The Need For a Conservation Fact Check

Glen Luckman Conservation Fact Check By Daniel P. Martin

In the day and age of today, there is a nominally large need for conservation. All around the world are natural resources are being depleted every day. And not only that, but by the consumption of large amounts of certain resources we are not only hurting the environment we live in but in the long run we are hurting ourselves.

The resources that we live off of are not infinite but rather limited. The human race has a tendency to consume more than we replenish. With that mentality as a race, we are heading for trouble. We need to start realizing the human effect on the environment is very massive and in many cases destructive.

The Dominant Human

The humans are the most dominant species on the planet. We have dominated the animal kingdom and the world around us. Our cities spring up spitting pollution into the air and stretching our domain even further into the ecosystem. This is because we as a people are increasing in numbers rapidly and need more space to live. Therefore, the animals and the habitats must suffer for this.

Suffering Wildlife

If one group of animals is affected it will undoubtedly affect the others as well. The danger of this is that not just one group of animals will soon face extinction but a number of them. This can happen from lumber companies cutting down numerous forests for the demand of lumber. This will cause the wildlife in that forest to be unbalanced and is very harmful to all wildlife there.

Forests Disappearing

Chopping down thousands upon thousands of trees a day and demolishing entire forests does not just affect animals and plants it will affect us. Trees are a large producer of oxygen and that is something we desperately need. When oxygen levels in our ecosystem go down it is never good. Nevertheless, when oxygen levels go up everybody including animal and plant life will thrive.

This is why we must conserve our forests and our wildlife.

Fossil Fumes

Our planet is in enough trouble we do not need to start decreasing our oxygen levels anymore. With the rate that lumber companies are depleting our forests it will not be long until things start going haywire just like our ozone.

Our ozone is under constant attack from harmful gasses and general pollution.

Fossil fuels among other things are the ones causing the damage. Fossil fuels are not inherently bad but constantly consuming them and releasing their fumes into the ozone at the numbers that we do as a planet is causing some serious damage like global warming. Fossil fuels will eventually be gone if we do not conserve them and limit their usage.

Saving Lives

We need to conserve them also so that future generations of people can make use of them as well. Why be greedy and selfish with our natural resources? If we run out now what will they or we use later? Before finding out that answer the hard way, we should do some preventative planning to conserve our natural resources.

Simple But Effective Ways of Energy Conservation

Glen Luckman Effective Ways of Energy Conservation By Erika Ayala

Sometimes, when people hear the words energy conservation, they think that it takes a rocket scientist or some super hero to make it happen. What most of us don’t realize is that energy conservation is well within our reach and capability, and when done on a bigger scale and participated by more people, we can do so much positive effect to the environment and actually make it a better place for the future generation.

Energy conservation means that you are cutting back on your energy consumption and using energy-efficient products and appliances. It also means that the energy you are using is coming from other alternative energy resources that are not harmful to the environment, as opposed to the traditional sources of energy like coal and fossil fuels which are already limited.

There are a lot of simple ways in energy conservation without even spending money. These include unplugging any appliance in your home when not in use. There are people who don’t realize that when only turning an appliance off, it still consumes energy, and if left all night, it can add up immensely on your electrical bill. Not only does this mean bigger expenses for you, but also a more adverse effect to the environment. But unplugging the appliances, you are completely stopping to use the energy. You can also simply switch to more energy-efficient light bulbs. By doing this you can instantly cut down your electricity consumption up to 30%. Energy-efficient light bulbs are more durable, not to mention less harmful to the environment.

We should be active with our efforts to save the environment, especially now that a lot of people worldwide are beginning to really experience the negative effects of global warming. All it takes is the first step forward and everything will else will be easy.

Petroleum Conservation

Glen Luckman Petroleum Conservation By Shekhoo Raja

Endless desert if lies ahead and a blazingly hot sun, glares atop one’s head, then a man lost amidst the dunes should and really must value each drop contained in his bottle. For if the last drop ends before the desert does, the man will be in serious trouble.

However irrelevant the above paragraph may seem, its accurately relevant to the scenario that our world faces today. Replace the water with petroleum, the bottle with our oil wells, the man with the global economy and the desert with its sole dependence on petroleum as source of energy and voila, we will have the seriousness of the situation perfectly laid out. Wells of oil and gas are ceaselessly churning out greater amounts of petroleum from under the ground every year. WAIT!

Greater amounts every year? But why?

That’s a simple question with an even simpler answer. The amount of petroleum being sucked out of earth is getting bigger because we are demanding for it. Its getting bigger because, I buy my son a bike to ride to school on, because my wife needs a car to go to the neighborhood grocery store and because I need a 3000 cc SUV to go to my office which happens to be 3 km from my home. And also because I won’t turn off my SUV’s engine at crossings as I am rich enough to find it ‘uncool’.

And so as ‘I’, who can easily afford to buy fuel have taken it for granted and am using it in the most inefficient manner, am demanding for more of it. This ‘I’ isn’t just me or us. ‘I’ stands for every person around the globe who has got used to living with fuel and burning it to get energy. But its high time that ‘I’ must realize that the water in my bottle will not last long enough, if its not valued with the seriousness that it deserves. And ‘I’ who has learnt to live with fuel must learn to live with its conservation too.

But this doesn’t mean that we stop using petroleum products all together. Our economy is dependent on it so much, that it is impossible to do that. And thus comes to light the importance of ways of using this fuel ‘Efficiently’. This word efficiently means that we do the maximum amount of work, using the least amount of energy. Leading organization around the world have put their best brains to the task of bring efficiency into all phases of their work. Manufacturers of automobiles, computers, kitchen appliances, industrial equipments and every other product that uses fuel or power, are looking at making their products more energy efficient. And so as citizens of the world, even we must contribute.

So, apart from I selling my SUV to buy a 600 cc fuel efficient car, my wife walking to the grocery store and my son using the public transport, there are several other ways by which we can conserve petroleum. We should make our selves aware of them and make them a way of life.

A study sponsored by PCRA itself shows that vehicles at halt on traffic lights, waste as much as Rs.994 crore worth or petroleum products every year. Even if your vehicle is poorly maintained, you are contributing to the loss of fuel worth in excess of Rs. 5000 crore all over the country, including both commercial and non-commercial users. Approximately 75% of the total LPG used in the country is used for domestic purposes. Studies suggest that if we use LPG at our homes with care, we can save upto 8-10%. For instance, cooking in utensils with lid closed, using gas on simmer mode for cooking(which uses only 3/4th amount of gas as compared to high mode) etc. In addition to LPG, other fuels like kerosene are also used at home, for which standard equipments should be used. Use of below-standard equipments, results in high consumption.

And why only petroleum, even electricity which is supplied at our homes is generated from fuels like gas, diesel and coal. A study in UK suggests that if every house uses 3 CFLs, it saves enough electricity to power streetlights of their country for 1 year. Apart from CFLs, air-conditioners, microwave-ovens, heaters, geysers etc should be purchased, keeping their power ratings in mind. TV consumes 25% of its power required, when on stand by and so do many other appliances, which should be switched off when not in use. A unit of electricity saved is roughly equal to 3 units of electricity produced. Moreover, 1 unit of electricity produced, leads to 943 gm of carbon emission.

Industries are major users of petroleum, using approximately 40% of the total commercial energy used in the country. Thus conservation initiatives by the industries, aided and enforced by the government save energy on a large scale. Especially small and medium scale industries, which use out dated machinery, have high energy consumption as compared to their production. Commercial buildings like Malls and offices, use around 33 billion units of energy per annum. Proper power management and use of higher efficiency equipments can save up to 5% of this energy.

But this is only one side of the story. As I said earlier, we are lost in a desert, the desert being our sole dependence on petroleum as a source of energy. So it is impertinent to find a way out.

Solar water heaters, as promoted by administration of Banglore or small scale water turbine based power stations as promoted by Uttaranchal government, or compost gas power units as promoted in sunderban region by W Bengal Government, or solar lamps as promoted in rural areas of Rajasthan, all are steps in the right direction. Further renewable sources like wind power and solar, which are still not used up to their potential must not be ignored by the government. In today’s scenario, where power generation is increasingly becoming a profitable business for private companies, government must enforce and encourage conditions for production from alternate sources of energy by these private players.

The Essential Activities of Wildlife Conservation

Glen Luckman Wildlife Conservation By Mark Bottell

Wildlife conservation is a delicate and complicated process, with dedicated teams trying to rebuild complex ecosystems, manage large wildlife populations, and protect these areas from harm. Many of the world’s most magnificent areas of natural beauty are under threat from humans, and conservationists work hard to preserve these places for future generations, and to restore damaged areas back to their former glory.

There’s been an increase in recent years in volunteer wildlife conservation, where people on gap years or career breaks volunteer to help work as conservationists for weeks, months, or even a whole year. Conservation practices vary from country to country and from habitat to habitat, but these are a few of the things you are could get involved in as a volunteer conservationist…

Tracking and Monitoring

Animal monitoring is one of the most important elements of wildlife conservation. Whether it is by electronic tracking or by human observation, animal numbers must be monitored so that their populations can be controlled. If the numbers of a particular species grow too large they could threaten other animals, and if they fall too low steps need to be taken to protect them. Following the movement and migration of animals also provides the chance to research their behaviour. Of course, for volunteers, the chance to observe animals like lions and elephants in their natural habitat can be an unforgettable experience!

Habitat and Reserve Maintenance

There are all kinds of efforts that must be made to maintain the habitats in a wildlife reserve. Rock erosion needs be monitored and countered, and any alien plants and animals which could be a threat to the reserve must be found and removed from the reserve. Many reserves rely on perimeter fences to prevent animals from moving out of the reserve (and to prevent unwanted visitors!), and these need to be checked on and repaired if they are damaged. This kind of work may not be the most exciting side of wildlife conservation, but it is just as essential as any other element.

Rehab and Veterinary Care

Out in the wild, sick and injured animals soon become victims of predators, or simple starvation. However, on a wildlife reserve dealing with endangered species or low populations, the loss of even a single animal can be a terrible setback. Wounded, sick, and poisoned animals can be captured and brought back to a veterinary centre to be treated, rehabilitated, and then reintroduced back into the wild, and this is often an important part of any wildlife conservation program.

Reserve Patrol

Wildlife reserves are fragile areas that need to be protected from humans. Some times, people cause damage unintentionally – tourists feeding animals without knowing that it is forbidden, or attempting to take out rare plants as souvenirs. Some times, of course, it is a deliberate effort, poachers being the most well known human threat that conservationists have to battle against. Most wildlife reserves are diligently patrolled to ensure that tourists and the local population are treating the environment with the respect and care that it deserves.

A Home Facelift With an Ecological Conservation Twist to It

Glen Luckman Ecological Conservation  By Mark Gavalda

The effects of global warming are being highlighted every so often, and at one point, one feels the compulsion to join in the campaign of living a more eco-friendly life. You might not be able to trade your SUV for a hybrid, but you can remodel your home cheaply, and achieve the final result of environmental conservation that you are hoping for. It does not matter if you are planning to sell the house to eco-friendly buyers or simply doing it to save some money on the monthly bills.

The first has to do with electricity and more so the buying of electrical efficient systems. An approach that you can first take with this is the installation of solar panels which essentially convert all absorbed solar energy into electrical energy. Depending on the number, size and effectiveness of these panels, they can be a complete replacement of your power supply from the main supplier to your own during the seasons when the sun is high up in the sky. What this yields is a reduction of the amount of money that you have to pay for bills and you end up saving.

Water is often wasted especially with showers and toilets making conservation is not actually too hard of a task. All you need to do is have an effective water delivery system at all times, one that will save a few measly dollars everyday. The positive effects of this are felt in the long term when the bill will indicate half the amount that you are used to paying.

Natural grass is good, but when you want a lesser budget, artificial grass will do. The latter needs zero maintenance and once set up, needs no other dedicated farming commitments. You don’t need to trim or to tend to it anytime, meaning you save both in finance and in time.