User:Fls098/sandbox

Article selection- Week 3

Article Environmental vegetarianism

• edits in paragraph 'Environmental impact of animal products'
  • Replace 'This is because of the need replace animal manures by fertilizers and to replace also other animal coproducts, and because livestock now use human-inedible food and fiber processing byproducts. Moreover, people would suffer from a greater number of deficiencies in essential nutrients although they would get a greater excess of energy, possibly leading to greater obesity.' with 'This conclusion is on the basis that, in the absence of animal manure from animal agriculture, synthetic fertilizers would have to be produced, in order to meet a plant based global food demand, which releases GHG emissions. The study also contributes this to the disposal of byproducts, which would otherwise be used as domesticated animal feed, and emissions from growing crops on land previously used to rear agricultural animals. Moreover, it is suggested that a conversion of the global population to a plant based diet may increase rates of nutrient deficiencies, particularly in the US, because the types of crops suitable to be grown on US climate and soils may not be sufficient for a balanced diet.'
  • citations also need to be added in places and the wording of the passage can be tweaked to communicate the information better to users
  • add citation to 'Corn and soybean crops commonly provide food for human consumption, biofuels, livestock feed, or some combination of these'

Article Banded Iron Formations

• first statement needs a reference
• Snowball earth section
  • evidence against BIFs demonstrating a snowball earth
  • example- most BIF’s occur below or within glacial deposits, contrasting the Snowball earth hypothesis of deposition after the marinoan glaciation (Williams and Schmidt, 2000)
    • Young (2002)- iron deposits in Canada lay below glacial deposits

Article climate change in africa

• possibility of adding information under a food security heading
  • Frequent droughts in the late 20th century (USGS, 2012)
  • food insecurity from climate change will act as a barrier to adaptation (Boko et al, 2007)
  • Agriculture in subsaharan Africa is 98% rainfed (FAO, 2002)

Exercises- week 5

Citation was added to Environmental vegetarianism. "Corn and soybean crops commonly provide food for human consumption, biofuels, livestock feed, or some combination of these'

Week 6- copyedit

Article environmental vegetarianism

- Simple grammatical corrections made e.g. punctuation

"This is because of the need replace animal manures by fertilizers and to replace also other animal coproducts, and because livestock now use human-inedible food and fiber processing byproducts. Moreover, people would suffer from a greater number of deficiencies in essential nutrients although they would get a greater excess of energy, possibly leading to greater obesity."

was replaced with

"This conclusion is on the basis that, in the absence of animal manure from animal agriculture, synthetic fertilizers would have to be produced, in order to meet a plant based global food demand, which releases GHG emissions. The study also contributes this to the disposal of byproducts, which would otherwise be used as domesticated animal feed, and emissions from growing crops on land previously used to rear agricultural animals. Moreover, it is suggested that a conversion of the global population to a plant based diet may increase rates of nutrient deficiencies, particularly in the US, because the types of crops suitable to be grown on US climate and soils may not be sufficient for a balanced diet."

To make the findings of the study more easily communicated to the reader.

Week 8- peer review

Peer reviews were given to users ATekatch and Nramberg in their sandboxes .

Article selection and topic finalization

I have chosen to add a subsection to the article Mangrove restoration called "mangroves as a mitigation for climate change". I have added the below section to the article (17/03/19).

Mangroves as climate change mitigation

A summary of carbon storage in wetland ecosystems

This map shows the estimated global distribution of above ground carbon storage in mangroves

Mangrove forests have a potential to mitigate climate change, such as through the sequestration of carbon from the atmosphere directly, and by providing protection from storms, which are expected to become more intense and frequent into the 21st century. A summary of coastal wetland carbon, including mangroves, is seen in the accompanying image. Wetland plants, like mangroves, take in carbon dioxide when they perform photosynthesis. They then convert this into biomass made of complex carbon compounds. Being the most carbon-rich tropical forest, mangroves are highly productive and are found to store 3 to 4 times more carbon than other tropical forests. This is known as Blue carbon. Mangroves make up only 0.7% of tropical forest area worldside, yet studies calculate the effect of mangrove deforestation to contribute 10% of global CO₂ emissions from deforestation. The image to the right shows the global distribution of above ground carbon from mangroves. As can be seen, most of this carbon is located in Indonesia which is followed by Brazil, Malaysia and Nigeria. Indonesia has one of the highest rates of mangrove loss, yet the most carbon stored from mangroves. Therefore, it is suggested that if the correct policy is implemented, countries like Indonesia can make considerable contributions to global carbon fluxes.

The UN estimate deforestation and forest degradation to make up 17% of global carbon emissions, which makes it the second most polluting sector, following the energy industry. The cost of this globally is estimated to total $42 billion. Therefore, in recent years, there has been more focus on the importance of mangroves, with initiatives being developed to use reforestation as a mitigation tool for climate change.

Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation

In 2008, the United Nations launched the "Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD)" program, to combat climate change through the reduction of carbon emissions and enhancement of carbon sinks from forests.It is the opinion of literary scholars that the REDD program can increase carbon sequestration from mangroves and therefore reduce carbon in the atmosphere. The REDD+ mechanism, as part of the REDD program, provides financial support to stakeholders in developing countries to avoid deforestation and forest degradation. The estimated impacts of REDD+ globally, could reach up to 2.5 billion tons of CO₂ each year. An examples of REDD+ implementation can be seen in Thailand, where carbon markets give farmers incentive to conserve mangrove forests, by compensating for the opportunity cost of shrimp farming.

Mangroves for the Future

Moreover, the Mangroves for the Future (MFF) initiative, led by IUCN and UNDP, encourages the rehabilitation of mangroves by engaging with local stakeholders and creating a platform for change.In Indonesia, one project planted 40,000 mangroves, which then encouraged local government to take up similar initiatives on a larger scale. Mangrove restoration and protection is also seen as a climate change mitigation strategy under COP21, the international agreement to target climate change, with countries being able to submit the act in their Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Approaches (NAMAs). Ten of the worlds least developed countries are now prioritizing mangrove restoration in their NAMAs.

Climate Change Adaptation

As well as providing the benefit of a carbon sinks, mangroves also host potential for climate change adaptation. They provide protection to local communities from sea level rise, coastal erosion and storms. These are all issues that are related to climate change and are expected to increase in severity in the future. Therefore, mangroves can help support the livelihood of those living in areas already vulnerable to climate change threats. In the IPCC AR5 report, the potential of ecosystem-based adaptation (EBA) to climate change is discussed, which includes the restoration of mangroves. An example of this can be seen in Bangladesh, where the government initiated the plantation of 50,000 hectares of mangrove forest to stabilize coastal areas, in an attempt to tackle increasing erosion. Evidence suggests that this initiative was successful in increasing accretion of coastal sediment, which reduced coastal erosion in this area and protects coastal communities from flooding and storm events. It has also been found that areas surrounding mangrove forests are subject to less damage from cyclones than non forested areas.

Reflective Essay

Having used Wikipedia to critique, edit and write articles I have learnt that, although the content on Wikipedia is extensive, there is always room for improvement. I have learnt that my knowledge can be used, as part of a community of different specialists, to increase content range, accuracy and representation. For example, for my article evaluation I chose to edit the article ‘Environmental vegetarianism’. This is because, within my area of knowledge, it was also a class C article and so the Wikipedia portal made me aware that it needed improving. I began by thoroughly reading the article and making notes on the talk page of possible edits for others to see. I then made these edits to make the article more accurate and scientifically sound, as well as by adding reviewed evidence as references. I have made various edits throughout the past semester which I believe have made articles more communicable, clear and precise, as well as adding content where there were gaps in knowledge. However, my main contribution to Wikipedia was in my addition to the article ‘mangrove reforestation’. Originally, the article did a good job to summarize the benefits and ecosystem services that mangroves hold. It also talked in good detail about the process of mangrove restoration, as well as a brief summary of how much mangrove has been lost globally. However, it failed to go into detail on how mangroves can be used as a mitigation for climate change. Therefore, I added the section ‘mangroves as climate change mitigation’. This content was not already included on Wikipedia, with it being briefly mentioned in articles ‘blue carbon’, ‘REDD’ and ‘mangroves’ but these failed to go into detail. I have developed my content over time, as well as responding to reviews on my talk page from fellow classmates. These reviews were helpful because they clarified any mistakes I may have made and helped my work to become more clear to the reader. I think that the Wikipedia assignment gave me a lot more freedom to focus on my areas of interest, instead of being assigned a topic. This allowed me to use my strengths and contribute in a wider community. I also think that improving content on Wikipedia is important, because most google searches result in a Wikipedia article, therefore a lot of the public will use Wikipedia to increase their knowledge, so it is important to get this knowledge correct so that the public aren’t ill informed.