When we think about the cacophony of noise in the environment, we rarely consider military noise pollution and often overlook its toll on humans and animals. Throughout the military service, noisy equipment and processes expose all military personnel and servicemen to hazardous noise levels that pose the risk of ear damage or permanent hearing loss. The constant noises not only wreak havoc on our auditory systems, but it also affects wildlife in their natural environment, from disrupting their communication and hunting abilities to mating.
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Ocean acidification is frequently interpreted as the evil twin of climate change. For about three centuries, there has been an unnatural spike in carbon dioxide concentrations in our oceans. There’s more of it in the atmosphere than there was in the last 20 million years. This comes from human-based sources mostly. Fossil fuel refineries, fossil-based power plants, industries, land-use changes, and transportation are the main outlets of greenhouse gases, particularly carbon dioxide gas. These unbridled carbon dioxide emissions are responsible for ocean acidification.
Oceans cover two-thirds of the earth's surface and absorb about one-quarter of the carbon dioxide. Oceans help sustain life on earth. They are the home to oxygen-generating phytoplankton, kelp, and algae. They also provide nutrients and maintain food webs as well as support the fish and tourism industry, absorb atmospheric carbon dioxide, and regulate the climate. Mining sites have considerably increased in number worldwide with the high demand for valuable minerals and geological materials. The non-renewable products are mined on large-scale that cannot be fabricated artificially. These naturally exhaustible resources are now an everyday commodity. We interact with minerals, including the calcite from our toothpaste, phosphate in fertilizer, gold and diamonds in our jewels, copper in wires, and plastics from fossil fuels. The mine project, Pebble Mine, is aimed at the extraction of precious metals like gold and toxic metals like copper. Copper is of real concern, since it is widely used in wiring, electric appliances, medical instruments, solar panels, wind turbines, and various other infrastructure developments. However, it is not the only mineral that is extracted in the United States. Where the world is witnessing the record lows of Arctic Minimum Ice Extent, Global Methane Emissions strike the record high! Global atmospheric concentrations of various greenhouse gases, i.e., carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and other halogenated greenhouse gases, have constantly amplified over the past few hundred years. Each of these gases hangs around in the atmosphere long enough to ensure uniform mixing. It means that the amount of the gas measured in the atmosphere is roughly the same all over the world, regardless of the source of the emissions. |