Monday, April 29, 2013

water quality




Each protocol, water transparency, water temperature, ph, dissolved oxygen, Nitrate, and fresh water macro-invertebrates,  help determine water quality. Water transparency determines how clear the water is. This is done with a transparency tube or a secchi disk this is to measure turbidity. The reason water wouldn't be clear is that it has certain sediments in it making it look "dirty" or "clean."
    Water Temperature is obviously how how hot or cold the water is. It is also very Important to help hydrology measurements such as dissolved oxygen, pH, and conductivity. Water temperature is also a way to understand local and global weather patterns. This can affect life in the streams like some fish can only live in cold water where as others can only live in warm. you can measure this by a thermometer.Most aquatic animals live in a 0-32 degrees Celsius temperature. pH is how acidic or how much of a base the water has. It is also the measure of hydrogen ions in the water. Most lakes have a pH scale of 5.5-8.5 and can be measured by a a pH meter. Oceans have a pH of about 8.2. Mining has an affect on water pH as well. It can bring up the pH by a little or a lot. pH has a strong influence on what can live in the water.

     Dissolved Oxygen is a product of photosynthesis. Dissolved Oxygen is what determines what fish can live where, this is very soluble. Most aquatic species need at least 5-6 PPM to survive. 
Nitrate is found only in low dissolved oxygen levels. It is a primary plant nutrient. It uses Eutrophication which it the process of enriching water. this causes plant growth but can cause an odor. 
     Last but not lease Freshwater Macro invertebrates. These are small animals without a back bone i.e.: worms, mosquito, dragon flies, and snails. these animals are sensitive to change. biodiversity is a main thing so the ecosystem can stay in tact.Toxic waste is also a big part in water protocol and quality. The effects aren't always known right away but they are years after. They usually are from big industries and includes organic and inorganic substances. Inorganic substances include arsenic and cyanide. Organic includes DDT, PCB, and herbicides.This also includes heavy metals. E.Coli is normally harmless but they are in the presence of harmful bacteria. It can cause severe diarrhea and kidney problems. Conductivity is what it sounds like. It is how much water conducts electricity. Pure water is a poor conductor of this. It is a measure of a poorly dissolved solid. It is measured in conductivity meters.

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

against mountain top removal

     Mountain Top Removal is a bad thing because it kills streams, people, and nature. It kills streams by waste coming off of the mountains and covering up the streams. It kills people by giving them diseases that will kill  them sooner or later. And besides the streams it kills all the fish, vegetation, and other animals around. Mountain top removal keeps our state from its full beauty. It does this by destroying our mountains and our natural wildlife and plant life. The coal companies only care about the money still they don't care about what the miners go through just to keep their job. Massey pushed the union out of West Virginia so they can put miners at risk like the Upper Big Branch Mine and they killed all those men because their safety standards weren't up to par and they weren't doing anything about it. They do as little as possible to protect anything other than themselves. This is why they shouldn't be allowed to remove our mountain tops. After they tear off our mountain tops they have to have somewhere to put their waste and so therefore once they dig up that Earth it will never settle the same and moves around so it will never stay were it was put. once they are done with a mountain they reforest it this would be a good thing other than the fact they don't use the type of trees that grow naturally there. This is why we don't need Mountain top Removal.
against coal


for mountain top removal

     Mountain top removal is a good thing because it employs more people. This means more West Virginians working. It employs people by having a person scout out the coal, people to dig out the coal, someone to run all the machinery, and someone to landscape it afterwards. This is hundreds of people working and less people struggling to survive. Mountain top removal is a good thing because they are getting more coal to support a energy hungry nation. If there was no mountain top removal there would be less energy for our nation and people would have to cut back and energy prices would go up. If energy prices go up then more people would complain and then they wouldn't complain as much about mountain top removal.
friends of coal