Google Earth Assignment#3
Name: Mazalo Looky
Open the corresponding .kmz file in Google Earth. Double click on the place marks in the Places menu on the left side of the screen to fly to the intended location and to answer the following questions.
Type your answers on this sheet, directly after the questions (you can leave the question on the sheet). Make sure to use correct grammar, complete sentences, and fully answer each question.
Place mark A: Pacific Trash Gyro
Turn on the Ocean Layer and select the icon next to the place mark to read more about the Pacific Trash Gyro. Over the last 30 years the use of plastics (phthalates has increased, and since they float, these materials accumulate in the ocean gyre.
Question 1:Explain what the Pacific Trash Gyro is and how it formed.
Answer: The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is described as the Pacific Trash Vortex that is a gyre of marine litter in the central North Pacific Ocean located roughly between 135°W to 155°W and 35°N and 42°N. The patch extends over an indeterminate area with estimates ranging very widely depending on the degree of plastic concentration used to define the affected area. It is characterized by high concentrations of pelagic plastics, chemical sludge and other debris that have been trapped by the currents of the North Pacific Gyre. Since plastics break down to even smaller polymers, concentrations of submerged particles are not visible from space, nor do they appear as a continuous debris field. Instead, the patch is defined as an area in which the mass of plastic debris in the upper water column is significantly higher than average.
Its formation: The Pacific Trash Gyro formed gradually as a result of marine pollution gathered by oceanic currents. The garbage patch occupies a large and relatively stationary region of the North Pacific Ocean bound by the North Pacific. The gyre's rotational pattern draws in waste material from across the North Pacific Ocean including coastal waters offNorth America and Japan. As material is captured in the currents, wind-driven surface currents gradually move floating debris toward the center, trapping it in the region to form trash Gyro. The Pacific Trash Gyro has one of the highest levels known of plastic particulate suspended in the upper water column.
Place mark B:Pacific Ocean
Another interesting example of plastics in the environment resulted from the 2011 earthquake and tsunami off the coast of Japan. The tsunami washed a huge amount of material into the Pacific and some of it is just now reaching the U.S. coastline. Select the Earth Gallery button located on the Layers tab. Type Tsunami Wave Height Model into the search box and then select Open in Google Earth to view this layer. When you are finished viewing this layer you can delete it from the Places menu. Read the article and view the videos in the web link provided in the place mark.
Question 2: What are some of the environmental concerns relating to the debris washing up on the West coast of the U.S.?
Answer:
Environmental concerns related to the debris washing up on the West coast of the U.S including invasive species of seaweed, crabs and other marine organisms to break the earth's natural barriers and further muck up the area's marine environments. There will be the air pollution, with more debris deposited from Japan caused by tsunami; more disease will be present and more trash in the areas where it is deposited.
Place mark C:Department of Health and Human Services
Question 3: One of the health issues relating to plastics is bisphenol A (BPA) since it is considered an endocrine disruptor. Follow the link to the HHS webpage on BPA. What is the HHS position on BPA and what do they suggest parents do to avoid exposure?
Answer: the HHS is investing in important new health studies in both animals and humans to better determine and evaluate the potential health effects of BPA exposure, including $30 million in studies at NIH.
HHS suggestion to parents:
They want parents to follow guidelines to feed their infants:
HHS supports the American Academy of Pediatrics’ recommendations for infant feeding and supports breastfeeding for at least 12 months whenever possible, as breast milk is the optimal source of nutrition for infants. If breastfeeding is not an option, iron-fortified infant formula is the safest and most nutritious alternative. The benefit of a stable source of good nutrition from infant formula and food outweighs the potential risk of BPA exposure.Parents should discuss any significant changes to their baby’s diet with their baby’s doctor or nurse.
Parents should discard scratched baby bottles and infant feeding cups: Worn baby bottles and cups are likely to have scratches that harbor germs and if they contain BPA it may release small amounts of the chemical.
HHS also said that temperature matters: parents should be careful how they heat up their child’s breast milk or formula. Studies have found there is a very small amount of BPA in plastics and other packaging materials that can transfer to food and liquids. Additional traces of BPA levels are transferred when hot or boiling liquids or foods come in contact with packaging made of BPA.
HHS has recommended parents not to put boiling or very hot water, infant formula, or other liquids into BPA containing bottles while preparing them for their child, and that before mixing water with powdered infant formula, the water should be boiled in a BPA-free container and allowed to cool to lukewarm. Ready-to-feed liquid formula can be served at room temperature or gently warmed up by running warm water over the outside of the bottle. HHS asks parents to remember not to heat baby bottles of any kind in the microwave because the liquid may heat unevenly and burn their infant. Parents should sterilize and clean bottles according to instructions on infant formula labels. They should be left to cool to room temperature before adding infant formula.
Parents should check the labels on their bottles and food preparation containers: as a good household practice, only use containers marked “dishwasher safe” in the dishwasher and only use “microwave safe” marked containers in the microwave.
As a good household practice, discard all food containers with scratches, as they may harbor germs and may lead to greater release of BPA.
Place mark D:Packard Plant
Your textbook discusses the issue of brownfields on page 200. Detroit has lost 60% of its population since the 1950s and many industries have closed or relocated, leaving many brownfields. Follow the link to the EPA Brownfields page.
Question 4: What was something interesting or surprising that you learned about brownfields?
Answer: Something interesting I saw was the way brownfield program has created many benefits for local communities including: focused on helping communities nationwide improve access to affordable housing, more transportation options, and lower transportation costs while protecting the environment, leveraged 78,226 jobs nationwide, can also increase residential property values 2 to 3 percent when nearby brownfields are addressed and promotes area-wide planning.
Place mark E: Ship breaking
Some environmental health risks are shifting overseas, such as shipbreaking. Your textbook provides a picture and text on page 201. Be sure to turn on the Photos layer and view some of the photos along the coasts of Bangladesh and India and view the video on the topic.
Question 5: What are the environmental health risks of ship breaking?
Answer: environmental health risks of ship breaking including falls, risk for physical injuries and are exposed to noise, heat, explosion, fire and smoke; asbestos, lead and mercury, organic tin compounds formerly used as antifouling agents in marine paints, there is also PCBs and dioxins from burning of plastics.
Place mark F: Hudson Refinery Superfund Site
Go to the National Priorities List webpage at and select the Where You Live link and then the Google Maps link on the right.
Question 6: What is Superfund? Select a proposed or final site from the map and explain why the site is included on the National Priorities List.
Answer: according to EPA United States environmental protection agency: “Superfund is the federal government's program to clean up the nation's uncontrolled hazardous waste sites”.
Final site in my area is North CarolinaState University (Lot 86, Farm Unit Raleigh). It is included on the National Priorities list because there is decision from the Record of Decision (ROD) to do a major cleanup elements for the site included: In-situ mixing and encapsulation of contaminated soils. The treatment may include, but is not limited to, liquid vapor separation, prefiltration for dust and particulate removal, followed by parallel activated carbon filter banks.
Extraction of ground water contaminated above remediation goals specified in the ROD.
On-site treatment of extracted ground water with air stripping and carbon adsorption.
Discharge of treated ground water to surface water or a local publicly owned treatment works.
Place mark Gs: CAFOs
Question 7: Explain the environmental health risks of CAFOs.
Answer: the environment and human health impacts of the industrialized rearing of beef cattle, swine, and broilers falls most heavily on the South and Midwest. Animal wastes from cattle and hog CAFOs are stored in lagoons, or sprayed on fields, or released to bodies of water. Flooding associated with heavy rains contributes to broader releases of animal wastes. When CAFOs wastes are released in large quantities to surface waters, they cause a different problem: a dramatic reduction in the dissolved oxygen in the water.
A recent issue in relation to CAFOs is the use of aerial surveillance by the EPA to supposedly enforce the Clean Water Act.
Question 8: What is your position on whether the EPA should use aerial surveys to monitor CAFOs?
Answer: I think the EPA should use aerial surveys to monitor CAFOs because if CAFOs release wastes in water that can be harmful to the human and the environment, the EPA has the right to protect the environment and human’s health. The aerial survey will clarify more the work of CAFOs for safety.
Place mark H: Cargill slaughterhouse
Go to the USDA Current Recall & Alerts list at:
Question 9:After perusing this list what are some of the health risks associated with meat processing? What are the causes?
Answer: meatpacking and poultry processing are hazardous trades.Workers who process meat or poultry face an array of occupational hazards with overall injury and especially illness rates higher than the overall average for private industry. They perhaps have acute injuries such as lacerations from knives that are common, slaughterhouses, slips and fall, strains and sprains are also common. Meat and poultry workers also suffer repetitive strain injuries including carpal tunnel syndrome, from doing the same task over and over. Noise is a hazard in meatpacking. Workers are also potentially exposed to zoonotic diseases through contact with infected animals. Workers can be exposed to salmonella, E. coli and campylobacter. There are respiratory complications that are associated to meat processing. Workers are at risk to have lung cancer, oral cancer and stomach cancer. Given the rapid pace of production lines, meat or chicken products can easily be contaminated with an animal’s fecal matter.
Place mark I:
According to your textbook, only .5% of US cropland was certified organic. Although this is a small amount, whole foods, organic and natural foods, and farmers markets are a fast growing part of the American food chain.
Question 10:According to the Mayo Clinic ( is eating organic better for you? What do you think?
Answer: according to Mayo clinic: “The word organic refers to the way farmers grow and process agricultural products, such as fruits, vegetables, grains, dairy products and meat. Organic farming practices are designed to encourage soil and water conservation and reduce pollution. Farmers who grow organic produce and meat don't use conventional methods to fertilize, control weeds or prevent livestock disease”. These farmers use chemical weed killers. Organic farmers may conduct more sophisticated crop rotations and spread mulch or manure to keep weeds at bay.
Conventional / OrganicApply chemical fertilizers to promote plant growth. / Apply natural fertilizers, such as manure or compost, to feed soil and plants.
Spray synthetic insecticides to reduce pests and disease. / Spray pesticides from natural sources; use beneficial insects and birds, mating disruption or traps to reduce pests and disease.
Use synthetic herbicides to manage weeds. / Use environmentally-generated plant-killing compounds; rotate crops, till, hand weed or mulch to manage weeds.
Give animals antibiotics, growth hormones and medications to prevent disease and spur growth. / Give animals organic feed and allow them access to the outdoors. Use preventive measures — such as rotational grazing, a balanced diet and clean housing — to help minimize disease.
Looking at this table above, I prefer eating organic food because they contribute to a healthier environment for all of us; there is no use of pesticides and fertilizers on them. Organic foods contain more micronutrients and phenols when eat it reduce the presence of cancer, some organic foods are associated with the cure of cancer. There is a natural taste of organic food than conventional food and less disease. Even though organic food has a few chemicals on them, it is still better to eat organic food only they are very expensive on the market.
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