#dutchessncli

For more information go to: globalissues.org/article/238/effects-of-consumerism

On July 9th 2014 I started working for Cornell Cooperative Extension Dutchess County No Child Left inside. I wanted to be a part of this job because they worked on things involving the  environment and that was something I was into. I wanted to learn more and I did. There were soo many things I never experienced and never knew that my boss taught me. We got to teach little kids, write blogs, go on hikes, camping and work on leadership skills, all things I’ve never done before. She gave me an experience that I will cherish forever.

My time with NCLI is nearly at an end, and as such the time has come to reflect on my experiences. I have found NCLI fantastically enjoyable, and I have learned a lot from it. It was a great opportunity in many ways. I was able to do many things I already enjoyed, such as working with children, hiking, and other outdoor activities. I was also, however, exposed to many new things, such as multimedia projects like this tumblr blog and leadership training. I learned a lot about what effects we have on our environment and what steps we can take to reduce them. There were other things I learned too, often just interesting tidbits of environmental knowledge, and I deeply appreciate those as well. Overall, NCLI was a fantastic part of my life and I’ll miss it when it’s gone.

The ozone layer is one of the layers in the Earth's atmosphere. Its the layer that protects us from ultraviolet radiation from the sun. There's an issue that's happening in the ozone layer called Ozone Layer depletion. That is the gas thinning in the ozone layer, most people know it as a “hole” forming in the ozone layer. The ozone layer depleting is an issue because the UV rays are reaching to the Earth's surface and this can cause people to get skin cancer and a weak immune system if they are over exposed to the UV rays. It also affects the earth's crops and marine animals. The cause of the depletion is by refrigerants, insulating foams,solvents and pesticides. being released into the atmosphere. The only way to stop the depletion is to get rid of all the substances making it deplete. If there is no more ozone depleting substances being made it is thought that the ozone layer can recover by 2050. For more information check out http://www.epa.gov/ozone/science/q_a.html

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The first weekend in May the NCLI Crew had the fantastic opportunity to go on a weekend long backpacking trip in Massachusetts on the Alford Springs reservation, which is a part of the larger Berkshire Natural Resource Council,  better known as BNRC. We had two great guides named Mike and Matt, who not only provided a good bit of comical entertainment, but also led us on our hikes each day and gave us useful lessons on the ecology of the area and many opportunities nature has to offer there. While on a hike, we had the chance to do some trail work there by clearing large branches off the trails as well using some of that brush to build small habitats for the threatened New England Cottontail, which you can read more about here. As a whole, the NCLI crew had a great time camping out and roughing it on the trails, eating as much GORP as possible. A big shoutout to BNRC and Mike and Matt for taking us out there.

Fracking is the method of drilling holes deep into the ground to extract oils and natural gas. You drill 2 miles vertically into the ground where the oil is, then you'll drill horizontally for a mile. You then pump the oil out. Some issues with this include that it can cause cracks in the ground, causing earthquakes. The cracks also cause the oils and gas to leak out into water bodies, causing the water to be polluted. Some of the fluids get left behind on the ground. This causes an issue because it isn't biodegradable. When the fluid evaporates into the air, it leaves harmful VOC’s  (volatile organic compounds) in the atmosphere. Learn more about fracking with this cool website: http://www.dangersoffracking.com/

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