The Environment

When we talk about the Environment we are commonly talking about the area or situation in which humans, animals, or plants live in. The area of the Environment can range from something very small, like a drop of water or a pond, to something very large like a Lake, Sea or Ocean.

The Environment as we will be working with it in here at CNCNewsCo includes the Air, Water and Earth of our living areas. These include living areas for all types of life from single plant or animal cells to humans. The Environment has developed over billions of years. Its current makeup is determined by the chemicals and other contributing factors that are in operation to keep the environment moving, clean and able to continue to support the creatures that have become accustomed to living in it.

A large collection of creatures, both great and small, as well as animal and plant are referred to as a Biome.

The Everglades in Florida would be considered a Biome. It is a community of living creatures that all live within or near a particular type of physical environment and follow rhythms of life to match the local climate.

An example of the destruction of an environment that can lead the destruction of a biome would be the draining of a swamp. If a swamp, which is a wide, shallow lake, or groups of lakes and pools of water or a slow moving river or other body of fresh water, is drained, then, obviously all the water goes out of it. If all of the water is removed then all the plants and animals that depend not only upon water, but that particular amount of water, will suffer or die off. Many plants and trees that thrive in swamps cannot survive in dry lands. Without those plants and trees many animals and birds specific that area cannot survive. Obviously, with the water gone, all the aquatic creatures including fish, plankton, insects, crustaceans and more will also be wipe out.

There is another way our example biome can be destroyed. That would be by the dumping or release of toxic chemicals into the waters. These chemicals can degrade, slow or destroy the life processes of the plants and animals in the area. These chemicals act upon plants and animals in the same way they act on humans.

We can see examples of this sort of thing around areas that have been dedicated to heavy industry that historically has been lax in the methods used for waste disposal. For more than two centuries, for example, chemicals that were not valuable anymore, whether it was because they were dirty or no longer effective, would be dumped onto the Earth to be absorbed into the soil or directly into waterways.

The idea in the old days was that materials would go into the soil and keep going down and not harm anyone. As for the chemicals dumped into the waters the idea was that the water could carry away the poison and into the sea where it would settle to the bottom of the Ocean and not hurt anyone.

The reality is quite different. Many chemicals, including PFAS and PFOS and PCB’s do not continue just sinking into the Earth. They spread out. A small spill can become quite large. A large spill can be immense. As for the chemicals deposited in the waterways, they often lodged in the local waters and did not disperse or get carried away. They accumulated in certain areas and would be spread over time through the entire water system. Over time the materials would also flow down the currents and waterways and become permanent poisons in the environment.

What is the impact?

It can easily be seen in local areas if a person is aware of what was there prior to the poisoning. North America is a biologically diverse environment. There were many plants and animals thriving here just a few hundred years ago. Even after extensive harvesting by logging and hunting the trees, plants and animals continued on. Where they could not are in areas where the environment is damaged. You may see areas where plants will not grow in your community or in areas outside of it. You may know of areas that have no animals except some small ones like rabbits, mice and squirrels. You may know of a river or lake where fish were once plentiful but are now gone. You may know of ponds where turtles and frogs lived in great numbers but now there are none. There may even be areas in your community where only one or two insect species remain – like ants or roaches some other forms of beetles.

We will be talking about the Environment and its wonders as well as describing damage to it. Most importantly we will be sharing information on how the Environment and individual Biomes that have been contaminated or damaged can be repaired and how those that have been destroyed may be remade.

Join us on our journey!