Dan's Global Environment Blog

A photo of my tree located outside Holloway Hall. The tree I chose is located right outside my dorm, Holloway Hall. I decided to choose this tree because it is located right outside of my door, and I have a great view of it from my room, meaning it will be easily accessible to observe, and can even be done without stepping foot outside.  I am not sure what kind of tree it is, but will be sure to look into it. While I don't know what type it is, I am fairly certain that there are many of the same type all over campus, as I have noticed that they look similar to my tree, located all around Holloway Hall and Appian Way. My prediction for this tree is fairly simple. I am predicting that it will bloom with pink buds in the coming weeks, maybe early to mid April, before the tree becomes covered in a beautiful shade of green, filled with a large amount of fresh leaves. Past that, I believe that around the middle of August, the leaves will begin turning orange and brown, and finally ar...

A photo of a small Lithium Battery. Source:  Wikipedia     I bet you did not know that the exact battery used in our "Eco-Friendly" developments such as electric cars are actually part of a large environmental issue too. I did not know this either, and was very surprised to learn more about this in the article from  Wired .  Lithium is gathered by mining, usually through salt flats in the "Lithium Triangle", which is located over Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile. These locations are known to be some of the driest places on earth. To extract the lithium,  miners drill a hole in the salt flats and begin pumping a salty, mineral-rich brine to the surface. This "brine" is then left for months where it will evaporate, which creates a mixture of manganese, potassium, borax and lithium salts which is filtered and placed into another evaporation pool. After 12- 18 months, the mixture has been filtered enough to become lithium carbonate, which can then...

A photo of me cooking over a campfire with Gardner Lake behind me. East Machias, Maine is home to my absolute favorite place in nature, Gardner Lake. I do not know if I enjoy it so much because of the years of memories I have from summer camp along this quaint lake, or if it is because the scenery really just is beautiful, but I like to think that is a mix of both. There is absolutely no interference of the outside world when you are here, instead, all you can hear is birds chirping, the rustling of trees, and the wind against a sailboat sail, making the entire time you're at Gardner Lake, insanely peaceful.  While I have not been to Gardner Lake since 2017, I have no doubt in my mind that it will always be my favorite natural place.