The Six Main Causes of Drought

A drought or drouth is an event of prolonged shortages in the water supply, whether atmospheric (below-average precipitation), surface water or ground water. A drought can last for months or years, or may be declared after as few as 15 days. It can have a substantial impact on the ecosystem and agriculture of the affected region and harm to the local economy. Annual dry seasons in the tropics significantly increase the chances of a drought developing and subsequent bush fires. Periods of heat can significantly worsen drought conditions by hastening evaporation of water vapour. Here we discuss the six main causes of drought.

Drought is a recurring feature of the climate in most parts of the world.

Many plant species, such as those in the family Cactaceae (or cacti), have drought tolerance adaptations like reduced leaf area and waxy cuticles to enhance their ability to tolerate drought. Some others survive dry periods as buried seeds. Semi-permanent drought produces arid biomes such as deserts and grasslands. Prolonged droughts have caused mass migrations and humanitarian crisis. Most arid ecosystems have inherently low productivity. The most prolonged drought ever in the world in recorded history occurred in the Atacama Desert in Chile (400 Years).

Drought affect food production and human society, so they are considered a disaster, of natural, supernatural or human cause (which itself could be supernatural causes, malediction, sin, …). It is among the earliest documented climatic events, present in the Epic of Gilgamesh and tied to the Biblical story of Joseph’s arrival in and the later Exodus from Ancient Egypt. Hunter-gatherer migrations in 9,500 BC Chile have been linked to the phenomenon, as has the exodus of early humans out of Africa and into the rest of the world around 135,000 years ago. Rituals exist to prevent or avert drought, rainmaking could go from dances to scapegoating to human sacrifices. Nowadays, those ancient practices are for the most part relegated to folklore and replaced by more rational water management.

Types of drought

People tend to define droughts in three main ways:

Meteorological drought occurs when there is a prolonged time with less than average precipitation. Meteorological drought usually precedes the other kinds of drought.
Agricultural droughts affect crop production or the ecology of the range. This condition can also arise independently from any change in precipitation levels when either increased irrigation or soil conditions and erosion triggered by poorly planned agricultural endeavors cause a shortfall in water available to the crops. However, in a traditional drought, it is caused by an extended period of below average precipitation.
Hydrological drought is brought about when the water reserves available in sources such as aquifers, lakes and reservoirs fall below a locally significant threshold. Hydrological drought tends to show up more slowly because it involves stored water that is used but not replenished. Like an agricultural drought, this can be triggered by more than just a loss of rainfall. For instance, around 2007 Kazakhstan was awarded a large amount of money by the World Bank to restore water that had been diverted to other nations from the Aral Sea under Soviet rule. Similar circumstances also place their largest lake, Balkhash, at risk of completely drying out.

The “new normal” of water management across the United States suggests we need to consider the regions we live in are either heading into a drought or coming out of a drought. California is in a mega drought and most data indicates water is becoming more available. Georgia is heading into a drought. For the past year things have been getting worse and according to the U.S. Drought Monitor today over 30% of the state is in a severe drought. This is nothing like the drought of 2008 when Atlanta was days away from running out of water, but as cycles go, they are headed into a drought and it’s hard to say when it will end. Ohio, who has been in a sports championship drought and moving out of it is headed into a water drought.

The Six Main Causes of Drought

1. Land and water temperatures cause drought. As overall temperatures increase more water evaporates and severe weather conditions increase. Landscapes and crops need more water to survive and overall the demand for water increases. This is why it is so important to consider changes in ET when discussing water savings. You might be using more water or less water depending on weather conditions.
2. Air circulation and weather patterns also cause drought. Key events like El Nino or La Nina help contribute to drought in areas. All the water we ever had we have today and it is stored in the air or on land. Weather patterns move the water in the air around. This is constantly changing.
3. Soil moisture levels also contribute to drought. When soil moisture is depleted there is less evaporation of water to create clouds. Surface temperatures rise, more water is needed and less is available which contributes to a more severe drought.
4. Drought can also be a supply and demand of water issue. When a region is growing rapidly the demand for water can exceed the supply. When weather conditions, temperatures or air patterns push a region toward a drought the demand for water by people can offset or worsen the situation depending on how the region reacts. Excessive irrigation is an excellent of people contributing to a drought.
5. If the timing of water doesn’t match the agricultural season you may have too much water when you don’t need it and too little when you do need it. Proper storage and collection of water is key to counter balancing this cycle and clearly in the scope of human management.
6. Overall, global warming will result in increased world rainfall. Activities resulting in global climate change are expected to trigger droughts with a substantial impact on agriculture throughout the world, and especially in developing nations. Along with drought in some areas, flooding and erosion could increase in others. Some proposed solutions to global warming that focus on more active techniques, solar radiation management through the use of a space sunshade for one, may also carry with them increased chances of drought.

Severe droughts also impact the migration of people. As countries continue to protect their natural resources people will move to water. The amount and timing of the movement can contribute to water issues not previously felt before.

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What are Some Agents of Socialization

When human children are born, they know nothing of the society they are born into. Socialization is the process through which individuals acquire culture to assimilate into society. Socialization is continuous and it happens all through a person’s stages of life. A person familiarizes themselves with language, norms, values, roles, customs, and attitudes. Through the socialization process, a person forms their personality and sense of self. Successful socialization manifests as a uniformity within a particular society. Governments, for example, tend to standardize education to nurture law-abiders and control potential radicals. In any society, there exist individuals who, because they did not internalize society’s values, do not conform to the set standards. What are Some Agents of Socialization, which are family, peers, schools, and mass media.

Family

The family represents a child’s first emotional tie, and it is by far the most significant agent of the socialization process. Infants are entirely reliant on other people to survive, and the parents assume the role of guiding them to be able to care for themselves. Parents or guardians provide children with their initial system of beliefs, norms, and values and the system are based on their ethnic community, social status, and religion among other factors. The system that parents inculcate on children normally has a profound effect throughout their lives. Social class has been identified as a critical factor in the socialization process. Melvin Kohn (1965, 1977) expounded on the reasons why middle and working class parents socialized their children in different ways. Working class parents possess less education and do more repetitive work duties with little autonomy, and therefore obedience is a necessary virtue, and they pass this to the other generation. Middle-class parents, on the other hand, hold white-collar jobs where creativity and independent thought are encouraged and they pass these values to their children.

The primary function of the family is to reproduce society, both biologically through procreation and socially through socialization. Given these functions, the individual’s experience of his or her family shifts over time. From the perspective of children, the family is a family of orientation: the family functions to locate children socially, and plays a major role in their socialization. From the point of view of the parent(s), the family is a family of procreation: The family functions to produce and socialize children. In some cultures, marriage imposes upon women the obligation to bear children. In northern Ghana, for example, payment of bridewealth, which is an amount of money, wealth, or property paid to the bride’s parents by the groom’s family, signifies a woman’s requirement to bear children, and women using birth control face substantial threats of physical abuse and reprisals.

Schools

Most children are enrolled in schools for the primary purpose of acquiring education. The institutions socialize children in various ways. First, the children are instructed on a formal curriculum, a system informally known as reading, writing, and arithmetic. Teachers represent the school’s authority figures, and they continually reinforce school values and other established practices to inculcate obedience. Sociologists have named this system of enforcing societal values on children as the hidden curriculum. When children are grouped to engage in a project, for example, they learn the significance of teamwork and cooperation. The role of the hidden curriculum is to mold children for the adult world. The children learn how to manage expectations, regulations, bureaucracy, and sitting still for several hours. The way in which schools socialize pupils differs from culture to culture.

Education is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people is transmitted from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts. In its narrow, technical sense, education is the formal process by which society deliberately transmits its accumulated knowledge, skills, customs and values from one generation to another. The sociology of education is the study of how public institutions and individual experiences affect education and its outcomes. It is most concerned with the public schooling systems of modern industrial societies, including the expansion of higher, adult, and continuing education.

Education has often been seen as a fundamentally optimistic human endeavor characterized by aspirations for progress and betterment. It is understood by many to be a means of overcoming limitations, achieving greater equality and acquiring wealth and social status. Education is perceived as an endeavor that enables children to develop according to their unique needs and potential. It is also perceived as one of the best means of achieving greater social equality. Some take a particularly negative view, arguing that the education system is intentionally designed to perpetuate the social reproduction of inequality.

Peers

Peer groups are made up of age mates and those children who share a similar status. Peer groups enable children to form bonds on their terms and they learn from each other without an authority figure present. Peer group socialization commences in a child’s formative years such as when kids playing in a playground learn the aspect of taking turns. A child’s initial peer circle may be accidental such as, by way of joining a class, but they become intentional in their choice of peers as they mature. As one approaches adolescence, peer group centers around similar interests, activities, and status. A peer group impacts on a person’s choice for things like fashion trends, appearance, relationships, music, drugs and drug use, sex, and technology. Peers rely on each other for companionship, emotional support, and fun. However, peer circles are negatively associated with peer pressure. This situation occurs when a peer group encourages an individual to violate societal values. The influence of peers declines as a person reaches their 20s and 30s particularly if they start a family. This influence does not ultimately diminish as married couples, particularly those with young kids, meet, and socialize.

Peer groups have a significant influence on psychological and social adjustments for group individuals. They provide perspective outside of individual’s viewpoints. Members inside peer groups also learn to develop relationships with others in the social system. Peers, particularly group members, become important social referents for teaching members’ customs, social norms, and different ideologies.

Peer groups can also serve as a venue for teaching members gender roles. Through gender-role socialization group members learn about sex differences, social and cultural expectations. While boys and girls differ greatly there is not a one to one link between sex and gender role with males always being masculine and female always being feminine. Both genders can contain different levels of masculinity and femininity.

Mass Media

The aspects of mass media include television programs, magazines, radio, websites, music, and movies. These aspects have been shown to influence an individual’s preferences in popular culture. Sociologists agree that the extent of the influence of mass media is hard to measure. Mass media relays impersonal information in a one-way direction to a passive audience. Commercials significantly impact our choices of retail products such as clothing, food, and household items. The media is always criticized for exposing children and young adults to negative scenarios. In today’s world, the average child soaks in thousands of violent acts shown on television before attaining adulthood. Various studies have reported a strong correlation between watching violent movies and shows, and committing violent acts although watching such shows does not always result in violence. Scholars are continuously engaged in a debate over the link between media violence and violence perpetrated by the youths. The perceived correlation has triggered calls by societal groups for the censoring and even the banning of particular acts of violence. Mass media empowers its audience by giving them wider information not only about their particular territory of residence but also the entire world.

Mass media is the means for delivering impersonal communications directed to a vast audience. The term media comes from Latin meaning, “middle,” suggesting that the media’s function is to connect people. Since mass media has enormous effects on our attitudes and behavior, notably in regards to aggression, it contributes to the socialization process.

What are Agents of Socialization?

Agents of socialization include family, schools, peers, and mass media.

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What are the Four Major Agents of Socialization

The socialization that we receive in childhood has a lasting effect on our ability to interact with others in society. In this lesson, we identify and discuss, what are the four major agents of Socialization in childhood: family, school, peers, and media.

The primary function of the family is to reproduce society, both biologically through procreation and socially through socialization. Given these functions, the individual’s experience of his or her family shifts over time. From the perspective of children, the family is a family of orientation: the family functions to locate children socially, and plays a major role in their socialization. From the point of view of the parent(s), the family is a family of procreation: The family functions to produce and socialize children. In some cultures, marriage imposes upon women the obligation to bear children. In northern Ghana, for example, payment of bridewealth, which is an amount of money, wealth, or property paid to the bride’s parents by the groom’s family, signifies a woman’s requirement to bear children, and women using birth control face substantial threats of physical abuse and reprisals.

Producing offspring is not the only function of the family. Marriage sometimes establishes the legal father of a woman’s child; establishes the legal mother of a man’s child; gives the husband or his family control over the wife’s sexual services, labor, and/or property; gives the wife or her family control over the husband’s sexual services, labor, and/or property; establishes a joint fund of property for the benefit of children; establishes a relationship between the families of the husband and wife. None of these functions are universal, nor are all of them inherent to any one society. In societies with a sexual division of labor, marriage, and the resulting relationship between a husband and wife, is necessary for the formation of an economically productive household. In modern societies, marriage entails particular rights and privileges which encourage the formation of new families even when there is no intention of having children.

Socialization

How do we learn to interact with other people? Socialization is a lifelong process during which we learn about social expectations and how to interact with other people. Nearly all of the behavior that we consider to be ‘human nature’ is actually learned through socialization. And, it is during socialization that we learn how to walk, talk, and feed ourselves, about behavioral norms that help us fit in to our society, and so much more.

Socialization occurs throughout our life, but some of the most important socialization occurs in childhood. So, let’s talk about the most influential agents of socialization. These are the people or groups responsible for our socialization during childhood – including family, school, peers, and mass media.

The Four Major Agents of Socialization

Family

There is no better way to start than to talk about the role of family in our social development, as family is usually considered to be the most important agent of socialization. As infants, we are completely dependent on others to survive. Our parents, or those who play the parent role, are responsible for teaching us to function and care for ourselves. They, along with the rest of our family, also teach us about close relationships, group life, and how to share resources. Additionally, they provide us with our first system of values, norms, and beliefs – a system that is usually a reflection of their own social status, religion, ethnic group, and more.

For example, Alexander, a young boy who lives in America, was born to an immigrant family. He grew up bilingual and was taught the importance of collectivistic values through socialization with his family. This experience differs drastically from someone born to an older, ‘traditional’ American family that would emphasize the English language and individualistic values.

Keep in mind, however, that families do not socialize children in a vacuum. Many social factors affect the way a family raises its children. For example, we can use sociological imagination to recognize that individual behaviors are affected by the historical period in which they take place. Sixty years ago, it would not have been considered especially strict for a father to hit his son with a wooden spoon or a belt if he misbehaved, but today that same action might be considered child abuse.

Schools

The next important agent of childhood socialization is the school. Of course, the official purpose of school is to transfer subject knowledge and teach life skills, such as following directions and meeting deadlines. But, students don’t just learn from the academic curriculum prepared by teachers and school administrators. In school, we also learn social skills through our interactions with teachers, staff, and other students. For example, we learn the importance of obeying authority and that to be successful, we must learn to be quiet, to wait, and sometimes to act interested even when we’re not.

Alexander, like other children, might even learn things from his teacher that she did not intend to teach. For instance, he might learn that it’s best to yell out an answer instead of raising his hand. When he does so, he gets rare attention from the teacher and is hardly ever punished.

School and classroom rituals, led by teachers serving as role models and leaders, regularly reinforce what society expects from children. Sociologists describe this aspect of schools as the hidden curriculum, the informal teaching done by schools.

For example, in the United States, schools have built a sense of competition into the way grades are awarded and the way teachers evaluate students (Bowles and Gintis 1976). When children participate in a relay race or a math contest, they learn there are winners and losers in society. When children are required to work together on a project, they practice teamwork with other people in cooperative situations. The hidden curriculum prepares children for the adult world. Children learn how to deal with bureaucracy, rules, expectations, waiting their turn, and sitting still for hours during the day. Schools in different cultures socialize children differently in order to prepare them to function well in those cultures. The latent functions of teamwork and dealing with bureaucracy are features of U.S. culture.

Peers

Another agent of socialization that relates to school is our peer group. Unlike the agents we’ve already discussed – family and school – peer groups give us an opportunity as children to form relationships with others on our own terms, plus learn things without the direction of an adult. Our peers have an incredible amount of influence on us when we’re young, so it’s understandable that parents worry about the type of friends we choose. Often, we discuss topics and learn behavioral norms from our peers that our parents do not or would not approve of.

Mass Media

Mass media distribute impersonal information to a wide audience, via television, newspapers, radio, and the Internet. With the average person spending over four hours a day in front of the television (and children averaging even more screen time), media greatly influences social norms (Roberts, Foehr, and Rideout 2005). People learn about objects of material culture (like new technology and transportation options), as well as nonmaterial culture—what is true (beliefs), what is important (values), and what is expected (norms).

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5 Largest Moons in the Solar System

A moon is a natural satellite rotating around a planet. While moons vary in size, each moon is much smaller than its planet. There are 176 known natural moons orbiting planets in our Solar System. 168 moons orbit the “full-size” planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune), while 8 moons orbit the smaller planets calling dwarf planets (Ceres, Pluto, Haumea, Makemake, and Eris). Several moons in our solar system are larger than the planet Pluto and two moons are larger than the planet Mercury. Many people think that the answer to ‘what is the largest moon in the Solar System’ is our Moon. It is not. Our Moon is the fifth largest Moon in the solar system. Let’s explore the moons of the solar system. The below is the top 5 largest moons in the solar system.

This is a partial list of Solar System objects by size, arranged in descending order of mean volumetric radius, and divided into several size classes. These lists can also be sorted according to an object’s mass and, for the largest objects, volume, density and surface gravity, insofar as these values are available. This list contains the Sun, the planets, dwarf planets, many of the larger small Solar System bodies (which includes the asteroids), all named natural satellites, and a number of smaller objects of historical or scientific interest, such as comets and near-Earth objects.

Objects on this list are ordered by mean radius rather than mass; thus, objects on the lower portions of the table can be more massive than objects higher on the list if they have a higher density.

Many trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) have been discovered; in many cases their positions in this list are approximate, as there is frequently a large uncertainty in their estimated diameters.

Top 5 Largest Moons in the Solar System

5. Moon

Earts natural satellite Moon

The Moon is Earth’s only natural satellite. Our planet’s trusty companion is an airless, silent world without any signs of life. Because of its small size, the Moon’s force of attraction is too weak to hold the gases it would need to form an atmosphere. The Moon is in synchronous rotation with Earth, always showing the same face with its near side marked by dark volcanic maria that fill between the bright ancient crustal highlands and the prominent impact craters. The Moon is a spherical rocky body, probably with a small metallic core, revolving around Earth in a slightly eccentric orbit at a mean distance of about 384,000 km. It’s diameter is 3475 km.

4. Io

Io is a large, rocky, volcanically active moon of Jupiter. It has a diameter of 3,636 km. Io’s mean distance from Jupiter is 422,000 km. It was discovered in 1610 by Galileo Galilei, along with the other Galilean satellites. Further observations have been made by Cassini–Huygens in 2000 and New Horizons in 2007, as well as from Earth-based telescopes and the Hubble Space Telescope as technology has advanced. It has the highest density of all the moons, and is the driest known object in the Solar System. It was named after the mythological character Io, a priestess of Hera who became one of Zeus’s lovers.

 

3. Callisto

Jupiters moon Callisto

With a diameter of over 4,800 km, Callisto is the third largest satellite in the solar system and is almost the size of Mercury. It was discovered in 1610 by Galileo Galilei. Callisto is the outermost of the Galilean satellites (Ganymede, Europa, Io, Callisto). Callisto is named for the beautiful daughter of Lycaon, who followed the chaste goddess of the hunt, Artemis. Unfortunately, since Callisto was seduced by Zeus (the Greek equivalent of the Roman god Jupiter) and became pregnant she was banished by Artemis. Zeus changed Callisto into a bear to protect her from his wife Hera’s jealousy. Later, Zeus placed Callisto and their son in the sky, and mother and son became Ursa Major and Ursa Minor (Great Bear and Little Bear).

2. Titan

The Saturns moon Titan

Titan is Saturn’s largest moon and the second largest in the solar system. It was discovered on March 25, 1655 by the Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens. Titan is the only natural satellite known to have a dense atmosphere. Titan’s atmosphere is active and complex, and it is mainly composed of nitrogen (95 percent) and methane (5 percent). Titan also has a presence of organic molecules that contain carbon and hydrogen, and that often include oxygen and other elements similar to what is found in Earth’s atmosphere and that are essential for life. It has a diameter of 5,152 km.

 

1. Ganymede

The largest satellite Ganymede

Ganymede is a satellite of Jupiter and the largest satellite in our solar system. It is larger than Mercury and Pluto, and three-quarters the size of Mars. It has a diameter of 5,268 km. It orbiting at about 1.070 million km and takes about seven Earth days to orbit Jupiter. Ganymede is composed of approximately equal amounts of silicate rock and water ice. It is a fully differentiated body with an iron-rich, liquid core, and it might have ice and oceans stacked up in several layers. Ganymede was discovered by Galileo Galilei on Jan. 7, 1610. The discovery, along with three other Jovian moons, was the first time a moon was discovered orbiting a planet other than Earth. Galileo’s discovery eventually led to the understanding that planets orbit the sun, instead of our solar system revolving around Earth. Galileo called this moon Jupiter III. When the numerical naming system was abandoned in the mid-1800s, the moon was named after Ganymede, a Trojan prince in Greek mythology. Zeus, a counterpart of Jupiter in Roman mythology, carried Ganymede, who had taken the form of an eagle, to Olympus, where he became a cupbearer to the Olympian gods and one of Zeus’ lovers.

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Name the Biggest Moon in Our Solar System

The moon is a solid natural object that orbits around a planet. It is a planet’s natural satellite. No definite scientific explanation has satisfactorily answered the question of how moons came into existence, although there are several theories. The Earth’s Moon was thought to be the only moon but after the invention of the telescope, other moons on other planets were discovered. Each planet has one or more moons except Mercury and Venus and the dwarf planet Ceres. Jupiter has 79 moons the highest number in the solar system. Technological advancements have made it possible for man to discover and even go on expeditions to the moon. Jupiter’s Ganymede is the largest moon in our solar system. Ganymede is a satellite of Jupiter (Jupiter III), is the largest and most massive of the Solar System’s moons. The ninth largest object in the Solar System, it is the largest without a substantial atmosphere. It has a diameter of 5,268 km (3,273 mi) and is 8% larger than the planet Mercury, although only 45% as massive. Possessing a metallic core, it has the lowest moment of inertia factor of any solid body in the Solar System and is the only moon known to have a magnetic field. Outward from Jupiter, it is the seventh satellite and the third of the Galilean moons, the first group of objects discovered orbiting another planet. Ganymede orbits Jupiter in roughly seven days and is in a 1:2:4 orbital resonance with the moons Europa and Io, respectively. Ganymede is the name the biggest moon in our Solar System.

Ganymede is the largest of Jupiter’s 79 moons as well as by far the largest moon in the solar system. Ganymede orbits around Jupiter with a diameter of 5,262 kilometers. It is bigger in size than the smallest planet Mercury and would have easily been classified as a planet if it was orbiting the sun. It has its own magnetic field. Its discovery was made by Galileo Galilei the Italian astronomer on January 7, 1610. The satellite orbits around Jupiter at a distance of 1,0700,400 km and takes 7.1 days to complete one orbit. The surface of Ganymede has two types of terrains. It consists of lighter, younger areas and a darker cratered region. The planet’s atmosphere is thin and has oxygen contained in dispersed molecules. Water ice and rocky material make up the planet, and it thought to have underground oceans. The name is derived from a prince in Greek mythology.

Ganymede is composed of approximately equal amounts of silicate rock and water ice. It is a fully differentiated body with an iron-rich, liquid core, and an internal ocean that may contain more water than all of Earth’s oceans combined. Its surface is composed of two main types of terrain. Dark regions, saturated with impact craters and dated to four billion years ago, cover about a third of the satellite. Lighter regions, crosscut by extensive grooves and ridges and only slightly less ancient, cover the remainder. The cause of the light terrain’s disrupted geology is not fully known, but was likely the result of tectonic activity due to tidal heating.

Ganymede’s magnetic field is probably created by convection within its liquid iron core. The meager magnetic field is buried within Jupiter’s much larger magnetic field and would show only as a local perturbation of the field lines. The satellite has a thin oxygen atmosphere that includes O, O₂, and possibly O₃ (ozone). Atomic hydrogen is a minor atmospheric constituent. Whether the satellite has an ionosphere associated with its atmosphere is unresolved.

Chinese astronomical records report that in 365 BC, Gan De detected what might have been a moon of Jupiter, probably Ganymede, with the naked eye. However, Gan De reported the color of the companion as reddish, which is puzzling since the moons are too faint for their color to be perceived with the naked eye. Shi Shen and Gan De together made fairly accurate observations of the five major planets.

On January 7, 1610, Galileo Galilei observed what he thought were three stars near Jupiter, including what turned out to be Ganymede, Callisto, and one body that turned out to be the combined light from Io and Europa; the next night he noticed that they had moved. On January 13, he saw all four at once for the first time, but had seen each of the moons before this date at least once. By January 15, Galileo came to the conclusion that the stars were actually bodies orbiting Jupiter. He claimed the right to name the moons; he considered “Cosmian Stars” and settled on “Medicean Stars”

The French astronomer Nicolas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc suggested individual names from the Medici family for the moons, but his proposal was not taken up. Simon Marius, who had originally claimed to have found the Galilean satellites, tried to name the moons the “Saturn of Jupiter”, the “Jupiter of Jupiter” (this was Ganymede), the “Venus of Jupiter”, and the “Mercury of Jupiter”, another nomenclature that never caught on.

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How Can Littering Affect Animals

Many people may not think that how can littering affect animals, as humans consume natural resources, they, too, create byproducts that enter Earth’s varied ecosystems. Plastic waste, water pollution, soil runoff, and jars and bottles make up just a few of the human-made products and byproducts that can harm the Earth and the species that live on it. The damage can be physical — six-pack rings strangling marine life — or chemical — fertilizers causing algal blooms — but in either case, they can cause lasting damage to the flora and fauna of an area.

On average we receive 14 calls a day about animals affected by litter and these calls spike in the summer months. And, as pet owners go directly to vets, and many injured wild animals are never found, it’s estimated that the actual figure of animals injured by litter is much higher than we currently know.

Plastic Waste

Discarding plastic products, including grocery sacks, rapidly fills up landfills and often clog drains. When plastic litter drifts out to sea, animals like turtles or dolphins may ingest the plastic. The plastic creates health problems for the animals including depleting their nutrients and blocking their stomachs and intestines. Animals cannot break down plastic in their digestive system and will usually die from the obstruction. Pieces of plastic can also get tangled around animals’ bodies or heads and cause injury or death.

Water Pollution

Litter in Earth’s water supply from consumer and commercial use creates a toxic environment. The water is ingested by deer, fish and a variety of other animals. The toxins may cause blood clotting, seizures or serious medical issues that can kill animals. The toxic water may also kill off surrounding plant life on riverbanks and the bottom of a pond’s ecosystem. When humans eat animals that have ingested compromised water supplies, they also can become sick.

Soil Runoff

Runoff from litter, polluted water, gasoline and consumer waste can infiltrate the soil. The soil absorbs the toxins litter creates and affects plants and crops. The agriculture is often compromised and fails to thrive. Animals then eat those crops or worms that live in the soil and may become sick. Humans who eat either the crops or the animals feeding on the infected agriculture can also become ill.

Jars and Bottles

Discarded jars and bottles usually do not biodegrade naturally and add to humanity’s mounting litter problem. The litter remains in landfills and clogs sewers, streets, rivers and fields. Crabs, birds and small animals may crawl into the bottles looking for food and water and become stuck and slowly die from starvation and illness. The World Wide Fund for Nature reported some 1.5 million tons of plastic waste from the water bottling industry alone.

Elastic bands

Elastic bands, although seemingly harmless can in fact wrap around small animals and the beaks of birds. If swallowed they can also cause choking. By reusing bands where possible or cutting them open before putting in a bin, you can really help prevent harm to animals.

Fishing tackle

Fishing litter is responsible for the injury of thousands of wild animals every year with animals getting entangled in line and hooks which can pierce skin or be swallowed. By fishing responsibly, you can avoid accidental harm to the local wildlife and environment.

How can litter be dangerous to animals?

Everyday objects that seem perfectly safe, can sadly become hazardous when found accidentally by animals. By disposing our rubbish safely instead of littering we are making choices that could save many lives.

Protecting animals from harmful rubbish is easy.  Dispose of  your rubbish responsibly by recycling, reusing or simply putting it in the bin!

 

source https://fourteen.online/how-can-littering-affect-animals/

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How Does Littering Affect the Earth

Many people may not think that how does littering affect the Earth.

In reality, littering has an extremely negative impact on the earth. Littering tends to damage areas where we live, work and where children play. There are different factors that lead to littering. Some factors relate to what people do, while others come from areas of manufacturing.

Litter consists of trash and household toxic substances that are improperly disposed of on land or in water. Whether the litter is intentional or unintentional, large or small, it can drastically affect the earth for years to come. Before carelessly tossing another item out the window or looking the other way when someone else does, consider the impact you can make on the earth by recycling, reusing and disposing of waste properly.

Litter can come in many different ways and mainly because people can sometimes be rather careless and negligent. Who does it?  Well, a lot of times we see someone driving ahead of us, toss an empty to-go cup out of their window.  Or it could also be someone crumbling up a receipt and missing the garbage can outside.  It could even be a young child that may not know any better, carelessly dropping candy wrappers on the playground.  Some do it by mistake without realizing it, and unfortunately, some simply are too careless and purposely throw trash out of their car window, or just toss an empty can across an open field.

Whenever you go to an event and there are going to be thousands and thousands of people there, it is going to be hard to control the amount of trash left around. As some people will throw their trash away in the proper bins, sadly, some will leave their trash careless on the ground. It is our responsibility as people to clean up after ourselves and try to protect our earth environment, but that thought doesn’t often cross the mind of others.

In many places, littering is illegal and can carry a fine of $500 and/or jail time.

While some people intentionally litter, this is something that can be controlled. More laws can be put in place to control the amount of litter that floods the streets by careless people that are causing harm the earth environment more than it already is.

Not only is littering affecting us on the streets and our backyards, but it also affects the oceans, rivers and wildlife.

Many animals die in their attempts to eat or get caught up in plastic bags left to blow away in the wind. Some people also have been known to throw their beer cans and the plastic rings in the water that can cut the fish and make them choke on the plastic. Many fish die from these factors and it’s time we brought awareness to this problem at hand.

 

Littering causes a threat to our health and can cause harmful germs and bacteria.

Littering can cause fires and also sends a message that people really don’t care about the Earth.

Whereas some people may not be bothered to live in a world surrounded by trash, others may be trying to prevent that.

Removing litter costs money, something that is hard for people to let go of. If we can spend a whopping $10 on a fancy cup of coffee, who says we can’t spend a little here and there to help keep our planet clean as well?

Above all, littering has a negative effect on everything. Animals get injured and swallow toxic things like oil and pesticides. People or animals can get sick or even die because of careless mistakes that happen in this world every day.

Littering can be prevented but it has to involve everyone as a whole to help out.  People that get caught littering could face fines or even jail time.  So if someone were to get caught tossing out a cigarette butt out of the car window, they should also know they just threw $500.00 away as well.

So please, be aware of the all of the consequences of littering and help keep our planet clean!

 

Marine Litter

Litter that is tossed into the ocean can travel long distances with the currents and winds. Not only does this litter directly affect marine life and birds, but it also washes onto beaches, is caught in fishing nets, damages boat motors, is an eyesore and smells bad. Plastic bags and plastic wrap can asphyxiate marine animals and fish, and birds can easily entangle themselves in plastic six-pack rings and strings. Animals also get sick or die from swallowing trash, such as cigarettes and silicon packets. Metal scraps and broken glass can cut the flesh of birds and other animals.

Land Litter

Land litter is not hard to spot and comes in all types — cigarette butts, plastic bags, old tires, fast food wrappers and plastic and glass bottles. According to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, seven major sources contribute to land litter: home trash cans, business trash collection areas, loading docks, construction and demolition sites, uncovered trucks, motorists and pedestrians. Litter isn’t just unsightly: It can cause vehicle accidents and injuries, smother plants, start fires and harm or kill animals. It also attracts rats and harmful bacteria.

The post How Does Littering Affect the Earth appeared first on Gradaxis.

source https://gradaxis.com/how-does-littering-affect-the-earth/

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