By Delaney Sis and Na’Riyah Johnson

Have you ever wondered how much plastic is actually in the ocean?

Plastic doesn’t decompose, like other wastes, and according to theoceancleanup.com, there are 5 different offshore areas that have accumulated 1.15 to 2.41 million tons of plastic. These areas of plastic are called the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP). These patches are the largest accumulated areas ranging from Hawaii and California. The GPGP covers 1.6 million square kilometers. That’s about twice the size of Texas and three times the size of France.  

You may be asking why we should care; well according to the National Ocean Service website, 700 different marine species encounter debris. Sadly, 92% of the debris these species come across are plastic. Only 17% of the debris are on the list of threatened animals. There is 180x more plastic than marine life. Also, marine life can get entangled.

Some ways that debris enter water are from the rain and winds. For example, when you leave a water bottle on the ground and it rains, the rain water will carry it to the sewer, and it ends up in our rivers, streams, and lakes.

Some ways you can help with this issue is by using less plastic, recycling more, and helping with cleaning/volunteering or participating in shore cleanups.

Some other ways that you can help with this issue is by putting trash into designated areas. You can also help by using no plastic straws or plastic cups.

Starbucks was the business that first announced they were moving from plastic straws, to more compostable straws. You may be wondering why, well 4% of the plastic in the ocean is made up of straws. An average person uses 1.6 straw a day. This mean that 25,000 people have stopped using straws. For more information about plastic straws, please visit: https://squareup.com/townsquare/why-plastic-straws-are-being-banned

On January 20 and 21, a full moon, Wolf Moon, Supermoon, and a total lunar eclipse took place.

In 2019, there will be 3 solar eclipses and 2 lunar eclipses. On January 20, the first full moon and first lunar eclipse happened.  The lunar eclipse is being called a Blood Moon because the sun Earth and moon line up and the moon passes through the Earth’s shadow making it a reddish color. A NASA scientist said, “The exact color that the moon appears depends on the amount of dust and clouds in the atmosphere” so it can appear more red depending what’s in the atmosphere.

During the Blood Moon, a meteorite hit the moon. It was very unexpected but according to Space.com that’s how the moon gets it craters. 

There are 3 types of lunar eclipses, total, partial, and penumbral. The first lunar eclipse of the year was a total lunar eclipse meaning Earth’s shadow completely covered the moon. A Blood Moon will usually happen  twice every three years. However, it depends on the  number of total lunar eclipses during a year. 

The Wolf Moon was named by some Native American tribes after wolves would howl loudly outside their villages, but this year’s Wolf Moon was also a Supermoon. A Supermoon is a full moon that is at the moon’s closest point to Earth.

There will be 6 eclipses in 2019, depending on where you live. There was a solar eclipse on January 5, and a lunar eclipse on January 20.  There will be a solar eclipse on July 2, and December 26. There’ll be a lunar eclipse on July 16. On November 11, there will be a transit of Mercury, meaning Mercury will directly pass between the Sun and another planet, and Mercury will appear as a black dot moving across the Sun.

How many times have you walked outside this winter with only a sweatshirt and jeans on? No winter jacket or coat. Or still have those new pair of Sorel boots in your closet that you were so sure you we’re going to have to wear this winter? If this sounds like you, you are not alone. Temperatures this Minnesota winter have been so mild it almost seems unreal. The snowfalls have been mild, the temperatures have been mild, and the snow seems to barely stay on the ground. Believe it or not, Minnesota is facing the disastrous climate change going on in our world, and the direct effects are becoming prevalent.

Since the 1980’s, scientists have warned us about the disasters our earth was up against if we didn’t start taking better care of it. Big companies like Chevron, Exxon Mobil, BP, and Gazprom, as well as chemical manufactures, industrial dumpsites, tanneries, and product manufactures are all environmental hazards that are destroying our earth. These companies continue to produce pollutants into our environment, creating oil spills, and putting Co2 emissions into our air. Due to these pollutants, more cases of illnesses, like cancer, are rising and they are causing our earth to heat up.

Antarctica is a continent covered by a of majority of ice, and it is starting to be affected by the heating of our earth. Major ice glaciers are starting to break and melt.

Animals like penguins and polar bears are having a habitat crisis because it’s harder to catch fish. Polar bears are falling into the water and drowning due to thin ice, and fish are starting to migrate.

On top of the effects of animals, the effects on our lakes and oceans are also a risk. As ice glaciers melt, water levels continue to rise. The mixture of saltwater and freshwater is creating a higher buoyancy which is causing floods, hurricanes, and water levels to rise at extreme rates.

Minnesota has been affected by climate change, our lakes are starting to rise and there have been a lot of rainy days this winter season. Just this past month, we have had one of the warmest Minnesota winter days ever, with a record breaking 42 degrees in the beginning of January.

Humans, or by their scientific name homo sapiens, belong to a group called hominids. Creatures in part of the hominids group, are the earliest known human like creatures. A trait that is commonly shared among hominids is the ability to walk on two legs or bipedalism. According to Khanacademy.org, it’s believed that hominids started to separate from other primates between 2.5 and 4 million years ago, around eastern and southern Africa.

There are many theories to why the early hominids begun to evolve. One theory was that with the expansion of the savannah, it slowly forced their homes in the forest to shrink. Because of this, it may be one of the reasons we started to rely on walking upright, on the ground, rather than continuing to climb trees.

As hominids continued to evolve, they gained more unique traits and characteristics. One of these characteristics was that their brain capacity was increasing, and then a species of hominid, homo habilis, began using tools around 2.3 million years ago.

Then, around 1 million years ago, some species of hominids, such as homo erectus, began leaving Africa and moving towards Europe and Asia. And when they arrived, they began making important advances like being able to use fire.

The first modern humans happened around 200,000 and 300,000 years ago. And the ability to use language happened around 50,000 year ago.

Later, between 70,000 and 100,000 years ago, modern humans began leaving Africa to ocupate Europe and Asia. The first humans reached Australia by around 35,000 and 65,000 years ago.

According to scientists, during the Pleistocene Ice Age, a land bridge was created, connecting Asia and North America around 13,000 years ago. It is believed that people came to America from Asia by this land bridge.