My 1 m2 is located just a few feet off of the sidewalk on Morrissey Boulevard/Mount Vernon Street directly in front of the old Boston Sewage Pumping Station. There is an abundance of evidence pointing to earlier species that no longer are there. Although there was dead organisms, they were difficult to identify. Above the soil, the organisms created a layer of straw and branches that were black and brown due to decomposition. I found five living organisms in this space, all of which are listed below.
Crabgrass – this grass comes in thick and waxy strands that differ greatly in size, they grew in small or large clumps but never by themselves, the roots of these clumps were very thick
Grass – this was uncommon in the area, it grew in very small clumps of about 3-5 strands of grass per growth, it was scattered throughout the area
Shamrock/3 Leafed Clover – this was probably the most common species in the area, they came up in clumps like the crabgrass but the roots were not nearly as thick, they were thin
Unknown 1 – this is a common weed that I see in my lawn at home and many other places, it was a thick and long waxy plant that had its leaves spread somewhat far (around 6 inches), the leaves sprouted from one spot and spread out in a circle around the spot, the leaves were often flat against the ground rather than sprouting up
Unknown 2 – this was also common in the area, it was a weed that had many long stems curled all around the roots, at the end of the stems were soft leaves that differed greatly in size, the leaves closely resembled maple leaves
(photo of area)
The crabgrass in this area has a very useful niche. With such strong roots below the soil, the crabgrass is used to keep the topsoil from moving (Schonbeck). In my area, the abundance keeps the topsoil from being moved away by wind or rain. Because it can keep the topsoil in place so well, crabgrass provides the other organisms in the area with nutrient rich soil as well.
By giving the soil more decomposers, they would be able to break down the abundance of dead organisms that lie right on top the soil. These decomposers would break down the dead branches and plants and bring their nutrients back to the soil for the living organisms to thrive more.
An increase of 2℃ would not be beneficial for the species in the area. Such an increase would prevent these species from growing more, especially in the summer. When the sun beats down on the organisms, the temperature increase would provide them with less water and potentially kill all the species found in the area. There is no imaginable way that an increase in the already hot air — especially during the summer months — would be beneficial for the species in the area.
WORKS CITED
Schonbeck, Mark. “An Ecological Understanding of Weeds.” EXtension,
articles.extension.org/pages/18529/an-ecological-understanding-of-weeds.
This data from the Blue Hill Observatory shows proof of climate change, and more specifically, global warming. In seven of the nine documented months in 2018, this years’ temperatures exceed the 1891-2010 mean temperatures. It could be argued that this years figures are just outliers, but looking back to other years, like 2015, 2016, and 2017, show more outrageously high temperatures when compared to the 1891-2010 means (“Category: Temperature”).
Other measurements that to help further prove global warming would include precipitation. According to Blue Hills’ data, fifty-two of the last ninety-four months experienced below average precipitation. This fraction may not seem significant, but the other forty-two months that exceeded the mean hardly did so at all.
Mean Temperatures for Atlanta, GA (1985-2015)
Jan: 43℉ Feb: 47℉ Mar: 54℉ Apr: 62℉ May: 70℉ Jun: 77℉
Jul: 80℉ Aug: 79℉ Sep: 73℉ Oct: 62℉ Nov: 52℉ Dec: 45℉
Mean Temperatures for Atlanta, GA (2018)
Jan: 40℉ Feb: 57℉ Mar: 52℉ Apr: 59℉ May: 73℉ Jun: 77℉
Jul: 78℉ Aug: 77℉ Sep: 78℉ Oct: 65℉ Nov: 56℉ Dec: n/a
After finding the means during 1985-2015 in Atlanta, Georgia (“Climate & Weather Averages in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.”), I compared the numbers to the 2018 average temperatures. The results that I found were not as drastic as those from Blue Hill, showing higher 2018 temperatures in February, May, August, September, October, and November. The other months either show a figure just barely below the 1985-2015 mean, or exactly on it. Although this data doesn’t show the effects of global warming as much as Blue Hills, it cannot be used to argue that global warming does not exist. This is just one example and one year, unlike the many years found for Blue Hill.
WORKS CITED
“Category: Temperature.” Blue Hill Observatory and Science Center Climate and
Weather Observation Research and Education,
bluehill.org/observatory/category/weather-archives/temperature/.
“Climate & Weather Averages in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.” Timeanddate.com,
www.timeanddate.com/weather/usa/atlanta/climate.
The hole in the ozone over Antarctica is a direct effect of Polar Stratospheric Clouds (PSCs). These clouds form during the winters in each pole due to the condensation of water and nitric acid. Polar Stratospheric Clouds make it very easy for gasses like chlorine monoxide (ClO) to form, which is incredibly toxic to the ozone. The gas is formed with sunlight which creates a chain reaction starting with isolating chlorine atoms from compounds. The chlorine takes an oxygen atom for ozone (O3) which makes oxygen (O2). Then a free oxygen atom would take the oxygen atom from the ClO and make it a chlorine atom again (Hegglin). This cycle repeats all throughout the winter, which causes the largest depletion in the late winter and early spring.
This cycle stays close to the Antarctic as well as the Arctic due to the very cold winter temperatures. They only form in the stratosphere at temperatures below -78℃/-108℉ (Hegglin). These temperatures do not occur in other places around the world, even in the colder stratosphere. It takes the coldest places on earth to form these harmful clouds. Even if you go more north from the South Pole, these areas would be exposed to too much warmth to form the rare PSCs.
The maximum ozone concentration is due to the natural replenishment of ozone in the atmosphere. When so much ozone is lost in the poles, spring comes and overloads the area with warmth. The strong sunlight breaks the unstable O2 into two oxygen atoms. These two atoms quickly find other O2 molecules to form O3 which is stable enough to last until next winter (Hegglin).
WORKS CITED
Michaela I. Hegglin (Lead Author), David. W. Fahey, Mack McFarland, Stephen A.
Montzka, and Eric R. Nash, Twenty Questions and Answers About the Ozone
Layer: 2014 Update, Scientific Assessment of Ozone Depletion: 2014, 88 pp., World Meteorological Organization, Geneva, Switzerland, 2015.
So much of earth’s surface is at or close to sea-level because of gravity. Mountains and higher structures occur most commonly at plate boundaries, which are fairly uncommon in perspective of the whole world. On top of that, these places of higher elevation experience erosion, which in time bring pieces of earth closer to sea-level with gravity. With these two factors, the chance of having a lot of land area with high elevation is fairly low, which is why most of the earth’s surface is around sea-level.
The main reason for the earth’s surface to have a bimodal distribution of elevations is due to the two crusts: continental and oceanic. Oceanic crust is less dense, and doesn’t carry a lot of earth on top of it. Continental crust is what makes up earth’s land. It’s more dense and carries a lot of earth on top of it. These two types of crust vary in size, but both of them make up the entire surface of the earth.
Because the moon doesn’t experience plate tectonics, the hypsographic curve would be incredibly simple, as it is just crust. The only variation would be with the large mountains and craters on the surface. Enjoy this oversimplified hypsographic curve of the moon.
WORKS CITED
“How Do I Read the Hypsometric Curve? Reading a Cumulative Percent Graph.”
Hypsometric Curve, 2 Oct. 2018, serc.carleton.edu/mathyouneed/hypsometric/index.html.
The picture on the left sees about ten man-made groins on the beach. These groins are seen as a solution to beach erosion (“We're Giving Bald Head a Pass.”). Longshore currents move water against the shore and pull sand away from land and into the ocean (“Beachapedia”). These walls are made in the water to prevent the effects of longshore currents. The groins are used to catch the sand moving with the longshore currents and keep it from moving away.
The picture on the right shows a beach cliff that will soon be eroded away. The cliff has a small flat platform by its base and has high cliffs a bit further in. These cliffs are susceptible to hard breaking waves that will chip away at the cliffs base, before finally breaking under the weight of the cliff itself. Then the cliff will collapse and push the land back and probably create a larger wavecut platform.
1 year: Photo A will probably look too different than it does now, but there will most likely be more sand collected at the groins. Photo B on the other hand, would look much less different, and it’s possible there would be no difference due to the long time it takes to erode larger rocks.
10 years: Photo A in ten years would probably look pretty different. The groins would definitely still be there, but you may see them beginning to collect a lot of sand, and maybe you’d see the sand from there edges beginning to fade into the ocean. Photo B would again see very little difference, but most likely some. You would probably begin to notice the wave-cut notches beginning to form at the bases of the cliffs.
100 years: Photo A in 100 years would probably look very different from the picture as the groins may start shifting due to extensive exposure to longshore currents. This would also cause erosion to the beach, however erosion would be much greater without the groins. Photo B would see more large rocks fallen due to many hard waves crashing into the base of the cliffs over time. There would be more of a chance to see a one or more of these large cliffs gone due to a cliff collapse.
WORKS CITED
“Beachapedia.” Shoreline Structures – Beachapedia,
www.beachapedia.org/Shoreline_Structures.
“We're Giving Bald Head a Pass.” North Carolina Coastal Federation,
www.nccoast.org/2014/08/were-giving-bald-head-a-pass/.