To all of you out there that have been blogging for years or are pros at blogging, this is my first for me. This can be a very intimidating and daunting task for someone who is nervous about posting their personal opinions only to have people read and comment on them! For me I believe that this will be a learning experience that will make me more critical and objective to materials I read and form opinions on.
Throughout this blog I will be posting articles and expressing my feelings, beliefs and opinions on science related topics. Also I will be writing about personal experiences that have been occurring during my first full time position as an Earth Science teacher in an inner city South Bronx school.
The first topic that I would like to discuss is erosion. I taught my students about erosion- its definition, what it does to a stream, and how it afffects their community around them, I wonder if my students grasp the larger picture of what it is doing to every landscape around the globe right now. Global warming and other human and natural behaviors are increasing the rate of erosion in many places. Because earth is constantly trying to maintain homeostasis I will not get into areas, landscapes, and ecosystems that are experiencing an abundance of deposition but stick to those areas that are being impacted by erosion.
Growing up on a beach in a bathing suit down on the south shore in a small tight knit community of Long Beach I remember playing Red Rover in the back of the beach, body surfing in the shore breaks of the Atlantic Ocean and digging holes to try and reach China. I look back at those days and can really only remember great times with my family, friends, and the warm sun.
In October 2012 Long Beach experienced not only the worst tropical storm that ever hit the city, but now are faced with a serious dilemma-beach eroison. During the storm surge the water not only went above the 10 foot dunes(a natural barrier consisting of large mounds of sand and vegetation), but also engulfed them out to sea and into the homes of residents and streets throughout the island.
Many of my family members and friends, including myself, were left with homes under water and nowhere to go. While many of them are in the process of renovating their basements and first floors, a lot of questions have been going through my mind as to what is going to happen in the future. Some questions that I would appreciate comments on is:
-When is the boardwalk that consisted of the dunes underneath going to be built again? How long is that going to take?
-What are families going to do to prevent their homes from flooding again?
-Should everyone sell their homes and move inland?
- How long is it going to take the city to rebuild all the homes, restaurants and stores back to its original form? Is this even possible?
-What are insurance companies and the government doing about this natural disaster?
Those are just some of my thoughts about this Earth Science topic that I believe is extremely interesting and extremely real!
