Sugar Atoms

Photo and caption by Joe Quinn

Tiny caterpillars consume a leaf. As they grow they slowly take on the color of the leaf.

Location: Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, USA

Chinook Salmon, Oregon

Photograph by Jim Richardson, National Geographic

A chinook salmon digs its nest in the John Day River, a tributary of the Columbia River. Dams on the Columbia and Snake Rivers have threatened the species on its migration from annual spawning grounds—a 900-mile journey to the sea.

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The effects of acid rain.

Direct exposure of foliage of plants to the high acid causes damage to the coatings (waxy cuticle) of leaves, meaning water is lost easily from the plant. Low pH of soils can also speed up leaching of essential metal ions such as potassium and magneisum, whilst mobilising toxic metal ions like copper, zinc, lead and aluminium. Aluminium ions disturb defence mechanisms of plants, and the restric the extraction of oxygen by fish through their gills, leading to suffocation. Toxic metal ions can also pollute sources of drinking water. Fish populations may also suffer, as their eggs are very pH sensitive. 

Buildings also suffer from the effects of low pH. Insoluble carbonates in limestone are converted to soluble sulfates and nitrates, meaning the stone is eroded. Calcium sulfate dissolves into the cracks of the carbonate stone and the crystalline structure which results when the water evaporates causes cracking of the stone. Acid rain also increases the corrosion of steel and aluminium, and dissolves the zinc oxide coating on galvanised iron.

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Environmental conditions determine the type of ecosystem and community in a give area. Plants native to an area will be adapted to the environmental conditions, e.g. plants in Australia can survive in arid regions, with poor soil, in areas susceptible to bushfire. Factors which impact on the survival of particular species include interactions of organisms, resource availability, climate, and human impact. Sunlight is a major environmental factor when determining ecosystems. For example, In a forest, trees would need to be reasonably tall, or else use wavelengths that taller trees don’t, to be able to synthesise. Plant life could also not exist in very deep areas of ocean, as they would recieve no light. Water is also another major factor. Many organisms have adapted over time depending upon the availability of water in their environment. A desert is composed more of succulent and plants with very waxy cuticles, or animals which have methods of storing water for long periods. Plants with high water requirements would exist in areas such as rainforests. Temperature (different enzymes function differently), Nutrient availability (needed for specific organism processes), wind, salinity and wave action are also contributing factors. 

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So we all know that there is a heirarchical structure within our world. Atoms make up molecules. Molecules make cells. Cells make tissues. Tissue make organs. Organs make organ systems. Organ systems make organisms. But It doesn’t stop there!

When we get organisms of the same type, with a common gene pool which can interbreed to produce fertile offspring, we have a species. When they live in a particular place, they are a ‘population’. For example, humans are a species, but each city or town has it’s own population of people. So we have organisms making populations. When many species or populations interact in a given area, it is known as a community (living organisms only). For a community, we could look at a corner of your garden, where bugs and grasses and small mammals like mice are interacting, either through predation (hunting), symbiosis (mutualism, commensalism or parasitism) or competition (for resources). The ecosystem is the sum of all biotic (living) and abiotic (non-living) factors in a particular area. These include animals, plants, wind, rain, sun, soil, and nutrient availability. Common habitats that may be considered to hold a single population of a species are savannas, grasslands or woodlands in a given area. Within these places there would also be a community. When considering the abiotic environment it would also be seen as a whole ecosystem. Communities are often defined by the form of vegetation that is most abundant, such as a “river red gum” community. 

“The sun had just come out after a brief shower of rain and caught the water droplets on this golden orb spider web at just the right angle to make her look even more spectacular as usual,” says Brad Warland.

Photo Credit: Brad Warland

image credit: Murray Spence

AUSTRALIA’S MOST IMPORTANT WETLANDS for waterbirds have been identified by University of NSW researchers, following extensive aerial surveys.

The survey found that few wetlands supported large numbers of waterbirds (more than 10,000) - half of all waterbird species were found in just 1.1% of the wetlands surveyed; and that the top 20 wetlands held about 40 per cent of all waterbirds.

Four of the five most important wetlands are in north-west Western Australia: Eighty Mile Beach, lakes Gregory and Argyle, and Roebuck Bay.

The Timor Sea has the highest concentration of drainage wetlands, followed by the south-west coast, the report found. Lake Eyre Basin was found to cover the largest area for wetlands.

Wetlands with extremely high concentrations of waterbirds (between 30,000 and 300,000) were found in northern Australia, Western Australia, central Queensland and western NSW.

Image credit: North Arizona Uni

And now ladies and gents, we have PHOTOCHEMICAL SMOG
forgive me, Im a little hazy on this topic…
yes I went there.

SO. Photochemical smog is bad because ozone and nitrogen dioxide causes coughing and wheezing and all that jazz at concentration of 0.15ppm. Not healthy. It also attacks double bonds in polymers (therefore idk your car tyres will just fall to bits as you pass through that yellow coloured cloud) (Don’t quote me). And it causes issues with photosynthesis, which results in decreased health or life of plants.

It is formed because of all the polluntants in the atmosphere, particularly Nitric oxides and unburnt hydrocarbons. Which all happens in the combustion chamber of motor ve-hicklez.

We have primary polluntants which go directly into the atmosphere and contribute the the smog. firstly, there is NITRIC OXIDE:

N2 + O2 ——high temperature —-> 2NO

And then there are hydrocarbons which have escaped combustion, the little shits just float on right out the engine. Secondary pollutants stem from primary ones, but undergo chemcial changes first:

NO2 + hv —> NO + O

O2 + O —> O

This process shown ^ involves nitrogen dioxide and is major reactiveness undergoing photochemical dissociation. The atomic oxygen then reacts with molecular oxygen and results in OZONE. We also have:

Hydrocarbons + molecules or free radicals —> aldehydes or peroxyacl nitrates (PAN)

TO solve this terrible environmental issue we have CATALYTIC CONVERTERS

• honeycomb structure - increased surface area
• catalysts - platinum, palladium, rhodium

WESTERN AUSTRALIA’S iconic, endangered black cockatoos are being decimated by land clearing, logging and human population growth, according to government figures showing a 35 per cent fall in numbers in just one year.

These alarming statistics are based on an annual survey, known as the ‘Great Cocky Count’, conducted in WA’s southwest by volunteers and the Department of Environment and Conservation.

Last year’s results, published on Thursday, showed the number of endangered Carnaby’s black cockatoos had fallen by more than a third, from 12,954 roosting birds in 2010, to just 8365.

There have been three Great Cocky Counts so far - in 2006, 2010 and 2011 - but the 2006 results were based on different criteria, so can’t be compared to other years.

While conservationists agreed it was still too early to confirm a trend based on two years’ worth of data, it was still an “awful” result.

“To lose more than a third of an endangered species in just one year is a devastating result and shows that current conservation measures are failing,” Conservation Council of WA spokesman John McCarten says.

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Taimen Head

Photograph courtesy Zeb Hogan

The taimen is the world’s largest salmonid. Some taimen reach six feet (two meters) long and weigh more than 220 pounds (100 kilograms). Once found over large areas of Russia, Mongolia, and China, the species is threatened by overharvesting and habitat destruction in most of its range.