Energy Assignment Part 3

Coal in New Zealand would work really and they do already use a lot of coal, but since they already use a lot of coal and it isn't renewable and isn't that healthy for the environment, I don't believe it is that great to use. With tidal energy, I would work very well, but they don't have a lot of space to create a dam and they don't have somewhere that provides enough water to create a very functional dam. It would work really well, but it's expensive and they don't have much space or anywhere at all to put a usable dam. Wind would work really well and they do have some areas that use wind energy, but again they don't have a lot of space to put the amount of wind turbines they need. Also, some residents have complained about the turbines they already have saying they're annoying and ugly which is typical for wind turbines. New Zealand can afford it and they do get enough wind so I believe what they're doing right now with balancing renewable and un-renewable sources of energy is what they should keep doing, but they should try to get more wind turbines since it's good for the environment and will keep there beautiful country healthy. People will have to live with the look of the turbines and one other thing is that they do have a lot of wind in some parts of the country making it more reliable than in other parts of the world.

Energy Assignment Part 2

In New Zealand, they use many different sources of energy, they try to split the amount of renewable and un-renewable energy used, but the type of energy they use the most is oil. The highest renewable form of energy they use is geothermal. Oil and gas is produced from 21 petroleum licenses / permits, all in the Taranaki basin. The most important fields are Kapuni, Maui, Pohokura and Kupe. Exploration for oil and gas reserves includes the Great South Basin and offshore areas near Canterbury and Gisborne. New Zealand uses most of the oil they get for international travels with commercial boats and planes. There have been quite a number of oil spills and especially in New Zealand's tropical unique land scape, the oil spills have really affect the beautiful coral reefs off the coasts. The current cost is about 67.129 cents per litre.

Energy Assignment Part 1

Coal:
Pros - There's huge amounts and easy access to it. Also, it's not expensive and has a substantial existing infrastructure. It can be converted to a liquid or gas.

Cons - You can't renew coal and contains the most CO2 per BTU, the largest contributor to global warming. Also, costs a lot of money to transport it and mine it. It can emit large amounts of radiation.

Uses - The main use of coal is in the production of electricity. About half of the electricity in the United States, and two-thirds of that in the world, is supplied by coal-burning power plants. Coke, a product left after heating coal, is used to manufacture iron and steel.

Benefits - It is very easy to get a hold of and is very cheap to buy for your energy.

Drawbacks - It contaminates everything it comes in contact with and comes from unhealthy and unsafe mines.

Tidal:
Pros - It is renewable energy and requires no fuel. Also, it doesn't emit anything and can last a long time. It is capable of providing a storm surge barrier with energy.

Cons - The cost of building it is way to expensive and its limited to only certain areas in the world. They're usually in remote locations and it can restrict access to open water. Also, it can change the tidal level in the area.

Uses - Tidal is a form of hydropower that converts the energy of tides into useful forms of power, mainly electricity. Although not yet widely used, tidal power has potential for future electricity generation. Tides are more predictable than wind energy and solar power.

Benefits - Tidal energy is great for having renewable energy and can provide energy for a long time.

Drawbacks - It can affect a lot of animals such as fish and birds by ruining mud flats and tidal cycles in the area.

Wind:
Pros - Wind energy is very healthy and doesn't create pollution. Also, there is no way to run out of energy because the Earth is going to always  blow wind making it renewable energy. The price of wind energy has also dropped a ton.

Cons - It takes a lot of windmills to create enough energy and if there is no wind you wont have energy making it unreliable. Also, they can be a threat to animals especially birds. Its been reported that the noise gets very annoying and loud too.

Uses - Wind turbines can convert the energy in the wind into mechanical power that can be used for a variety of activities like pumping water. Wind turbines can also use generators to convert wind energy into electricity.

Benefits - It does not cost a lot to set up and buy, also protects the possibility of power outages.

Drawbacks - Wind energy is just to unpredictable and can't be relied on and lots of people seem them as to big and a waste of space and ugly too.

Case Study: Waikiki Beach

1) Tons of sand has disappeared off of Waikiki beach because of erosion. The salt water flowing in has done a lot to cement slabs that lay under what use to be a lot of sand, but with it all going away lots of the cement and other dangers have been exposed. Sand mining has been its own cause of erosion, by adding new sand it has caused it to mix and erode.

2) They have added sand many times in attempt to make the beach bigger and safer. When I was in Hawaii a couple years ago I remember being told that they had been shipping sand over from Australia and that's why Waikiki beach was a lot whiter in color than other parts of the island. I didn't know why they were doing that I just new that I liked the way the sand felt. Now that I have read about why they were doing it, I don't see the same beauty in the beach as I did before because I remember seeing the cement slabs and other eroded parts, but didn't think it was a huge issue especially causing the sand to erode and disappear. I believe it hasn't been very effective since they have had to replenish the sand many times over many years, I believe they need to try new ways of stopping the erosion. 

3) Economic impacts could result in tourists depleting and causing income of local stores around Waikiki beach to drop. Also, to replenish the sand every time it costs around two point two million every time and if the eroded cement slabs were to break away it would cost a lot to fix and clean away the floating debris. Socially people would not be very attracted to Waikiki beach anymore and people who live in the area would loose interest in visiting the beach and its near attractions. This could also cause people to loose much income if they own businesses near the beach and considering how expensive Hawaii is to live in, especially Waikiki, it will be very hard to remain financially stable there and people could become homeless. Which is another thing I remember about Waikiki, there is a lot of homeless people throughout the city. The environment could be greatly effected, if the cement slabs were to break away it could make it very unsafe in the water off the beach and the parts of buildings and side walk they protect could also start to erode. People could exposed to many dangers if the eroding increases and chemicals start to spread throughout the sand and water along the beach. The plants along the beach and sea life in the water could start to die away if the erosion gets really bad. 

Case Study: Glacial Retreat

Part A: 1) In the Himalayas the glaciers are melting a lot faster than in other places on Earth because the rise in temperature is a lot more than anywhere else. Since the Himalayas help feed some of Asia's major rivers and other water sources, the melting is helping with that a lot more, but at the same time could cause potential overflow and flooding if they start melting at faster rates. Glacier National Park is also experiencing the melting of glaciers and here it is very clear, since they aren't huge glacier packs and it is very easy to see where they are you can see how much over the years they've melted away. GNP is mainly being affected by less snow in the winters and warmer summers. In Antarctica there's a peninsula made up of mountainous glaciers which home to many breeding grounds for animals. If the warming continues all year long it will be pretty devastating because there will be major impacts and new rock and permafrost will become visible and the ability to breed for the animals will be harder since there won't be as much surface area for all the animals and less places to be safe.

2) Social impacts could consist of a loss of tourists wanting to visit the area and therefore meaning that locals who live near the glacier may miss out on extra income from tourism. Other factors are unreliable snowfall which could result in there not being enough snow for winter sports such as skiing and snowboarding. That would also mean a loss of tourists for those winter sports as well. This could cause a sharp increase of unemployment would arise in these areas and locals may be forced to move away to look for work in more residential areas.  Environmental impacts at a global scale could contribute to sea-level rise, a change with significant consequences in coastal areas around the globe. That being said, some small areas near mountains with melting glaciers could have small rivers and other water resources overflow and flood. In a long term stand point most regions of the world, glaciers are now providing less water than before to the rivers immediately below them, reducing the availability of an economically important resource. Economy would be really impacted and have lots of tourism and water resources shut down which means losses of businesses causing unemployment, like I mentioned earlier. Also, damages could happen if floods are to happen and if it gets really bad there could also be people who become homeless, but that is very unlikely to happen. 

Part B: Lots of the tourist attractions involving glaciers will be greatly affected as they melt and retreat away. Less tourists would come to see the area and money would become harder to come by with business depleting. Also, with less snow falling because of warmer weather and the melting ice off the glaciers flushing it away will make it less likely to have huge snowfalls meaning harder to run winter sports such as snowboarding and skiing. This in the far future could be a major impact on the winter olympics. We have already seen examples of this with our past winters having a lot less snow and back in 2010 when we had to get snow for the mountains for the winter olympics. I personally have been to Jasper to the ice fields and been out on the glaciers and you could see where the ice had gotten soft and melted away and also they had pictures of what it use to look like. 

Part C: New Zealand glaciers have been retreating since 1890, with an acceleration of this retreat since 1920. Most of the glaciers have thinned measurably and have reduced in size, and the snow accumulation zones have risen in elevation during the 20th century. These large, rapidly flowing glaciers situated on steep slopes have been very reactive to small mass-balance changes. A few years of conditions favorable to glacier advance, such as more westerly winds and a resulting increase in snowfall, are rapidly echoed in a corresponding advance, followed by equally rapid retreat when those favorable conditions end.

Case Study: Flooding in Brisbane Australia

1) Queensland’s devastating floods are the result of heavy rains caused by two normal weather storms. The trade winds were also a cause, because the prevailing pattern of easterly winds in the tropics, forcing warm water to build up in the western Pacific. In the Pacific that warm water helps strengthen rainfall and build more clouds. To the northwest of Australia, the annual monsoonal low pressure trough brought wet weather and heavy rain to the region causing more rainfall. One of the dams built also had an impact since the people who built didn't expect many major rainfalls in the future it helped provided even more water for the floods.

2) Social Impact: The floods have held up many peoples lives and made people homeless with no wheres to go. They have put a strain on the resources of Queensland's health services. These floods have also blocked air and land access to affected areas at various times, they delayed the redeployment of many capable first-responders to the areas where they were needed most. There is not much access to safe drinking water, medicine and hygienic food. There are lots of diarrhoeal diseases, the most deadly are staphylococcal endotoxins, which can lead to severe food poisoning, toxic shock or lung disease if inspired.

Economic Impact: Tourism had been impacted as well since there was no access in and out of the area and tourists stuck there wouldn't be able to get home. There was also tons of damage done to homes, infrastructures and many buildings. Also, lots of people lost their homes and things they owned due to either water damage or things being swept away. In a grand total Queensland could run into hundreds of millions of dollars in damage.

Environmental Impact: Luckily some of the great tourists attractions were unscathed such as the Great Barrier Reef, but lots of the agriculture got damaged. Lots of crops got ruined and the water supplies got contaminated and made it unsafe to drink in some areas and use on crops. A number of its Queensland construction and contract mining operations were affected, but some mines weren't greatly affected and were able to run, but they couldn't make much money off of them since nobody else could buy off them or aren't running.

3) This assistance is provided through the joint Australian and State Government's Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangements (NDRRA) and applies to the natural disaster declared areas in each state. The recovery was a very slow and complex process and they were bringing in lots of volunteers to help the process.

Case Study: Desertification in Botswana

1) Desertification is when fertile ground becomes a desert and all dried out, usually caused by deforestation and droughts.

2) Botswana lies right across the Tropic of Capricorn and the majority of the land surface in Botswana is constituted for by the desert which does not hold surface water for longer periods of time and this has lead to an over reliance on underground water. The total geographical extension of Botswana is around 600.370 square kilometer. The Kalahari Desert occupies a 70% part of the country. With the affect of droughts in the country it makes it really hard for the water stay up on the land and since its really flat it can't flow very well through the country making it absorb into the ground really fast.

3) The desertification problems in Botswana mostly come from the severe times of drought. The drought caused 75% of the country’s human and animal populations to be dependent on groundwater which has eased the effects of the drought, but has left a greater impact on the land. Groundwater is retrieved through drilling deep holes, which causes erosion of the land. Surface water is very rare in Botswana and less than 5% of the agriculture in the country is sustainable by rainfall. Due to this 95% of the country raises cattle and livestock as a means for an income. Therefore only 71% of the country’s land is used for communal grazing, which has been a major cause for the desertification of the country. Mostly the factors such as deforestation, overgrazing, poor cropping methods and improper soil conservation techniques also have a significant contribution to desertification in the country.

4) The government has made new policies to the land use in Botswana. There are large scale and long-term action programmes such as the Second Livestock Development Programme, the Tribal Grazing Lands Policy (TGLP), the Arable Lands Development Programme (ALDEP), and the Remote Area Resettlement Scheme. These are some of the many projects on going to help the desertification in Botswana, they are aimed to achieve and help soil conservation, livestock production, rangelands and wildlife management, water and land management. Some of their goals are to keep it as cheap as possible and introduce ecologically sound to make it socially acceptable.

Land use and Agriculture in New Zealand

1) Almost 90% of New Zealands land has become agriculture in some sort of form. About 5% is forest and the other 5% is urban and wetlands.


2) Monoculture: Pros of monoculture is that it is a lot cheaper and machines are used making it less labor. There's a high rate of productivity of successful commercial crops. Also, in the market its cheap to produce.
Cons are it can deplete nitrogen levels in the soils and diseases can spread very easily through the plants. It relies a lot on fossil fuels, chemicals and technology and it can cause a lot of environmental damage. Also, per acre of land it actually produces less food than usual and it can displace other local crops.

Polyculture: Unlike monoculture farming, one piece of land is devoted to more than one crop in polyculture farming. With polyculture a farmer can have the same yield of crops and a more efficient irrigation system on a smaller piece of land. Natural resources can be used more efficiently. Water and electricity can be used more effectively, which results in a better yield. Animal wastes can be used as fertilizers and manure for crops. The plants that grow near to other plants have a greater and stronger immunity, and fight off the bacteria faster than the plants in monoculture fields. Also, the income for the farmers is a lot more stable and consistent.
Cons are it becomes difficult for the farmers to control and supervise the activities going on in the farm since they have to check and look after every single plant. Planning polyculture farming can be very time consuming and planting it can make it a very laborious task. Also, it will need greater infrastructure to get the work done on a land for polyculture farming.

Slash and Burn: Pros are when Slash-and-Burn is practiced on a smaller land, it is not as harmful as burning down hundreds of square miles. If the technique has decades between each burn, it can actually be helpful for the enivorment and the soil. It is also very cheap to do. 

Cons can be very deadly in slash and burn, if they don't clear the animals out of the land before they set it aflame, the animals could get very wounded and or die. If this keeps happening, then animals can and will, become extinct. Also, slash and burn can cause super poor air quality because of all the smoke.

3) Pastoral farming is the major land use but there are increases in land area devoted to horticulture. In Northland, the major form of pastoral farming is beef cattle. In the Waikato and Taranaki areas, dairy cattle predominate. Through the rest of New Zealand, sheep farming is the major rural activity, with beef cattle farming in the hills and high country, and dairying increasing in Canterbury, Otago and Southland.

Mass Wasting in China

The devastating landslide in Zhouqu, China that killed many and made many homeless has a lot of causes and ways that could have some what prevented it. China is one of the worlds hot spots for landslides, the ground is very shaky. The main issue, according to Zhou Pinggen, head of CIGEM’s geological risk survey and monitoring office, is that the region has been through almost half a century of unrestrained logging. Year by year, forests have declined and the environment has been damaged beyond its capacity to recover. By the time local government woke up to reality and started planting trees to stabilise the soil, the vegetation was unable to take root on the steep, thinly soiled slopes. Many mountain tops have been stripped bare by the logging. They have made efforts to help restore way of life in the western part of China. The restoration of a permanent water supply started in Zhouqu county in northwest China's Gansu Province as the rebuilding of the mudslide-battered area picked up and has mostly been completed now. Safe drinking water will be available within five months of being completed, according to China First Railway Group, which organized the project. Zhouqu's main water supplies were cut after the mudslides and emergency water containers had been used to provide safe water for a while after the disaster.

Water Use in New Zealand

1) I wasn't very surprised that there was all this water being stolen from streams theoretically, but I was shocked by the amount of water and the certain companies doing it. I didn't see Nestle being one of the main thefts of the water, Coca Cola I could see as well as Pepsi. To see all the damage and impacts from these companies on streams and lakes made me feel kind of mad, mainly because if it keeps up and nothing is done to slow it down then one day some places that people love to visit could be all out of water. I agree on whats being done to slow it and stop it, but I don't really agree with what is being done by the companies, yeah they need water to make their drinks, but if they aren't healthy drinks then why take the water and waste by turning it into something unhealthy.

2) In recent years in New Zealand there have been quite a bit more water pollution. An increase in dairy farming is linked to an increase in water pollution, and siltation due to land clearance has affected lakes, rivers, caves and bays. There are more than 800 water quality monitoring sites around New Zealand that are regularly sampled to help protect and restore the polluted water to healthy clean water.
 

Land Subsistence in the American South West

a) Land subsidence is the lowering of the land-surface elevation from changes that take place underground. Common causes of land subsidence from human activity are pumping water, oil, and gas from underground reservoirs, sinkholes, collapse of underground mines, drainage of organic soils, and initial wetting of dry soils. It happens in nearly every state in the United States of America. More than 17,000 square miles in 45 States, an area roughly the size of New Hampshire and Vermont combined, have been directly affected by subsidence.

b) Land subsidence causes many problems including changes in elevation and slope of streams, canals, and drains. Also, damage to bridges, roads, railroads, storm drains, sanitary sewers, canals, and levees. It can cause damage to private and public buildings and failure of well casings from forces generated by compaction of fine-grained materials in aquifer systems. In some coastal areas, subsidence has resulted in tides moving into low-lying areas that were previously above high-tide levels.

c) We could come up with alternate ways to deal with water underground which will help cut down the risk of subsidence becoming an issue. If we cut back on projects like digging holes and uprooting tress it would hopefully help prevent the possibility of subsidence. There's no real way to stop subsidence that we know of, all we can really do is try new things and hope that one day our homes and other beloved locations don't get sucked down into the Earth.

Water Use in Agriculture

Drip Irrigation:
Pros - Some pros to drip irrigation are that since your concentrating your irrigation to specific plants which prevents weeds from germinating nearby. Also, as you spread your tubing around your plants, the subsequent irrigation provides an even distribution of moisture. As a result, you maintain a healthy soil environment for optimal growth.

Cons -If you have improper drip irrigation installation often culminates into poor root development and die back. For example, looping your tubing too wide or installing a small quantity of water emitters creates drought conditions where roots continually grow.

Sprinkler Irrigation:
Pros - An irrigation sprinkler system is a competent and fast system designed to address your plants’ water needs. It’s the closest you will get to simulating actual rainfall to water your plants. You can place them on pretty much every surface giving you a lot of options.

Cons - The efficiency of sprinkler irrigation can really be affected by wind. Also, with regards to crop sensitivity, some crops are affected from leaf scorch, fungal disease, along with other damage which may be caused by salt being deposited about the leaves. They also cost a ton of money to install.


Surface Irrigation:
Pros - Minimal capital investment or energy costs, and less affected by climatic and water quality factors. Easy to see the effectiveness of the system and how much it helps. They help a lot with floods and help keep the plants healthy for the most part.

Cons - They tend to be less efficient than other systems, and they are very labor intensive and sometimes difficult to engineer. Can be very high possibilities of disease pressure especially if it does flood. Drainage can also be a problem in some circumstances, if it cannot drain properly it'll start to flood causing some diseases to get into the plants.

Farmers should use surface irrigation because it is not expensive and it helps keep the water quality and doesn't make it unhealthy for the plants. The only things are is if it is in an area that gets flooded easily and it wont be as efficient.

Deforestation in New Zealand

1. New Zealand was the last land mass to be inhabited by humans. It was mostly all forest except for high alpine regions. The percentage of forest coverage in New Zealand has reduced from 85% to 56%. They have sent a direct action to protect the forests since 1970. There are now many legal rights set up to protect New Zealand's forests.
2. The social impact by deforestation in New Zealand is mostly that a lot of people don't want to loose all the unique beauty New Zealand has compared to a lot of other places on Earth. New Zealand's are very unique with many different species of animals, plants and trees, it would be devastating to loose it all. Also, some people want more room to live since New Zealand isn't a huge country and it is increasing in population. The environmental impact is that some unique plants and animals are becoming endangered since they aren't found in other places around the world. With global warming too it's causing some of the forest to be taken down because it can no longer survive in the rising heat. Economic impacts aren't huge, but the logging companies are not successful in New Zealand because of the laws enforced to protect the forests, and people who are trying to start businesses don't have a lot of space or options to do so.
3. I feel like deforestation is a greater threat in Canada because even though our country is huge we have lost lots of our forests. Even though now there are lots of efforts being done to restore our forests it wont be the same to what it was in the past.

Aquaculture

1. Aquaculture is the rearing of aquatic animals or the cultivation of aquatic plants for food.
2. It effects humans because it can be unhealthy with all the different types antibiotics in the fish and different types of dyes, and fungicides and pollutants that the food can attract. Also, farm fish foods have a lot lower protein levels and other things you benefit from fish. Although it can be very beneficial as it provides humans with the fish they love to eat. The environment will be affected because there's lots of degradation and a lot of suspended solids. Therefor the nutrient and organic enrichment of recipient waters resulting in build-up of anoxic sediments, changes in benthic communities and the eutrophication of lakes. It can help the environment if people are very responsible and help stop the amount of pollution being emitted. It affects the economy because they cost a lot of money to create and keep running, but they're very cheap to buy from and they help create jobs giving lots of people good money.
3. I believe it's a good thing to have in our lifetime. Mainly because it helps prevent extinction to some extent, but in order for it to be very effective we as a society need to stop fishing as much so it can be more beneficial. Also, it provides more jobs for people helping people be more financially stable which I find one of the most important things in this day and age. As we evolve as a generation I believe we can fix the problems of how aquaculture works today. For example, I believe we'll be able to cut down a huge amount of the pollution emitted today and I believe we'll be able to figure out a way to make the fish healthier and better for us to eat. Overall I really think aquaculture will be needed in the future in order for us to keep the fish around we love and still being able to benefit us when they give us the great nutrients they contain.

Earthquake in Vancouver

1. There hasn't been a major earthquake since 1700, known as the 1700 Cascadia earthquake, there could very well be another major earthquake soon especially with a bunch of more recent earthquakes in other subduction zones.

2. Our area is very close to sea level making it vulnerable to a tsunami and feeling major affects of a monstrous earthquake. There are tons of trees and loose rocks on mountain sides and lots of tall sky scrapers in the major cities.

3. a) Liquefaction would be a major issue in the South Delta, Richmond and Tswassen area because they are at sea level and the ground can easily become liquefied.

Landslides would be a major area in the North Vancouver and Vancouver Island and Gulf Island areas because of all the forests and hill sides and mountains with loose rocks all over them.

A tsunami would be a major concern for Victoria and other cities along the coast of B.C. because they aren't a major land mass and can easily be swept under water and many peoples lives would be destroyed.

Flooding would occur along Vancouver Island and all the cities and towns along the Pacific Ocean like Vancouver and Richmond. The sea level would rise causing these areas at sea level to flood.

b) The social impact would be major as lots of lives would be in danger and the people who do survive would have a really long tough time of going back to a normal life.

Economic impact would be huge as many buildings would be damaged and destroyed and lots of roads and bridges and many other man made structures would get obliterated causing a huge price tag for our province and country.

Impact on our provinces infrastructures would be huge as it would take tons of time to repair and rebuild especially since the most expensive things are right at sea level. Also, it would take almost a whole generation to rebuild the affected areas to what they are today.

4. Metro Vancouver is preparing for this major earthquake by putting in earthquake proof pipes in downtown Vancouver and other sea level cities and some skyscrapers mainly in downtown Vancouver are getting earthquake proof structures causing them to be able to sway slightly without getting major damage.

Earthquakes in New Zealand

1. There was a 5.6 magnitude earthquake 14 hours ago (May 4th, 2015.) The one I'm doing this assignment on is a magnitude 6.6 earthquake that happened August 16th, 2013 in Lake Grassmere.
2. The focus was 41.73°S, 174.15°E and it was 8 km in depth, so it was a shallow earthquake.
3. There was also a earthquake a month earlier which was a magnitude 6.5 Cook Strait earthquake on 21st July. Land displacement of GPS stations in both the M6.5 Cook Strait and M6.6 Lake Grassmere. The greatest displacement was seen at Cape Campbell during the M6.6 earthquake, land here moved 18cm to the west.
4. It was a magnitude 6.6 on the Richter scale.
5. a) There wasn't much affect except buildings and roads were damaged making it harder for humans to navigate and live everyday lives.
b) Roads were split in half and liquefaction and sand boils appeared in many areas.
c) There wasn't a huge cost to repair things, but some buildings and roads had to be fixed.
d) Many buildings were damaged or re-damaged after being damaged in the July earthquake and roads had cracked and split, but there were no major bridge and overpass damage recorded.

This is the recorded seismic activity of the earthquake.

Plate Tectonics in New Zealand

1.

New Zealand is on both the Australian and Pacific plate. The Alpine fault runs right through the middle of the country. 

2. It is a transform boundary involving the Australian and Pacific plates. It moves about 30mm per year which is very fast by global standards. The boundary is moving southeast where there is some converging happening.

3. Mountains have pushed up on the south east part and there is a trench forming called Puysegur trench and another one called Kermadec trench.

4. Earthquakes can form near New Zealand also causing tsunamis to hit. 

5. There is a fault called the Ostler fault which goes through both New Zealand and Australia. 

Impacts of Fishing

1. Fishermen: Once all the fish are gone from the oceans they wont be able to make living off of fishing.

    Consumers: Seafood restaurants will go out of business and people who live off eating fish will have a tough time finding ways to live without it.

    Governments: People will get angry at the government and blame them for not doing anything to help save the fish and therefor could change the results of future elections.

    Environment: The way of life in oceans could change for the worst if fish species start going extinct if not endangered already.

2. In New Zealand fishing is a pretty major industry. They have over 200 nautical miles of exclusive economic zone which gives fishermen special nights to fish. The zone has a rich and unusually complex underwater topography. It has over 15,000 marine species are known to live there, about ten percent of the world's diversity. Many of these are migratory species, but New Zealand's isolation means also that many of the marine species are unique to New Zealand. They have ran into endangering species, but never to a critical point. Climate change has affected it by rising water levels causing some unique species to get into the lakes and invading other fish species homes. Lots of the coastal fishing towns will run out of business and not as many tourists will come to New Zealand if they loose all their unique species.

Plate Tectonics Timeline w/ Harjan

1) Before continental drift there were beliefs similar. In 1596 a Dutch map maker named Abraham Ortelius suggested that the Americas were torn away from Europe and Africa by earthquakes and floods. Then in 1912 is when Alfred Wegener resurfaced his idea.

2) The idea of continental drift was brought to life by a 32-year old German meteorologist named Alfred Lothar Wegener. He came up with the idea in 1912. Wegener stated that around 200-million years ago the supercontinent Pangaea began to break apart into what we know of the world today. Alexander Du Toit, Professor of Geology at Witwatersrand University who was one of Wegener's supporters gave the idea that Pangaea first broke into two large continental landmasses, Laurasia in the northern hemisphere and Gondwanaland in the southern hemisphere. Then they continued to break into the smaller continents of our present day. This idea wasn't accepted mainly because Wegener was a meteorologist and not a geologist, also because it seemed very unlikely and he didn't have enough evidence.

3) Alfred Wegener was also the founder of the Plate Tectonic Theory. He proposed this theory with facts in the 1960s. The shapes of many continents look like they are separated pieces of a jig-saw puzzle. The shape of the east coast of North and South America is relative to the shape of the west coast of Africa and Europe. Many fossil comparisons along the edges of continents that look like they fit together suggest species similarities that would only make sense if the two continents were joined at some point in the past. There are ridges, such as the Mid-Atlantic Ridge where plates are separating that are produced by lava welling up from between the plates as they pull apart. There are mountain ranges being formed where plates are pushing against each other.

4) The hotspot theory was created by Canadian geophysicist J. Tuzo Wilson. The theory was formed in 1963. Wilson proposed that small, long lasting, exceptionally hot areas of magma, called hotspots, exist under the Earth's surface. These heat centers create thermally active mantle plumes, which in turn sustain volcanism. This "mid-plate" volcanism builds peaks that rise from relatively featureless sea floor, initially as seamounts as later as fully-fledged volcanic islands. In Hawaii for example, heat from this hotspot produced a persistent source of magma by partly melting the overriding Pacific Plate. The magma, which is lighter than the surrounding solid rock, then rises through the mantle and crust to erupt onto the seafloor, forming and active seamount. Over time, eruptions cause the seamount to grow until it emerges above sea level to form an island volcano. According to Wilson's theory, the Hawaiian volcanoes should be progressively older and increasingly eroded the further they are from the hotspot. As one island volcano becomes extinct, another develops over the hotspot, and the cycle is repeated. This process of volcano growth and death, over many millions of years, has left a long trail of volcanic islands and seamounts across the Pacific Ocean floor. The theory created by Wilson is widely accepted as valid.

Mining

Part A)
Strip Mining: Is an open mine which runs down to ground level and gets exposed when the rocks and soil above are moved.

Pros: - Very cheap and easy to do

         - Spacious making it easy for vehicles to move around

         - Workers are a lot safer from explosions and poisonous gases

Cons: - Removes lots of the environment, takes tons of space

          - Creates gigantic holes

          -Acids used on site can wash away and destroy the soil and environment.

Shaft Mining: Is when they excavate a tunnel to gain access to minerals.

Pros: - Produces little amount of waste and doesn't damage the environment as much

         - Earn more per profit of ores

         - Doesn't need a lot of space and easier to get a permit

Cons: - Hard to breathe with little ventilation

          - Very expensive to construct

          - A lot more hazardous in the mine

Part B)

Spouse of a miner: Would prefer strip mining a lot more because it is a lot safer and she wants her husband to be safe at work.

Owner of a mining company: Would prefer shaft mining because he would want his employees to be safe and it costs a lot less to create. 

Environmentalist: Would prefer shaft mining because it doesn't do as much damage to the environment.

Owner of nearby ski resorts: Would prefer shaft mining because you wouldn't be looking at a gaping hole coming down the mountain and there's less chance of deadly chemicals coming out into the atmosphere.

Politician: Would prefer strip mining because it is a lot cheaper and easier to sell the idea. 

Part C)

Mining is really important in New Zealand. They have abundant resources of coal, silver, iron ore, limestone and gold. There iron production is ranked 22nd and gold production is ranked 29th. In 2006 the total value of mineral production in New Zealand was $1.5 billion. 

Impact of Cliamate Change

Hydrosphere:
- The water levels have risen a bit, but can still rise a lot more causing the towns and cities along the coast to flood.
- Rising sea levels will also increase the risk of erosion and salt water intrusion.
- Snow lines and glaciers will melt causing change in water flow.
- Lower river flows in summer will raise water temperatures and aggravate water quality problems.
- Water demand will be heightened during hot, dry summers.
- In the winter there will be more intense rainfall causing flooding and flash flooding when the urban sewage drains overflow.
- River flows are likely to be lower in summer and higher in winter.
- With higher levels of water more coastal protection would be needed.

Lithosphere:
- The foundation of what buildings are built on will become softer and drier making the buildings collapse easier when wind speeds are up very high.
- Increased temperatures may reduce comfort of occupants in domestic, commercial and public buildings, and could lead to business disruption.
- Hotter summers may cause railways to buckle and rutted roads causing high expenses for repairs.
- Households may find it more difficult to access adequate insurance cover in the face of increased flood risk.
- Very likely that there would be costs associated with changing land-use activities to suit a new climate.

Atmosphere:
- When the air heats up people will be more vulnerable to illnesses such as colds and flu.
- Cyclones may become more common as well with the warmer air.
- Pests and diseases will start to spread a lot faster.
- Heat stroke and subtropical diseases will become more common.
- The risk management of potential climate change impacts may provide significant opportunities for business.
- There will be a less demand for winter heating causing those businesses to loose money.

Biosphere:
- Droughts cause water to dry up and crops and plants to die and make it a lot harder to live especially in their already tropical climate. Many plants and animals would die.
- Change of rainfall patterns have already happened and will affect plants and crops the same and cause farmers to adjust to the patterns.
- Native ecosystems may be invaded by exotic species.
- Fruit and vegetable growers may find it more expensive to insure against hail damage.
- Warmer temperatures will reduce some critical habitats, but increasing the risk of localised extinction.
- Higher level of mortality to hot temperatures.
- Increased summer drought will cause stress to dry lowland forests.
- There is likely to be an increase in demand for air-conditioning systems and therefore for electricity in summer.
- Earlier springs and longer frost-free seasons could affect the timing of bird egg-laying.
- Farming productivity will increase in some areas.
- Forests and other vegetation may grow faster.

Temperate/Deciduous Forest Biome

Where is it located?
You'll find this biome in the eastern half of North America, middle of Europe, many areas in Asia such as parts of Russia, Japan, and eastern China. Also, southern Chile and Middle East coast of Paraguay and New Zealand and southeastern Australia.


Climate:
These areas have four distinct seasons winter, spring, summer and autumn. The average temperature is about 50° F which is about 10° C and the average rainfall is 30-60 inches or 75-150 cm per year. Winter is the cold and frosty season, spring the warm and breezy, summer the hot and humid and autumn the cool and breezy. There is also about a 6 month growing season.

Types of Animals:
American Bald Eagle:
The Bald Eagle has gotten many adaptations, but its most significant is its bony overhang over their eyes which helps shade out the sun and protect them from potential eye injuries.

American Black Bear:
The Black Bears coat helps them a lot in the winter with the cold weather and there claws are just the right length to help them climb many trees.

Coyote:
They are very intelligent animals making it very easy to adapt to anywhere they go, there ears and smell are very sharp.

Duckbill Platypus:
They have adapted webbed feet and a flat tail they use to swim and thick fur to keep them dry and warm.

Eastern Chipmunk:
The Chipmunk has a special cheek pouch which helps them carry food that they take to store which they save for the winter so they can eat it and survive in the winter months.

European Red Squirrel:
In order to survive they have to eat seeds, but also rely on bird eggs because lots of their habitat is being destroyed by larger squirrels.

Fat Dormouse:
There big bushy tails help them keep their balance while climbing tree branches and they use there whiskers to navigate during the night.

Least Weasel:
Weasels have a very great sense of smell, but there coat in the winter turns color to pure white to blend in with the snow.

White-tailed Deer:
Its coat changes color during different seasons and it helps them blend in with undergrowth, also they alert each other when there is danger near, they have very good hearing and eyesight.

Most the animals use all the plants and trees for either food, supply or shelter and almost all of them hibernate during the winter season. Also, most of the animals are camouflaged.

Types of Plants:
American Beech:
This plant likes bottom land for its shallow root system, its leaves prevent things from growing around its roots.

Carpet Moss:
Like its family member Arctic moss it can survive really cold winters and grows well with water that they absorb through pores that are always open and require constant moisture.

Common Lime:
The wood on the tree is white smooth and close grained and is very light and cant be eaten by worms.

Guelder Rose:
Its berries are very bright which attracts birds that help transport its seeds and some of the flowers are able to self-pollinate. It will also take over other shrubs areas.

Lady Fern:
They are a dominant plant that will grow outward in a circle formation and will take over and cover the forest floors.

Northern Arrowwood:
It prefers to grow alongside rivers and streams where it can quickly spread and grow berries faster.

Pecan:
These trees use the wind to help pollinate and uses a shallow root system and have flowers that hang down in tassels.

Shagbark Hickory:
This tree grows really well in well-drained soils and can grow in wet and dry areas, also they have leaves which are either smooth or hairy and grow up to 5-10 inches.

Tawny Milksap Mushroom:
These mushrooms produce spores that when released find a moist area to germinate and when germinated the spores sprout mycelia.

White Birch:
The White Birch doesn't like shade which usually mean its the first tree to grow back in places that have had fires or where trees have been cut down.

White Oak:
These oak trees can grow in almost every altitude and location whether wet or dry and when still a seedling they send a tagproot into the ground so during droughts it brings the tree water.

All of these plants have adapted by leaning closer to the sun in growth and soaking up nutrients in the ground.

Types of Soil:
The soil in this biome is very fertile, it makes for great farming land and helps plants and trees grow really well and helps making food here very easy.

Limiting Factors:
Its hard to adapt in this biome because of all the human impacts like man made forests, farms and lots of towns and cities which is depleting the amount of forests left. Also, with the four different seasons it makes it very difficult for plants and animals to adapt to every season. The terrain can very as well making it difficult to settle in and have great shelter/homes.

Human Impact:
Humans have impacted the deciduous forests lots by taking away there land to make farms and cities/towns. They have even created some man made forests in parts of Japan, but they make it harder for plants and animals to survive in. Animals have lost there homes to make way for humans homes. Also, some people are trying to save these forests, but poachers are trying to kill the animals inside the forests.

Bibliography:
http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/deciduous_forest.htm

Waste Management

1. New Zealand uses landfills and has trucks go around and pick up garbage, their management of the waste is aimed to reduce associated environmental issues. 

2. They have lots of waste coming from their large amounts of agriculture, and they have reduced the number of landfills, but still have issues of controlling the amount of waste at each site.

3. I believe New Zealand has a good system considering they were able to reduce the number of landfills, but I believe they can try to use incinerators or something similar to try and reduce the anount of waste in the country especially since they are an island and aren't the biggest country, they could use as much room as possible for other things. 

Climates and Climate Controls

1. The climate controls of New Zealand make it a very warm and wet tropical place. Since it is below the equator and at sea level and surrounded by ocean it causes its tropical characteristic.
2. The climate is mostly cool to warm temperate and the temperatures vary from 8 degrees - 16 degrees celsius. The warmest months are January and February and July is the coldest, in the summer temperatures can range from 24-28 degrees celsius and inland Otago can reach 30-34 degrees celsius. Further north its a lot drier and further south on the island gets some of the worlds highest rainfalls.
3.

Wellington, New Zealand Climograph

Cyclone Bola

Cyclone Bola formed on February 23, 1988 and dissipated on March 4, 1988. 

It was a category 4 severe tropical cyclone on the Aus scale and category 3 on the Saffir-Simpson scale. The winds reached speeds of 165km/h - 195km/h. After the storm it cost $82 million in US dollars. A flooded river in Te Karaka in Gisborne forced 500 people to evacuate, 1,765 farmers were affected by the flooding, 3,600 hectares of crops were damaged. There were 3 direct fatalities in New Zealand.  

New Zealand's Air Mass, Global Winds and Rain

1. Their main air mass is Maritime Tropical. 

2. New Zealand gets hit by prevailing south westerly winds. 

3. Orographic rainfall is the most common in New Zealand because on the west coast of the South Island the air masses are forced up and over the mountain ranges which makes the clouds cool and start to condense at the top of the mountains, this causes the leeward side of the mountain to be really dry.

Introduction to Weather and Climate Questions

1. The sun radiates eat the warms the earth.

2. They receive more direct sunlight throughout a calendar year which keeps it warmer than polar regions.

3. Albedo is the fraction of radiation that reflects back into space. The black roof would absorb more radiation since it has a lower level of albedo.

4. Lapse rate is the rate of atmospheric temperature decrease when altitude increases. 

5. Aspect is the compass direction facing a slope. The direction a slope faces can affect biotic and physical features. Plants would grow better on the south side facing side of a mountain in the northern hemisphere. 

6. Since the Earth is tilted on its axis going around the sun, certain hemispheres get more sun at one time of the year than others. 

7. Land heats up faster because the heat gets absorbed in the surface unlike water which has different physical properties and has to heat all the way through which takes longer. 

8. The climate is a lot drier and certain plants can't grow their because of the lack of water, but helps plants like wheat grow really well since they don't need a lot of water.

9. It keeps Norway's coastal water from freezing over with its strong winds even though Norway is close to the arctic. 

10. The Alaska current runs past BC.

11. Adding carbon dioxide impacts the atmosphere by heating up the temperature which helps advance global warming.

12. Convection is the collective, concerted movement of a group of molecules within fluids and rheids, usually through diffusion or advection or even a combination of both.

13. Wind is the natural movement of the air, mostly in the form of a current of air blowing in one direction.

14. An urban heat island is an area that is significantly warmer than its surrounding rural areas and it is caused by human activities and can mainly be noticed when the winds are weak in the area. It is mainly caused when the modification of land surfaces use materials that impact the storing of sort-wave radiation. 

5 Themes Assignment

Part A: 

Movement- This picture shows movement because trains throughout our history have transported food and other supplies across countries and have brought countries together by taking people from one side to the other.

Location- The Eiffel Tower is shown in this picture, its absolute location is 48.8582 N and 2.2945 E. The relative location is that it is located on the Champ de Mars in Paris and near a river.

Place- In this picture is an iceberg, there would be icebergs no matter what making it a physical place, but with humans causing pollution and global warming they're melting and disappearing. 

Part B: New Zealand

         Location:

                  Absolute- Wellington, New Zealand's capital is at 41.2889 S and 174.7772 E.

                  Relative- Wellington is located in the South Pacific Ocean, Southeast of Australia and is surrounded by the Tasman Sea and Pacific Ocean.
         Place:

                  Human- The Sky Tower, Schools and other buildings/homes.

                  Physical- The many lakes, Mount Tarawera and Fox Glacier.

         Movement- Planes, cars and trains to transport goods and people in New Zealand. Computers and phones to help people communicate. Boats and water all around the country and its many islands also transport goods and people around the country.

         Region- New Zealand is located in Oceania and has 16 regions in the country Northland, Auckland, Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Gisborne, Hawke's Bay, Taranaki, Manawatu-Wanganui, Wellington, Tasman, Nelson, Marlborough, West Coast, Canterbury, Otago and Southland.

         Human and Environment Interaction:

                   Modify- They've had to modify lots of the cooling/heating devices in homes and buildings since the climate can get really warm, but also get cold fronts at times.

                   Adapt- People have adapted to the lush jungle islands and warm climates by living close to water and dressing warmer most of the time.

                   Depend- They depend on the tons of water resources throughout and around the islands and on all the animals and plants on the islands and in the water for food and the water for transportation from island to island.

Lake Taupō Landslide May.7,1846.

On May.7,1846, there was an unusual rainy season which caused a large land slip on Mount Kākaramea. The land slip dammed a stream and after three days it burst its barriers and with tons of force swept rocks, trees and earth into Lake Taupō. The village Te Rapa got buried and only a few people were able to flee, 60 people in total were killed. Waihī is a village built near the site, but in March.20,1910, a similar event happened causin only one person to die. After what sounded like cannon fire villagers ran outside to see a cloud of dust fade away and reveal another enormous landslide had came down the valley. In the first land slide the south-western shore of Lake Taupō was destroyed.

The Hydrosphere is involved by the lakes shore being destroyed and the stream being dammed, as well as the rain affecting the land.

The Lithosphere is involved by the rocks being swept down the valley and the land sliding causing destruction and burying a village. 

The Atmosphere is involved by creating a cooler climate causing the unusual rainy season.

The Biosphere is involved by the trees being swept down the valley and the people being affected and killed, as well as the animals homes being destroyed.

Information on New Zealand

1. 

2. Located in Oceania within the Realm of New Zealand.

3. Wellington is the capital city.

4. 268,021 km2 size.

5. 4,509,900 population.

6. Unitary Parliamentary Constitutional Monarchy type of government.