Lab 11: Climate.

I chose to evaluate the NOAA website for this lab. One thing I noticed is that is claimed some things but it didn't seem to present a basis for its findings (no names of who conducted the research) and whenever they had a heading such as "How are Climate and Weather Changing", instead of giving information about that, it promoted its own company for the most part. What little information they did provide did not provide the name of those who conducted the study or those who did the peer review. All of the links that they provided that I clicked on were branches of NOAA, making me question the objectivity of their findings, because there were no outside sources to corroborate their claims.     


In order to find the answers to my questions I could do a couple of things. I could find and talk to a scientist that can prove what they are saying is correct and that their findings and research are sound or I could research on the internet and at the library and see whether or not what their saying is correct and can if it can be proven. It would also be a good idea to find out if they went through a proficient peer reviewing process.

Having a background in Environmental Biology does help me to decide what information about the environment I will accept because, it has taught me to be a skeptical thinker and to look for the evidence supporting something before I take it as fact. It has taught me to search for proof.

                                                            Works Cited.

"Climate." NOAA. NOAA, 20 Mar. 2013. Web. 29 Nov. 2014.

How We Wrecked the Oceans Map

Sorry that it's sideways. I couldn't get it to go the other way.

Verde River assigment part one and two.

Part One:

The dam I chose Whittenton Dam, located on Mill River, in Taunton, Massachusetts. Its location is “Lat 41°53'59", long 71°05'24",” and its geography is “20 ft. upstream from Spring Street bridge in Taunton, and about 0.8 mi upstream from mouth at Taunton River” (http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/uv/?site_no=01108410). According to Wikipedia the river is 37 miles long.

The reason for building the dam was to provide power to multiple different types of mills.

The reasons for decommissioning the dam is because “Concerns over dam owner liability, public safety, and fish passage prompted its removal. A near failure in 2005 that would have caused catastrophic flooding resulted in the evacuation of 2000 people from downtown Taunton. The issues at the dam provided the catalyst for improved dam safety regulations in Massachusetts. This successful project restored a mile of river and floodplain habitat for fish and wildlife” (American Rivers)

The ecology of the river is interesting. Taunton is a free flowing river, which is not very common in that area and the river is home to many different kinds of fish and provides protection to the land from things such as flooding. The native special animals are the American Eel and the River Herring (Dams Being Removed to Better Mill River Ecology). According to Rachel Calabro the native plants are Golden Hedge Hyssop and Red Maple.   

Its current use appears to just be the growth of biodiversity. I also couldn’t find any current threats to the river. It is coming back into good health after the removal of the dam.  

Works Cited

Calabro, Rachel. "Mill River Restoration." Mill River Restoration. Blogger, 1 Oct. 2013. Web. 08 "Dams Being Removed to Better Mill River Ecology." EcoRI News. EcoRI News, 22 July 2013. Web. 08 Nov. 2014.Nov. 2014.

"Projects." American Rivers. American Rivers, n.d. Web. 08 Nov. 2014.

"Taunton River." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 24 Oct. 2014. Web. 08 Nov. 2014.

"USGS Current Conditions for USGS 01108410 MILL RIVER AT SPRING STREET AT TAUNTON, MA." USGS Current Conditions for USGS 01108410 MILL RIVER AT SPRING STREET AT TAUNTON, MA. U.S. Department of Interior., n.d. Web. 08 Nov. 2014.

Part two:

For this part of the lab, I chose to use Lynx Lake Dam. 

The drawing below is what I think Lynx would look like if the dam is removed. 

Biotic Community.

My biotic community is mostly a dry desert area with small patches of vegetation. I guess it's characterized as "semi-desert"    

The native plant I chose is the cactus. Its two special adaptions are:

1.         Its stem can hold water for long periods of time, making it able to withstand drought.

      2.        They have spines instead of leaves that make it so that they don’t lose water through     evaporation.