Lisa+P

Websites for info. about Ancient Roman problems:

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Information about today websites:

[|http://library.thinkquest.org/26026/Environmental_Problems/air_pollution.html#] [] [] [] []

Contacts:

[] [] [|http://www.evsc.virginia.edu/contact/#usermessagea]

The Coming U.S.-China Solar War article @http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2105734,00.html


 * BIBLIOGRAPHY/ WORKS CITED **

// Environmentalism in 100 A.D. //. Environmental Graffiti, n.d. Web. 12 Feb 2012. .

"Ancient Rome." // Ancient civilizations //. Environmental History Timeline, n.d. Web. 12 Feb 2012. .

// United States Environmental Protection Agency //. EPA, n.d. Web. 12 Feb 2012. .

// Water Pollution Guide //. guides network, 2003-2012. Web. 12 Feb 2012. .

"Faculty." // Environmental Studies //. University of California Santa Cruz, 2011. Web. 12 Feb 2012. .

"Contact." // Department of Environmental Studies at the University of Virginia //. University of Virginia, 2012. Web. 12 Feb 2012. .

FACTS:

Ancient Rome:
 * deforestation= big problem
 * Ancient Romans called air pollution "gravioris" (heavy heaven) or "infamis aer" (infamous air)
 * odors and runoff from garbage, sewage, and industries fouled the air and water
 * main pollution problem was air pollution
 * most air pollution came from burning wood, either for heat or for for use in craft workshops
 * odor in Ancient Rome came from poor sewage systems and leather tanning workers
 * they had problems with garbage disposal
 * sewers carried waste into the Tiber river, their main water source
 * by 312 B.C. the river was so polluted that the Romans had to build aqueducts for clean and safe drinking water
 * pollution of water with raw sewage can cause many different diseases
 * lead pipes were used in many places, such as pipes to carry drinking water, causing lead poisoning
 * first there were aqueducts, then they switched to lead pipes
 * wood was growing more and more popular, and used in more products, causing deforestation
 * deforestation can cause erosion, which could pollute waterways even more
 * erosion can erodes topsoil, which holds majority of the nutrients for plants and agriculture
 * Ancient Rome already had a feeding problem, this made it even worse
 * some citizens had to use a pay toilet. Most could not afford this, causing waste to go elsewhere
 * scientists today have indicated high levels of lead in Ancient Roman bones because almost all lead absorbed by the human body is deposited in bones.

Today:
 * e-waste is made up of old TVs, computers, monitors, and other electronic equipment that gets thrown away
 * 88% of all e-waste ends up in a landfill or shipped overseas to dumping grounds where the toxins in e-waste are concentrated
 * e-waste contains toxic substances that can pollute groundwater if they leak out of landfills.
 * the U.S. is building more recycling locations for e-waste
 * Silicon valley= southern part of the San Francisco Bay area that contains many big technological companies
 * air pollution today comes from cars, trucks, oil, fossil fuels, and manufacturing chemicals
 * lead poisoning can cause a rang of health effects, from behavioral problems and learning disabilities, to seizures and death
 * children 6 and under are most at risk to lead poisoning.
 * an act of Congress had therefore eliminated lead from all children's toys
 * burning coal is the leading cause of smog, acid rain, global warming and air toxins
 * coal is a non-renewable energy source
 * instead of burning coal, we could get energy from solar panels, wind mills, or any other renewable energy source
 * water pollution comes from sewage and wastewater, marine dumping, industrial waste, radioactive waste, oil pollution, underground storage leakages, atmospheric deposition, global warming, and eutrophication
 * deforestation can cause animal species decline
 * many medications come from forests (natural herbs, etc.)
 * raw sewage pollution causes typhoid and cholera (water pollution)

Solutions to Ancient Rome's problems:
 * U.S. has EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) conduct yearly inspections on things such as sewage systems and landfills
 * Water filtration system in Tiber river
 * recycling/encouraging people to recycle, or begin a recycling system
 * wood from deforestation = burning wood for heat or use in craft workshops = air pollution
 * less deforestation = less air pollution
 * instead of using wood for heat, you could use a heat pump
 * wood was also used as a building material, and therefore could be replaced with other building materials such as brick.
 * lead poisoning could be prevented by using alternative resources like tin, brass, or copper in pipes where lead was previously used.


 * e-mail to Taryn Martinez (graduate student from Brown University): **

Dear Ma'am,

Hi, my name is Lisa Poffenberger and I am a 7th grader at Nagel Middle school in Cincinnati, Ohio. In my Social Studies class, we are learning about Ancient Rome, and are required to complete a project about Ancient Roman issues and how we could solve them today. My topic is Environmental Issues and pollution. I found your contact information online and thought that you could answer some questions for me. Thank you for your time and please get back to me at your greatest convenience Lisa Poffenberger    **<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #800080; font-family: 'Lucida Fax',serif;">Response: ** <span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0.917969); color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0.917969); color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Hi Lisa,
 * 1) <span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: 'Lucida Fax',serif;">In Ancient Rome, deforestation was a big problem. Does the U.S. have a deforestation problem? If so, what are we doing to try to help the problem (solutions)? Is the problem growing worse or better? Why?
 * 2) <span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: 'Lucida Fax',serif;">Air pollution was a big pollutant in Ancient Rome. Most came from burning wood. Today, I believe that wood burning is not a big problem to air pollution. Instead, air pollution comes from car and truck exhaust, manufacturing chemicals, and fossil fuels. Is this correct? Also, I have learned that air pollution is a growing problem today. What are we doing to reduce the amount of air pollution in the air? Who is taking action?
 * 3) <span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: 'Lucida Fax',serif;">I have learned a little bit about e-waste. Is e-waste a growing problem to the U.S.? I have learned that e-waste contains toxic substances that can pollute groundwater if they leak out of landfills. What can this cause and what is the U.S. doing about it?

<span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0.917969); color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">I will try my best to answer the questions you've sent me, though I am definitely not an expert on Ancient Rome! I also focus on urban environmental issues, so it might be helpful for you to talk to more environmental scientists, too. Okay, here we go: 1. I would say that generally, there is a global deforestation problem, rather than just the U.S., though it is certainly an issue here as well. The thing is, the U.S. has already lost most of its old-growth forests by this point. Deforestation is a much more serious issue in countries like Brazil, where there are a) more old-growth forests still standing and b) less protections already in place. What the U.S. has done to try to stop national deforestation is to pass conservation legislation, such as establishing the National Parks system and making it illegal to harvest wood in certain areas. And the U.S. Forest Service and EPA require logging companies to get permits, which helps keep track of how much lumber is being taken out of forests. I honestly am not sure if the issue is getting worse or better--but I might say better, if only because so much of the U.S.'s forests were destroyed pre-1900s. 2. I would agree with you that in the U.S., air pollution is very much linked to fossil fuel use. Air pollution is a tricky problem, because it obviously doesn't respect state lines or countries' boundaries. Some things that are could be done on a national level are strengthening the Clean Air Act of 1970, though that hasn't happened (except for some tougher restrictions of mercury emissions from power plants). Some states have established their own carbon credit trading systems to try to curb emissions, such as the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. Air pollution is an issue that many people organize around locally, as well. There is a community organization called ACE in Boston, MA that focused on getting diesel buses to stop idling--kids in their neighborhood had an extremely high incidence of asthma, and they thought it was linked to the particulate matter and emissions of those buses. So when you ask who is leading on this issue, it can be concerned community members, legislators, and even some forward-thinking businesspeople. 3. E-waste is very interesting! I would actually say the e-waste is a bigger problem for countries like China, where entire communities revolve around breaking down e-waste for money and environmental health regulations are much less stringent. But yes, e-waste could represent a problem for the U.S., especially as we run out of space in our existing landfills and continue to consume electronic goods at a very high rate. E-waste can contain toxics like mercury, lead, and polybromide flame retardants. Contaminated groundwater could cause a variety of things: large amounts of lead can lead to neurological damage (especially for young children), and heavy metals generally will harm the nervous system, the kidneys and liver, and circulatory tissue. Some toxics, like mercury, will bioaccumulate, which means they will build up in an organism (like a fish or a human) over time. Some things the U.S. is doing to stop e-waste are producer takeback laws, extended producer responsibility, and an end to "planned obsolescence." Producer takebacks and extended producer responsibility force the creators of electronics to take the producers back at the end of their lifecycle and recycle them--so instead of throwing an old iPod in the garbage, you would send it back to Apple, where they would ensure it was recycled safely. Planned obsolescence was an industry strategy, where a product had only a certain period of time that it would work, very much on purpose. This was to make people have to buy more and more products, as their old ones stopped working after 2 years or something like that. (A good resource about e-waste is 'The Story of E-Waste," by the same woman who created 'The Story of Stuff.') I hope I've helped to answer your questions! Please let me know if you need anything else from me. Good luck on your project! <span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0.917969); color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0.917969); color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0.917969); color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> Best,  <span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0.917969); color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0.917969); color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Taryn  <span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0.917969); color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0.917969); color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0.917969); color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">** e-mail to Dr. Regan Murray (water pollution expert): ** <span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0.917969); color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0.917969); color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Dr. Murray,

<span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0.917969); color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Hi, our names are Lisa Poffenberger, Spencer Scott, Nina Fatuzzo, and Olivia Schwamberger and we are 7th grade students at Nagel Middle School, in Cincinnati, OH. In our Social Studies class, we are learning about Ancient Rome, and are required to complete a project about Ancient Roman issues and how we could solve them today. Our topic is Environmental Issues and pollution.We have a couple of questions for you.


 * 1) <span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">How could we remove raw sewage and pollution from an already polluted river? Is it possible?
 * 2) <span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">We know that there must be a water pollution problem today in the U.S. How is the U.S. handling this problem (solutions)?
 * 3) <span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">We are confused about how water filters work. How does the U.S. clean water for drinking water, toilet water, bath water, sink water, etc.?
 * 4) <span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">When we flush the toilet, where does that water go, and what do we do to clean it?

<span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0.917969); color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Thank you for your time, and please get back to us at your greatest convenienceLisa Poffenberger, Olivia Schwamberger, Nina Fatuzzo, and Spencer Scott

<span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0.917969); color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Dear Lisa, Spencer, Nina, and Olivia,
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #800080; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Response: ** <span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0.917969); color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">

<span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">I am happy to help answer your questions. Please see the attached Word document with my answers, and feel free to write back or to call me if you have follow up questions. My office number is below.

<span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Good luck with your project!

<span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Sincerely, Regan <span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0.917969); color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0.917969); color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> **<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">http://tinyurl.com/6wsj7ze ** <span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0.917969); color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0.917969); color: #222222; display: block;"> <span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Regan Murray, PhD Acting Science Associate National Homeland Security Research Center U. S. Environmental Protection Agency <span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0.917969); color: #1155cc; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">(513) 569-7031 Murray.Regan@epa.gov <span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0.917969); color: #222222; display: block;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0.917969); color: #222222; display: block;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0.917969); color: #222222; display: block;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0.917969); color: #222222; display: block;"> __**FINAL VOICETHREAD/ PROJECT!!**__ <span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0.917969); color: #222222; display: block;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0.917969); color: #222222; display: block;"> []

<span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0.917969); color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0.917969); color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">