Lisa+Kheti

 Oil Spill In The Gulf Of Mexico__**
 * __Project 2: Unit 1 Final Project

An Oil Spill occured in the Gulf Of Mexico this year which was due an explosion that caused the collapse of the drilling rig, that broke the piping that connected to the drill to the well, that was 5,000 feet below sea level, various human activites cause disaster towards earths environment. The Oil Spill caused a great amount of pollution, it released a liquid petroleum hydrocarbon to pollute the environment, it is spreading each day due to ocean currents and winds. This oil spill may take months or even years to clean up, a large amount of oil based pollution comes from land based activity. __**1.1 Biomes:**__ A biome is the largest division of the biosphere, which includes large regions with similar biotic components and similar abiotic components. There are 2 types of components of biomes, there are Biotic and Abiotic. Biotic Components are living organisms like plants and animals, Abiotic Components are the amount of rainfall or temperature. There are different types of Biomes, there are Aquatic, Boreal Forest, Grassland, Desert, Permanent Ice, Temperate Deciduous Forest, Temperate Rainforest, Tropical Rainforest and Tundra. The oil spilll in the Gulf of Mexico has effected the different types of biomes because each has different plant and animal adaptions. The oil spill caused major destruction of wildlife and plants in the marine biome.

Non-living chemical and physical factors in the environment also know as Abiotic Components and living organisms are also known as Biotic Components and are being severly affected by the oil spill in the Gulf Of Mexico, which means the whole system may have to be altered and changes must be made soon. Abiotic components are strongly being affected because the oil spill blocks sunlight from getting through, water is getting polluted, plants and animals are dying and various populations of species are decreasing.
 * __1.2 Ecosystems:__**

The process of Photosynthesis occurs when sunlight is absorbed by chlorophyll and other pigments in a plant, although sunlight is blocked in the Gulf Of Mexico due to the oil spill, food sources are also ending aswell as the lives of animals. It also affects the trophic level which means it effects each step in a food chain.
 * __2.1 Energy Flow In Ecosystems:__**

Nutrient cycles in ecosystems are effected due to pollution. The carbon cycle is mostly effected by the oil spill, the carbon cycle is the most important part if the aquatic environment in the Gulf Of Mexico. The leak that caused destruction towards the Aquatic Environmentdoes not allow it to obtain enough nutrients for it to be a healthy ecosystem. Bioaccumulation is the accumulation of substances, in the environment before they are taken in by the first organism in a food chain. Oil may go into the bodies of fish and other species which can harm their prey.
 * __2.2 Nutrient Cycles In Ecosystems:__**
 * __2.3 Effects Of Bioacccumulation On Ecosystems__**

Changes will occur naturally in Ecosystems due to the oil spill in the Gulf Of Mexico because the amount of fish will decrease, many species of different types will decrease and water will continue to get polluted. The oil spill is causing many organisms to fill up with chemicals.
 * __3.1 How Changes Occur Naturally In Ecosystems__**

Humans influence Ecosystems due to their actions towards the environment and wether they can take the time to care about the ecosystems or not. For example the oil spill in the Gulf Of Mexico occured because of the mistakes of humans. The oil leak has caused much harm towards the ecosystems, birds, fish, plants and water has been polluted aswell as animals being displaced. Introduced species like plants animals and micro organisms that are transported intentionally or by accident into regions in which they did not exist previously affect ecosystems in many ways. When organisms are transported into regions in which they did not exist they make a difference to there new environment and have to make changes to addapt to it. The oil spill has made the lives of many species miserable because of the oil spill that has greatly affected the wild life in the Gulf Of Mexico. The oil spill does not allow them to live healthy lives and also causes harm towards species reproducing.
 * __3.2 How Humans Influence Ecosystems__**
 * __3.3 How Introduced Species Affect Ecosystems__**

www.bookrags.com [] [] BC Science 10 textbook by McGraw-Hill Ryerson
 * __Bibliography:__**

I think wiki is a convienient way of presenting a project instead of making a poster board or other ways, although I find it confusing at times along with this project about Unit 1. I liked how its an easy way to share your thoughts and ideas, and scince im always on my computer its a easy for me to look at the criteria sheet without loosing it, and all my work gets saved and I dont loose any of the sheets. I dont like the idea though of how all the times get saved when I do my work, I wouldnt mind though if the project was just on Unit 1 instead of having the oil spill in the G.O.M. included in it.
 * __What I think About Wiki:__**


 * __Topic:3 What Changes Can Society Make In Order To Deal With The Problems Associated With Climate Change__**

​ There are many lifestyle changes that individuals can make to minimize damage to the environment, most of the damage that occurs to our environment is due to our actions. If everyone put some effort into caring about the environment it would be a better place, some ways to begin are starting with recycling plastic,composting waste, not wasting electricity and saving water,usuing hybird vehicles, reusing and recyling household items,using flourescent lightbulbs,fixing leaky taps and faucets,using email instead of paper letters,using a microwave instead of an oven,buy rechargable batteries and reuse packaging, use mouse traps instead of poisons, and carpool when possible. For example turning off the tap while brushing your teeth or turning off extra lights that your not using, if everyone did this it would make a huge difference. Some more ways to minimize the damage to the environment are, completly unplugging electrical devices when your not using them, Keep the refrigerator’s temperature between 36-38 degrees Fahrenheit and the freezer’s temperature between zero and five degrees Fahrenheit. Having a clogged air conditioner filter increases the power usage, a good way to deal with this would be cleaning your air conditioner filter monthly. Drying clothers on a clothes line instead of in the dryer, taking shorter showers, avoiding oil based paints because they let off fumes, Opening windows instead of using an airconditioner. Those are some tips on minimizing damage to the environment. Another good idea would be to teach young children about the issue of the environment being damaged from a young age. The willingness of people to make lifestyle changes are effected by societial changes, some being that people want to live in luxury. If people feel they can affod better more expensive thing which use a greater amount of electricity and energy then they refuse to go for cheaper alternatives. Other people are use to doing things the old fashion way, they find it hard to make these new modern changes. Some people do not undertsand how to composte waste or recyle as they have never been introduced to some of the new methods available. Mnay people live a fast paced and doing things like using a clothes line instead of a dryer is inconvienient for them.There is an abundant amount of strategies cities and communites can implement to adress climate change.

Cities and communites can put down a legislation that helps control the amount of time water is allowed being used, they can limit the amount of cars allowed per household,and put a limit on electricity to be used in a day, also recycling should become manditoy instead of being optional. The governtment plays an important role in supporting efforts to adress climate change. The governtment must create rules and regulations that work with the changing attitudes and climate in order to keep the enviroment intact and up to date with the growing population. The governtmnt assigns special jobs to people who measure and determine the effects of climate change and then takes measures to adress these changes. The government can create fines so people will follow the regulations. For my project I found the information from [|www.seql,org/100ways.com], [|www.wikipedia.org/wiki/natural_environment] and I used google to search images.

By: Lisa Kheti Block: E