THE ARCTIC
TIME
HOW TO SAVE OUR EARTH Marco Sit
BE WORRIED. BE VERY WORRIED.
HUMAN POPULATION
JUST LEAF THE Featuring Mr. Wallace Attenborogh TREES ALONE How will the population kill us
HOW TO WIN THE WAR AGAINST GLOBAL WARMING
Johnny Andrewes SPECIAL ISSUE #001
Featuring Issac Aldred 1
CONTEXT
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Air Pollution Global Dimming Smog
6 Overpopulation Consumption Earth’s carrying capacity
10 Global Warming
12 Crossword
14 Deforestation Borneo forest
16 Special of the week Big Boi
19 Exclusive of John Moule 2
Air Pollution Marco Sit
Reducing air pollution isn’t an easy task, it’s a mission emission. Air pollution has contributed to the death of 4.2 million people from outdoor air pollution, on top of that, 3.8 million people died from indoor pollution in 2016. [World Health Organisation] On top of that, over 1 million seabirds and 100,000 mammals are killed by air pollution every year.
Most air pollution is from burning of fossil fuels, generating around 85% of airborne respirable particulate and close to 100% of sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions. Through the burning of fossil fuels, like cars, trucks, power plants, industrial operations, ships and planes, they produce sulphur dioxide, carbon dioxide and monoxides, nitrogen oxides and particulates. Sulphuric acid is produced because most fuels that contain carbon or hydrogen also contain sulphur, which reacts with
oxygen during combustion. Carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide and from complete and incomplete combustion respectively and Nitrogen oxides are from the large volume of nitrogen in air reacting with oxygen. While particulates are from burning of longer chain hydrocarbons , usually in trucks, which result in some hydrocarbons left over and not combusted. Sulphur dioxide: Carbon Dioxide: Carbon Monoxide: Nitrogen Oxide:
S + O2 = SO2 C + O2 = CO2 2C + O2 = CO 2NO + O2 = 2NO2
Since
1960, studies showed that there were substantial declines in the amount of the sun’s energy reaching the Earth’s surface. This is known as ‘Global Dimming’. This is caused by particulates reflecting and absorbing radiation before it reaches the planet’s surface and make clouds
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brighter and longer lasting, reflecting even more sunlight. the effect of global dimming, although not obvious, is pretty substantial. This is because it leads to increasing atmospheric water vapour, which in turns absorb more of the sun’s energy and continues the cycle. Similar to global dimming, some is created by excessive amounts of air pollution, but rather than particulates, it is cause by nitrogen oxides or sulfur oxides. Smog can cause health problems like asthma, chronic bronchitis as
well as different lung infections.
“You say Moreover, the Ozone directly damages plant cells and inhibits you love their growth, reducing the amount of carbon dioxide that they take in your during photosynthesis. children Air pollution is a serious problem above all we have to tackle. There is no else and yet time better than now to take action, anyone can start by doing you are their part, reducing their emission stealing levels through taking public etc. We have to act now, their future transport we can reduce 10% of deaths if all air pollution is eliminated. There is in front of a huge chance that you are their very affected by it, according to the World Health Organisation, 99% eyes.” of the population on Earth breaths Greta Thunberg
poor-quality air. So, do your part to help make this world a better place.
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Tottenham Hotspur is dedicated to minimising the environmental impacts of its activities across all Club operations. We embrace initiatives and technologies that reduce our environmental impact whenever possible, working towards improving efficiency and sustainability across the Club at all levels - encouraging employees, suppliers and partners to do the same. We are offsetting our carbon footprint in a myriad of different ways – to date, we have planted hundreds of new and semi-mature trees and tens of thousands of new plants, hedges and flowers across our Training Centre to establish an ecological habitat The Club was a founder member of the 10:10 initiative, which called on individuals, businesses, schools and other organisations to 5 cut their emissions by 10% in a year. This founder membership and the Club’s work during that period has informed our policies moving forward since implementation in 2009.
HOW WILL THE POPULATION KILL US Wallace Chan
The human race has developed at an incredible pace for the past centuries. From our humble origins of small tribes thriving in the lands of Africa, we have evolved to colonise and populate every corner of the planet. Homo Sapiens, the ‘wise man’; perhaps became a little too wise, ironically might be driving the cause for the destruction of their own race and planet.
For most of the time which the human population existed, it has grown slowly, limited by factors such as predators, disease, and climate alterations. It has taken until the 19th century for the sluggish population to reach 1 billion. Since then, the rate of increase has more than quadrupled while the skyrocketing development of medicine, technological advancements and nutrition has allowed us to reach a population of 7.3 billion as of 2015.
THE FACTS. -
The average population growth is currently at +81 million per year, which is sitting at roughly 101% in percentage change.
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Research done by scientists and geographers are still unable to conclude the maximum carrying capacity of the Earth (Scary, is it?)
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We have consumed more resources (in mass) in the last 50 years than the whole of humanity before our generation
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Population growth is not distributed evenly; it is prominent in developing and mainly emerging countries
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NOT JUST NUMBERS… Unfortunately, the problem does not seem to be that apparent. Even though the number of humans on our planet could be an important factor, the issue is far more complex than only counting people. Putting our focus on merely the population disrupts our attention from the interdependent relationship between factors such as human behaviour and the population changes, allowing us to blame environmental damages on insignificant aspects rather than rethinking this indispensable link. Basically, population growth leads to changes in behaviour, which may be more significant in impacts on the environment than just the increase in population.
HOW MANY IS TOO MANY? Debates that arise on how many living beings the Earth can hold date back to even a thousand years. Thousands of studies have been done, yet results vary massively. The ultimate measurement relies on resource management. The Earth is a closed system with a finite number of resources; hence consumption is crucial. How many people the Earth can carry depends on living standards. If everyone were a middle-class citizen, the maximum population could be around 2 billion, contrarily if everyone only consumed enough to survive, the population could be a lot higher.
CAUSES AND EFFECTS ON THE ENVIRONMENT Consumption— As citizens of a developed country, we do not often think of how our consumption affects the planet. The purchase of goods and resources have become part of our daily lives and is even promoted by advertisers and businesses hoping to expand their economic impact. Combined with material usage, the pollution that overconsumption produces is massive. Environmental impacts such as using large amounts of energy to burn fossil fuels are emitting masses upon masses of greenhouse gases while producing tons of waste. These effects are only to grow proportionally to the demand of the rising (urban) population. 7
Distribution
In
almost every country, humans have begun to live in urbanised areas. By 2050, the total urban population is projected to rise to 66% of the global population (more than 5 billion people!). Demand placed on resources in cities such as water, electricity and food in addition to pollution from transport and modern technological luxuries will affect the balance of overall consumption, which will come together to form global environmental problems.
SOLUTIONS Technological Innovations The key benefit of this solution is not only does it solve environmental problems due to population consumption, but also aims to improve the average quality of life. Advances in resource production such as water purification, better farming and resource recycling will continue to supply demands for a growing global population but will also benefit the environment in decreasing the rate of climate change with renewable energy production. Although we should definitely prioritize this
sector of development, we must not ignore the fact that this cannot fully solve the problem and other changes must be made.
Population Control The Idea is to limit the population so there is no competition for resources. To be able to achieve this is difficult in less developed countries; education on family planning and access to reproductive healthcare are essential to supress the increase of birth rates. Governments can enforce this through economic and social tactics (i.e. Financial aid for people with two or less children or free
education for a single child).
Us As responsible citizens, we should recognise consequences of our actions and actively find ways to limit our resource spending. For example: taking short showers and not baths, refrain from using single-use plastics, taking less polluting transport and not overspending on consumer items. These may almost seem trivial and common, but if millions can implement this around the world, the difference will soon
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So… In the world, it is often easy to assume that our own actions will not make a huge difference out of the 7 billion people on Earth and therefore neglect the things we do in our daily lives that may harm the environment. To tackle the problem of population growth, what you do to help this problem matters, so does what your city or country or Earth. 9
GLOBAL WARMING Issac Aldred There is no doubt you will have heard of this monumental global issue.Everywhere you go you can see the detrimental impacts of global warming, rising sea levels, unpredictable weather patterns, and hotter temperatures to name a few. In this article I am going to explore the causes, consequences, and the solutions to this problem.
So what are the causes? Well, there are a few. The burning of fossil fuels is probably the most significant factor. It first started to become a problem in the industrial revolution, where industry boomed and factories began to produce at a rate never seen before. However his had a consequence, greenhouse gas emissions dramatically began to increase. This was only the start. The graph bellow starkly demonstrates how carbon dioxide gas emissions have continued to accelerate towards the present day, with no signs of slowing down in the near future. This has increased the heat-trapping greenhouse gas levels in our atmosphere, raising the Earth’s average temperature.
Why is Global Warming Noice? Because there will be no ice
The rising average global temperatures create more problems. As the ocean warms up it can’t hold as much carbon dioxide. This carbon dioxide is released from the ocean into the atmosphere as a greenhouse gas, further causing global temperatures to rise. These rising global temperatures have created a host of problems. For example, weather patterns have become unpredictable with increased numbers of storms and more intense heat. This had led to valuable water resources such as Iran’s Lake Urmia drying up, meaning that in the future fresh water might become more scarce and not be able to support an ever increasing human population. Another consequence of global warming is that the sea level is rising. This is caused by the melting polar ice caps due to Earth’s higher average global temperatures. Vast volumes of water are melting into the sea, making the ocean’s water levels higher. This is threatening to coastal communities who are seeing their homes and towns being flooded.
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GLOBAL WARMING
What are the solutions though? Luckily there are many but it would be a great challenge that would need input from people and governments all over the world. Firstly, we should start to use renewable sources of energy. Renewables come in many forms such as solar power, hydroelectric and wind power. Renewables are much cleaner than non-renewables. They don’t emit the damaging greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere that non-renewables such as coal do. These greenhouse gasses such as carbon dioxide are damaging as they trap heat, contributing to global warming. Secondly, you should change the way you travel. Do you drive to work? If you do then think again. Do you really need to? It is far more environmentally friendly to walk, cycle, or use public transport to travel about. You would hugely reduce your carbon footprint and prevent more unnecessary carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere. Finally, you should turn off the lights. It may sound simple but it is hugely effective. You prevent the unnecessary use of electricity and reduce your carbon footprint. On this theme you should also invest in energy efficient LEDs and unplug other devices. In conclusion, global warming is a major problem. However, there are many measures you can take to help win the war against global warming. 11
CROSSWORD PUZZLE 257/365
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Between
2000 and 2017, 6.04 million hectares of old-growth forrest were lost in Borneo. About half of that area was ultimately converted to industrial plantations, and 92% of the forest that was converted was replaced with plantations within one year of being cleared.
WHY? There is a large misconception that deforestation happens due to the need of timber for things like housing. However, the main reason for deforestation in Borneo is largely subsistence and agroindustrial agriculture. Subsistence agriculture mostly involves slash- andburn practices from local communities. It requires low technology and is usually done on a rotation (or shifting) basis.
Why is the Borneo Forrest Important? In terms of plant and animal species, the Bornean rainforests are the richest terrestrial ecosystem in the world. It is said that they are around 130 million years old, the oldest on the planet. Also, because by sequestrating carbon, they are acting as an important Carbon sink and contribute to reducing the concentration of Carbon in the atmosphere. Biological carbon sequestration is the storage of carbon dioxide in vegetation such as grasslands or forests, as well as in soils and oceans. Furthermore, they serve to significantly buffer flooding, to maintain water quality and to sustain local communities and indigenous people. People in Borneo value the rainforest for its spiritual value as well as for the services rendered by these ecosystems.
What Type of Tree Fits in Your Hand
JOHNNY ANDREWES
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HOW IS DEFORESTATION EFFECTING THE WILDLIFE?
HOW CAN WE HELP PREVENT DEFORESTATION IN BORNEO?
If the Heart of Borneo were cleared
The number one way you can stop
for what would be unviable oil palm plantations, this would seriously affect the region's water catchment role and would impact the region's unique biodiversity. The unsuitability of the terrain may also result in large-scale soil erosion, flooding and increase the risk of fire. Also, the orangutans play a large role in the ecosystem of the Borneo rainforest. According to WWF, populations of the Bornean orangutan have declined by more than 50% in the past 60 years and the species’ habitat has been reduced by at least 55% over the past 20 years.
WHO IS RESPONSIBLE? The main drivers of deforestation
this deforestation in Borneo is by buying less products that contain palm oil. These products include shampoo, foods, cosmetics, cleaning detergents and many others. However, you don't have to completely give up products containing palm oil! Avoiding palm oil entirely could have worse effects because it might take support away from companies that are trying hard to improve the situation. This could encourage companies to use other products that may have even more impact on the environment. Palm oil is by far the most efficient vegetable oil to grow as it takes less land to produce than other vegetable oils. Palm oil can be produced in a responsible manner that respects the environment and the communities where it is commonly grown.
in Borneo is the Kuala Lumpur (Reuters) - The palm oil industry was responsible for at least 39% of forest loss on the biodiversity-rich island of Borneo between 2000 and 2018, data from a research firm based in Indonesia shows.
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Species of the week: Big Boi The
Giant Panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) is an endangered species native to the forests of central- southern China. It is recognised by its distinct black & white fur coating and chunky size. Neighbouring species include the Red Panda, a carnivorous family of pandas. Diet and lifestyle/lifespan
The
Giant Panda is a folivore (reliant on leaves). Its main sources of food come from bamboo shoots and leaves, which take up more than 90% of its diet. A Giant Panda typically spends less than a third of their time in motion, while it is estimated that it spends 14 hours eating per day. Their diet requires 84 pounds (38 kilograms) of bamboo shoots per day, which equates roughly to over 10,000 calories and 40% of the average adult panda’s mass. In the wild, Giant Pandas live to 15-20
years of age, while in captivity they can reach an estimated 30 years old.
Population
size and Conservation Efforts The history of this endangered species date back to nearly 100 years ago. The Giant Panda has been a popular poaching target by locals and foreigners since China became more immersed in western affairs. The Chinese Economic reform in the mid 20th century also led to an increase in demand for panda skins and fur to be exported to Japan and Hong Kong. In 1963, an effort was put together to form the Wolong National Nature Reserve in attempt to stop the diminishing Giant Panda population, however lack of knowledge in the field ecology led to little changes being made.
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In
2006, Panda reserves were increased to a number of 40, compared to only 13. Investigation estimated Giant Panda populations were roughly 3000 in the wild. In the past two years, more than 50 combined to create the Giant Panda National Park in 2020. The park contained nearly 2000 Giant Pandas in captivity, which add up to 80% of the total population. In 2021, Giant Pandas were declared ‘No Longer Endangered’ by the Chinese authorities, however with only an estimated 1800 left in the wild.
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LION’S SHARE FUND RAISING FUNDS FOR WILDLIFE CONSERVATION
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EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW Mr. John Moule Headmaster at Radley College Since 2014
How have you responded to global warming? “For as long as I can remember I have taken a firm interest in our environment, and it is sad to see how in recent decades it has slowly degraded due to the selfish actions of fellow human beings. It has therefore been a lifelong aim to help reverse the effects of global warming, both on a personal and communal level. My job as Warden of Radley College has allowed me to expand my quest to make change in our environment on a much larger organisational level. This has allowed me to influence change on a much larger level. For example, I have been a key campaigner in Radley’s sustainability program where we have achieved goals such as making the transition to renewable sources of energy.”
What do you do to help global warming on a personal level? “On a personal level I try to reduce my carbon footprint as much as possible. I do this by taking the initiative to walk to work rather than drive, switch of the lights in my house, and limit my meat consumption, especially beef.”
What do you want to achieve in the future? “I am a firm believer that there is still a way to go. I want to create a mindset of sustainability throughout the Radley community to help achieve our targets. I strongly think the only way we can do this is to get everybody involved.”
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