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Friday, October 17, 2014

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Mangrove tree
A mangrove is a tropical marine tree. Mangroves have special aerial roots and salt-filtering tap roots which enable them to thrive in brackish water. Brackish water is salty but not as salty as sea water. Mangrove trees are commonly planted and found in coastal areas. Mangroves can serve as walls of protection for natural disaster in coastal area like tsunami. According to BBC News, healthy mangrove forests had helped save lives in the Asia disaster tsunami and people tended to respect these natural barriers even more, especially after the tsunami.
There are several species of mangrove tree found all over the world. Some prefer more salinity, while others like to be very-close to a large fresh water source such as river. Some prefer areas that are sheltered from waves. Some species have their roots covered with sea water every day during high tide. Other species grow on dry land but are still part of the ecosystem. The Times of India reported that rare species of mangrove had been found and was also known as the looking-glass tree, probably because the leaves are silver-coated.
Mangroves need to keep their trunk and leave above the surface of the water. Yet they also need to be firmly attached to the ground so they are not moved by waves.
Any part of root that appears above the water flows oxygen to the plant under water surface. as the soil begin to build up, these roots procedure additional roots that become embedded in the soil.

Types of Volcanic Eruptions
Volcanic eruptions have caused some of the worst disasters in the world. They can wipe out entire cities and kill thousands of people.
The name of volcano comes from Roman term. It derives from VULCAN which is the name of Roman fire god. Romans believed that Vulcan lived on a volcanic Italian coast. Romans called the island VULCANO.
According to scientists, volcanic eruptions are divided in to four basic groups. They are commonly known as Hawaiian, Strombolian, Vulcanian and Peleean. The term of Hawaiian eruptions are named after the volcanoes in Hawaii. These volcanic eruptions are the least violent type. They produce highly fluid lava which flows quietly. This gradually builds up a shield volcano.
Strombolian eruptions are named after Stromboli. These result from the constant release of gas from the magma. As the gas escapes, it produces tephra that piles up, turning into a cinder cone. Strombolian eruptions happen when sticky magma plugs the central vent. This makes the magmatic gas build up pressure until it blasts. The magma is turned into volcanic dust and bombs.
Vulcanian eruption which comes from the ancient Roman belief, are more violent than the strombolian eruption. Vulcanian eruption happens and brings magma which is more viscous. Vulcanian explosions are usually larger and noisier than the Strombolian eruptions.
Paleean eruptions are famous as the most violent kind of volcanic eruptions. The name of paleean comes from the eruption of Mount Pelee, Martinique in 1902. It killed almost 38 thousands people. A Peleean eruption occurs when the magmatic gas build up tremendous pressure. This causes violent explosions with glowing clouds of hot ash and dust.
Simplified from: library.thinkquest.org/03oct/01027/volcaniceruptions.html

Rose
If you are in love, you may remember a rose. It is a symbol of romantic thing. However do you know the nature of this beautiful flower?
Rose is in a family of Rosaceae. The flower is large and showy. The colours range from white through yellows and reds. Most species of rose are native to Asia,
Europe, North America, and northwest Africa. Rose plants can grow in different size from compact, miniature, to climbers which reach 7 meters in height.
The popular species of roses are Banksianae, Caninae, Carolinae, Chinensis, Gallicanae. Banksianae is a rose flower from China which is white and yellow. Caninae is a species from Asia, Europe and North Africa which is pink and white. Carolinae is known from North America which has a white, pink, and bright pink colour. Chinensis is a white, pink, yellow, red and mixed-color rose from China and Burma. Gallicanae is a species of roses from western Asia and Europe which is pink to crimson.
Roses are best known as ornamental plants grown for their flowers in the garden and sometimes indoors. They have been also used for commercial perfumery and commercial cut flower crops.
Jasmine
Jasmine is an evergreen semi-vining shrub native to tropical areas of Southeast Asia, Africa and Australia. The plants are usually up to 3 meters high and 2 meters wide.
Jasmine is a climbing vine with oval, shiny leaves and tubular, waxy-white flowers. It has small white star-shaped flowers. The Jasmine flower releases its fragrance at night after the sun has set and especially when the moon is waxing towards fullness, thus it is associated with soothing peaceful night-time moods. The leaves are oval rich green and have five to nine leaflets, each up to 2½ inches long.
The plant flowers from April to September. Jasmine is propagated by cuttings of nearly ripe wood in summer. Cuttings are planted in 3-inch pots within 4 weeks, then to 6-inches when pot is becoming filled with roots. The soil should be kept moist but well drained for optimum growth. Frequent pruning is required to grow it as a shrub of desired size. Pruning also helps keep an abundance of flowers, since flowers are produced on new wood. It grows in full sun to partial shade. Fertilize monthly with a balanced fertilizer.
Source: http://afmahanibesmile.blogspot.com/2013/08/report-text-about-jasmine-flower.html

KOMODO DRAGON
Do you know what is the largest lizard? This lizard is called komodo. It lives in the scrub and woodland of a few Indonesian islands.

Komodo dragon is the world’s heaviest lizard, weighing 150 pounds or more. The largest Komodo ever measured was more than 10 feet (3 meters) long and weighed 366 pounds (166 kg) but the average size of komodo in the wild is about 8 feet (2.5 meters) long and 200 pounds (91 kg)

Komodo has gray scaly skin, a pointed snout, powerful limbs and a muscular tail. They use their keen sense of smell to locate decaying animal remains from several miles away. They also hunt other lizards as well as large mammals and are sometimes cannibalistic.

The Komodo dragon’s teeth are almost completely covered by its gums. When it feeds, the gums bleed, creating an ideal culture for virulent bacteria. The bacteria that live in the Komodo dragon’s saliva causes septicemia, or blood poisoning, in its victims. A dragon will bite its prey, then follow it until the animal is too weak to carry on.

This lizard species is threatened by hunting, loss of prey species and habitat loss.

Source:
http://animal.discovery.com/reptiles/komodo-dragon/

Greenhouse Effect
The Greenhouse Effect is a natural process that warms the Earth, and, in fact, is quite necessary for our survival. Gases in the atmosphere, like water vapor (clouds), carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O) act as a natural blanket by preventing the sun’s heat energy from radiating back into space, much like a greenhouse traps the sun’s energy to warm someone’s plants even in the middle of winter. The natural greenhouse effect helps warm the Earth’s surface by as much as 33oC, and without it, our planet would be too cold for humans to survive.

The diagram below illustrates the basic processes behind the greenhouse effect. As the sun’s energy hits the Earth, some of that energy is absorbed by the earth’s crust and by the oceans, warming the planet. The rest of the energy is radiated back toward space as infrared energy. While some of this infrared energy does radiate back into space, some portion is absorbed and re-emitted by water vapor and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. This absorbed energy helps to warm the planet’s surface and atmosphere just like a greenhouse.

There are three main factors that directly influence the greenhouse effect: (1) the total energy influx from the sun, which depends on the earth's distance from the sun and on solar activity, (2) the chemical composition of the atmosphere (what gases are present and in what concentrations), and (3) albedo, the ability of the earth's surface to reflect light back into space. The only factor that has changed significantly in the last 100 years is the chemical composition of the atmosphere—and that is because of human activity.

Human activity has changed the concentration of certain greenhouse gases in the atmosphere since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, around 1750. The three graphs below show that the amounts of carbon dioxide (in parts per million), methane (in parts per billion) and nitrous oxide (in parts per billion) in the earth's atmosphere have increased dramatically over the past 1,000 years, with the most rapid increase occurring over the past fifty years.

Although the greenhouse effect is a naturally-occurring process, humans have recently amplified the natural effect by increasing the concentration of CO2 and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere (primarily through fossil fuel use in the energy and transportation sectors). According to the most recent report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC’s 4th Assessment Report), there is greater than a 90% chance that human activity is causing the increase in Earth’s global average temperatures observed since the mid-21st century.

The major greenhouse gases are listed in the figure below, along with their chemical formula. Although some of the gases listed have a larger global warming potential, carbon dioxide (CO2) is the most important greenhouse gas because of its abundance in the atmosphere. Today, atmospheric CO2 concentrations measure over 380 parts per million (ppm), mostly due to fossil fuel use in the energy and transportation sectors.


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