A feasibility study according to Wikipedia is: “an assessment of the practicality of a proposed project or system. A feasibility study aims to objectively and rationally uncover the strengths and weaknesses of an existing business or proposed venture, opportunities and threats present in the natural environment, the resources required to carry through, and ultimately the prospects for success. Should I try “A Feasibility of restoring oyster reefs around City Island (specific area, like: Eastchester Bay etc?) based on the ongoing Billion Oyster Project and the historical dispositions”. 

There is a good article coverage of Billion Oyster Project, they have a website and a blog as well. They link to Living Breakwaters project. Is it important for my research? The fact that marine scientists, landscape architects and divers work together? There is as well an article describing City Island Oyster Project in Bronx Times, they have Facebook account and some video coverage. These could be supporting sources.

For proving biological possibility of such a project i need to look up the past of oyster reefs in New York Harbor and around City Island. Historical background. I don’t think that needs to be a very detailed source because its going to be my supporting one. Probably for the introduction part of my essay. I found today this book:

Waldman, John “2.Vita Marinae”, Hearbeats in the Muck: The History, Sea Life, and Environment of New York Harbor,Revised Edition, Fordham University Press, Empire State Editions, 2013, pp. 7-9.

Waldman gives a pretty tight and to the point description of historical background of oyster reefs in New York Harbor: from the colonists arrival, through the abundance for all, rich and poor, ending with decline in 1830, caused by over harvest and pollution. The book mentions City Island on p. 9 as the place where the first oyster beds were established by the oystermen. How do I need this? Is placing oyster beds where they use to grow naturally increasing the probability of success?

https://www.cnn.com/videos/business/2019/01/16/oysters-breakwaters-new-york-mission-ahead.cnn-business/video/playlists/business-mission-ahead/

At this point I think I’m going to contact people involved in City Island Oyster project and see what I can find. 😉

I managed to find another source with an even better solution to this menace of air pollution. The source is written by Crane, Keith, and Zhimin Mao. The title of the source is “Costs of Selected Policies to Address Air Pollution in China”. This source’s question is about three solutions that would reduce or minimize the effects of air pollution in China. It’s responding to the menace of air pollution in china. It’s got various ideas that may be of help as it points out the costs of the environmental problem to the economy and especially names use of coal to be the number one source of pollution. Another idea that I may use is the solutions that this source proposes. The solutions are: using natural gas instead of coal, using cleaner, renewable energy sources instead of coal, and ending the use of old cars or adding new equipment to limit their pollution. I think that what makes sources more authoritative is being published by authors who are highly educated and experienced with the topic in question. I haven’t thought about changing my research question yet as I tend to find even more and more sources as I go on with my research.
Crane, Keith, and Zhimin Mao. “Costs of Selected Policies to Address Air Pollution in China.”
RAND
Corporation. 2015. 5 Nov. 2016 < www.jstor.org/stable/10.7249/j.ctt14bs468>.

Write about your assignment 3 research process so far.

My research process is so far so good. I have read various articles and journals regarding the
effects of air pollution on human and wildlife health. One scholarly source that I found regarding this was written by Hankey, Steve, Julian D. Marshall, and Michael Brauer. The name of the article is “Health Impacts of the Built Environment: Within-Urban Variability in Physical
Inactivity, Air Pollution, and Ischemic Heart Disease Mortality." The source’s research question is focus on the effects of air pollution in relation to physical activity. Their main argument is that different types of neighborhoods contributed to more physical activity and how the different neighborhoods might help the problem of exposure to air pollution. The ideas that I may extract are that if individuals take the step of incorporating physical exercises in their lifestyle, they may help solve or cope with the problem of air pollution. Whereas this may not be an effective solution, it’s one of the articles that I found but may be on the lookout for others which may have even better solutions to this environmental problem.

Hankey, Steve, Julian D. Marshall, and Michael Brauer. " Health Impacts Of The Built
Environment: Within-Urban Variability In Physical Inactivity, Air Pollution, And
Ischemic Heart Disease Mortality." Environmental Health Perspectives 120.2 (2012):
247- 253. GreenFILE. Web. 2 Apr. 2012.

Blog Post 3.1
There are various local environmental problems that I may want to have a look at. These may
include various issue areas such as wildlife and biodiversity, pollution in cities or just in general,
oceans, climate change as well as world population. As of now, there are a significant number of
people tackling these environmental issues.

Climate change

Climate change is the deviation from average weather patterns lasting for an extended period of time. Climate change is one of the problems that I could write about. It can come from either
natural sources or basically careless human behavior which has contributed to a rise in
greenhouse emissions. This is surely something that has been happening gradually ever since the use of fossil fuels. This problem affects people from all walks of life due to an abnormal rise in temperatures and intense natural disasters such as the disappearance of water bodies or wildfires or hurricanes. One of the phenomena brought about by this environmental problem is global warming due to the presence of greenhouse emissions. For instance, we have witnessed wildfires and droughts in California and hurricanes and flooding in Florida and Puerto Rico due to climate change. The impact these events have on communities varies.

Pollution

This is indeed another area that I could look at as it’s an environmental problem that directly
affects public health. It has various effects such as heart attacks, cancer, and even strokes. Air
pollution has been caused by overtime by various chemicals released from manufacturing industries such as food processing plants. One of the worst forms of air pollution is the release of particulate matter which can be inhaled by both humans and wildlife and lead to diseases.
Another form of pollution is noise pollution from loud machines, transportation systems such as airplanes as well as loud music being played in the streets all over. Natural processes are
hampered as a result of noise pollution. Furthermore, there’s also light pollution which to a large extent disrupts natural wildlife cycles and to an extent may cause depression and sleep disorders in humans.
Still, on pollution, I can also look into water pollution. Our water sources are constantly chocked
with chemicals and other waste products emitted from various industries. Some of these are a result of bad agricultural processes. When water is polluted, it becomes unusable by living
beings and this is such a huge public concern. Of the above two areas that interest me, the environmental issue of pollution interests me the most. This is because it directly affects human lives negatively and it comes in many forms be it air, water, or even noise. I could write about air pollution specifically and a driving research question that could provide an annotated bibliography that would be both interesting to me and meet the assignment goals would be “How does air pollution affect the health of people and wildlife”.