Flood

The video explains as to why the Thailand flood has occurred, it's more of a reassurance to the people giving them the information they needed to know but so far have not reliably gotten.
The flood is natures fault, in fact the rainfall was the same as last only slightly more frequent, but rather our fault for trying to control it by building dams. The video also went on to explain the governments tactic of strengthening the water levees in order to protect the capitol city, Bangkok. But either way, if it were to flood it would last for no more than a month. And over all, it was estimated that if left to its natural route the flood should have left in 50 days.
 Overall, the video finally addressed the issue of how people are not receiving exact and right information. WIth the government spewing out different numbers and estimations as to whether the levee's would break. In the end, the video is here was assurance that we can hold past this flood, if we just remain calm.



Flooding is part of the E.M Syllabus:

8.1 collection and control of water for a variety of uses

water supply (storage, transfer, dams, reservoirs); industry and domestic use; waste disposal; power; agriculture (irrigation)

8.4 the ways in which processes operating within the water cycle affect development

(causes and effects of flooding and drought)

14.7 ‘climatic hazards’ (extremes of weather): causes and occurrence (cyclone, flood, drought)

Thoughts on production of Food

It an undeniable fact that the mass demand for meat and other crops is vast, and with such a bid demand on such a daily basis the way we produce food right now seems like the best way to meet the demand. It all comes down to supply and demand, right? Not quite, at least not in my opinion. It also comes down to the greed of the powerful companies that rule this industry. They look for new and cheaper ways to produce more, in both quantity and mass, of produce. So in the end, it's greed and us that rule the industry.

 Why feed animals grass, when a cheaper food though grains can be fed to it that also fattens it. In a supermarket, don't we look for the beef with the most meat on it? Yes, we do. So in part I understand with the massive amounts of animals and crops that industry produces/slaughters, because if they don't get out that much they will only be angering their costumers. So we have to change our habits, our need for it. I don't mean to say we have to stop all together, but we do have to stop the amount we need and not settle for the cheapest.
 But I do not only have blame in us, but the way in which the slaughter houses kill and raise their animals is truly, in every way, inhumane. I do unferstand that they need a quick way to kill a mass, but their ways aren't effective. Nor do their ways benefit our health, rather, worsen it in some cases. What these big companies must learn to grow, is compassion and care. For the life and the health of the animal, but also of their customers. Don't send our meat you know to be ridden with E.Coli, let the farmer replant his seeds. In the end, it's about feeding us with compassion to those who have to die to give us what we need. It's not about seeing how much money one company can get by misplaying and altering the system, but how sad it that it seems now that that's all that matters in the world to some.

Past Paper Exam Question - Cyclones

Starting with the phrase 'high sea temperatures' use your knowledge and the diagram to explain the formation of a cyclone. 

High sea temperature causes the air above to be heated (convection current wise) and the particles to rise up gaining energy leading to more chemicals to rise, this is called latent heat energy. When all the particles rise up simultaneously this creates a vortex that forms the twisting shape of the cyclone, this is the release of the latent energy built up. The Coriolis Effect may also be a cause of the twisting fashion of the cyclone.

Exam Questions

In big Cities located in dry climates, such as Los Angeles, atmospheric pollution is a big problem.

i) State two reasons why atmospheric pollution from traffic and industry is often worse in places with a dry and hot climate.
Rain with the help of wind, usually disperses pollutants from an area causing it to move on, however, in dry places with no rain nor wind the pollutants would stay in the same area.
As well as that, with a hot climate the sun will mostly shine for longer and with a higher intensity, this causes the warm air to rise to the top, so when the sun is out the hot air rises higher above the cold air trapping the pollutants in the cold air layer. This is the process of inversion, that sometimes presents itself in the physical appearance of fog.


ii) Where are strategies for reducing traffic emissions likely to be more effective - in developed world cities like Los Angeles or in developing world cities like Cairo and Beijing?
It would be more effective in developed countries. This would be because it would cost money to bring in alternate fuel sources or catalytic converters, money which developed countries have, while LEDC's don't have that much.
Not only this, but developed cities tend to emit the most Greenhouse gasses through traffic emissions, because of these types of cities being more modern. And with the modernization, developed cities can provide alternate fuels or cars that are more environmentally conscious, such as Hybrids.
The government could also bring forward a law or legislation to reduce the amount of pollutants emitted.

Measuring and Recording the Weather

The equipment mainly used:

Sling Thermometer                     - Air Humidity
Thermometer                              - Temperature
Barometer                                   - Air Pressure
Rain Gauge                                - Rain Fall Measurer
Anemometer & Wind vane        - Wind Speed and Direction


Precautions:
Thermometer - place it in the shade as to keep it unbiased from the heat and direct sunlight
                        if possible place it in a stevensons screen
                      
Rain Gauge  - keep it away from trees and walls as to not block precipitate (preferably in open areas)
                      place it in the ground with the rim just sticking up

Wind Vane - place high up in order to reach the wind


Cloud Type:
Sratus      - Low layered cloud e.g fog
Cumulus - Big puffy ones
Cirrus     - High in the sky + white and feathery/wispy


Links -
http://www.cityofportsmouth.com/school/dondero/msm/weather/index.html
http://www.ehow.co.uk/info_8073435_instruments-measure-weather.html


Environmental Mangement Book:
Pages 141 - 143
Pages 144 - 145

Burning Sugar Canes

When you burn sugar cane, it releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
The farmer however only burns little sugar, which means that only a small amount of carbon dioxide will be released.

This small quantity can be absorbed by trees and then they, through the process of photosynthesis, can turn it into oxygen.

Weather - Day 7 (31 March)

Temperature (Celsius)
Highest. 24
Lowest. 20

Wind Speed 
4 km/hr

Air Pressure (mm)
Highest. 763
Lowest. 759

Cloud Cover
cumulus    80%

Precipitation
0.00mm

Practical Lesson

During the last lesson in the outdoor classroom, we measured various aspects that revolved around cloud cover.

To measure the relative humidity, we used the Sling Thermometer. 

You wet the cotton wick of the wet bulb thermometer then sling the thermometer. After the 'slinging' is done, you record the reading of both the wet and dry bulb. Since the wet bulb should always be lower than the dry, subtract the wet bulb reading from the dry - this gives you the relative humidity. 

To measure the Surface Temperature we used the IRT.

To measure the Air Pressure, the Barometer was used.

We also measured the highest and lowest temperature.

The types of cloud and percentage of cloud coverage was also recorded (It was an Overcast Stratus, with no contrails)

Weather - Day 6 (March 30)

Temperature (Celsius)
Highest. 20
Lowest. 19

Wind Speed 
0 km/hr

Air Pressure (mm)
Highest. 763
Lowest. 759

Cloud Cover
stratocumulus    100%

Precipitation
0.25mm

Weather - Day 5 (March 28)

Temperature (Celsius)
Highest. 25
Lowest. 20

Wind Speed 
3 km/hr

Air Pressure (mm)
Highest. 761
Lowest. 757

Cloud Cover
stratocumulus    100%

Precipitation
0.0mm

Weather - Day 4 (March 27)

Temperature (Celsius)
Highest. 26
Lowest. 25

Wind Speed 
3 km/hr

Air Pressure (mm)
Highest. 760
Lowest. 756

Cloud Cover
stratus    100%

Precipitation
0.0mm

Weather - Day 3 (March 26)

Temperature (Celsius)
Highest. 38
Lowest. 24

Wind Speed 
0 km/hr

Air Pressure (mm)
Highest. 761
Lowest. 756

Cloud Cover
cumulus    98%

Precipitation
0.5mm

Weather - Day 2 (March 25)

Temperature (Celsius)
Highest. 30
Lowest. 26

Wind Speed 
9 km/hr

Air Pressure (mm)
Highest. 760
Lowest. 755

Cloud Cover
Stratocumulus    80%

Precipitation
0.0mm

Weather - Day 1 (March 24)

Temperature (Celsius)
Highest. 31
Lowest. 25

Wind Speed 
6 km/hr

Air Pressure (mm)
Highest. 766
Lowest. 760

Cloud Cover
Cirrostratus   75%

Precipitation
0.0mm

Me

My name is Amaris Odermatt, a student at Bangkok Patana School in Bangkok.

On this blog I will be posting my notes and observations from my Environmental Management  class.

I chose this class because I have since a young age, had a love for those weird and little creatures (Tarsiers, Alpacas and the Emperor Tamarin) or my respect for the way the environment has flourished for so long.

As well as that, I also believe that us humans, are in fact, slowly destroying the earth, and I just wanted to learn a little more about that, and how we could alter it.