THE FOREST FIRES

                A forest fire is an uncontrollable fire occurring in nature. Sometimes, the forest fire is so large that it takes a long time for the fire fighting crews to gain control over the situation. This could result in massive destruction.

 

 

      Marlborough forest fire continues to burn out of control by Saturday Dec 12, 2015.

 

 

    Fire fighters, helicopters, and planes are battling a fire west of Blenheim.

 

 

An out of control fire in Marlborough has engulfed about 1000 rugby fields of pine forest, making it the biggest fire in the region in 15 years.

The 1150 hectares fire has been burning in the Wairau Valley, west of Blenheim, since about 11.30am on Thursday.

Bloom of smoke over the Waihopai Valley are understood to have caused some people to leave their homes.

According to the news reported, even though almost 4ml of rain fell overnight, the fire, was still out of control.

While the current window of opportunity to go after it maybe short-lived as the wind was forecast to pick up in the afternoon. This could make the situation too dangerous  for crew  who had need to be pulled back.

 

 

 

 

 

A helicopter returns to Omaka Airfield after battling a large forest fire in the Wairau Valley, Marlborough. A thick plume of smoke hung over the region at sunset on Thursday.

About 15 aircraft were dispatched to fight the fire on Friday, including two fixed-wing planes from north Canterbury with the capacity to dump two tonnes of water each.

A thick haze of cloud and smoke had settled over the valley, which only high temperatures or stong winds would move, causing visibility issues for aircraft, Hayles said.

There are some information for Waihopai residents such as keep off the roads as much as possible to allow tankers to get through.

If leaving the house for the night or long periods, tell council to allow prioritisation of evacuations.

Move stock to flattest, greenest pasture.

Ensure driveway is clear of overhanging branches so large tankers can enter property.

Water lawn surrounding house.

Remove combustible material near house, especially firewood.

Remove dry plant material from guttering on roof and etc.

Marlborough Emergency Headquarter spokeswoman Karen Fisher said the fire had gone up the ridge and smoke was blowing over the Waihopai Valley.

 "They've got machinery in there to try and carve some fire breaks," she said"They [firefighters on the ground] will be up there and around and so forth. The biggest problem yesterday was getting the water in."Firefighters would be tackling the blaze "around the edges a little bit . . . but it's not a ground attack". Fisher understood some Waihopai Valley families had left their homes overnight "because of the smoke".

The majority of the fire was burning through Nelson Forests production blocks but two private forestry blocks had also been affected.On Thursday, authorities said the fire covered between 100 and 200 hectares, mostly over land belonging to Nelson Forests.

"It's not under control yet and it will be some time [before it is]," Fisher said.Temperatures were expected to reach a high of 25 degrees Celsius in Blenheim on Friday and rain might develop in the evening.The region's rural fire chief Richard McNamara said the weather conditions were much better than those which hampered containment efforts during the Waikakaho Valley fire two weeks ago.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Solid waste

Solid waste refers to any garbage, refuse, sludge from a wastewater treatment plant, water supply treatment plant or air pollution control facility and other discarded materials including solid, liquid, semi-solid, or contained gaseous material, resulting from industrial, commercial, mining and agricultural operations, and from community activities. But it does not include solid or dissolved materials in domestic sewage or solid or dissolved materials in irrigation return flows. Example of solid waste include waste tires, garbage, scrap metal, empty aerosol cans, latex paints, furniture and toys, oil and anti-freeze, paint cans and compressed gas cylinders.

There are two kinds of solid waste which is biodegradable material and non-biodegradable material. A biodegradable material is a material that can be broken down by living things into simpler chemicals that can be consumed by living things while non-biodegradable material are synthetic materials, or materials created in a laboratory such as plastics. Plastics are made up of mostly carbon and hydrogen, but these elements are put together differently than how they are found in nature. Microorganisms have ways to break down things in nature, but not man made things. Plastics may last for hundreds of years before they are able to start the process of being broken down.

One way to combat the use of plastics and other forms of non- degradable material is to reduce and reuse the materials. Reuse is using an item more than once. Reuse can have financial and environmental benefits, either of which can be the main motivation for it. The financial motivation historically did, and in the developing world still does, lead to very high levels of reuse, but rising wages and consequent consumer demand for the convenience of disposable products made the reuse of low value items such as packaging uneconomic m richer countries, leading to the demise of many reuse schemes.

Biodegradable material such as food waste, glass, paper, aluminium, asphalt, iron and textiles can be recycle. Recycle is the reprocessing of materials into new products. Recycle generally prevents the waste of potentially useful materials, reduces the consumption of raw materials and reduces energy usage, and hence greenhouse gas emissions, compared to virgin production. It is also recyclable with the assistance of micro-organisms through composting or anaerobic digestion. Recyclates are sorted and separated into material types. Contamination of the recylates with other materials must be prevented to increase the recylates’ value and facilitate easier reprocessing for the ultimate recycling facility.

In conclusion, it is very important to take care of our earth. Land and resources are limited and the health of the plant can only be hurt to a limited extent. As more and more waste is generated yearly, it is evident that this increasing trend is unacceptable in the long run. However, if the problem of solid waste is to be truly addressed, the root of the issue must be looked at first. If less waste is generated in the first place, the challenge of finding environmentally feasible ways of disposing of waste will be much easier.

Wildlife

Wildlife is a term that refers to animals that are not normally domesticated.They are a living resource that will die and be replaced by others of their kind. Individual animals cannot be kept beyond their life span. But if managed carefully, populations of wildlife can be conserved practically forever.Conservation of wildlife includes: The preservation of all species, the enhancement of wildlife habitat, the control of wildlife problems, and the consumptive use of wildlife.One of the society that responsible to conserve wild life is WWF.

All species of animals are of interest to wildlife biologists. The rapid extinction of many species of animals is an increasing concern. Therefore, a wildlife biologist must be prepared to deal with complex ecological, sociological, and political problems that can cause the extinction of a species. At the same time they are concerned about endangered species wildlife biologists must also deal with locally abundant species that can cause serious ecological damage in an area.

Habitat preservation and enhancement are critical to existence of wildlife in an area. Animals cannot live in an area that does not provide the proper food, cover, water, and special needs. People's activities alter many habitats to the detriment of some wildlife. A wildlife biologist is responsible for preserving lands in a condition that wildlife can use for successful reproduction.

Wildlife biologists not only preserve species, they also control hunting seasons and oversee situations where conventional agriculture, forestry, range management,illegal logging cause conditions where some rodents, deer,birds and other species may become "pests." They are responsible for reducing negative interactions between wildlife and people.

To accomplish these objectives, wildlife biologists must understand the complex ecological interactions, cultural, sociological, and economic problems that are related to preservation of wildlife and human land use practices. They must be able to communicate their understanding of these relationships to the general public and to various levels of government.

Wildlife graduates are employed primarily by state and federal agencies. However, the private sector of environmental consulting firms is expanding. Recent graduates are employed as wildlife managers, wildlife biologists, refuge managers, park rangers, park naturalists, game wardens, recreations planners, consulting wildlife biologists, etc. Graduates with high academic qualifications should consider graduate school.

Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth from an orebody, vein, seam, or reef, which forms the mineralised package of economic interest to the miner.

Ores recovered by mining include metals, coal, oil shale, gemstones, limestone, dimension stone, rock salt, potash, gravel, and clay. Mining is required to obtain any material that cannot be grown through agricultural processes, or created artificially in a laboratory or factory. Mining in a wider sense includes extraction of any non-renewable resource such as petroleum, natural gas, or even water.

Mining of stones and metal has been done since pre-historic times. Modern mining processes involve prospecting for ore bodies, analysis of the profit potential of a proposed mine, extraction of the desired materials, and final reclamation of the land after the mine is closed.

The nature of mining processes creates a potential negative impact on the environment both during the mining operations and for years after the mine is closed. This impact has led most of the world's nations to adopt regulations designed to moderate the negative effects of mining operations. Safety has long been a concern as well, and modern practices have improved safety in mines significantly.

Environmental issues can include erosion, formation of sinkholes, loss of biodiversity, and contamination of soil, groundwater and surface water by chemicals from mining processes. In some cases, additional forest logging is done in the vicinity of mines to create space for the storage of the created debris and soil. Contamination resulting from leakage of chemicals can also affect the health of the local population if not properly controlled. Extreme examples of pollution from mining activities include coal fires, which can last for years or even decades, producing massive amounts of environmental damage.

Mining companies in most countries are required to follow stringent environmental and rehabilitation codes in order to minimize environmental impact and avoid impacting human health. These codes and regulations all require the common steps of environmental impact assessment, development of environmental management plans, mine closure planning , and environmental monitoring during operation and after closure. However, in some areas, particularly in the developing world, government regulations may not be well enforced.