “such as in southern Florida”. Lastly, the sciences think if the sea-surface continues, warning will affect the tropical zone of the globe. It seems like not possible to change the unusual sea-surface continuing warning nowadays.
First, the global warming was caused by human activities which are ruining the environment. Nowadays, although some people try to improve the usual phenomenon, prevention of global warming will take a long time to prevent and improve ecological environment. For example, the ozone hole has been destroyed for several decades already. Although most people have stopped using ozone depleting substances for several years, the hole is still on the ozone layer at the present time. So, I think if the sea-surface temperature change can cause the corals death, and then a lot the ocean’s coral will die in next several years or several decades.
Moreover, humans can destroy things very quickly, but they can’t save and improve the environment quickly. People should think more about what they are doing if they are destroying the ecological environment, or not. Humans have very limited power to save nature, but we can do something to prevent other pollutions that continue to degenerate the environment. For example, we can prohibit human domestic water and industrial sewage from going into the sea.
In conclusion, we can’t stop global warming as soon as possible, but we can do something to prohibit human activities to continue destroying the ecological environment. This may be an only way to get our environment better. If we protect and stop destroying the environment, we would have more coral to see in the future. If not so, the global warming will not only impact the coral, but also humans will be impacted, such as injurious by ultraviolet rays.
Colek, K. (2004). Some Tropical Corals Can’t Take the Heat; Smith College Study Shows Some Reefs May Disappear If Sea Surface Continues to Warm. Ascribe Newswire. Retrieved by Jan. 27, 2005 from Lexis-Nexis website.
By Yen
In the article, “Bobcat”, the author describes bobcats and their distribution, etc. To begin with, he talks about the bobcat’s appearance: that it is double the size of a house cat, and its height can be 20-23 inches. Its length can be 30-35 inches and weight can be 10-40 pounds. Bobcats were distributed in Illinois when the first Europeans came here. Unfortunately, the bobcat began to decrease in the 1880s, and it was the first threatened species of Illinois’s list in 1977, because of its “Habitat changes and unregulated harvest”. Until the early 1990s, bobcat’s number was beginning to increase, and in 1998 bobcats were put away from the Illinois’s threatened species list in 1998. Its distributions are in the southern and northwestern Illinois. Bobcats like to live not only in forest land or wooded areas, but also close to humans. They are a kind of nocturnal animal. Male may need about 8 square miles of activities area, and female may need about 3 square miles. Because Illinois has better protections of bobcat from hunting, the there begin to increase the number of bobcats in the early 1990s. Currently most deaths are caused by car, and small cats are usually killed by “coyotes, domestic dogs, and owls”. Bobcats use their sharp visioning and hearing to catch their food. They usually eat “rabbits, squirrels, birds, and mice, etc. Their mating season is from January through June, and the mating peak is in February, one female can generate 1 to 6 babies, but usually 2 to 3 kittens. Finally, the author writes that protecting forests is most important for animals because it is the home of plants and animals. Appropriate cutting down of trees is good for wildlife because forests, animals, and plants need enough sun-light.
I learned from the article of Bobcat, which let me know about the bobcat and its condition. Illinois did a good job for bobcat because in the past, the bobcats were an endangered species in Illinois, but now they had been getting away from the endangered species list since 1998. According to the article, the author talks about how humans should cut down some trees to offer more sunlight to wildlife, but I don’t agree with the author’s idea, because a long time ago, when the humans never touched these forests, most wildlife could live well without human activities or cutting trees. I don’t know why human should cut down some trees in order to give more sunlight to forest’s animals and plants. So, I think that human should let the natural world makes its own ecosystem without human activities, because the natural world has its own rules.
Retrieved from Bobcat.
By Yen
Argumentative Essay
Coral reefs are important to our life because they are the home of many million fishes and other species. Coral reefs with fishes and other species make a coral reefs ecosystem. There are not only many maritime organisms living depended on coral reefs, but also human tourism industries and seafood industries depend on coral reefs for the economy. Unfortunately, human activities cause many impacts that threaten coral health, such as ships hit coral reefs. For example, in 1993 to 1994, there were about 500 ships grounding in the Florida Keys. (Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, 2001, par. 10). In the Florida Keys, there are more than “three million people who visit the keys” (Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, 2001, par. 10), because many tourists like the clean water and beautiful coral reefs and fishes. But too many tourists cause local residents to build more ships, ports, and other facilities for entertainments, which had cause coral reefs that face threat.
In the Florida Keys depend on many beautiful coral reefs that bring to local economy such as tourism and food industries, and is one of the Earth most important ecosystem, but recent years the Keys coral death has been occurring so suddenly and rapidly, we should get to the bottom of the dying coral reef ecosystem.
To begin with, local residents should know how important the coral reef ecosystem is. Because local residents earn the money from tourists who come to the Keys for clean seawater, and amazing coral reefs and fishes. If humans destroyed the coral ecological balance, may be the Florida Keys would not have people willing to come. Because of a coral ecological imbalance, coral reefs don’t have good health or died, and then many fishes and other species would leave or died. At the same time, the Keys will not attract tourists who come again. According to the news writer of States News Service, coral reefs supply about “$375 billion to the world economy or more $3 billion to Florida per year from recreation, tourism, food, pharmaceuticals, and other purposes” (2004, par. 1), so the coral reefs are very important to coastal economical future.
Laws should strongly limit the over-development in the Florida Keys to protect the coral reefs. Over-development can affect coral reefs ecosystem because airports, ports and hotels can threaten the coral reefs. For example, wastewater from hotel through river into sea impacts coral and fish health. Marine life must have clean seawater because fishes get disease, and then human eat them that also damage to human health. The Florida Keys seems too crowded because there are “three million people who visit the keys, and more than 80,000 people who live full time” (Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, 2001, par. 10), in the small area with many people cause many pollution. So, people should make the law to reducing developments and pollutions in the Keys.
Finally, reducing human activities can be less threat to effect coral reefs ecosystem, such ship drives through shallow waters along the coast of coral reefs areas, and divers should learn how to avoid harming the coral reefs. For example, “snorkelers standing on coral and destructive fishing methods” (Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, 2001, par. 10). So I think like fish man, snorkelers and divers should learn about how to care for coral reefs.
In conclusion, coral reefs are very important things for human life, so we should protect them. Stopping over-development is a better way to protect coral reefs.
Posted by Yen
Posted by Yen
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