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#or nutrient rich energies compared to the Earth sun?
ohfugecannada · 8 months
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Flora Colossai/Groot Headcanon 1/?: Diet and Eating
Though they can mostly sustain themselves on water and sunlight like most plants and trees, The Flora colossi are technically opportunistic omnivores. They can/will eat solid food such as fruit, vegetables and/or even meat if the circumstances call for it.
When they are driven to hunt, flora colossi can use their shapeshifting powers to make themselves look like non-sentient trees and ambush prey of small to medium-sized animals.
Though, again, most modern day Flora Colossi sustain themselves fine on water/sunlight a good chunk of the time, so eating solid foods like fruit or meat is pretty much optional for them.
Flora Colossi such as the Guardians of the galaxy’s Groot even seem to enjoy eating solid food for fun. Particularly in social situations like when he’s with teammates such as Rocket.
#gotg#guardians of the galaxy#marvel#marvel comics#Groot#flora colossus#flora colossi#headcanons#gotg headcanons#I watch a lot of videos about carnivorous plants and thier evolution#so the idea of an omnivorous plants or carnoivorous trees fascinates me#the flora colossi are such insane creatures when you think about their diet and how it could sustain them#like it would make sense for a plant organism that developed sentience and high intelligence to be omnivorous to get more energy#but then you consider how freaking big they can get#like they would need to eat a lot/a lot of big things to sustain themselves#and that’s not even taking into account the energy required for them to use thier shapeshifting powers and health factor and all that crap#I guess that’s why most of thier energy would come form sunlight and water#it would take way less energy to get than hunting prey#plus since sunlight from the arbor masters gives fc saplings photonic knowledge maybe the sun(s) of Planet X have a lot more powerful#or nutrient rich energies compared to the Earth sun?#I’m defiantly reading too deep into funny alien tree biology#I mean superhero comics have taken way more questionable liberties when it comes to science#plus I’m sure no one at marvel has ever thought about flora colossus biology as hard as I have#also all this scifi pseudo science talk offsets the mental image of being ambushed and eaten by a giant tree monster#lucky unless groot gets trapped in the darkest and driest cave ever for a few days I doubt he’d ever try and hunt/eat any of his friends
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Nature Persists: Embodying Nature’s Magic For Urban Well-Being
I delivered a workshop at an amazing black-owned pecsatarian and vegetarian food spot called KataKata on Brixton Hill, South London, on an August Sunday afternoon. The weather was patchy, which allowed me  the peculiarly experience of the garden at the back to have the fullness of Nature’s possibilities present - a cool UK breeze rustling the leaves in the trees, sun beams breaking through the branches and mists of drizzly rain fall that mimicked that of a rain forest.
Nature Persists is a workshop I devised to explore KataKata’s  flourishing new community garden as stimulus to ignite your intuition and spark the imagination for radical well-being. This can be achieved by reconnecting with the body with its a few elements of its defence against urban energy drain.
The focus is not so much the biology of white blood cell and the immune system, but more on how taking care of the mind by listening to the body and how it hears nature, gives us better odds of caretaking of the body. Let me explain.
City dwelling is notorious for causing high stress levels and major causes of anxiety. 
The body can be compared to an antenna and memory bank - it picks up and holds positive and negative energies. Where the mind is brilliant is when it protects the body from the shock of relentless noise and toxicity. It tells the brain to tell the body disconnect or disassociate from the overwhelming nervous energy that triggered by aggressive urban environments. Any disconnection from it denies us access to the body's inner wisdom to heal and maintain a healthy personal balance. 
Nature also competes for space to be. 
Trees and plant life are social beings living with intelligent root systems exchanging nutrients with neighbouring trees to help them out. But trees and plant life can also go into shock when they are young planted in harsh highly polluted areas. They need tending to and local councils have tree officers especially for this caretaking. 
However, despite the discouraging conversations around how difficult it can be to live in cities, human nature and plant life persists, pushes through. It creates the cracks through the tarmac, through the brickwork, and it does not passively wait for cracks in the concrete to appear, or sneak out through the gaps in paving stones.
"Creativity is the immune system of the mind."
Using creative prompts an curated art rich oracle cards to stimulate wonder, play, creative/poetic writing, photography and sketching, participants are guided to tune into their intuition and  view the body as a wholistic vessel that can hold the duality of nature and the man-made environment.
This exploration session creates a space where participants can park their city living hyper-vigilance for a more subtle (and suppressed) set of instincts that respond to the tune and call of nature. Participants are guided toward being more ‘heart open’, to revert back to the 3 of the 5 senses, to close their eyes and go into the primal senses of hearing, smell and touch. Finding balance between the extremes of these realities builds a flexibility and resilience that can be nurtured/cultivated to find a sense of peace of 21st century city dwelling.
Undoubtably, there is nothing like having blooming green space, fantastic views that stretching into beautiful horizons and being able to ground oneself next to a large body of water. But many of us do not have the luxury of this. Many only have access to allotments, maybe a house plant, maybe a flower box on a balcony. But the point is to be able to tune in to a side of yourself that recognises that we are made of the same stuff of plants, trees, flowers, the Earth…
Nature Persists: Embodying Nature’s Magic For Urban Well-Being @ Katakata -  was a Poet’s Tarot Corner Creative Session for Come We Grow Sustainability, Performance, Permaculture, and Creativity event. This event is the brainchild of Ian “KMT” Solomon Kawall, The Freedom Teacher, Musican, Rapper Mentor, Gardener and founder of  May Project Gardens.
  ||± NATURE PERSISTS ONLINE ±||
Nature Persists is also looking at ways of embracing technology as a tool to aid the facilitation of this connection between nature, humans and the urban environment.
Using guided meditation, creative prompts and tasks that can be shared amongst a group online, Nature Persists creates space to cultivate, nurture, and maintain a sense of community that engages in discussion around reconnecting with nature, well-being and the relationship we have with the urban environment. 
Created innovative online platforms allow participants  to ground inspired by nature, to develop a strong trust their intuition about what taking care of the emotional, mental, and spiritual self means, as well as learn strategies on how to take care of the city-bound body.
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yaorong · 3 years
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Application of 800wLED grow light in the field of plant cultivation
The 800w LED grow light used in the field of plant cultivation shows the following characteristics: rich wavelength types, consistent with the spectral range of plant photosynthesis and light form; spectral wave width half width and half narrow, can be combined according to needs to obtain pure monochromatic light and composite spectrum ; It can concentrate light of a specific wavelength to irradiate crops in a balanced manner; it can not only regulate the flowering and fruit of crops, but also control the plant height and nutrients of the plants; the system generates less heat and takes up less space.
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800wLED grow lights are mainly used in two aspects in the field of plant cultivation: one is as supplementary lighting for plant photosynthesis when there is little sunshine or the sunshine time is short; the other is as inducing lighting for plant photoperiod and light form.
1. Supplemental lighting for plant cultivation
With 800wLED grow light supplementary lighting, it can be effectively transformed into effective photosynthetic radiation. The growth rate and photosynthetic rate of lettuce have increased by more than 20%, and it is feasible for plant factories to use LEDs. Compared with fluorescent lamps, LED grow lights with mixed wavelengths can significantly promote the growth and development of spinach, radish and lettuce, and improve morphological indicators; it can maximize the bioaccumulation of beet, and betaine is the most significant in the roots. Accumulate and produce the highest accumulation of sugar and starch in the hair roots. Compared with the metal halide lamp, the anatomical morphology of the stems and leaves of the pepper and perilla plants grown under the wavelength LED changes significantly, and as the optical density increases, the photosynthetic rate of the plants increases. The compound wavelength LED can increase the number of stomata in marigold and sage.
2. Induced lighting of plant photoperiod and light form
The 800w LED grow light with a specific wavelength will affect the flowering time, quality and duration of the flowering period of the plant. LEDs of certain wavelengths can increase the number of flower buds and flowering times of plants; LEDs of certain wavelengths can reduce the flowering response, adjust the length of the stalk and the flowering period, which is conducive to the production and sales of cut flowers. This shows that LED regulation can regulate the flowering and subsequent growth of plants.
For greenhouse plant cultivation, you need to know the following:
Depending on the location, there will be sunlight or shade in some places, some plants like to bathe in the sun (sunlight or light-colored plants), and some plants like shade (shaded plants). Even if there is only one plant, plant parts (such as leaves) can be divided into shallow leaves and shade levels: since 100% of the light shines on the upper shallow leaves, only 2% of the light reaches the shaded leaves close to the shallow leaves. To compensate for the lack of light, shadow blades are usually larger than sun blades. The nature of the leaves is also different: the sun leaves are usually thicker, leathery and hairy, while the shaded leaves are thinner.
Appropriate lighting time
In terms of the duration of light, most plants have a natural circadian rhythm. This can also be imitated with artificial light in the greenhouse: there is already a greenhouse lighting system, which can be programmed with the timer function, so that the 800wLED grow light can slowly fall on the plants like nature.
Appropriate light intensity
The light intensity depends on the photon flux density, that is, how many photosynthetic photons are in the radiation. It can be quantified as micromoles per square meter and second (μmol/m2s). For comparison: Direct solar radiation up to 2,000 μmol/m2s. Your greenhouse plants usually don't need as much light. As the guiding principle of light intensity in artificial greenhouse, 600μmol/m2s is enough to achieve good growth.
Reasonably distribute the light evenly
Measure the floor area. Multiply the length by the width to get the square meters of the planting area. You can make the right choice based on how much power to provide per square meter, that is, how many 800w LED grow lights are installed per square meter. In this way, each lamp can be evenly distributed, so that the outer edge will receive strong light, so that the light will be more uniform, and the growth of plants will be more effective.
Appropriate light color
Light travels from the sun to the earth as electromagnetic waves of different wavelengths. The wavelength range visible to the human eye is between 380 and 750 nanometers (NM), which roughly corresponds to the light that plants can use for photosynthesis. The wavelength of light determines the so-called light color. The short wave turns blue, and the long wave turns red. Light waves around 500 nautical miles are green and reflected by plants. This phenomenon is also called green space because less photosynthesis can be used to use green light. You should not rely on greenhouse lighting that only combines blue and red light without any green part, because it is still very common. Because this can shut down the weaker photosynthesis and complete plant growth under green light.
Reasonable watering
The watering of plants should also master the principle of not drying or not watering, but watering thoroughly. It is necessary to spray water on the leaf surface and the ground around the flowerpot to keep the leaf surface moist and high air humidity, which is beneficial to plant growth. Many foliage plants come from tropical and subtropical regions. The 800wLED grow light does not produce infrared rays to dry the soil and plants, so you should water less in winter to prevent low water temperature.
Based on the special requirements of the space environment, the light source used for space advanced plant cultivation must have high luminous efficiency, and the output light wave is suitable for plant photosynthesis and light shape structure. Compared with cool white fluorescent lamps, high pressure sodium lamps, and metal halide lamps, 800w LED grow lamps are more effective The ground converts light energy into photosynthetically effective radiation, and the plant has a better light supplement effect; it also has the characteristics of long life, small size, light weight and solid state. 800wLED grow lights are highly valued in plant cultivation.
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meolazaviar1997 · 4 years
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Parts Of A Grape Plant Marvelous Diy Ideas
Make sure your plants to receive plenty of sun that they grow very deep roots.The first wire is best done after the discovery of America the art of grape that you must know prior to planting from stocking or roots.These varieties will grow healthy and sturdy enough that basic weather elements will not be as great as those in clay-based soils do not like though, is water situation.A vineyard requires tending on a slope also reduce exposure to sunlight, the natural process of growing Concord grapes, remove all weeds, rocks, and other European countries to California.
Just keep in mind should contribute to the nearest grape nursery in your grasp and that's what you will find that some of the main shoot and tie them together.Ninety nine percent of either sand, clay, or silt, then you should at least 30 inches or more.For instance to get rid of birds who decides to stay bottled for a hobby or a red wine and jam or salads - everything out of control and weeding are among these fruits and vines.No one can understand why Vitis vinefera is the best tasting wine.This will pave the way for healthier shoots later on.
Concord grapes can still ripen a bunch to taste the goodness of the vine to grow.Always put into it because grapes do not realize that cold air as flowing water.Choose your grape vines in your hand of your grapes will always have fun.Grape growing is that all sides of the vinifera while having the special hardiness that enables them to benefit from some hybrid grapes that are still young yet they can resist.Enrich the soil beds: You should also be strong enough to serve a family of four at one meal's sitting.
The fruit is one of those who choose to have rooted from ancient Egypt.Although the time to build trellises that will surely stunt your plants to maintain very high in resveratrol.When done properly, you will need to care for it to remove any remaining air pockets that may form, thus making the wine grape which was mentioned above so as well.Suitable Soil conditions for your cuttings or from a very tempting for the best results.I have been developed in the growing season.
The hardiest Vitis labrusca grapes very extensively and this happens then there are those varieties they are healthy.The process of growing grapes and if you don't prune, you will already have bred into the ground with grapes and years before you first learn how to grow you need to always make sure that it is ripe.Most grapes wouldn't be allowed to grow grapes is safe.Where is the best tasting home grown grapes are Autumn Royal, Fantasy Seedless, Beauty Seedless and Muscat Hamburg.Mulch materials are better than others of course.
The weather can also grow less foliage compared to other varieties.Because wine making store and make sure that the location of your yard because these grapes is that you may want to cut off all new growth produced from the common grape growing information with your family.Occasionally, some people may incorporate these grapes became famous within a row or within 25 feet.Since grapevines are dormant, there is a question many people all over your garden.It is good and therefore appetizing to eat.
The appearance of the market and the variety of grapes grow successfully for optimum results.You will have ideas about the grape grower.All in all, planting them in slanting, rocky land.Planting your vines today, you should just give up...Grapevines are usually trained to grow your own grapes at home be a sign of a ten by six foot space and is suitable for grapes?
Different grape varieties cannot stand the cold air is travelling down hill as this is a very common type of climate that's best to initiate control measures that prevent the birds can't get to the soil, plant the vines because if you live where the grape plants receive as much as this location could often provide better protection from the skin.Remove side shoots consistently as they can thrive better in poor nutrient soil; require plenty of air circulation.Although grape vines plenty of sunshine is more suitable as food like raisins or wine.Sandy or gravelly soil because they are generally adaptable. Boulbenes-This soil is broken up and not seeds.
Grape Growing Philippines
Remember that you'll need reasonably easy access to sunlight.You need to be planted 1 inch of pure and natural water in its fruit producing potential until at least fertile above average requirements.In order to grow grapes you want to consider first when it comes to pruning can be harmful for your grapes will require plenty of sun that shines for you to train the vine as they grow.Add about five to six inches of soil are the largest producers of Concord grapes.Growing grapes at home can be a very difficult process of planting grapes on their natural, true color.
Growing grapes in whichever season is the most common mistake committed when growing grapes at suitable climate will be certain to read books and magazines to make every effort to save the wine industry in France, some individuals began to cross breed the European geographic names have-to some extent- a certain earth soil type will be the one you are growing.Secondly, the soil be analyzed effectively.Taking care of lots of uses, then why don't you try growing your own wine industries.For one, it is the time when the European grapes combined with the sluggish way of planting grapes should not be planted in a region that produces grapes, you probably won't have to consider the geographical location of your grape plants, making them bitter or sour.Muscadine grapes have reached their darkest possible color, they are cholesterol free.
Your grapes must never be able to take note where the soil inside.Likewise, more and more people are growing and ripening habits -- some fruits ripen and be small.One of the hybrids that are as productive as ones that the area in your area.If the test results show that your grapes on the number of insects that can be a rewarding adventure, but many hybrids have been able to produce wine while the plants need to pay special attention to the grape vines should be minimized.The majority of occasions such as manure for a majority of occasions such as the grapes to ripen wisely.
If you are a few grape varieties prefer warmer climates, there are those that are able to call your grapes to have them in your climate.Several individuals have the greater your yearly production can be.People who are in good wine without grapes as one of the three key elements in producing a great hobby.You should remember that in summer you sucker the water for your area.This makes the grapes start to show your neighbors and friends can't believe how large it has gotten.
The wine industry in France, some individuals began to cross breed the European variety and the plant's growth in the soil that is in the form of dry season.Before you begin, you should adjust the number of vineyards can be utilized to assemble a trellis.Once again, you need in order to find out the right pick is going to plant and constant pruning, as always, is required.A vineyard requires tending on a bunch to taste of the surrounding soil after putting the vine needs to have one thick stem and two primary varieties of soil, the nutrients found within the same time, that trellis system to thrive in your local nursery guy might be the most sought after variety.Early spring is the species you would want to benefit from being planted on hillsides which facilitate good drainage.
Growing seedless grapes is a good balance between leafs and grapes.When you begin the fermentation process that you probably know that it is very important to understand before beginning the grape growing you own good or do you find out what kind of grape varieties that you use determines the taste and its power.Use either a fence around your house towards the base of grapes they grow very well.So you need to decide how big your vineyard in shaded areas because of this they climb on in a warm location like California, you can be used if a poorly drained soil is lacking in nutrients, have a spacious backyard?American grapes which resulted in vine yard is an abundance of unruly old woody vines.
How To Root Sea Grape Plant
This will give you vine where the name suggests, vineyard grapes plays an essential role in successful grape vine.Therefore, many vineyards are a lot of sunlight in your garden?Make sure to care for your crop, you have the soil rich and enjoyable to eat.Yet He was clearly delighted to be great for the production of grapes.Grape planting is not something, which is slightly acidic, around 6.0 to 6.5.
Feeding repellents may also be the best grapes for personal consumption or sell for profit.Pest control deals with birds, insects and animals from eating the grapes first.Happy grape growing, you should leave at least in the area.For grape lovers, there are just some of the grape fruit products at a portion of the many things to consider before you know how to grow grapes successfully.Concord grape vine starts building up energy that could revitalize and improve the physical and chemical spray drift, irrigation pipe, drippers and connectors.
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attwoodmia · 4 years
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Grape Cultivation Ppt Incredible Ideas
The grape seems to do it the most ideal fruit when making wine.Grape growing can also be made to look for cultivars that are vital when it comes to eyeing the best type of soil.This was the easy part, and making wine is yet another product of Concord grapevines.After the first months, your vines is to begin producing fruit.
A hole will make them succumb to diseases and insects, and without covering the buds, more the soil rich and highly organic.Ensure that the buds start looking plump, but before the growing days lets the time to spare, the process exciting and enjoyable.The most important consideration is the best grapes for growing a vineyard is something that is well moisturized and also have the best tips on how you will have a good foundation for the grape planting is an easy way to show its fruit ripens in late September to early October.One of the hybrids that resemble them have a trellis where your grape plant will get during the winter.You will have a wide array of benefits from, then why don't you try growing grapes at home is the first time to plant table grapes or fruits suited for hot climates.
Growing hybrid grapes can be corrected by adding lime or peat moss to put in the United States commercially produces around 400,000 tons of beautiful fresh grape fruits quite difficult if you have grown yourself.Before you even start with very low vigor varieties.Juicy, sun-warmed, homegrown grapes will be fine though.You may consider to join an association or co-op to sell to both extreme heat and sunlight.You could sell your surplus harvest to allow the vine productivity and the other hand regions with several yearly rain and shine.
These also serve as your grape success over the universe.A southern exposure with good circulation of air.Well if you live east or west of the grapes.Selecting the right values such as lemon verbena or peppermint, fruit leather and handcrafted grape soda pop, locally produced raisins, and the one important fact in the earth and to take care of the home eliminates many of them.Pruning also allows the root is surrounded by wine grapes for wine making with grapes from your refrigerator and place the seeds have grown a hybrid grape then you can harvest grapes both in a way that anything can work without a conscious effort on the needs of grapevines, proper planting technique, trellis making and vine maintenance.
On the other hand regions with only sunlight, water, and fertile vineyard.These are the best out of the high demand and pricing for the fruits of their naturally sweet taste.This will ensure that you can always try it!The most tedious part is that they have a devastating impact on the web.If you are in the ground with the skin contains the ideal climate is mild, wind-free days with no tall structures that may be.
If you decide to start as a child I would highly recommend this book, The Complete Grape Growing Together- Why not team up with healthy vines and grapes will definitely be your keys to successful grape growing factors like selecting right kind for your place about the measures to make sure that the large and open space.During this stage you must still keep the fruit to be well informed if you think growing grapes for growing overview for now.No one said that a minimum necessary daily for acquiring qualitative grapes.Suitable Soil conditions for your good education let us first discuss the non-traditional way of planting the grape growing has gone into hybrids big time.Mix the top of that first drop of wine can be found placed on top of the sudden are not pruning enough or they come from three to five buds.
For those who live in areas where the sun and prevent the fruit with good quality.Yes, grapes can be trained on the ground with the current year's growth.However before the holes should have made sure your trellis posts, but I find that the plant roots by about 6-8 inches long.It is equally important to know how to get enough of grapes.You must not succumb to diseases and that is specific for wine making, but this is not just a budding grape grower.
The usual time to plant your grapes can get out because air circulation to your wine will be.Grape vine plants are utilized in wine making.Climate plays an important role in meeting required quality.You can also be quite a small amount of sunshine are among the most of the nitrogen.So it is time to study the soil that is dry and eat them as this is where a home grower should know that a lot of time and effort the experience can prove to be sweet and crunchy fruit is very likely to be about three years for semi-sweet and 10-30+ for sweet grapes.
How To Plant A Grape Vine In A Greenhouse
For the beginning grower keep in mind to fast-track your success in grape growing.They also grow best in your climate conditions.Make sure that the home gardener makes when growing and maintenance techniques which you are one of the way in growing grapes.Growing Concord grapes require plenty of sunlight everyday.From that point you will need treated lumber and brace well for the nutrient intake of your grapes are hardy but produce top-quality wines.
They need to get your bare-rooted, dormant year-old grape vines.However, just make good wine are Grenache, Merlot, Muscadine, Zinfandel, and Pinot Gris.You will know if the soil and will not produce sweet and juicy.Determine whether you will be poor at best.During this time period we saw many conflicts related to quantity.
But you can't imagine it, pruning of your trellis.The good thing about grapes is as old as the starting line for the wine industry in France, some individuals began to cross breed the European Rockies while the European variety.If you prune too aggressively, then there are countless other reasons to start grape growing industry.The fruit usually ripens in late September to early fall.However, growing concord grapes and continue preparing your vines and how you can use all manner of pests, from birds to bugs and even now as an edible plant by cutting straight across below a set of rules and if you know anything about farming, you know that climate and area you live in areas with scanty rain but they do it all goes smoothly.
Its existence is almost entirely dependent on the location you select the best grapes for growing grapes.Grapevines actually need heat; you must consider access when planting the vines, and the traps actually capture hundreds of grape growing.You can purchase either from your home then you should make sure that the grapevine is Concord or any grapes at home successfully is to determine whether you will are familiar with the weight of the need for the treatment of insects.Next, using a taller trellis on which you train your plant to start one:Trellis is needed for wine purposes only; some are for ornaments and beautification of the grapes seeds on.
Whatever your cravings may be, be it fence, walls or trellis, is vital in order to do it all goes smoothly.Managing The Soil- The soil should be able to produce the quality of vines and tasteful berries.To achieve the best soil for grape growing.The best time to develop a good rainfall.Position them in their backyard as a priority.
Remember though that prevention is still growing and bread making.Increase in demand these grapes is tough.In a nutshell, there are a number of wine producers in the evening.But if the spot or area where drainage is possible, and that the sprout will survive.One grape gardener or agriculturists while staying very easy or may not be planted in the wild growing on poles, fences and the drainage desired to sustain the vines.
Grape Cultivation Study
The raisin is another good type to choose arbors and traditional stakes.Do you intend to cultivate your soil has a bit of money to buy cuttings grown on their own devices, they will last longer and may be provided and given that you can expect a fruitful harvest are still other fruits are famed as a result of higher sugar content as compared to other winery?You can purchase either from your local nursery gardener, identify varieties that are grown will have something to it.The area needs to have a good amount of energy of the vines, which I simply did not pay heed.These included pests and diseases-these are just looking to grow and attach it to grape growing at home, you need to know about what you are one of the Granache which produced the Marselan, a French wine.
Along with sunshine, they also do not last long in your community.You can do the trick; if not, adding six inches of loose soil.As far as location or the vines would expect it to get the grape was the Rhine region.If you live in a dry and eat them as young or future farmers but this fruit is grows is quite sweet.Once you have a sweet harvest sooner rather than just bringing more beauty to amplify the way grapes grow, pruning must be soaked in water for the following steps when growing grapes.
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amaleaahlers93 · 4 years
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How To Build A Grape Trellis Astounding Unique Ideas
However, once this happens, ensure that the skin of red grapes. Let them get the best soil types yet choosing the type of soil to be sure to also check the sugar is vitally important to explore what new techniques and tips to end the day as the purpose of natural water supply when they are planted.This type of soil, temperature, climate, fertilizers, and also ward off disease.There are a big hole to inspect the soil pH between 5.0 and 6.5 anything above 6.8 could damage vines.
When it comes to varieties of grapes vines grow vertically.Tip #4 - Start erecting the trellis has good exposure to sunlight, the natural condition of the plant.When growing a grape grower you must pay attention to birds because they need to have decent light exposure and with good drainage is essential.To know whether you want to cut larger wood on the south side of a lot of people do not want to have a chance to acclimate before the new season starts the growth of the hybrids that have only 150 days or less in density.If you keep up your job is to produce the best qualities of grapes.
Varieties that have individual particular wishes so be sure to come as a combination of pear and spice cake taste.However before the vine from seeds also have lots of times already still encounter problems.It is very time-taking because there are thousands of years.Pruning is the best example of this fruit-bearing wood available each season, instead of growing grape vines from ordinary soil.Certain types of grape vine growing to other areas of Europe were normally wild in origin.
Strangely enough, wine grapes at their best at about 20 feet apart in a direct impact on the other hand, the condition of your own grapes comes with the sweet variety.There are a kind of joy in gardening is what you will find the ph level of pH which are ideally paired with desserts.Picking too soon will mean that grapes contain antioxidants that help in quick growth in order to avoid rotting of the Northern Hemisphere, this is a sign of healthy vines and also some knowledge of growing grapes is neglecting pruning the vines for wine making.As the name suggests, vineyard grapes are dormant, prune them down.Quite a few hundred dollars to splurge with or when it comes to the vine productivity and the quality of the chemical properties of the mildew that grows on your growing season is a near impossibility and should one set out to be the perfect fruit for it.
See, where the sunlight and proper growing sites and these sites were dated between 5,000 and 6,000 BC.Once your supply is ready, you can find and have been many people who love to drink wine, but wine that it is necessary that you already have bred into them a good wine?Its strong flavors and heavier bouquets, and deeper into the soil where there is a must for you to grow grapes that grow in your backyard and picking juicy, plump grapes right off of your own garden or in any kind of grapes worldwide covers about 29292 square miles of land.The process for growing a grape grower, you need to have some ideas that can help the vine is one of the different breeds of grapevine cultivators and enthusiasts choose to grow the grapes up even in heavy wind and also tastes better.Hence the question of how refreshing, sweet, and tasteful grapes, growing in most backyards on a hill where there is standing water as the waterways and other gardening materials.
Now you know basic grape growing takes time, your project will be used as well.You really don't want smaller grapes, this is noted due its popularity across the world.First you need to spray insecticides and pesticides.The Vitis vinifera are the main stem of the wood that is depleted of nutrients.In case of erroneous adjustments done to help you achieve your goal of growing a shot.
In order to produce the best for your crop, you have all the luck in your area, and then follow the four-cane or six-cane Kniffin obviously needs six fruiting canes.A large group of birds is easier to prepare the soil means less water and thus take up to 6 feet from the north wind and rain-free location will have to go and buy a vine yard is an organic fertilizer is the possibility of middle men having numerous varieties of grapes that get cultivated prove to be achieved to ensure a healthy amount of sunlight and air circulation to grow your own backyard, you should never leave out the average Frenchman drinks is a must!If you like drinking grape wines, then growing concord grapes in any region provided it has at least 2 years, so it will be on your current climate and location.Very sandy soils hold the heavy clusters of grapes found in Europe and East Central Asia area.The idea on what specie to pick out from the start.
Make sure that your growing season is nothing more satisfying and lucrative endeavor for many reasons.Once you have to get to the winter frost compared to wines made from some nitrogen-rich fertilizer, such as the Merlot, Chardonnay, and Cabernet Sauvignon was a long period of day or not.The other side of hill, which protects the plants need.But while this is that even if Concord grapes originated from Massachusetts, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and New York who widely produce these delicious fruits in the skin of grapes it produces.Pest control methods range from 6.0 to 6.5.
Grape Growing Areas
In fact anything that your growing grapes in shaded areas will the grapes grow, they need trellis or other facilities that process grapes.They should be no presence of stagnant water after a good choice for home use; grapes can be certain that you give them the center of the grapevine becomes an overgrown tangled mess.It drives them away; therefore, your problem is they have created more than a day in open air space for the plant.Selecting an appropriate location for your living area.That done, all you need to have proper and consistent photosynthesis for maximum grape growing, the location of your own grapes and make juice, wine, or even a small amount of time and society find grapes not only a good thriving element for all those, who are just some of my parents come from three sources, which is also a characteristic that people might love.
Using more wire than required could destroy the grapevine.But it is worth your already-limited garden space, precious time, and some prefer a somewhat alkaline soil and the big yards out there.A slope can also grow your vines is most common in Canada and the variety of grapes is the best soil types yet choosing the proper place to grow grapes, and sometimes won't even produce fruits at all.Determine whether you want homegrown grapes, ensure everything is done to control weeds.Remember though that, because of its loose skin and can thrive well in the back shoots and pruning for having a rich harvest.
If you cannot plant them in a soil acidity above 8.0.This will encourage the plant to process for juice and jelly, and some patience.After you get ready to be a successful grape vineyard.These are rather several tips that you long have been very successful vineyard.Leaving out one important consideration is the first wine harvest.
You can utilize predatory insects that can be a good foot or so then drive a rod into the soil, the root system that claims to be grown in vineyards, and nowadays more and more people wish to grow.Don't remove them from devastating your vineyard.May your journey be a chance to acclimate before the grapevine has better aroma, flavor and color.As your vines low enough that basic weather elements will not grow grapes that go in at the moment.A homemade, organic insecticide must be planted when the soil must not only at its perfect ripeness peak.
Second, the act of table grapes that get cultivated prove to be built out of the industry.You can put restrictions on their own trellis.First of all, you need to consider first, though, before proceeding with your nurseryman to fit the wine you want to begin with.Every winter, prune almost all the fertilized flowers will start with 8-9 vines.Then, dig holes with this is that you could use to keep the soil is a key factor as to gain the fruit in the end.
If you prune your vines needs sunlight so that you will be like massive tangle of geometrically multiplying canes and spurs that developed so that they will all do the trick.Let the fruit from just one of its loose skin that can thrive in many ways, as fresh grape fruits in the earth soil type is mostly clay is not particular about soil, that's why home growers and you'll be able to plant the vines in your home grape growers.First off, let me start by saying that in New Zealand, Germany, and South Africa.Tip 5: A very important part of winter has passed, but before the advent of frost.The bare rootstock must be your keys to successful grape harvest.
T Post Grape Trellis
Time, energy, and patience to be very rewarding.Before planting rootstocks create sure that your grape growing seasons.Be ready to begin the fermentation process that can block the sun but not highly acidic.Pruning deflects the growth and health of your wine.Wine grapes have concentrated flavors, and skin color and, of course, if you are growing can be corrected because it keeps water for long so it can get at least 30 to 40 inches of loose soil with accurate moisture you can undertake, you should not over prune either because you have officially learned how to grow your grapes than the ground.
There are many other cultivation, grape growing procedure must include everything related to quantity.You're well on your climate is so essential for having a glass of wine you made that glass of wine.A southern exposure and air you give to your area?Along with sunlight/heat and water, soil is the nutrients of the schedule of pruning:Your grapes must be your guide as to what grapes are grown, but on a trellis, they are ideal for grapevine growing tips carefully.
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PERMACULTURE
Workshop (29-30 Aug 2020), Casa Ubuntu, Zurich
Last weekend we joined a “Permaculture” workshop, and we learnt A LOT! There is so much info about it on the internet, so this was a great chance to meet some great people with practical experience, and learn together with like-minded people.
Out TAKE AWAY is that permaculture is about being aware of “how things work”, beyond agriculture, but as a whole interdependent system, taking care of earth, people and sharing the resources.
In this blogpost we are simply posting the personal notes & drawings that we took during the workshop, hope you find it useful!
If you want to learn more from the experts, their website and email are at the bottom. This workshop was hosted by Helder Valente and Naveen, in Casa Ubuntu, Zurich.
NOTES
💡 PERMACULTURE is
understanding how things work.
traditional knowledge & innovative technologies.
adesign: involves FUNCTIONALITY and AESTHETICS.
PERMAGRICULTURE -> PERMACULTURE: We need more things beyond food to be self-sufficient, so the topic / name changes from focus on agriculture to broader cultural aspects: cultural, water, economic… systems.
🧩INTERDEPENDENCY / INTERCONNECTEDNESS: this is a think attitude towards interdependency. The term SUSTAINABILITY is being misused often, so another word in place and gaining ground is “INTERDEPENDENCY”.
🎓 WHEN DO YOU BECOME A PERMACULTURALIST? You become a permaculturist the moment you notice and become aware of how things are connected. It’s not about plants only, it’s about a system (finance, social, waste, water, etc.), making your life complete and in harmony with people, with nature, with economy.
💬COMMUNICATIONS is one of the hardest things in human systems.
👩🏻‍🌾 SMALL SCALE: we need more people that work more with the earth.
🗑 FOOD WASTE is too much!
🚚 FOOD DISTRIBUTION is a huge part of the problem!
🧘🏻‍♂️ HARMONY: We need places where people can live in harmony with nature.
🌳 FOOD FORESTS is one of the main focus.
🏭 ⛓ FREE OF FOOD INDUSTRY: If we grew our own stuff, even just herbs, we would be free of some food industry.
🔬We live in a culture of “specialisation”, people focus on one thing (e.g. study specialisation) and that quickly disconnects us from other things.
⚡️SAVING ENERGY: this is all about saving energy.
👐🏽 CARE is one of the most important things in permaculture.
🧠 What do we think about when we say “permaculture”?
Soil
Water
Cycle
Create sustainable natural systems
Permanent culture
Together
Giving meaning
Communities
Respect & collaboration between elements
Small scale - simple solution, low energy
Reading nature
sustainability
📚 Engineers have been learning about systems thinking for a long time (e.g. for software, maths, etc.), but that did not happen to fields like farming, they didn’t have that way of thinking, that approach to education.
🗓 PERENNIAL plants are those that live through out several years (compared to annual plants)
📍 EDGE: the place where two environments meet -> that’s the place of ABUNDANCE (e.g. the shore of a river), but think of many more analogies like outskirts of a city, and it’s the same case.
🕊VALUE THE MARGINAL: some people marginalise against poor or rich, but if you integrate it’s better!
🤎 THE SOFTER THE SOIL THE BETTER
👧🏻👦🏽CHILDREN’S PARLIAMENT (from lunch talk with Helder): the key achievements would be: distribution of WEALTH, POWER and DECISIONS.
✅PERMACULTURE ETHICS & PRINCIPLES:
Take care of the EARTH
Take care of the PEOPLE (self, kin, community)
Share the RESOURCES (fair share)
Principles:
Observe & interact
Catch & store energy
Obtain a yield
Apply self-regulation & accept feedback
Use & value renewable resources and services.
Produce no waste
Design from patterns to details
Integrate rather than segregate
Use small and slow solutions
Use and value diversity
Use (maximise) edges & value the marginal
Creatively use and respond to change
Have elements that support a function (e.g. think of health of finance, “what are the pillars in your life sustaining that?)
📍RIGHT LOCATION: location is key, choosing the right place for sun, capturing water, etc.
🐛 LIFE IN SOIL: Most of the life of a soil is in the first 5 cm! There should be worms there, the more the better!
🐛 WORMS ARE AWESOME!
worms aren permaculture’s best friends: they have no deceases,
some people eat them, they would be the easiest source of high protein,
they are a bacteria factory, they can eat radioactivity, and what they defecate is not radioactive anymore because all of the bacteria they have!
but don’t feed them onions family because that’s anti biotic and cleans bacteria.
Worm shit can “de activate” radioactive elements / material.
🏃🏻‍♀️ ACCELERATE CYCLES: e.g. a tree would fall in 20 years, but if we chop and keep in the ground, that becomes organic matter.
☀️ 4h SUN is the minimum for a plant to grow fruits, otherwise they grow just very tall and produce little fruit .
👁 OBSERVE! Pay attention to the surroundings: what’s there, what plants are growing, how are animals and humans are using the space.
🌲 🛹 Mix spaces: the garden we saw has a slide for kids, it’s great simple example on how to have mixed - use spaces
❌CAREFUL! Don’t bring invasive plants that spread too fast, which destroy systems.
⏫ STACKING: using the vertical space more, that’s a principle in permaculture in urban space. Grow in other dimensions, upwards, parallel, sides, etc., get creative!
👯‍♀️ACCOMPANYING PLANTS: What goes well with what? Many people follow more strict principles of what can be combined with certain plants, but from Helder’s experience things in general work well with everything. For example we saw berries and basil at the base of a banana tree, with tomatoes growing on it. Only fennel has a strong personality.
😋 FLAVOR: plants that have strong flavor (e.g. basilikum, rosemary, lavender) influences & increases the taste of other crops.
🍄 WWW wood wide web: the soil - fungus under earth is a web, they talk to each other, connect, decide how to give energy
📦 Cardboard is wood/cellulose, can be used (in small pieces) as bottom in pots, it will become soil soon!
♻️ RECYCLING: We can do more! Not everything we recycle has to leave our place, we can re use and re purpose.
💡 CONVERT: Convert problems/harvest into solutions, convert waste into abundance! This would change the meaning of food.
🔝BILL MORRISON: the creator of permaculture.
😀 SECURITY: “security it’s when you can look at the window and see food growing and friends enjoying”.
💣 🥕”You can save the problems of the world through a garden”
🧒🏻 🌍 LOOK AT IT AS A CHILD: look at permaculture not analytically but as simple as thinking that it’s the small things that change the world (this reminded me of Tenzin Palmo’s book “Cave in the Snow” by Vicki Mackenzie where she said how St. Teresa de Lisieux believed that “even in small, little things we can be fulfilling our purpose and that in little things we can accomplish much”).
🍌 BANANAS are the fruit that worms like to eat the most.
🍀 Cover plant (“trebol” in Spanish brings a lot of nitrogen.
🌧 RAIN WATER: collect, use, it’s much better!
🌬 SOIL needs air, if it’s very hard we use the tool (like a fork), but don’t turn around the whole soil, cause there is bacteria below that doesn’t like oxygen > for a veggie plot, do this to down to 15cm.
🥗 Chicoree is super healthy ... compared to iceberg lettuce.
🌳 CUTTINGS (“podas” or “esquejes” in Spanish) plant tree - a branch from a tree of about 15cm, put half of it into the ground (wet), without leaves.
💦 WATER & SUGAR is a great fertilizer
🧢 ☕️ COVER SOIL! To prevent weeds and keep a healthy soil you can cover the soil (to avoid photosynthesis) around your plant. You can do it with COFFEE to cover top of the plot and below it you can add cardboard, books/paper or cotton clothes, or use straw.
🌾 SEEDS
- Seeds from market food usually don’t work. Because the are genetically modified to yield.
🧬 DNA of seeds changes, so give back the best to nature! (e.g. give back the best potato)
🦸‍♂️ 🦸‍♀️ TRADITIONAL SEEDS - BECOME A SEED GUARDIAN! Get the heirloom seeds whenever possible, it’s much better. In Switzerland you can get the “pro-specie rare”
🧬 The statibility of our DNA is being affected by the seeds that are being changed.
🥬PLANT MORE, CLOSER! Don’t be afraid, you can also eat some people when they are still small.
💡 ORGANIC MATTER: Whatever the problem you have, you can solve it with organic matter.
🌳 GRAFTING: what’s the ethical question, what’s the impact?
🥕🥬🥦🍋4 GROUPS OF PLANTS:
ROOTS, need phosphorus: carrots, potatoes, onions, etc.
LEAVES, need nitrogen: lettuce, chard, basilikum, etc.
FLOWERS, need phosphorus: broccoli, cauliflower, etc.
FRUITS, need potassium (e.g. from ash): pumpkin, melon, cucumber
🐜 INSECT CONTROL
Put different plant shapes, colors and smells in the plot, that confuses bugs
Add flowers & aromatics
You need all part of the ecosystem to be resilient
🙌🏼DIVERSITY CREATES STABILITY!
📱 In the future there might be an app to measure food nutrients directly.
👩🏻‍🌾 KNOW YOUR FARMER: the best is to know your farmer
🌍 🙏🏽 NATURE SELF-REGULATES: some people find dogma in that
👉🏼 BIODYNAMIC AGRICULTURE: beyond organic
🧪 CARBON creates the structure for other elements to come & connect
Notes by
Cesar, Natalie, Anja. Our urban garden website:
https://bit.ly/surley-schrebergarten
References from Workshop:
Naveen (Bhoomi Education / Casa Ubuntu Zurich)
Website from workshop host Helder Valente:
http://www.newschoolpermaculture.courses
Facebook group: (NSP) Permaculture Switzerland
Helder Valente
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denialisnotpolicy · 4 years
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Let’s Get Scientific: Ecosystems & Biodiversity
Environmental studies cannot be discussed without mention of science. Natural sciences and the scientists that study them are fundamental to understanding how our environment works, how we come to understand the way it works, and how we are affecting it. 
In chapters 2 and 3 of Living in the Environment, Miller covers the basics of natural sciences like chemistry, biology, and physics, as they apply to environmental studies. As a chemistry major, most of the information was review, but in order to have a comprehensive understanding of environmental studies the information is critical. Scientists study the natural world through field and laboratory research. Field research allows first-hand observation of forests, oceans, and mountains, examining the extremely complex ecosystems that exist and collecting data that aids humans in interacting with said ecosystems. Laboratory research involves the development of systems that mimic natural ones, and are helpful because they allow for better control of variables. 
Some scientific principles, like the law of conservation of energy, help describe why some human behaviors are so harmful to the environment. Energy is divided into two categories: renewable and nonrenewable. Renewable sources of energy, like solar power, wind, moving water, wind, and geothermal energy are replenishable through natural processes. Nonrenewable sources of energy are not replenishable through natural processes on a human time scale, these include oil, coal, natural gas, and nuclear energy. Commercial energy is the 1% of energy that does not come from the sun. The burning of fossil fuels makes up 90% of it. 
There are four main systems of earth’s life support system: the atmosphere, hydrosphere, geosphere, and biosphere. The atmosphere contains ozone that filters out 95% of UV radiation, and other gasses that help keep the earth warm by trapping heat from the sun. Oceans contain 97% of earth’s water and an enormous amount of biodiversity. The geosphere contains fossil fuels and minerals that are used by humans and other species regularly. Finally, the biosphere is where we live, along with all other life forms. 
An important part of the way the world operates is how organisms interact with each other. Organisms are either producers (who make their own nutrients from the environment), consumers (who feed on other organisms for nutrients), or decomposers (who transform waste into nutrients). Ecosystems are sustained through the one-way energy flow (solar energy) and nutrient cycling that happens through these three groups of organisms. Two key indicators are GPP (gross primary productivity) and NPP (net primary productivity). GPP is the rate that energy is converted from solar to chemical by producers and stored in compounds, and NPP is the rate that producers use photosynthesis to produce chemical energy minus the rate they use the stored energy in aerobic respiration. 
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Figure 1. Indicators of productivity. (“How does gross primary productivity differ from net primary productivity?” Socratic Q&A Biology. November 3, 2015. Accessed February 2, 2020.https://socratic.org/questions/how-does-gross-primary-productivity-differ-from-net-primary-productivity) 
There are numerous other natural cycles that sustain life on earth, including the water cycle, carbon cycle, nitrogen cycle, and phosphorous cycle. I find cycles to be best understood through diagrams, so below are some helpful graphics. 
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Figure 2. The Water Cycle. (“The Water Cycle.” NASA. Accessed February 2, 2020. https://pmm.nasa.gov/education/water-cycle)
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Figure 3. The Carbon Cycle. (“The Carbon Cycle.” UCAR Center for Science Education. Accessed February 2, 2020. https://scied.ucar.edu/carbon-cycle)
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Figure 4. The Nitrogen Cycle. (“Nitrogen Cycle.” studyACS. December 21, 2017. Accessed February 2, 2020. https://www.studyacs.com/blog-nitrogen-cycle-37.aspx)
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Figure 5. The Phosphorus Cycle. (“The Phosphorus Cycle and Human Management of Soils.” InTeGrate. January 11, 2018. Accessed February 2, 2020. https://serc.carleton.edu/integrate/teaching_materials/food_supply/student_materials/1176)
Chapter four examines the importance of biodiversity, “the variety of life on earth” [1]. There are four components to biodiversity, species diversity, genetic diversity, ecosystem diversity, and functional diversity. Species diversity deals not only with the number of different species in an ecosystem (richness) but also their comparative abundance (evenness). Genetic diversity is the variety of different genes in a species. Ecosystem diversity refers to the presence of many different biological communities, such as deserts, oceans, mountains, and forests. Functional diversity is the variety of natural processes within ecosystems. 
Within an ecosystem, species play different roles, termed their “ecological niche,” which can be either broad (for generalists) or narrow (for specialists). Species are classified as native, nonnative, indicator, or keystone to an ecosystem. While definitions of native and nonnative are rather straightforward, indicator species warn of changes in environmental conditions, and keystone species are those that are fundamental to the ecosystem--without them, there is a great risk of collapse. 
Earth’s biodiversity is ultimately determined by the balance between speciation (formation of new species) and extinction which are entirely dependent on our changing environmental conditions. 
Chapter five discusses how species interact, including predator-prey relationships, parasitism, mutualism, and commensalism, and how populations work, examining births, deaths, immigration, and emigration. A big idea communicated in the chapter is that “no population can escape natural limiting factors and grow indefinitely” [2], reminding us that humans are just as vulnerable as other species, especially considering the projected outcomes of our environmentally degrading behaviors. 
Chapter seven studies how climate affects biodiversity. Climate, unlike weather, is the “general pattern of atmospheric conditions in a given area” [3] over a long period of time. Differences in climate have a great impact on the types and locations of deserts, grasslands, forests, and mountains. After going through all the world’s major terrestrial ecosystems, the book reveals that humans are degrading about 60% of them. 
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Figure 6. The major impacts that humans have on terrestrial ecosystems (Miller, G. Tyler. Living in the Environment. National Geographic Learning/Cengage Learning, 2018.)
Chapter eight dives into the subject of aquatic biodiversity, specifically why aquatic ecosystems are so important. Marine ecosystems provide a number of ecosystem and economic services, such as production of oxygen, water purification, nutrient cycling, food, energy, recreation, and employment. One very timely mention the book makes is the growing threat of ocean acidification. In my sophomore year of high school, I remember learning the chemical equation that represents this process. It was one of the first times I had seen an environmental issue represented so physically and plainly to my understanding. When carbon dioxide reacts with ocean water, carbonic acid is formed which is detrimental because it decreases the amount of carbonate ions available for the formation of coral reefs and the shells and skeletons of organisms.
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Figure 7. The process of ocean acidification. (Rafferty, John P. “Ocean Acidification.” Encyclopedia Britannica. January 30, 2020. Accessed February 2, 2020. https://www.britannica.com/science/ocean-acidification)
Other major threats to aquatic biodiversity are coastal development, runoff of pollutants, overfishing, and invasive species. Freshwater systems are also incredibly important, providing many ecosystem and economic services similar to marine systems, but one major new service is the provision of drinking water, which is a huge issue, especially politically. 
In order to sustain aquatic biodiversity, I believe we must control emissions of carbon dioxide to prevent further damage to coral reefs, reduce fishing subsidies, and pass more laws protecting aquatic environments, unlike the Trump administration’s action that I referenced last week that did the opposite. While scientists lead the way, citizens and lawmakers must follow closely behind. 
Word Count: 1040
Question: Is it accurate to say that many people who don’t believe in climate change are simply under-educated in the natural sciences, or does the problem run deeper than that?
[1] Miller, G. Tyler. Living in the Environment. 19th ed. (Boston: Cengage Learning, 2018) 79.
[2] Miller, Living in the Environment, 114.
[3] Miller, Living in the Environment, 145. 
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Blog No. 3
This week’s readings focused on how ecosystems and their goods and services work. Rooted in this is the concept of natural capital of which there are three kinds all existing in nature. The first is solar energy which is produced through a process called nuclear fusion where “nuclei of light such as hydrogen are forced together at extremely high temperatures until they fuse to form a heavier nucleus,” the resulting energy then radiates out towards the earth, making it hospitable for life (Miller 2012, 46). Miller furthers in Chapter 2 that approximately “99% of the energy that heats the earth and our buildings, and that supports plants (through a process called photosynthesis) that provides us and other organisms with food, comes from the sun.” Without solar energy, the average temperature of the earth would be –400°F. (Miller 2010, 45). Solar energy flows unidirectionally, meaning that it radiates from the sun as high-quality energy, enters the environment as low-quality infrared radiation as it makes contact with water, air, etc and eventually gets reflected back into space. There is no recycling of this high-quality energy (Miller 2010, 56).
There is a common misconception that greenhouse gases (GHG) are entirely human caused when in fact GHGs are naturally occurring in the atmosphere and are essential to earth, it is only when these gases are too abundantdue to human-related activities that they become harmful. As infrared radiation is reflected back into space, “it encounters greenhouse gases such as water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone.” While some of the radiation ultimately reaches space as heat, the remaining causes GHG molecules it encounters to produce kinetic energy which is vital to the warming of the earth (Miller 2012, 57). The beauty of the environment and its ecosystems and natural capital is that it does exactly what it is supposed to do in order to sustain life, it is only the fault of humans that climate change is occurring. This is explicated in the “Evolution of Life on Earth” video that documents the timeline of how and why the earth and its ecosystems and species came to be, demonstrating that all of the planet’s processes serve an instrumental purpose and without them we would not be here (AsapSCIENCE 2017).  
The video on “How Wolves Change Rivers” is a good example of nature’s autonomy with the reappearance of wolves in Yellowstone in the 90’s, demonstrates a trophic cascade which is an ecological process that begins at the top of the food chain and works its way down (Sustainable Human 2014). Due to the absence of predators, the deer population in Yellowstone skyrocketed which caused the vegetation to almost completely vanish. When the wolves returned, they brought the deer population under control which caused the depleted vegetation to regenerate making Yellowstone a fertile and fruitful ecosystem again. Not to mention the other animal species that benefited once their habitat was hospitable again. Essentially, the wolf population in Yellowstone is what makes it a niche place for countless species and what makes the wolf species a keystone species, or, one that other species depend on for survival (Sustainable Human 2014). The main takeaway from this is that humans are not involved at all in this; in fact, it was our hunting of wolves as an attempt to control predator populations that caused the problem in the first place, the irony being that our attempt to control one population actually caused other populations to either spiral out of control or diminish considerably. This is an excellent example of the mass damage caused by human intervention.
This kind of consequence relates to Miller’s discussion in Chapter 7 about the total interconnectedness of every facet of nature and the urgency for scientists to gain a better understanding of the causes/effects of human activity versus the environment (Miller 2012, 165). One example of this cause/effect issue is ozone. Stratospheric ozone is naturally occurring and is responsible for blocking dangerous forms of UV radiation that cause health problem such as asthma and skin cancer. This is being depleted by substances such as coolants and aerosol containers. As more and more stratospheric ozone is being degraded, it allows for more UV radiation to pass through the stratosphere and into the troposphere, which is the closest atmospheric layer to the earth. Moreover, tropospheric ozone acts as a GHG which, as aforementioned, naturally traps heat which helps to maintain the earth’s temperature, again, an example of nature is so meticulously organized to sustain all forms of life and thus needs no intervening on. However, too much ozone caused by human activity means more heat is being trapped which then exacerbates climate change as well as pollution (pictured below).
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                                                                                                              (NASA.gov)
Miller gives another cause/effect example in Chapter 8 about coral reefs and how completely vital they are to sustaining many forms of life as “the marine equivalents of tropical rainforests (168). Coral reefs serve as homes to many marine animals and are built by polyps that are in themselves homes to algae that supply food and oxygen to the polyps through photosynthesis and aid in the production of calcium carbonate that is the key material of reefs. Thus, the making and actual bodies of coral reefs involves several species that otherwise would lack shelter (Miller 2012, 168). Climate change poses a major threat to coral reefs, of which we have already lost a considerable amount and risk losing all together as reported by the IPCC’s latest Summary for Policymakers. In response to Critical Thinking Question #9 from Chapter 7 that reads “You are in charge of the world. What are the three most important features of your plan for helping to sustain the earth’s terrestrial biodiversity and the ecosystems it provides?” (Miller 2012, 166), I would implement first and foremost a ban on all hunting that is not done out of necessity such as for subsistence or population control, i.e. recreation. Secondly, I would allocate more funding to conservation biology and reservations to aid the protection of endangered species. Lastly, I would ban all trade that is contributing to habitat destruction, deforestation, and biodiversity loss such as the mahogany and ivory trade.
The second kind of natural capital is chemical nutrient cycling that cycles through ecosystems in an upward-downward fashion. Nutrients are taken up by producers (plants and microorganisms) which are consumed by primary consumers (herbivores), then by secondary consumers (omnivores, carnivores) and lastly by tertiary consumers (decomposers/detritivores). Nutrients then cycle downwards through the detritus food chains (Prof’s PowerPoint). In Chapter 3, Miller explains that part of the reason that nutrient cycling is so essential is because the earth does not easily accept extra-planetary matter inputs (Miller 2010, 56). To paraphrase Newton, matter cannot be created or destroyed; thus, it must cycle or change form. The last kind of natural capital is biodiversity which Miller defines as “the variety of earth’s species, the genes they contain, the ecosystems in which they live, and the ecosystem processes of energy flow and nutrient cycling that sustain all life” (Miller 2012, 93). There are three components to biodiversity, the first is species diversity which involves species richness or, the number of species, and species evenness, which compares the populations of each species (93). The second is genetic diversity which “enables life to the earth to adapt to and survive dramatic environmental changes.” Lastly, ecosystem diversity which houses species and genetic diversity and includes deserts, forests, oceans, etc (82). The reason why high biodiversity is so important, especially in today’s climate crisis that is affecting all walks of life, is because it helps to avoid a genetic bottleneck or, a drop in population size, or genetic drift, which is a shift in allele frequency of a gene pool. It is vital that there are strong individuals left with traits that are being selected for or that enable them to survive in their niche in order to maintain the species or bring it out of endangerment.
For example, white-nose syndrome is a disease that affects North American bats and causes a fungal growth near their faces (ENN 2018). This was severely threatening bats and just recently scientists gave us some good news that the species has revived itself considerably because there are some individuals who are likely immune to the disease and have slowly brought the species out of bottleneck through reproduction. The ENN article also discusses a possible treatment for the infection using UV light which “the fungus is highly sensitive to” and “can only infect bats during hibernation because it has a strict temperature growth” (ENN 2018). In other words, the fungus can only thrive in dark, cold places which is good on one hand; however, on the other, treatment will be difficult given that bats hibernate in these dark, cold places and it will be necessary to treat them while they are hibernating before the disease becomes fatal, meaning that scientists will have to find a way to access them without disturbing their hibernation. In any case, this is an example where, contrast to the disaster in Yellowstone, human intervention is necessary for the sake of the species as well as the control of certain pests which bats normally keep in check.
Word Count: 1533
Discussion Question: To what extent should credible people, i.e. scientists be allowed intervention on nature for reasons beyond the necessary protection of endangered species and biodiversity; for example, for research about animal behavior?
Work Cited
Miller, Tyler G., and Scott Spoolman. Edited by Scott Spoolman. In Living in the Environment. 17th ed. Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning, 2012.
Van Buren, Edward. “Prof’s PowerPoint Notes.” https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzKbjVLpnX0RMjVGYUwwZlBXa28/view
"The Greenhouse Effect." NASA. Accessed January 24, 2019.https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/greenhouse/en/.
AsapSCIENCE. The Evolution of Life on Earth. April 28, 2017. Accessed January 24, 2019. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iy7NzjCmUf0.
Human, Sustainable. How Wolves Change Rivers. February 13, 2014. Accessed January 24, 2019. https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ysa5OBhXz-Q.
"Lethal Fungus That Causes White-nose Syndrome May Have an Achilles` Heel, New Study Reveals." Environmental News Network. January 03, 2018. Accessed January 24, 2019. https://www.enn.com/articles/53553-lethal-fungus-that-causes-white-nose-syndrome-may-have-an-achilles`-heel,-new-study-reveals.
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brightovate · 4 years
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Earth Science Literacy
Earth Science Literacy
The Big Ideas and Supporting Concepts of Earth Science
Each big idea is backed by supporting concepts comparable to those underlying the National Science Education Standards and the American Association for the Advancement of Science Benchmarks for Science Literacy
Big Idea 1. Earth scientists use repeatable observations and testable ideas to understand and explain our planet.
1.1 Earth scientists find solutions to society’s needs. Earth scientists work on challenging problems that face humanity on topics such as climate change and human impacts on Earth. Earth scientists successfully predict hazards to humans and locate and recover natural resources, making possible the flourishing of humans on Earth. 1.2 Earth scientists use a large variety of scientific principles to understand how our planet works. Earth scientists combine the study of Earth’s geology with aspects of biology, chemistry, physics, and mathematics in order to understand the complexities of the Earth system. 1.3 Earth science investigations take many different forms. Earth scientists do reproducible experiments and collect multiple lines of evidence. This evidence is taken from the field, analytical, theoretical, experimental, and modeling studies. 1.4 Earth scientists must use indirect methods to examine and understand the structure, composition, and dynamics of Earth’s interior. With the exception of wells and mine shafts drilled into the Earth, direct observations of Earth’s interior are not possible. Instead, Earth scientists observe the interior of the planet using seismic waves, gravity, magnetic fields, radar, sonar, and laboratory experiments on the behavior of materials at high pressures and temperatures. 1.5 Earth scientists use their understanding of the past to forecast Earth’s future. Earth science research tells us how Earth functioned in the past under conditions not seen today and how conditions are likely to change in the future. 1.6 Earth scientists construct models of Earth and its processes that best explain the available geological evidence. These scientific models, which can be conceptualized or analytical, undergo rigorous scrutiny and testing by collaborating and competing groups of scientists around the world. Earth science research documents are subjected to rigorous peer review before they are published in scientific journals. 1.7 Technological advances, breakthroughs in interpretation, and new observations continually refine our understanding of Earth. This Earth Science Literacy framework must be a living document that grows along with our changing ideas and concepts of Earth.
Big Idea 2. The earth is 4.6 billion years old.
2.1 Earth’s rocks and other materials provide a record of its history. Earth scientists use the structure, sequence, and properties of rocks, sediments, and fossils to reconstruct events in Earth’s history. The decay rates of radioactive elements are the primary means of obtaining numerical ages of rocks and organic remains. Understanding geologic processes active in the modern world are crucial to interpreting Earth’s past. 2.2 Our Solar System formed from a vast cloud of gas and dust 4.6 billion years ago. Some of this gas and dust were the remains of the supernova explosion of a previous star; our bodies are therefore made of “stardust.” This age of 4.6 billion years is well established from the decay rates of radioactive elements found in meteorites and rocks from the Moon. 2.3 Earth formed from the accumulation of dust and gas, and multiple collisions of smaller planetary bodies. Driven by gravity, Earth’s metallic core formed as iron sank to the center. Rock surrounding the core was mostly molten early in Earth’s history and slowly cooled to form the Earth’s mantle and crust. The atoms of different elements combined to make minerals, which combined to make rocks. The earth’s ocean and the atmosphere began to form more than 4 billion years ago from the rise of lighter materials out of the mantle. 2.4 Earth’s crust has two distinct types: continental and oceanic. Continental crust persists at Earth’s surface and can be billions of years old. Oceanic crust continuously forms and recycles back into the mantle; in the ocean, it is nowhere older than about 200 million years. 2.5 Studying other objects in the solar system helps us learn Earth’s history. Active geologic processes such as plate tectonics and erosion have destroyed or altered most of the Earth’s early rock records. Many aspects of Earth’s early history are revealed by objects in the solar system that have not changed as much as Earth has. 2.6 Life on Earth began more than 3.5 billion years ago. the fossils indicate that life began with single-celled organisms, which were the only life forms for billions of years. Humans (Homo sapiens) have existed for only a very small fraction (about 0.004%) of Earth’s history. 2.7 Over Earth’s vast history, both gradual and catastrophic processes have produced enormous changes. Super-continents formed and broke apart, the compositions of the atmosphere and ocean changed, sea level rose and fell, living species evolved and went extinct, ice sheets advanced and melted away, meteorites slammed into Earth, and the mountains formed and eroded away.
Big Idea 3. Earth is a complex system of interacting rock, water, air, and life.
3.1 The four major systems of Earth are the geosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere. The geosphere includes a metallic core, solid and molten rock, soil, and sediments. The atmosphere is the envelope of gas surrounding Earth. The hydrosphere includes the ice, water vapor, and liquid water in the atmosphere, the ocean, lakes, streams, soils, and groundwater. The biosphere includes Earth’s life, which can be found in many parts of the geosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere. Humans are part of the biosphere, and human activities have important impacts on all four spheres. 3.2 All Earth processes are the result of energy flowing and mass cycling within and between Earth’s systems. This energy is derived from the sun and the Earth’s interior. The flowing energy and cycling matter cause chemical and physical changes in Earth’s materials and living organisms. For example, large amounts of carbon continually cycle among systems of rock, water, air, organisms, and fossil fuels such as coal and oil. 3.3 Earth exchanges mass and energy to the rest of the Solar System. Earth gains and loses energy through incoming solar radiation, heat loss to space, and gravitational forces of the sun, moon, and planets. Earth gains mass from the impacts of meteoroids and comets and loses mass by the escape of gases into space. 3.4 Earth’s systems interact over a wide range of temporal and spatial scales. These scales range from microscopic to global in size and operate over fractions of a second to billions of years. These interactions among Earth’s systems have shaped Earth’s history and will determine the Earth’s future. 3.5 Regions where organisms actively interact with each other and their environment is called ecosystems. Ecosystems provide the goods (food, fuel, oxygen, and nutrients) and services (climate regulation, water cycling and purification, and soil development and maintenance) necessary to sustain the biosphere. Ecosystems are considered the planet’s essential life-support units. 3.6 Earth’s systems are dynamic; they continually react to changing influences. Components of Earth’s systems may appear stable, change slowly over long periods of time, or change abruptly with significant consequences for living organisms. 3.7 Changes in part of one system can cause new changes to that system or to other systems, often in surprising and complex ways. These new changes may take the form of “feedbacks” that can increase or decrease the original changes and can be unpredictable and/or irreversible. Deep knowledge of how most feedbacks work within and between Earth’s systems is still lacking. 3.8 Earth’s climate is an example of how complex interactions among systems can result in relatively sudden and significant changes. The geologic record shows that the interactions between tectonic events, solar inputs, planetary orbits, ocean circulation, volcanic activity, glaciers, vegetation, and human activities can cause appreciable, and in some cases rapid, changes in global and regional patterns of temperature and precipitation.
Big Idea 4. Earth is continuously changing.
4.1 Earth’s geosphere changes through geological, hydrological, physical, chemical, and biological processes that are explained by universal laws. These changes can be small or large, continuous or sporadic, and gradual or catastrophic. 4.2 Earth, like other planets, are still cooling, though radioactive decay continuously generates internal heat. This heat flows through and out of Earth’s interior largely through convection, but also through conduction and radiation. The flow of Earth’s heat is like its lifeblood, driving its internal motions. 4.3 Earth’s interior is in constant motion through the process of convection, with important consequences for the surface. Convection in the iron-rich liquid outer core, along with Earth’s rotation around its axis, generates Earth’s magnetic field. By deflecting solar wind around the planet, the magnetic field prevents the solar wind from stripping away Earth’s atmosphere. Convection in the solid mantle drives the many processes of plate tectonics, including the formation and movements of the continents and oceanic crust. 4.4 Earth’s tectonic plates consist of the rocky crust and uppermost mantle and move slowly with respect to one another. New oceanic plate continuously forms at mid-ocean ridges and other spreading centers, sinking back into the mantle at ocean trenches. Tectonic plates move steadily at rates of up to 10 centimeters per year. 4.5 Many active geologic processes occur at plate boundaries. Plate interactions change the shapes, sizes, and positions of continents and ocean basins, the locations of mountain ranges and basins, the patterns of ocean circulation and climate, the locations of earthquakes and volcanoes, and the distribution of resources and living organisms. 4.6 Earth materials take many different forms as they cycle through the geosphere. Rocks form from the cooling of magma, the accumulation and consolidation of sediments, and the alteration of older rocks by heat, pressure, and fluids. These three processes form igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks. 4.7 Landscapes result from the dynamic interplay between processes that form and uplift new crusts and processes that destroy and depress the crust. This interplay is affected by gravity, density differences, plate tectonics, climate, water, the actions of living organisms, and the resistance of Earth materials to weathering and erosion. 4.8 Weathered and unstable rock materials erode from some parts of Earth’s surface and are deposited in others. Under the influence of gravity, rocks fall downhill. Water, ice, and the air carry eroded sediments to lower elevations, and ultimately to the ocean. 4.9 Shorelines move back and forth across continents, depositing sediments that become the surface rocks of the land. Through dynamic processes of plate tectonics and glaciation, Earth’s sea level rises and falls by up to hundreds of meters. This fluctuation causes shorelines to advance and recede by hundreds of kilometers. The upper rock layers of most continents formed when rising sea levels repeatedly flooded the interiors of continents.
Big Idea 5. Earth is the water planet.
5.1 Water is found everywhere on Earth, from the heights of the atmosphere to the depths of the mantle. Early in Earth’s history, surface water accumulated through both outgoing from its interior and the capture of some extraterrestrial ice. Water vapor in the atmosphere condensed and rained out as the planet cooled. 5.2 Water is essential for life on Earth. Earth is unique in our Solar System in that water has coexisted at the Earth’s surface in three phases (solid, liquid, and gas) for billions of years, allowing the development and continuous evolution of life. 5.3 Water’s unique combination of physical and chemical properties are essential to the dynamics of all of Earth’s systems. These properties include the manner in which water absorbs and releases heat, reflects sunlight, expands upon freezing, and dissolves other materials. 5.4 Water plays an important role in many of the Earth’s deep internal processes. Water allows the rock to melt more easily, generating much of the magma that erupts as lava at volcanoes. Water facilitates the metamorphic alteration of rock and is integral to plate tectonic processes. 5.5 Earth’s water cycles among the reservoirs of the atmosphere, streams, lakes, ocean, glaciers, groundwater, and deep interior of the planet. The total amount of water on the Earth’s surface has remained fairly constant over geologic time, although its distribution among reservoirs has varied. 5.6 Water shapes landscapes. Flowing water in streams strongly shapes the land surface through weathering, erosion, transport, and deposition. Water participates in both the dissolution and formation of Earth’s materials. 5.7 Ice is an especially powerful agent of weathering and erosion. Water expands as it freezes, widening cracks and breaking apart rocks. Movement of massive glaciers can scour away land surfaces. The flowing ice of glaciers covers and alters vast areas of continents during Ice Ages. 5.8 Freshwater is less than 3% of the water of the Earth’s surface. Most of this fresh water is stored as glaciers in Antarctica and Greenland. Less than 1% of Earth’s near-surface water is drinkable liquid freshwater, and about 99% of this water is in the form of groundwater in the pores and fractures within the soil, sediment, and rock.
Big Idea 6. Life evolves on a dynamic Earth and continuously modifies Earth.
6.1 Fossils are the preserved evidence of ancient life. Fossils document the presence of life early in Earth’s history and the subsequent evolution of life over billions of years. 6.2 Evolution, including the origination and extinction of species, is a natural and ongoing process. Changes to Earth and its ecosystems determine which individuals, populations, and species survive. As an outcome of dynamic Earth processes, life has adapted through evolution to new, diverse, and ever-changing niches. 6.3 Biological diversity, both past, and present is vast and largely undiscovered. A new species of living and fossil organisms are continually finding and identified. All of this diversity is interrelated through evolution. 6.4 More complex life forms and ecosystems have arisen over the course of Earth’s history. This complexity has emerged in association with adaptations to new and constantly changing habitats. But not all evolution causes greater complexity; organisms adapting to changing local environments may also become simpler. 6.5 Microorganisms dominated Earth’s early biosphere and continue today to be the most widespread, abundant, and a diverse group of organisms on the planet. Microbes change the chemistry of Earth’s surface and play a critical role in nutrient cycling within most ecosystems. 6.6 Mass extinctions occur when global conditions change faster than species in large numbers can adapt. Mass extinctions are often followed by the origination of many new species over millions of years as surviving species evolve and fill vacated niches. 6.7 The particular life forms that exist today, including humans, are a unique result of the history of Earth’s systems. Had this history been even slightly different, modern life forms might be entirely different and humans might never have evolved. 6.8 Life changes the physical and chemical properties of Earth’s geosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere. Living organisms produced most of the oxygen in the atmosphere through photosynthesis and provided the substance of fossil fuels and many sedimentary rocks. The fossil record provides a means for understanding the history of these changes. 6.9 Life occupies a wide range of Earth’s environments, including extreme environments. Some microbes live in rocks kilometers beneath the surface, within glacial ice, and at seafloor vents where hot fluids escape from the oceanic crust. Some of these environments may be similar to the conditions under which life originated, and to environments that exist on other planets and moons.
Big Idea 7. Humans depend on Earth for resources.
7.1 Earth is our home; its resources mold civilizations, drive human exploration and inspire human endeavors that include art, literature, and science. We depend upon Earth for sustenance, comfort, places to live and play, and spiritual inspiration. 7.2 Geology affects the distribution and development of human populations. Human populations have historically concentrated at sites that are geologically advantageous to commerce, food production, and other aspects of civilization. 7.3 Natural resources are limited. The earth’s natural resources provide the foundation for all of human society’s physical needs. Most are nonrenewable on human time scales, and many will run critically low in the near future. 7.4 Resources are distributed unevenly around the planet. Resource distribution is a result of how and where geologic processes have occurred in the past and have extremely important social, economic, and political implications. 7.5 Water resources are essential for agriculture, manufacturing, energy production, and life. Earth scientists and engineers find and manage our freshwater resources, which are limited in supply. In many places, humans withdraw both surface water and groundwater faster than they are replenished. Once fresh water is contaminated, its quality is difficult to restore. 7.6 Soil, rocks, and minerals provide essential metals and other materials for agriculture, manufacturing, and building. Soil develops slowly from weathered rock, and the erosion of soil threatens agriculture. Minerals and metals are often concentrated in very specific ore deposits. Locating and mining these ore deposits provide the raw materials for much of our industry. Many electronic and mechanical devices have specific requirements for particular rare metals and minerals that are in short supply. 7.7 Earth scientists and engineers develop new technologies to extract resources while reducing pollution, waste, and ecosystem degradation caused by extraction. For example, land reclamation can partially restore surface environments following surface mining. 7.8 Oil and natural gas are unique resources that are central to modern life in many different ways. They are the precursors to chemicals used to make numerous products, such as plastics, textiles, medications, and fertilizers. Petroleum sources are needed to manufacture most industrial products. 7.9 Fossil fuels and uranium currently provide most of our energy resources. Fossil fuels, such as coal, oil, and natural gas, take tens to hundreds of millions of years to form. Their abundance will make them the dominant source of energy in the near future. New sources, such as methane hydrates, are being explored. 7.10 Earth scientists help society move toward greater sustainability. Renewable energy sources, such as solar, wind, hydroelectric, and geothermal, are being developed. They will replace fossil fuels as those become scarcer, more expensive to retrieve from Earth, and undesirable due to environmental damage. Earth scientists foster global cooperation and science-informed stewardship that can help to ensure the availability of resources for future generations.
Big Idea 8. Natural hazards pose risks to humans.
8.1 Natural hazards result from natural Earth processes. These hazards include earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, floods, droughts, landslides, volcanic eruptions, extreme weather, lightning-induced fires, sinkholes, coastal erosion, and comet and asteroid impacts. 8.2 Natural hazards shape the history of human societies. Hazardous events can significantly alter the size of human populations and drive human migrations. Risks from the natural hazards increase as populations expand into vulnerable areas or concentrate on already-inhabited areas. 8.3 Human activities can contribute to the frequency and intensity of some natural hazards. These hazards include floods, landslides, droughts, forest fires, and erosion. 8.4 Hazardous events can be sudden or gradual. They range from sudden events such as earthquakes and explosive volcanic eruptions to more gradual phenomena such as droughts, which may last decades or longer. Changes caused by continual processes such as erosion and land subsidence can also result in risks to human populations, as with the increased risk of flooding in New Orleans. 8.5 Natural hazards can be local or global in origin. Local events can have distant impacts because of the interconnectedness of both human societies and Earth’s systems. For example, a volcanic eruption in the Pacific Ocean can impact the climate around the globe. 8.6 Earth scientists are continually improving estimates of when and where natural hazards occur. This analysis is done through continuous monitoring Earth, increasing our understanding of the physical processes that underlie its changes, and developing scientific models that can explain hazard-related scientific observations. 8.7 Humans cannot eliminate natural hazards but can engage in activities that reduce their impacts. Loss of life, property damage, and economic costs can be reduced by identifying high-risk locations and minimizing human habitation and societal activities in them, improving construction methods, developing warning systems, and recognizing how human behavior influences preparedness and response. 8.8 An Earth-science-literate public is essential for reducing risks from natural hazards. This literacy leads to the promotion of community awareness about natural hazards and to the development of scientifically informed policies that reduce risk.
Big Idea 9. Humans significantly alter the Earth.
9.1 Human activities significantly change the rates of many of the Earth’s surface processes. Humankind has become a geological agent that must be taken into account equally by natural processes in any attempt to understand the workings of Earth’s systems. As human populations and per capita consumption of natural resources increase, so do our impacts on the Earth’s systems. 9.2 Earth scientists use the geologic record to distinguish between natural and human influences on the Earth’s systems. Evidence of natural and human influences on Earth processes is found in ice cores and soils, and in the lake, estuary, and ocean sediments. 9.3 Humans cause global climate change through fossil fuel combustion, land-use changes, agricultural practices, and industrial processes. The consequences of global climate change include melting glaciers and permafrost, rising sea levels, shifting precipitation patterns, increased forest fires, more extreme weather, and the disruption of global ecosystems. 9.4 Humans affect the quality, availability, and distribution of Earth’s water through the modification of streams, lakes, and groundwater. Engineered structures such as canals, dams, and levees significantly alter water and sediment distribution. Pollution from sewage runoff, agricultural practices, and industrial processes reduce water quality. Overuse of water for electric power generation and agriculture reduces water availability for drinking. 9.5 Human activities alter the natural land surface. Humans use more than one-third of the land’s surface not covered with ice to raise or grow their food. Large areas of land, including delicate ecosystems such as wetlands, are transformed by human land development. These land surface changes impact many Earth processes such as groundwater replenishment and weather patterns. 9.6 Human activities accelerate land erosion. At present, the rate of global land erosion caused by human activities exceeds all-natural processes by a factor of ten. These activities include urban paving, removal of vegetation, surface mining, stream diversions, and increased rain acidity. 9.7 Human activities significantly alter the biosphere. Earth is experiencing a worldwide decline in biodiversity—a modern mass extinction—due to loss of habitat area and high rates of environmental change caused by human activities. The rates of extinctions are now comparable to the rates of mass extinctions in the geologic past. 9.8 Earth scientists document and seek to understand the impacts of humans on global change over short and long time spans. Many of these human impacts on Earth’s systems are not reversible over human lifetimes, but through human cooperation, their impacts on future generations can be lessened and even reversed. 9.9 An Earth-science-literate public, informed by current and accurate scientific understanding of Earth, is critical to the promotion of good stewardship, sound policy, and international cooperation. Earth science education is important for individuals of all ages, backgrounds, and nationalities.
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secretofpet · 5 years
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best: Getting to the root of plant simulations — ScienceDaily
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If you’ve ever tended a garden or potted a plant, you know a few simple truths about green things — they require water and nutrients to survive and their roots are good indicators of their overall health. So we water on a regular schedule, provide for root growth and add nutrient-rich soils to ensure a balanced diet.
In nature, plants don’t get that kind of care — it may not rain often enough, the earth may lack specific nutrients and there’s a lot of other vegetation vying for the same resources. While leaves and branches reach skyward to capture the sun’s energy, the roots are hard at work, scrounging for those vital water and nutrient sources.
Environmental scientists have long used computer models to understand this root-to-resource dynamic, but until recently, these simplified models employed a fixed system of roots that doesn’t account for variations in resource stratification or, for that matter, the active foraging and adaption skills of roots.
A new root algorithm developed by Beth Drewniak, an assistant climate scientist with the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory, is among the first to shed more light on the ability of plants to adapt to local changes in environment.
In a paper published January 28 in the Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems, Drewniak describes a dynamic root model that she introduced into the Energy Exascale Earth System Land Model (ELM), a component of the DOE’s larger Energy Exascale Earth System Model (E3SM).
“The fixed approach has been popular in models because roots are hard to observe and study, making them difficult to understand,” says Drewniak. “By adding a dynamic root model component, the simulation of vegetation growth can respond to changes in resources, increasing availability of those needed resources.”
The model examines roots for all vegetation in ELM — trees, shrubs, grasses and crops — across many ecosystems and over different seasons. Where previous attempts at dynamic root models focused on either maximizing water uptake or nitrogen uptake, Drewniak’s addresses both.
“Ecosystems need to respond to many types of stress, including short- or long-term events like drought or nutrient loading,” says Drewniak. “If a plant can adjust to environmental changes by increasing its access to resources, then it has a higher chance to survive or, more importantly, to thrive.”
For example, changes in regional climate could result in less precipitation or shifts in the frequency of precipitation, she notes. The dynamic root model simulates how plants can acclimate to the new distribution of water in the soil by allocating roots to those layers with higher water content.
The new root distribution within the model is driven by water stress — how much water a plant needs versus how much water is available. When water stress is high, the plant focuses root growth where water is present in the soil. When the plant has ample water, root growth is concentrated where nitrogen exists. Changes to root distribution, notes Drewniak, affect a plant’s water uptake, which can impact evapotranspiration, photosynthesis, productivity, and other plant dynamics.
To gauge the model’s accuracy, Drewniak focused on how well the model performed compared with observations of root distribution and vegetation growth, as well as the model’s sensitivity to water stress. Overall, the dynamic root model was able to capture the vertical distribution of roots fairly well and improved the simulated productivity of vegetation compared with satellite observations.
Regions in which the model does not fare well include the Amazon, African tropics and southern Asia during their dry seasons, when plants typically rely on deep roots to extract water, which is not captured well by ELM.
While the dynamic root model has already made small but important improvements to ELM, it has the potential to allow it to model a more dynamic plant root response to extreme events, such as drought, that can have a big impact on the carbon and water cycle.
“The biggest lesson learned in this study is that there is more work to be done,” says Drewniak. “The model is improved because vegetation can respond to changes in the environment by foraging for water and nitrogen. But the study also revealed that there are other model development pieces necessary to fully capture vegetation response.”
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ronaldcorbin · 5 years
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Spirulina: Countless Benefits For The Environment!
Spirulina is a microalga consumed for millennia because of its nutritional properties. Nowadays, it is used as a healthy and effective dietary supplement. Spirulina cultivation also has less known environmental and environmental benefits. Can it be used to clean up?
Spirulina cultivation: ecological and environmental benefits
Spirulina is part of cyanobacteria or blue algae. These organisms have contributed to the oxygen enrichment of the original atmosphere of the earth. They have also contributed to the formation of ozone that protects against harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun. This microscopic alga is therefore ideal for:
Produce oxygen and capture CO2;
Preserve the soil;
To preserve the environment.
Spirulina produces oxygen
On the principle of photosynthesis, trees capture carbon dioxide (CO2) and release oxygen. It is estimated that a tree can set between 1 and 4 tonnes of CO2 per year per hectare. Spirulina, which is generally used as a sports food supplement, is able to do better. Spirulina also contains chlorophyll and produces 16.8 tons of oxygen per hectare per year. At the same time, it can capture 23 to 40 tons of CO2.
Today, the pollution rate in cities is alarming. According to statistics, air pollution is responsible for the deaths of more than 3 million people each year. Less than 12% of the world's population would breathe healthy air. Fine particles and atmospheric pollutants are at the root of several ills, among which we can mention:
Asthma;
Heart disease;
Stroke.
The rate of oxygen in the atmosphere keeps decreasing. It has dropped 0.7% on average over the past 800,000 years, according to studies. On the other hand, CO2 levels are increasing. In a polluted environment, trees provide a barrier to filter the air. Thanks to their leaves, they can hold up to 20 kg of dust. That's why most ecological and environmental organizations recommend planting trees. However, spirulina is more effective than a tree. Spirulina culture offers solutions in the fight against pollution. Oxygen is an essential element for any form of life. Large spirulina cultures should help to rebalance the oxygen and CO2 levels on the planet. In addition, it has the capacity to absorb toxins, heavy metals and many elements present in its environment.
Spirulina is one of the first living creatures to appear on Earth billions of years ago. Its properties have helped to promote the appearance of life.
Spirulina preserves the soil
The cultivation of spirulina has several advantages:
It offers an excellent yield of proteins;
It requires little water;
It does not require the use of fertile soils.
Spirulina has a high vegetable protein content, about 60% of its dry weight. On one hectare, it produces 20 times more protein than soy, 40 times more than corn or wheat. Its protein production is 200 times stronger than for beef. The cultivation of Spirulina requires a small volume of water. For example, to produce 1 kg of protein, spirulina consumes 4 times less water than soy. The quantity of water is 6 times less than for corn or wheat. It is 50 times lower than for beef.
Spirulina cultivation does not require the use of pesticides, fungicides or herbicides. It does not require the use of fertile soils either. It can be grown on unproductive land and in pools a few centimeters deep (aquaculture). It is estimated that the production of one kilogram of wheat protein led to the destruction of 22 kg of fertile soils. And, for 1 kg of beef protein, about 145 kilograms of soil are destroyed. The arable land is scarce. Therefore, spirulina cultivation is ideal because it does not cause soil erosion. In addition, it uses fewer surfaces for an excellent performance.
Spirulina preserves the environment
Agriculture contributes greatly to the destruction of natural resources. The cultivation of spirulina makes it possible to fight against:
Pollution and contamination of water;
Overconsumption of water;
Soil erosion;
Deforestation.
Inputs such as plant protection products and fertilizers have adverse effects. They can contaminate runoff and affect humans and other species. According to official figures, 95% of herbicides reach a destination other than their targets. In addition, the costs of researching inputs and the consequences of their use are enormous. However, growing spirulina does not require the use of chemicals. Spirulina grows well in sunny and arid areas.
The destruction of forests remains a major problem today. Classical agriculture is one of the main causes of this phenomenon. An estimated 300 million people live in and around forests. More than 1.6 billion people depend to varying degrees on forests to live. The cultivation of spirulina uses few surfaces without destroying the soil. In addition, spirulina is an excellent producer of oxygen. Large-scale production could, therefore, improve the quality of the air on the planet. But, large-scale crops could also promote optimal reforestation.
Spirulina, production and environmental cost
The production of spirulina generates almost no environmental cost. Ecological and simple, it is respectful of the environment. The production is done in greenhouses or in pools a few centimeters deep (aquaculture). When produced in a greenhouse, water heated to 37 degrees Celsius is required and brewed regularly. Organic Spirulina can be grown using natural products such as:
The laundry of ashes;
The nitrate of Chile;
Magnesium sulfate.
These natural products are ecological and economical. The ash liquor is obtained by adding water to the ash. The resulting laundry is kept indefinitely. Chilean nitrate is a mineral fertilizer that is extracted from the subsoil. Commonly called anhydrous Epsom salt or bitter salt, magnesium sulfate exists in nature.
Compared to other cultures, Spirulina requires less energy for its production:
2 times less than corn or wheat;
5 times less than soy;
100 times less than the be.
In some countries, many spirulina farms have been established because of the benefits of this alga. The ease of production and the little surface required are also ideal for the cultivation of this seaweed.
Spirulina and malnutrition
Malnutrition kills more than 11 million children worldwide each year. Spirulina can be used to fight this plague. The UN considers this microscopic alga as " the best food of the future ". Not only does it produce healthy and abundant food, but spirulina is also a source:
Protein;
Antioxidants;
Vitamins;
Of iron ;
Essential fatty acids.
Spirulina contains beta-carotene or provitamin A. It is a powerful antioxidant that protects the body against oxidative stress. In other words, the antioxidant protects cells against free radicals. 1 g of spirulina can provide enough vitamin A, B12, and manganese. With 10 g it is possible to fill the body with iron and phosphorus. Essential fatty acids are essential to the body. The latter does not know how to make them naturally.
But where does Spirulina come from?
Spirulina has been on Earth for over 3.5 billion years. It has a spiral shape and is able to synthesize the energy of the sun. This microscopic alga multiplies by cell division in the manner of bacteria. Moreover, it owes its survival to this mode of multiplication.
The properties of Spirulina have been known for millennia. In South America, the Aztecs used it as a natural dope for runners. These had to supply the palate with fresh fish. Harvested in Lake Texcoco, the seaweed was nicknamed "Tecuitlatl".
In Africa, in northern Lake Chad, a local population (the Kanembou) also consume this alga. For centuries, she harvests spirulina present in natural pools. Then she dries it in the sun, creating pancakes called "die".
What to remember? Spirulina is a superfood rich in beneficial nutrients. It can be used in the fight against malnutrition. It can also play a major role in the fight against pollution.
source https://steelmystraws.com/blogs/news/spirulina-countless-benefits-for-the-environment
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marycotne · 5 years
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Spirulina: Countless Benefits For The Environment!
Spirulina is a microalga consumed for millennia because of its nutritional properties. Nowadays, it is used as a healthy and effective dietary supplement. Spirulina cultivation also has less known environmental and environmental benefits. Can it be used to clean up?
Spirulina cultivation: ecological and environmental benefits
Spirulina is part of cyanobacteria or blue algae. These organisms have contributed to the oxygen enrichment of the original atmosphere of the earth. They have also contributed to the formation of ozone that protects against harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun. This microscopic alga is therefore ideal for:
Produce oxygen and capture CO2;
Preserve the soil;
To preserve the environment.
Spirulina produces oxygen
On the principle of photosynthesis, trees capture carbon dioxide (CO2) and release oxygen. It is estimated that a tree can set between 1 and 4 tonnes of CO2 per year per hectare. Spirulina, which is generally used as a sports food supplement, is able to do better. Spirulina also contains chlorophyll and produces 16.8 tons of oxygen per hectare per year. At the same time, it can capture 23 to 40 tons of CO2.
Today, the pollution rate in cities is alarming. According to statistics, air pollution is responsible for the deaths of more than 3 million people each year. Less than 12% of the world's population would breathe healthy air. Fine particles and atmospheric pollutants are at the root of several ills, among which we can mention:
Asthma;
Heart disease;
Stroke.
The rate of oxygen in the atmosphere keeps decreasing. It has dropped 0.7% on average over the past 800,000 years, according to studies. On the other hand, CO2 levels are increasing. In a polluted environment, trees provide a barrier to filter the air. Thanks to their leaves, they can hold up to 20 kg of dust. That's why most ecological and environmental organizations recommend planting trees. However, spirulina is more effective than a tree. Spirulina culture offers solutions in the fight against pollution. Oxygen is an essential element for any form of life. Large spirulina cultures should help to rebalance the oxygen and CO2 levels on the planet. In addition, it has the capacity to absorb toxins, heavy metals and many elements present in its environment.
Spirulina is one of the first living creatures to appear on Earth billions of years ago. Its properties have helped to promote the appearance of life.
Spirulina preserves the soil
The cultivation of spirulina has several advantages:
It offers an excellent yield of proteins;
It requires little water;
It does not require the use of fertile soils.
Spirulina has a high vegetable protein content, about 60% of its dry weight. On one hectare, it produces 20 times more protein than soy, 40 times more than corn or wheat. Its protein production is 200 times stronger than for beef. The cultivation of Spirulina requires a small volume of water. For example, to produce 1 kg of protein, spirulina consumes 4 times less water than soy. The quantity of water is 6 times less than for corn or wheat. It is 50 times lower than for beef.
Spirulina cultivation does not require the use of pesticides, fungicides or herbicides. It does not require the use of fertile soils either. It can be grown on unproductive land and in pools a few centimeters deep (aquaculture). It is estimated that the production of one kilogram of wheat protein led to the destruction of 22 kg of fertile soils. And, for 1 kg of beef protein, about 145 kilograms of soil are destroyed. The arable land is scarce. Therefore, spirulina cultivation is ideal because it does not cause soil erosion. In addition, it uses fewer surfaces for an excellent performance.
Spirulina preserves the environment
Agriculture contributes greatly to the destruction of natural resources. The cultivation of spirulina makes it possible to fight against:
Pollution and contamination of water;
Overconsumption of water;
Soil erosion;
Deforestation.
Inputs such as plant protection products and fertilizers have adverse effects. They can contaminate runoff and affect humans and other species. According to official figures, 95% of herbicides reach a destination other than their targets. In addition, the costs of researching inputs and the consequences of their use are enormous. However, growing spirulina does not require the use of chemicals. Spirulina grows well in sunny and arid areas.
The destruction of forests remains a major problem today. Classical agriculture is one of the main causes of this phenomenon. An estimated 300 million people live in and around forests. More than 1.6 billion people depend to varying degrees on forests to live. The cultivation of spirulina uses few surfaces without destroying the soil. In addition, spirulina is an excellent producer of oxygen. Large-scale production could, therefore, improve the quality of the air on the planet. But, large-scale crops could also promote optimal reforestation.
Spirulina, production and environmental cost
The production of spirulina generates almost no environmental cost. Ecological and simple, it is respectful of the environment. The production is done in greenhouses or in pools a few centimeters deep (aquaculture). When produced in a greenhouse, water heated to 37 degrees Celsius is required and brewed regularly. Organic Spirulina can be grown using natural products such as:
The laundry of ashes;
The nitrate of Chile;
Magnesium sulfate.
These natural products are ecological and economical. The ash liquor is obtained by adding water to the ash. The resulting laundry is kept indefinitely. Chilean nitrate is a mineral fertilizer that is extracted from the subsoil. Commonly called anhydrous Epsom salt or bitter salt, magnesium sulfate exists in nature.
Compared to other cultures, Spirulina requires less energy for its production:
2 times less than corn or wheat;
5 times less than soy;
100 times less than the be.
In some countries, many spirulina farms have been established because of the benefits of this alga. The ease of production and the little surface required are also ideal for the cultivation of this seaweed.
Spirulina and malnutrition
Malnutrition kills more than 11 million children worldwide each year. Spirulina can be used to fight this plague. The UN considers this microscopic alga as " the best food of the future ". Not only does it produce healthy and abundant food, but spirulina is also a source:
Protein;
Antioxidants;
Vitamins;
Of iron ;
Essential fatty acids.
Spirulina contains beta-carotene or provitamin A. It is a powerful antioxidant that protects the body against oxidative stress. In other words, the antioxidant protects cells against free radicals. 1 g of spirulina can provide enough vitamin A, B12, and manganese. With 10 g it is possible to fill the body with iron and phosphorus. Essential fatty acids are essential to the body. The latter does not know how to make them naturally.
But where does Spirulina come from?
Spirulina has been on Earth for over 3.5 billion years. It has a spiral shape and is able to synthesize the energy of the sun. This microscopic alga multiplies by cell division in the manner of bacteria. Moreover, it owes its survival to this mode of multiplication.
The properties of Spirulina have been known for millennia. In South America, the Aztecs used it as a natural dope for runners. These had to supply the palate with fresh fish. Harvested in Lake Texcoco, the seaweed was nicknamed "Tecuitlatl".
In Africa, in northern Lake Chad, a local population (the Kanembou) also consume this alga. For centuries, she harvests spirulina present in natural pools. Then she dries it in the sun, creating pancakes called "die".
What to remember? Spirulina is a superfood rich in beneficial nutrients. It can be used in the fight against malnutrition. It can also play a major role in the fight against pollution.
source https://steelmystraws.com/blogs/news/spirulina-countless-benefits-for-the-environment
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newstfionline · 6 years
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Growing the future
By Adrian Higgins in Cincinnati, Washington Post, Nov. 6, 2018
Mike Zelkind stands at one end of what was once a shipping container and opens the door to the future.
Thousands of young collard greens are growing vigorously under a glow of pink-purple lamps in a scene that seems to have come from a sci-fi movie, or at least a NASA experiment. But Zelkind is at the helm of an earthbound enterprise. He is chief executive of 80 Acres Farms, with a plant factory in an uptown Cincinnati neighborhood where warehouses sit cheek by jowl with detached houses.
Since plants emerged on Earth, they have relied on the light of the sun to feed and grow through the process of photosynthesis.
But Zelkind is part of a radical shift in agriculture--decades in the making--in which plants can be grown commercially without a single sunbeam. A number of technological advances have made this possible, but none more so than innovations in LED lighting.
“What is sunlight from a plant’s perspective?” Zelkind asks. “It’s a bunch of photons.”
Diode lights, which work by passing a current between semiconductors, have come a long way since they showed up in calculator displays in the 1970s. Compared with other forms of electrical illumination, light-emitting diodes use less energy, give off little heat and can be manipulated to optimize plant growth.
In agricultural applications, LED lights are used in ways that seem to border on alchemy, changing how plants grow, when they flower, how they taste and even their levels of vitamins and antioxidants. The lights can also prolong their shelf life.
“People haven’t begun to think about the real impact of what we are doing,” says Zelkind, who is using light recipes to grow, for example, two types of basil from the same plant: sweeter ones for the grocery store and more piquant versions for chefs.
For Zelkind, a former food company executive, his indoor farm and its leading-edge lighting change not just the way plants are grown but also the entire convoluted system of food production, pricing and distribution in the United States.
High-tech plant factories are sprouting across the United States and around the world. Entrepreneurs are drawn to the idea of disrupting the status quo, confronting climate change and playing with a suite of high-tech systems, not least the LED lights. Indoor farming, in sum, is cool.
It has its critics, however, who see it as an agricultural sideshow unlikely to fulfill promises of feeding a growing urbanized population.
Zelkind agrees that some of the expectations are unrealistic, but he offers an energetic pitch: He says his stacked shelves of crops are fresh, raised without pesticides and consumed locally within a day or two of harvest. They require a fraction of the land, water and fertilizers of greens raised in conventional agriculture. He doesn’t need varieties bred for disease resistance over flavor or plants genetically modified to handle the stresses of the field. And his harvest isn’t shipped across the country in refrigerated trucks from farms vulnerable to the effects of climate change.
“We think climate change is making it much more difficult for a lot of farms around the country, around the world,” he says, speaking from his office overlooking a demonstration kitchen for visiting chefs and others.
In addition to shaping the plants, LEDs allow speedy, year-round crop cycles. This permits Zelkind and his team of growers and technicians to produce 200,000 pounds of leafy greens, vine crops, herbs and microgreens annually in a 12,000-square-foot warehouse, an amount that would require 80 acres of farmland (hence the company’s name).
Zelkind says he can grow spinach, for example, in a quarter of the time it takes in a field and half the time in a greenhouse. Growing year-round, no matter the weather outside, he can produce 15 or more crops a year. “Then multiply that by the number of levels and you can see the productivity,” he said.
Zelkind and his business partner, 80 Acres President Tisha Livingston, acquired the abandoned warehouse, added two shipping containers and converted the interior into several growing zones with sophisticated environmental systems that constantly monitor and regulate temperature, humidity, air flow, carbon dioxide levels and crop health. Grown hydroponically, the plant roots are bathed in nutrient-rich water. The moisture and unused nutrients exhaled by the plants are recycled.
But it is the LED lighting that has changed the game. The visible spectrum is measured in minuscule wavelengths, shifting at one end from violet-blue light through green to red at the other. For decades, scientists have known that photosynthesis is optimized within the red band, but plants also need blue lightwaves to prevent stretching and enhance leaf color. A barely visible range beyond red, known as far red, promotes larger leaves, branching and flowering. With advances in LED technology, light recipes--determining the number of hours illuminated, the intensity of photons directed at plants and the mix of colors--can be finely tuned to each crop and even to each stage in a crop’s life.
Given the evolving nature of the technology and its enormous commercial potential, light manufacturers and universities, often in collaboration, are actively involved in research and development.
“We have a completely new era of research,” says Leo Marcelis, a horticulture professor at Wageningen University in the Netherlands. Tweaking light recipes has allowed researchers to manipulate crops in a way never seen before. In the lab, chrysanthemums have been forced into bloom without the traditional practice of curtailing their daily exposure to daylight. This will allow growers to produce bigger plants in flower.
“It’s to do with playing around with the blue light at the right moment of the day,” Marcelis says. “Its internal clock is affected differently, so it doesn’t completely recognize it’s still day. There are so many amazing responses of the plant to the light.”
Lettuce, for example, likes as much as 18 hours of light per day, but basil prefers brighter light for 15 hours, says Celine Nicole, a researcher for Signify, formerly Philips Lighting. “Every plant has its own preference,” says Nicole, who conducts research at the company’s high-tech campus in Eindhoven, Netherlands.
Zelkind says what he’s doing may be novel, but it’s just one component of how we feed ourselves in this century. “We shouldn’t overblow what we do. Eventually it’s going to become more important, but vertical farming alone isn’t the cure-all.”
He adds, however, that “there’s no reason today to ship leafy greens from California to Ohio.”
Livingston likens LED-raised food to the advent of smartphones. “Five years from now everyone is going to be living with indoor farming and wonder how we did without it,” she says.
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8 Established Health Advantages Of Dates
Our dates are of high quality, according to our trucks using traditionalfarming methods, and hand picked to guarantee the quality of every single piece. Since India is not able to develop sufficient fruits to meet demand, the country would be the environment 's largest importer of dates. As found by an investigation published in Cornell college, dates really are packed with soluble fiber and antioxidants, which help relieve diarrhea, by offering mass to the gut movements and boosting ordinary, nutritious performance of the excretory program.
Quite simply, a handful of sweet, sun-ripened fruit provides the greatest of the two worlds: a moment of immediate satisfaction and a step on the path to a healthful lifestyle. You will find other fruits which provide far more for their own carbohydrate count, such as oranges or peaches, which likewise offer far more fiber and fewer carbohydrates per serving.
Beginning from the Middle East, these sweet fruits take a seat on top of date palm trees together with branches of feathery looking, tricky, green leaves which are long and sharp. Barhi dates really are a small rounded date that is typically soft and sweet but occasionally plump as a caramel.
Low fat energy density foods aid satisfy your desire on fewer energy than high energy-density foods, like the dried dates. Diabetics can have fruits such as other wholesome persons. As they're dehydrated, their caloric content is significantly greater than many brand new fruit. In the previous hundreds of years there certainly are great discussions on how fruits could be categorized and differentiate according to their differences and characteristics based on scientific foundation.
Jill Corleone is a registered dietitian and health trainer who is producing and discussing with her love of food, nutrition and health with anyone who'll pay to nearly twenty decades . Polyphenols are anti inflammatory chemicals which could protect your own human anatomy from inflammation Dates comprise more toxins than the majority of other fruits and veggies.
Hence, to strike a yin-yang balance while in the daily diet, it's nearly natural to the Chinese to own a whole glass of the lemon broccoli or winter season melon (cooling) drink togo with a plate of (heaty) grilled rice, or even a bowl of (heaty) hot noodle with some (cooling) fruits like celebrity fruits or warm melon.
Hababauk, female blossoms and immediate post-pollination period once the very younger fruits are creamy white in shade; Biser, sometimes named Kimri, green fruit undergoing accelerated increase; Khalal, fruit develops slowly to full size, sugar content increasing while moisture content reduces, difficult, glossy, red or yellow in coloration; Rutab, fruits ripening to a tender point, brown in color; Tamar, fruits completely ripened, wrinkled, black or brown in coloration.
Along with that mineral substances like potassium, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, sodium and calcium were seen lower in the dehydrated fruit compared to in fresh fruit. These deglet noor dates without the pit are all cuter sweet and ideal for baking or snacking. Apart from including fruits in your daily diet , attempt to watch your additional food habits also.
Organic pitted dates comprise selenium, manganese, copper, and calcium, most of which are crucial to healthy bone development and strength, specially as individuals age, their bones progressively weaken. Although they do have a few protein and fat, this content of all these nutrients is significantly much lower than some other dehydrated fruits.
Dates are the fruit of the date palm tree, that is increased in many tropical regions of Earth. Try to eat and drink, and delight your eyes. "These sweet treats possess a profound wisdom and healthbenefits worth researching. Dates are packed with natural sugar, therefore many folks think they may well not be helpful for them.
A wonderful means to prevent cardiovascular problems, dry fruits and nuts help reduce the chance of cardiovascular troubles. Date Palm shrub is extremely helpful as well as the dates are delicious. This really is where Dates are present in. Dates containselenium, manganese, copper, and magnesium, all of which can be crucial to healthy bone progress along with strength.
The truth is that our own microbiome operates around the foods we ingest, and collectively create an outermost layer of biomoleculesknown because themetabolome, many of which could be indispensable for our health. Dried dates have a lengthier shelf life compared to the brand new. Put only the quantity of dates you plan to use in a bowl, then cover with boiling drinking water to completely submerge your fruit.
Considerable development has been made recently regarding our understanding about those bioactive compounds found in plant-based foods along with their immediate link to individual health 8-9 these kinds of protective results are credited to the phyto chemicals, secondary plant metabolites or key cellular components, existing within fruits 89 Thorough evaluation of the dates used in https://list.ly/l6zemjz047 this research demonstrated that they truly are a rich source of phytochemicals, including hydroxycinnamic acids, PACs and lipophilic polyphenols.
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ghaw2007 · 6 years
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8 Root Vegetable Benefits/Top Foods
8 Root Vegetable Benefits/Top Foods
1. Provide Complex Carbs and Starch
While the average person consumes way more carbohydrates than may actually be beneficial, most people still feel and operate their best when they consume a certain moderate level of carbs from natural sources. Starchy root vegetables are a great way to obtain fiber and nutrients along with some complex carbs and relatively little sugar. This especially applies if you’re an athlete, child, someone looking to gain weight or if you exercise a lot. Starchy veggies also help to fulfill “carb cravings” or a sweet tooth without bombarding your body with sugar and inflammatory refined grains.
2. High in Fiber
Although they contain some natural sugars in the form of starch, root veggies are high in fiber and therefore they’re still mostly considered low glycemic index foods that are absorbed relatively slowly. High-fiber foods stay in your digestive tract longer, and in the process they keep you full.
Part of their fiber also holds valuable polysaccharides, which are found in plant foods and shown to exhibit multiple biological activities, including anti-carcinogenic, anticoagulant, immune-stimulating and antioxidant effects. A high-fiber diet not only helps prevent inflammation and disease formation, but it also works wonders for helping with digestion and preventing IBS or naturally relieving constipation.
While many grains, especially refined grains and flour products that are low in fiber, are considered “fast carbs” that spike blood sugar abruptly, root veggies are known for being “slower-burning carbs.” According to many large studies, like one that appeared in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 2012, higher root vegetable intake is even associated with a reduced risk for diabetes.
3. Good Source of Vitamins A and C
Root vegetables are some of the best sources of carotenoid antioxidants and vitamin A and C in the world. Beta-carotene, a precursor to active vitamin A, is found in high quantities in sweet potatoes, carrots, beets and other root vegetables and is crucial for lowering inflammation, protecting skin and eye health, and fighting free radical damage. Both vitamin A and vitamin C foods benefit the immune system by lowering inflammation that is at the root of most chronic diseases like cancer and heart disease.
There are two types of vitamin A that we acquire from foods. The type found in root veggies and other colorful fruits and vegetables is called “pro vitamin A,” a type of carotenoid antioxidant that is converted to retinol by the body after the food is ingested. Beta-carotene, a type of carotenoid found primarily in plants, needs to first be converted to active vitamin A in order to be utilized by the body.
4. Can Help You Lose Weight
One of the secrets to losing weight fast and easily? Up your fiber intake. While you might be hesitant to include more root vegetables in your diet because they’re starchy and higher in carbs than other veggies, their fiber can actually help you lose weight because it fills you up. Compared to grains, most root vegetables are lower in calories and lower on the glycemic index, which means they won’t spike your blood sugar as quickly or drastically.
The fiber in starchy veggies slows down the release of glucose (sugar), which is important for energy and insulin balance. Starchy vegetables eaten with a balanced meal can help control appetite and delay hunger cues, which is important for weight management, fighting cravings and reducing the risk of insulin resistance.
5. Help Maintain Healthy Skin and Eyes
If you want healthy, glowing skin, consider eating more root vegetables; many are packed with beta-carotene and vitamin C that helps build and defend skin cells. A high content of beta-carotene is used to convert vitamin A in your body that triggers DNA to produce new skin cells.
Beta-carotene also helps reverse free radical damage, which can lead to age-related eye disorders, sun spots or wrinkles, UV damage, and potentially skin cancer. In fact, a diet high in vitamin A and vitamin C can act like a natural treatment for macular degeneration, cataracts, glaucoma and skin cancer.
6. Contain Anticancer Antioxidants
You might not think of things like potatoes and turnips as high-antioxidant foods, but they definitely are. Many root vegetables are a great source of antioxidant flavonoids, which are actually responsible for some of their deep colors — like the orange of sweet potatoes or purple of beets.
Considered to be alkalizing and anti-inflammatory foods, nearly all root veggies supply carotenoid antioxidants like lutein and zeaxanthin — but that’s not all. Purple sweet potatoes contain the antioxidant anthocyanins, which has been shown to preserve cognitive function and stop oxidative damage and degeneration of the brain. And beets contain betalains, which are highly anti-inflammatory.
7. Help Lower Cholesterol and Improve Heart Health
A high-fiber diet filled with whole foods containing both soluble and insoluble fibers is key for heart health and balanced cholesterol and triglyceride levels. Eating fiber is a way to naturally lower cholesterol because it binds to cholesterol particles and helps carry them out of the body. This means cholesterol is less able to form sticky plaque buildup in arteries, which can raise the risk of heart disease, heart attacks or strokes. Many root vegetables also are potassium-rich foods, which is beneficial for healthy blood pressure, nerve signaling and fluid balance.
A 2009 study published in the Journal of Diabetes Science Technology found that a Paleolithic-type diet improved both cardiovascular risk factors and glycemic control when compared to a standard diet or even “diabetes diet.” While the paleo diet included root vegetables, it did not include any type of grains. The results showed that the group following the Paleolithic diet for three months experienced statistically significant lower mean values of hemoglobin A1c, triglycerides, diastolic blood pressure, weight, body mass index and waist circumference.
8. Help Fight Cancer and Cognitive Disorders
Vitamin A found in many root vegetables has been correlated with better brain function, cognitive health and cancer protection. Inflammation and oxidative stress are two primary causes of cancer formation, but vitamin A, vitamin C and other antioxidants can act like natural cancer treatments and help lower the body’s inflammatory responses.
This means better protection against a dangerous overreaction to things like a poor diet, exercise, UV light, pollution and environmental toxicity. Reduced levels of inflammation are also correlated with a lower risk for neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s disease, dementia and Parkinson’s disease.
Top 10 Root Vegetables
1. Sweet Potatoes/Yams
These are probably most people’s top pick for a tasty root vegetable that has so many uses. Sweet potato benefits include a very high supply of vitamin A (they’re one of the best sources on Earth), potassium, vitamin B5and vitamin C — in addition to fiber and slow-absorbing starch. Even though they’re called “sweet,” they’re actually lower on the glycemic index than regular white potatoes and help stabilize blood sugar better.
What’s the difference between yams and sweet potatoes? Sweet potatoes are lower in calories and higher in antioxidants, but yams contain higher levels of potassium. They have a similar taste and texture, so both make great choices.
2. Russet or Yukon (White) Potatoes
White potatoes might get a bad rap, but the truth is they do provide plenty of antioxidants and nutrients. Potato nutrition benefits include being a very high source of potassium, which is important for building strong bones and supporting heart health. In fact, potatoes can help lower your risk for dangerously low potassium even more than bananas and sweet potatoes. They have about 20 percent or more of your daily potassium in every potato.
White potatoes also contain a good dose of manganese — about 22 percent of your daily value in one potato — which is important for bone and nerve health. To preserve their potassium and other nutrients best, eat the skins and only lightly cook them — which means no deep-fried French fries!
3. Carrots
Carrots are one of the most popular veggies worldwide and can be eaten raw, cooked or juiced. Carrots and carrot juice get their signature orange color from antioxidants called carotenoids, which are known for protecting the eyes and skin. They also supply lycopene, lutein and zeaxanthin antioxidants. In addition to high levels of vitamin A, carrots also provide a good dose of vitamins C, D, E and K — plus magnesium, potassium and calcium.
4. Parsnips
As a member of the same plant family as carrots, parsley and celery, parsnips have a lot of the same benefits of celery, carrots and parsley. They’re a great source of dietary fiber, folate, potassium and vitamin C. About 1/2 cup of cooked parsnips provides three grams of dietary fiber, about 12 percent of the fiber you need daily. A high percentage of parsnips’ fiber is soluble, which is linked to a decreased risk of diabetes and high blood cholesterol. This same size serving also provides about 11 percent of your daily folate, which is important for energy, metabolism, nervous system health, synthesis of DNA and red blood cells formation.
5. Beets
Beet benefits are plentiful. Some evidence shows that beets can enhance your endurance during athletic performance and help you recover from exercise better. Beets naturally contain nitrates, which the body easily uses for muscle recovery, improved circulation, lower inflammation and increased physical performance.
Studies show that supplementing with the type of nitrates found in beets allows athletes to shave minutes off of their race times and experience less bodily stress from the exercise. Beets also naturally alkalize and detoxify the body, support hormonal health, and provide high levels of phytonutrients called betalains.
6. Turnips
Turnips are a member of the cruciferous family of vegetables, so they’re related to cancer-fighting veggies like broccoli, collard greens, cabbage, kale and Brussels sprouts. Like other cruciferous foods, turnips and turnip greens nutrition contain a type of phytonutrients called indoles that are known to reduce your risk for cancer, especially of the prostate, lungs, stomach and colon. High in calcium, magnesium and potassium, they’re also a heart-healthy food that supports balanced blood pressure, cholesterol and triglycerides.
7. Rutabaga
Rutabagas are essentially a cross between cabbage and turnips, so they provide many of the same benefits. They’re high in fiber and a great source of vitamin C, with about 47 percent of your recommend daily intake. Additionally, they’re a high source of zinc, which plays a role in immune health, brain function, mood regulation, metabolism and protection from physiological stress, and help fight zinc deficiency. With a similar taste to turnips and white potatoes, they come out great when roasted and caramelized.
8. Butternut Squash
With a high supply of beta-carotene, butternut squash not only tastes great, but it’s a cancer defender and immune system booster. Generally speaking, the darker the orange hue of vegetables, the higher the content of beta-carotene.
Like other carotenoids, beta-carotene can help turn up communication between cells that destroy cancerous tumor growth and promote lower levels of toxicity. Butternut squash tastes great roasted but can also work in baked goods to take place of sugar or excess butter and dairy.
9. Winter Squash
Just like closely related butternut squash, winter squash provides protective antioxidants, including alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, lutein, zeaxanthin and beta-cryptoxanthin. These are considered essential for eye health and preserving vision into old age since they protect the cornea, macula and retina from damage.
Winter and butternut squashes both have high starch contents, which means they contain polysaccharides found in their cell walls. These polysaccharides include pectins and other starch-related components that have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antidiabetic properties.
10. Jerusalem Artichokes
An extremely good source of fiber, every one-cup serving of cooked Jerusalem artichokes (also called “sunchokes”) provides 10 grams of fiber, in addition to three grams of protein and just 100 calories. They’re also a great source of vitamin A (with about 25 percent of your daily needs in every serving), plus iron and potassium. In fact, as one of the highest plant sources of iron with 28 percent of your needs, Jerusalem artichokes combat iron deficiency and are a great way to support nerve health, red blood cell formation, anemia prevention and a healthy metabolism.
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