Oil Tankers Accidents

The accidents involving oil tankers are one of the most devastating environmental damage at sea and the coast. The intense traffic of crude oil and their derivatives despite the vastness of the oceans and sea lanes well defined, not prevent disasters where the term "accident" has more than azares human causes of chance.

Every month, somewhere in the seas of our blue planet, there are accidents involving oil spills and extensive training affecting ecosystems shops, banks fishing, beaches and aquaculture. With greater or lesser gravity the scenarios of oil spills cause, in most cases significant effects on birds, fish and marine animals. Especially because about 90 percent of oil spills occur in port waters, where aquatic life is very abundant.

The physical contact with the oil causes the loss of birds and many drown or become trapped to death. In addition, the ingestion or inhalation of fumes of oil cause irreversible damage in the digestive system, nervous and respiratory and liver of much of the aquatic fauna, and it can be even register in individuals who survive, reproductive problems. Finally, no less important, are the negative impacts on food resources, both for its destruction, and of its contamination. Populations of sea birds have suffered, so the pollution of oil tankers that certain species or subspecies are at risk of extinction such as parrots from the sea, the penguins and divers on both coasts of the Atlantic.

In the midst of this evil world, Portugal is a country whose coast is the scene of frequent accidents involving tankers. Since the mid 70s there were in our back 22 major accidents of oil pollution damage.

Icebergs

An iceberg is a large piece of freshwater ice that has broken off from a snow-formed glacier or ice shelf and is floating in open water. Tis pieces of ice floating in the ocean, are very dangerous for boats .

There are many accidents because icebergs; the most known is the accident with Titanic: ~

->built to make it "impossible to sink this ship, the ship does not hit the iceberg head on, a disaster that could have survived, but shaved sideways against him in a portion of their below the water line, which caused a leak that allowed that several compartments of the vessel were taken by the water.

Other accident occured by icebergs :

-->In 1977, a raft of transport of cars called William Carson collided with an iceberg and sank off the coast of Labrador. There were 109 people on board and all were rescued alive;

-->The Lady of the Lake stuck in the Grand Banks with 70 people aboard en route to Quebec in 1833;

-->The SS Hanshedtoft collided with an iceberg and sank off the coast of Cape Farewell, Greenland in 1959. It was the maiden voyage of the ship and no survivors: 95 people died.

As we can see, the icebergs probably makes a view very pretty bue they are prejudicial too.

Volcanoes

Volcano is a Geological structure created when the magma, hot gases and particles (such as ash) to escape the earth's surface. They eject high quantities of dust and gases in the atmosphere, causing climate cooling temporary. They are often considered natural causes of pollution because the gases emited in eruptions.

The economic effects of earthquakes and volcanoes can be tremendous. After witnessing the effects of an earthquake in Chile in the 19th century, the British Charles Darwin reported:

"An earthquake alone is sufficient to destroy the prosperity of any nation.(...) If an earthquake started in the middle of the night, the chaos could lead to Britain to ruin, how the consequences would be terrible! "

The earth is constantly subjected to volcanic activity that in most cases, by their violence, they caused harm to humanity. It is among the most famous volcanoes known for their activity: Vesuvius - Italy (year 79 AD),

--> Krakatoa - Indonesia (1883),

--> Monte naked - Martinique (1902),

--> St. Helena - USA (1980)

-->Pinatubo in the Philippines (1991). The Pinatubo eruption came in after 611 years of inactivity. At the time, 875 people died and 200 thousand were left homeless.

In Portugal the most known volcanos are Pico (Azores, Pico Island) and Furnas (Azores, S.Miguel)

I founded this informations in the next site: http://www.cprm.gov.br/Aparados/vulc_pag11.htm

Recycling

• Why?

Because recycling is, for the citizens of today, more than an attitude of citizenship and a good habit, it means that we are protecting the environment and thinking about the future with quality. It's important recycle because that simple act are also a responsible attitude that values the materials in order to protect and preserve the environment.

• Vantages

--> Saving raw materials (like wood, sand, oil, tin and aluminum)

--> Save energy

--> Reduce the amount of waste in landfills

• How recycle?

--> The first step is to separate the packaging used by type of material and prepare them for their placement in drop-off recycling location;

--> Then its necessary drip the packaging used, so that the remains of products that were inside it does not cause bad smells;

--> Then must hammer out the packaging to reduce the space they occupy at home and make transportation easier;

--> Finally, it is important to remove the corks and caps when they are made of other materials;

--> You could then place the packages in the appropriate places:

- The plastic and metal in drop-off recycling location yellow

- The role and the card in blue drop-off recycling location

- Glass in the green ecopoints.

So recycle. Together we can change the world!

Last but not least, my last post here is going to talk about the ever so comical animal, the Portuguese donkey.
Although Portugal is a country containing a myriad of different species of donkey, many unique to this country, most, if not all, are endangered of extinction.

Well, why has this so common beast vanished from our lands?

Well, some say it migrated from our lands and into our schools, our government, taken over our economy, and tried on multiple occasions to conquer our fair and just land.

Sarcasm apart, which that obviously was, the real reason for this poor creature’s destruction is one simple fact:
-Evolution.

We humans have evolved past the point of using animals for labour long ago, and even though that is generally a good thing, that was also the only thing keeping the donkey from being released on the wild, where it has no chance of surviving.

Machines have replaced this stubborn animal in most if not all its functions, and only the poorest and less advanced farmers still use it for agriculture.

With no use for it, farmers would not have kept it around their farms, halting their growth.
With an uncertain future, do you think it will manage to survive for long?

This one animal had evolved around the fact that we needed it and would raise it for our farming, forging somewhat of a relationship between our two species, and since the ancient times when men first found agriculture, to the Industrial revolution, we used it.

What is going to happen to this poor animal now?
Many donkeys were released in the wild, and lacking the wild instincts, don’t manage to survive.

Monsoons

The monsoon is a wind current in Southern Asia, blowing northeast during the summer and southwest during the winter. During the summer, the monsoon brings heavy rains to southern Asia and Africa, while in the winter it causes the drier seasons. The lives of many people in these areas have developed around these seasonal changes. While the wet monsoon brings much needed rain to many areas, it often also causes flooding, in addition to crop and infrastructure damage.

Tornadoes

A tornado is a destructive whirling wind accompanied by a funnel-shaped cloud extending down from a cumulonimbus cloud. Tornadoes can spin at speeds up to 500 miles per hour and annihilate anything in its path in a matter of seconds.

• Fort Worth, Texas - March 28, 2000:

"On the evening of March 28, 2000 at approximately 6:18 PM, a tornado formed during a severe thunderstorm approximately two miles west of downtown Fort Worth. It proceeded eastward through the town, tearing off roofs and obliterating buildings. This storm resulted in 5 death, over 100 injured, and hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of damage."

• The "Great Cyclone of St. Louis" - May 27, 1896:

"On May 27, 1896, one of the worst tornadoes in the history of the United States ravenged through downtown St. Louis. It is estimated that over 300 people were killed and over 1,000 were injured. A significant portion of the city was destroyed by both the tornado and resulting fires. At this point in time, there were no networks for warning people in the area of the impending danger, which accounts for the high death toll."