Eco-STEM – Ecosystemic Magazine

2Apr

By Isabel LimaoNo Comments

Eco-STEM

Free Range Labeling Lies

By Isabel Limao The food industry is dominated by big businesses with the financial resources to lobby the government. Because of this some people feel like it is hard to make change when it comes to issues such as the environment, animal rights, and other food production issues. One way people can demonstrate their beliefs is by buying food that has been made in a way that is better for the environment and animals. When you buy food created in a way that aligns with your beliefs it is like casting a vote in favor of these better methods. Usually when people look to buy food produced a certain way, they look at the labels. But what if those labels weren’t telling you the whole story? The term “free range” implies that the animals that produced the product, usually chickens or cows, h...

Clean Coal: What It Is and Why It Doesn’t Work

2Apr

By Amrit KaurNo Comments

Eco-STEM

Clean Coal: What It Is and Why It Doesn’t Work

By Amrit Kaur Clean coal. It sounds like a pretty neat thing, right? Well, not quite. It’s a lot trickier than that. Trust me, before I did my fair share of research about this term, my head was in the clouds regarding what “clean” coal is and what exactly its purpose is. How come coal became clean all of a sudden? As soon as I heard the word “clean”, I immediately dismissed any doubt that it could be bad, but I forgot the second word, coal. Well, we can start by defining what clean coal is. It’s essentially capturing carbon emissions and storing them under Earth permanently. Clean coal is an industry term that is linked with a range of technologies that burn coal more efficiently because they are supposed to eliminate or significantly reduce carbon dioxide emissions from coal-...

Time Bomb: The Environmental Effects of Detonated Explosives

19Mar

By Quinn PatwardhanNo Comments

Eco-STEM

Time Bomb: The Environmental Effects of Detonated Explosives

By Quinn Patwardhan “War, what is it good for? Absolutely nothin.” This lyric by The Temptations will survive throughout the rest of humanity. Not a single person will ever be able to justify war. Its effects include the worst that can be inflicted upon humanity: famine, illness, fire, and destruction. Many of Western Generation Z hasn’t witnessed the outbreak of war, at least on a global scale. We have been able to live with the false assumption that war is something we have left in the past, in history books. We have been told that the U.S. invasion of the Middle East was justified and had a minor impact. We have been lied to. War has been a prevalent controlling force of humanity since its very start. Weapons have gone from rocks to swords, to bows and arrows, to guns to bombs ...

The Wartime Destruction of Ukraine’s Flora and Fauna

19Mar

By Ilaria LunaNo Comments

Eco-STEM

The Wartime Destruction of Ukraine’s Flora and Fauna

By Ilaria Luna An absurd, devastating war is raging on Ukrainian soil before our horrified eyes, destroying cities, murdering people indiscriminately and compelling millions to flee from their homeland to seek refuge in unfamiliar territories. While Vladimir Putin claims that Russians and Ukranians are a single people, with the intent of reabsorbing the Slavic country into Russia, Ukraine claims its place in Europe, now more than ever. Geography itself has already answered this political question, defining Ukraine as the largest completely European country, and science has likewise highlighted the nation’s crucial environmental contributions to the Old Continent thanks to its considerable land and biodiversity. Indeed, according to the CBD Fifth National Report, “occupying less than 6 ...

War Vehicles Emit Atrocious Amounts of CO2

19Mar

By Lucas FlahertyNo Comments

Eco-STEM

War Vehicles Emit Atrocious Amounts of CO2

By Lucas Flaherty The war in Ukraine has killed, displaced, or worried people both inside and outside its borders; the invasion has also harmed the environment as war vehicles release tons upon tons of greenhouse gasses. When people think of greenhouse gasses, they often visualize them coming from cars, trains and factories. War vehicles fail to come up in any discussions about greenhouse gasses because they are not used by day-to-day consumers. Nevertheless, they are not fuel-efficient and can emit grim amounts of greenhouse gasses. There is a wide range of emissions when it comes to war vehicles; armored trucks are quite inefficient with their six miles per gallon compared to an average car’s roughly 24 miles per gallon. Fighter jets with nuclear capabilities such as the B-2 ...

19Feb

By Tara PrakashNo Comments

Eco-STEM

Carbon Removal Methods

By Tara Prakash Since the beginning of the industrial era in 1850, human activities have raised atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide by nearly 49%. In 2019, global carbon emissions reached a high of 36.44 billion metric tons. The concentration of carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere is currently at nearly 412 parts per million and rising. As we begin to run out of time, carbon dioxide removal (CDR), might be a necessary tool. Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas in the atmosphere. The term “greenhouse” refers to the essential and natural process that warms Earth by trapping heat in our atmosphere. Without carbon dioxide, the planet would be inhospitably cold; plants and animals alike would be unable to survive. Despite the clear ecological necessity of carbon dio...

Sustainable Agricultural Practices: Agroforestry

4Feb

By Alma BielenbergNo Comments

Eco-STEM

Sustainable Agricultural Practices: Agroforestry

Alma Bielenberg, Sidwell Friends School Endless stretches of corn and grain illustrate the American farming ideal, but mass plantings of a single crop are not effective nor enduring compared to less mechanized methods. An ancient farming practice, agroforestry, provides an alternative. As Earth’s human population grows, nourishing the world poses a new challenge. To make the most of the land around us for the longest possible time, nature’s resilience and adaptability could serve as a guide. Reintroducing trees into farming practices is one way to maximize efficiency and ensure sustainability to fulfill our need for food. Agroforestry, a low-tech and traditional farming practice already used in one billion hectares of land worldwide, can be easily applied to our farmland for the b...

Apocalyptic: Northern Thailand’s Season of Smoke

22Jan

By Nachel SuwansathienNo Comments

Eco-STEM

Apocalyptic: Northern Thailand’s Season of Smoke

By Nachel Suwansathien– Fridays for Future, International and Fridays for Future Newsletter Contributor You peer through the pane of a closed window and place your hand upon the glass. The blazing sun outside seems to scorch the earth, but all you feel is a gentle warmth against your palm. Outside, everything is gray. This is the driest season of the year, and anything that was once green has by now drooped and withered. Heavy, choking smog blankets the world, and everything seems to become one concrete-colored urban landscape. Even the sky is reduced to dreary gray, with touches of blue occasionally emerging. It is unlikely to be truly blue again for several months, until the seasonal rain breaks. You step outside, fumbling to get your N95 mask into position. On the worst of days, a si...

Technology’s Role in Coexisting with the Natural World

30Dec

By Sophia StylianosNo Comments

Eco-STEM

Technology’s Role in Coexisting with the Natural World

By Sophia Stylianos, Sidwell Friends School In a world that is constantly changing and being destroyed due to human activity, we are led to wonder how we can help and when our time eventually will run out. While scientists continuously say that our time is coming, that we must change our ways. Sure, we have all heard the solutions– things such as electric cars, windmills and planting more trees– but what does a sustainable world really look like? We need a world where we aren't just “reducing our carbon footprint” but actively living in unison with the earth without constantly destroying it. One of the biggest ways we are going to be able to reach a healthy world, both for our species and every other species, is through technology. Research is constantly being done to understand the env...

My experience: A Trout Unlimited culvert study

16Sep

By Kate BattagliaNo Comments

Eco-STEM

My experience: A Trout Unlimited culvert study

Kate Battaglia EBS CONTRIBUTOR BIG SKY – In March, Nathan Browne set out on a float trip on the Smith River west of Helena, not knowing where his passion might take him. Browne, an avid fisherman and a senior at Lone Peak High School, was accompanied by his father and members of the conservation group Trout Unlimited on the trip. Browne was inspired by TU’s conservation efforts, involving the preservation of aquatic environments within rivers. TU members on the float trip later placed him in contact with the group’s Project Manager Jeff Dunn. Together Browne and Dunn crafted a service project allowing Big Sky community members to actively help aid in the preservation of aquatic ecosystems within Montana, specifically looking at fish and culverts, tunnels that carr...