UN Worried About Asia’s Brown Soot Cloud Problem
There are dirty brown clouds that hover over some parts of Asia that could not only have a major negative affect on those areas, but the entire world. The UN believes that an area ranging from the Persian Gulf to Asia could put at risk food supplies and health of people throughout the entire globe. Many of the major Asian cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Bangkok, Cairo, Mumbai and New Delhi are already engulfed in huge brown clouds that are said to have reduced light by up to 25%. The clouds are basically a thick cloud of soot caused by the excessive burning of fossil fuels and wood. The dangerous part of these clouds are that they significantly contribute to global warming. By absorbing a portion of sunlight, they decrease the ground temperatures, but at the same time have caused melting of the Himalayan glaciers.
I have seen some dirty skies, especially since I live close to large cities, but I can’t imagine seeing such a large thick cloud of black soot. It is really shocking that beyond the things burned to create it, that a cloud of this magnitude is left without change for such a long time. What is even more surprising is that it actually covers up some of the effects of global warming by actually reducing the temperatures on the ground. It may not actually cover them up completely since there is a huge black cloud in the air and less light is present. It can give politicians one more reason why they can argue that global warming is not actually taking place.
Now is the time to be addressing issues like these especially before they become to out of hand. Just because you don’t see smog clouds where you live does not mean that one day it will not have an affect on you. The world needs to come together and ensure that everybody is properly educated to prevent further damage from taking place.
Nanotechnology Dangerous for Your Health and The Environment?
The British Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution (RCEP) has called that more research be done on any possible effects that it could have on people health as well as the environment. The report they issued was Novel Materials in the Environment: The case of nanotechnology that has no specific evidence of any of its harmful effects, but there is little information available to the contrary. What is surprising to me and probably many of you is that there are already over 600 products that currently produced with nanotechnology.
How is Nanotechnology used?
All types of products have it integrated including:
- Anti-odor items
- Automotive
- Consumer Electronics
- Sunscreen
Many of these products are things that we used on a daily basis. If there is a possibility that these products are to be harmful to us, then I am all for having more research done on then. Because of how new the technology is, regulations should be put on any products that utilize this technology until anything can be determined about their safety. Scientists also believe that the relative size of the nanoparticles could pose a risk to the environment. In order to make items anti-odor, nanosilver particles are used and could kill aquatic organisms if released into water supplies. This could have extremely damaging effects on marine wildlife.
What scares me the most is that little is known about nano particles by the general public. The public should be provided more information and products properly display labeled if they are using it. There could be many breakthroughs that could cure diseases and solve many of our problems. Would it be worth it though if the side-effects to our health and the environment were far outweigh it’s benefits? What are you feelings on nanotechnology? Please share any knowledge you have on the topic or if you have used products that contain it.
Permit for Utah Coal Plan Blocked By Review Board
The EPA approval for a new power plant to be built in Utah has been shot down by an environmental review board late on Thursday. The Environmental Appeals Board, an independent group within the EPA, rejected an appeal made by the EPA’s Denver office to build the plant as they said it failed to come up with adequate methods of curbing their carbon dioxide output.
The Deseret Power company proposed to build the 110 mW coal power plant was proposed to be built on an Indian Reservation by the company. A environmental group that pushed for the EPA to have the review of the permit is pleased at the results. Though this ruling may not stop the building of this and other coal plants, it will cause them to be delayed. Any delays could cause plants to not open at all. The ruling also could lead to permits already issued to be reviewed and possibly be revoked if those plants are not meeting the standards in place.
This could mean huge things for the alternative energy market in this country. Not only does it prevent an additional dirty coal plant from being built, but it could allow a renewable energy plant, like solar, to be proposed in the area instead. The biggest problem in this country is that coal has become and continues to maintain a large majority of our energy. Many plants still fail to curb the amount of carbon dioxide they emit as well as polluting our environment with dangerous mercury. Let’s just hope that coal plants do in fact get delayed and maybe many get trashed in place of renewable energy.
Chrysler Introducing New All Electric Peapod
Chrysler recently unveiled it’s new all electric Peapod vehicle out of it’s Green EcoMobility (GEM) division. It used to be called Global Electric Motorcars, but was updated with this new generation of cars. This vehicle will be a new generation of vehicles produced from the GEM subsidiary of Chrysler that hopes to hopes to makes a more user friendly car that is eco friendly.
Today’s GEM is the nation’s No. 1 zero-emission electric vehicle, with 38,000 produced and in use. GEM vehicles are used in settings such as city centers, planned communities, military bases, college campuses, corporate and commercial centers, and city, state and national parks.
Past GEM vehicles were fairly inefficient as they were not aerodynamic and usually were partially open. This made them extremely impractical for daily use. This new generation of electric vehicle is not only fully enclosed, but is much more technologically advanced.
Peapod Specs
- Dimensions: 12 ft. long X 5 ft. 10 inches high X 4 ft. 8 inches wide.
- Car Weight: 1,290 lb. total weight ( no people inside )
- Interior Capacity: 910 lbs
- Person Capacity: 2 person max.
- Range: 30 miles
- Max Speed: 25 miles/hour
- Low Speed: 15 miles/hour
- Battery: 72 volt battery system with on-board charger.
- Recharge Time: 6 to 8 hours
As you can tell from the specs and the earlier quote, this is not a vehicles for highway use. Since it can only go a maximum of 25 mph, it is not street legal in all states. This model can only fit up to 2 people back to back, but there are larger 4 or 6 seater vehicles.
It has a modern look with newer battery technology and even has a plug-in for iPhones or iPods. I actually like the look of the inside as it is extremely simple, but still looks very nice.
The big questions I had about this vehicle are: Where can I charge it at and how long will it take? The answer to the first question is it can be charged in any standard 110-volt outlet. The appropriate time to recharge completely six to eight hours. I still wanted to figure out how much it would cost per charging of this vehicle. Since the normal outlet is typically 15 amps. In order to use my energy calculator, we need to convert volts to watts. The wattage for this device is
72 volts * 15 amps = 1080 watts.
Plugging this value in to my calculator you get a cost of about $331.13 per year to operate this car. I also did an article the average gas cost of a car per year that showed a small economy car uses about $1,868 of gas per year. That means that an electric cars could cost you 1/5 of the amount to run.
At an approximate price of $20,000, do you think you would every buy this electric vehicle? What about other options like the Aptera or Tesla?
Oklahoma State University Offering Wind Turbine Technology Degree
Oklahoma State University: Oklahoma City is offering one of the countries first wind turbine technologies degree programs. The Oklahoma State Regents voted unanimously to bring OSU this degree program. The two year associates degree program will allow graduates to work on utility-scale wind turbines. The degree program focuses on a variety of topics surrounding wind turbines including:
- Power Distribution
- Operation and Maintenance
- Motors and Generators
- Diagnosis and Repair
- Internship
Dr. Jerry Nielsen, OSU-OKC Science and Engineering Division Head, talks about how important this degree program is for the future of the wind energy market in this country:
The wind industry is such an important factor in Oklahoma’s economy right now. OSU-OKC is on pace to graduate students who can be ready to go to work in the wind patch at the exact time the industry is calling for trained professionals.
This is a really telling quote. It shows that the wind industry is really taking off, especially in the Mid-West where wind is an abundant source. In order to prepare workers to be able to properly work on wind turbines, programs like these are a necessity. There are also other degree program popping up in other smaller colleges throughout America including one in Highland Community College in Kansas. Degree programs like these will probably only be started in areas where wind turbines are being rapidly constructed. Hopefully as wind turbines begin to be constructed all throughout America that more colleges begin to offer this degree program to ensure that wind turbines are properly maintained and repaired.
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Living in Green Spaces Reduce Health Gap
Living next to a park or a green area for all the wonderful sights and smells is not the only benefit anymore. In a recent study conducted by Dr. Richard Mitchell of the University of Glasgow, it seems that living in the presence of green spaces can have a positive impact on your health and health-related behaviors.
The team at the University of Glasgow examined 41 million people in England and examined a portion of their death records. They used this to determine if their was a relationship in health and exposure to green spaces. What they found is that the health gap between the rich and the poor was dramatically smaller ( almost half) in areas with the most green exposure. Coronary disease offered the biggest disparity among areas with and without green. Dr. Terry Hartig, of the Institute for Housing and Urban Research at Uppsala University in Sweden offers good insight into what was found in this study:
This study offers valuable evidence that green space does more than pretty up a neighborhood; it appears to have real effects on health inequality, of a kind that politicians and health authorities should take seriously.
I really think that this study proves the idea of living near green spaces provides for a healthy lifestyle. It really promotes good physical and mental health. On those stressful days, it is nice to go for a walk in the park and listen to the sounds of nature. It can really allow you to get away from all the busyness from our modern lives. It is a lot harder to exercise or get out of the house when you are living in an area where all the trees have been cut down and the only thing you have access to is a shopping center. I have lived in both situations and can attest to just how nice it is to have a park right near my house.
Please share if you felt any healthier living in areas with green. Also, how do you feel about the legitimacy of this study.
