Excurtion report 1: The Chesapeake Bay Foundation:
Title: Virtual Excurtion - "Throwing Shade: Heat Islands, Public Health, and Clean Water"
This presentation is about urban heat islands and urban rain islands and the Chesapeake Bay. Heat islands are areas that are hotter than their surrounding areas due to human activity. Rain islands are areas that have more precipitation due to urbanization. They discuss climate issues overtime and how to find solutions to combat these problems. The increased heat is causing more natural disasters, and increased illnesses in people, specifically in Virginia. By planting native plants, trees that provide shade or rain gardens we can start improving the environment and decreasing climate change.
The main point of the presentation was to help students understand what heat islands and rain islands are, what they cause, and what we can do to decrease them. The points in the presentation are accurate and were supported by outside sources, which were cited. We need to continue increasing awareness and spreading information about climate change and what to do in order to decrease the effects of climate change overtime. In my SGC course we learned about climate change and increased temperatures. The presentation did not seem to have any logical fallacies or bias. The information was very well presented and the graphics were very helpful when explaining different terms and temperatures.
Excurtion report 2: The Chesapeake Bay Foundation:
Title: Virtual Excurtion - "Chicken Litter: The Sky is Falling"
A lecture from The Chesapeake Bay Foundation about the poultry industry provided a detailed overview of the environmental impact of poultry farming. The lecture focused on the Delmarva peninsula and Virginia regions and their agricultural sectors that contribute to food supply chains and economies. There are multiple environmental concerns from the poultry industry like ammonia emission and water pollution from nutrient runoff and litter management. Nutrient runoff like phosphorus and nitrogen can cause algal blooms and dead zones in the Bay which affects ecosystems and wildlife. Regulations have increased due to the growth of the poultry industry and how it affects the Bay. A big concern is litter additives and unregulated manure transfers. Advocacy groups are asking for stricter regulations and monitoring, especially little additive use and manure transfers. Litter additives are very useful for reducing ammonia emissions and improving bird health. However, their use is not consistently reported which causes problems when trying to monitor little additive usage. By covering stockpiles of manure, we can reduce the amount of nutrient runoff to the Bay or other bodies of water. Manure management plans are necessary to decrease nutrient runoff and pollution to the Bay.
The lecture was about how the poultry industry impacts the Bay. All the points that were mentioned were accurate because they were cited and the speakers referred back to studies. The use of pictures in the presentation were very helpful when trying to understand what different things are and how it is affecting the Bay as a whole. Overall, We need to start advocating for the reporting of litter additives, covering temporary stockpiles, and increasing overall regulations of poultry farms in order to save our Bay. In my SGC course we learned about nutrient pollution and runoff which can contribute to climate change and environmental issues. I did not see any logical fallacies or failure of critical thinking in the presentation, it was very informative. The presentation explained the main points in a clear and concise manner.
