grafffiti

Graffiti or some might say art murals that span across freeways in Los Angeles. A certain mural in Boyle Heights has residents mad. I got this article in the Los Angeles Times March 20 in the B section. The mural shows what people might classify as stereotypes that effect how people think of the Latino race. There's no American flag in the mural and the mural also shows beer swilling men, fat women, stray dogs, and illegal street vendors.
The typical homogenous culture in Los Angeles where a lot of the Mexican culture lives wants this change. The people of this community wanted to be portrayed in a positive light. This raises issues in the environment because the way people look at the latino race. Driving by the mural everyday causes this image to be remain in your head. Latinos are more then what this mural shows. Latinos are the backbone of this country and the fastest rising race in the country.

Manure

Article from Los Angeles Times March 21 , 2008 edition in the B section. Residents in Orange County might have to pay a fee for disposal of horse manure. The city seems to be divided over this issue. Homeowners rather do what they please with it. Horse lovers are being driven out with the threat of fines.

The city hasn't been able to find a solution to get pollution out of water, so that creates a problem for the enviroment. Recently Sam Pedroza talked about the cleanliness of water in our class. The residents in Norco are divided on what to do and city officials haven't decided. The best solution would be to find a way to keep water clean without a fee so high to dispose of the manure.

bird droppings

I came across this article in the L A times on March 14th in the B section. I buy the newspaper everyday. This is a real out their story. The article was about how coots droppings that pollute lakes in Bridgeport a subdivision of Valencia have some residents in an uproar. To the point that some coots are being found killed by humans. I mean i understand being upset in regards to pollution but to kill a bird seems kind of harsh. Coots have droppings with regularity.

Over 20,000 pounds of droppings over the course of a six month stay. Coots love to eat grass. The tactics include pretending to get ready to feed them and then hitting them in the head to essentially kill them. The coots migrate from the north and stay for about six months. The residents are just fed up with the poop it would seem. Coots are viewed as a nuisance. Some residents sick their dogs on the coots or just shoot them. I feel as though people need to calm down. So you get a little poop on your shoes. I guess killing a bird for that will make them feel better.

landfills

In the past, municipal solid waste was sent to the nearest local landfill or incinerator. But in 1988, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency instituted the first federal standards for landfills, designed to make them safer. Over 10,000 small municipal landfills have since been consolidated into an estimated 3,500 newer, safer landfills, some of which are "megafills" that can handle up to 10,000 tons of waste a day.

The new landfills are outfitted to prevent air and water pollution and limit the spread of disease by scavengers. Although the new landfills provide better controls against air and water pollution as well as an alternate source of municipal income, they are not entirely problem-free.

Its a good thing that this issue is naked to our eyes. All the stuff we throw out creates this massive mess. The burning of this trash obviousely creates issues with the environment.

Some experts believe the new landfill technology has not been properly tested and will therefore not provide protection in the long run. Others feel that poorer, less well-informed communities are targeted as sites for new landfills. In addition, many people that live near megafills, which may draw garbarge from several states, are unhappy about the noise, truck traffic, odors, and pests caused by the facilities.


It seems that some good plan developments are being put in place to minimize this problem. Even though this article its outdated, you would think plans have improved. (environmnetal health website)

silver lake

Several weeks of draining silver lake reservoir is nearlt completed. The emptying of the reservoir began in jan. Officials said the action was necessary to eliminate contaminated water. I mean doesn't that gross you out when you lay your eyes on that. Workers will clean the surface of debris from the bottom of the lake.

The reservoir was last drained 20 years ago. For a time in the 70's officials officials considered abandoning the lake or replacing it with water tanks. It's amazing how people cant just keep clean to avoid these type of issues. The beautiful scenery of the lake has been completely transformed to a bottomless pit.
The reservoir needs to be back in service. It hood drinking water for the southern part of the city. (Latimes march 13 b section)

Snowpack

Article from Los angeles times march 3rd edition b section as usual. Scientists are trying to predict the water supply. One in particular frank gehrke straps on his skis to monitor the sierra nevada. The place is like californias water supply. Conversions of snow, sun, and tempurature enable to predict flooods. New equipment has been installed to understand climate change.

He is californias snow chief. His predictions are repected. The gin flat in yosemite is where he conducts his observations. The snow has been slightly above normal this year. The sierra will continue to supply plenty of water to keep the economy growing and water rates low. Snowpack levels have become erratic the past 17 years. 11 sites in yosemite are used to conduct these tests to insure our water supply.

Fires

Fire is sometimes essential for forest regeneration, or provides tangible benefits for local communities. In other cases it destroys forests and has dire social and economic consequences.

Forest fires are a natural part of life but shouldn't be. In many, but not all, forest types: in dry tropical forests for example they are a frequent and expected feature, while in tropical moist forests they would naturally be absent or at least rare enough to play a negligible role in ecology.


Fires become a problem when they burn in the wrong places, or in the right places but at the wrong frequency or the wrong temperatures. Fires in forests that burn under natural circumstances become a problem when those forests are used for a particular purpose, such as settlement or timber production.


Globally, most forest fires are probably now directly or indirectly influenced by humans. But in many areas that are hot and dry for part of each year, where frequent fires would be expected, human influence has now become so pervasive that most fires are 'unnatural'.


Objectives and aims of fire management are not synchronized or thought-through, leading to unwanted and wanted fires, which can result in both beneficial and damaging effects. The geographical spread, frequency and intensity of fires are all changing.

Fire is also used as a management tool because it is cheap, simple to apply (particularly important if use is illegal) and sometimes the only option available for poorer people and smallholders. Some people get out of control when they cause it themselves. Got this article from march 6 los angeles times b section.

Overpopulation

Overpopulation is major issue in our environment. Overpopulation is also related to issues of birth control with some nations using strict measures in order to reduce birth rates, while religious and ideological opposition to birth control has been cited as a factor contributing to overpopulation and poverty.

Once a country has industrialized and become wealthy, a combination of government regulation and technological innovation causes pollution to decline substantially, even as the population continues to grow.Deforestation and loss of ecosystems that sustain global atmospheric oxygen and carbon dioxide balance; about eight million hectares of forest are lost each year.

Deforestation and desertification can be reversed by adopting property rights, and this policy is successful even while the human population continues to grow

High infant and child mortality High rates of infant mortality are caused by poverty. Rich countries with high population densities have low rates of infant mortality. Famine is aggravated by poverty. Rich countries with high population densities do not have famine.Poverty coupled with inflation in some regions and a resulting low level of capital formation.

Poverty and inflation are aggravated by bad government and bad economic policies. Many countries with high population densities have eliminated absolute poverty and keep their inflation rates very low.

Conflict over scarce resources and crowding, leading to increased levels of warfare. These facts are from the Wiklepedia site. This is just the tip of the iceberg. We must become more aware to make better decisions.

Road killing

This article is from the feb 29 th edition of the L. A. Times b section. I buy the times everyday to read so I look for stories in here. The story is on B3. California sued the us forest service for wanting to build roads in national forests. The forest provide habitat for animals. Ive written a similar blog to this. This blog deals national forests and not with housing projects.

The building of roads will lead to cars going in and chopping down trees. It would appear that their are alot of roadless area that can be used to build roads. It seems very typical that any open land has to be used to build something. Why not just let it be. The U s forest service wants to use 500,000 acres near los padres, angeles, san bernardino, and cleveland for oil drilling. Of course this is being supported by Mr. Bush. Some of this land runs paralell to the U.S /Mexico border. I can't help but think, more roads means more immigrants. The government wants more immigrants to use them for cheap labor. The lawsuit is pending .