Henry David Thoreau once said, “Thank God men cannot fly, and lay waste the sky as well as the earth”. I agree with him and I am really glad that this statement is happen to be rue. One of the most dangerous pollutions is nuclear meltdowns. Over the years, nuclear leaks have become an increasingly dangerous problem with damaging effects on earth, animals, and humans.
The most significant effect done by nuclear leaks is earth pollution. According to Nuclear Energy Agency (2002), the Chernobyl disaster initiated the release of enormous amounts of radiation into the atmosphere in the form of both particle and gaseous radioisotopes, and is the most dangerous aimless release of radiation into the environment to date. Settled on trees, these radioactive particles killed a large swath of pine forest. It was named the Red Forest. The dead pines were bulldozed and buried.
Nuclear leaks, due to their radioactivity, have a harmful effect on animals too. Mycio, Mary (2005) showed in her work that the area of Chernobyl disaster had physical deformities in the plant and animal populations. This abnormality is the negative effect of radioactive meltdown that triggers irreversible consequences. Matter fact that radioactivity can alter genetic material of all the living things for thousands of years.
Also pollution of this source can be deadly for the humans. According to the American Nuclear Society (2008), using the official radiation emission figures and I quote, "The average radiation dose to people living within ten miles of the Three miles island plant was eight millirem, and no more than 100 millirem to any single individual. Eight millirem is about equal to a chest X-ray, and 100 millirem is about a third of the average background level of radiation received by US residents in a year." However, these low emission figures oppose to the early scientific publications on the health effects and cancer deaths in the 10-mile area around Three Miles Island. Even a small dose of radiation can kill a lot
people.
To conclude, nuclear leaks and meltdowns have very bad consequences
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Friday, February 26, 2010
What are the actual and potential consequences of nuclear leaks and meltdowns?
Thesis statement:
Over the years, nuclear leaks have become an increasingly dangerous problem with damaging effects on earth, animals, and humans.
1st topic sentence:
The most significant effect done by nuclear leaks is earth pollution.
- The Chernobyl disaster triggered the release of substantial amounts of radiation into the atmosphere in the form of both particle and gaseous radioisotopes, and is the most significant unintentional release of radiation into the environment to date.
- A large swath of pine forest killed by acute radiation was named the Red Forest. The dead pines were bulldozed and buried.
2nd topic sentence:
Nuclear leaks, due to their radioactivity, have a harmful effect on animals.
- Information regarding physical deformities in the plant and animal populations in the areas affected by radioactive fallout require capture and DNA testing of individuals to determine if abnormalities are the result of natural mutation, radiation poisoning, or exposure to other contaminants in the environment such as pesticides, industrial waste, or agricultural run-off.
3rd topic sentence:
Pollution of this source can be deadly for the humans.
- According to the American Nuclear Society, using the official radiation emission figures, "The average radiation dose to people living within ten miles of the Three miles island plant was eight millirem, and no more than 100 millirem to any single individual. Eight millirem is about equal to a chest X-ray, and 100 millirem is about a third of the average background level of radiation received by US residents in a year."
- It can alter genetic material of all the living things for thousands of years.
Over the years, nuclear leaks have become an increasingly dangerous problem with damaging effects on earth, animals, and humans.
1st topic sentence:
The most significant effect done by nuclear leaks is earth pollution.
- The Chernobyl disaster triggered the release of substantial amounts of radiation into the atmosphere in the form of both particle and gaseous radioisotopes, and is the most significant unintentional release of radiation into the environment to date.
- A large swath of pine forest killed by acute radiation was named the Red Forest. The dead pines were bulldozed and buried.
2nd topic sentence:
Nuclear leaks, due to their radioactivity, have a harmful effect on animals.
- Information regarding physical deformities in the plant and animal populations in the areas affected by radioactive fallout require capture and DNA testing of individuals to determine if abnormalities are the result of natural mutation, radiation poisoning, or exposure to other contaminants in the environment such as pesticides, industrial waste, or agricultural run-off.
3rd topic sentence:
Pollution of this source can be deadly for the humans.
- According to the American Nuclear Society, using the official radiation emission figures, "The average radiation dose to people living within ten miles of the Three miles island plant was eight millirem, and no more than 100 millirem to any single individual. Eight millirem is about equal to a chest X-ray, and 100 millirem is about a third of the average background level of radiation received by US residents in a year."
- It can alter genetic material of all the living things for thousands of years.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Effects of acid rain
Acid rain is rain that is naturally acidic and has a pH level scale less than 7. Acid rain usually results from elevated levels of sulfuric and nitric acids in air pollution that are formed when gases, like sulfur and nitrogen oxides, dissolve in the water. Over the years, acid rain has become an increasingly dangerous problem with damaging effects on plants, aquatic animals, and infrastructure.
Both natural vegetation and crops are affected by acid rain. Damaged and stunted by acidic rainfall, roots are vulnerable to diseases, which cause the death of the plants. Nutrients in the soil are also destroyed by the acidity of the rain. Useful micro organisms which release nutrients from decaying organic matter into the soil are killed off, resulting in less nutrients being available for the plants. Even if the plant survives, it will be very weak and unable to survive climatic conditions like strong winds, heavy rainfall, or a short dry period. For example, acid rain has been implicated in forest and soil degradation in many areas of the eastern U.S., particularly high elevated forests of the Appalachian Mountains from Maine to Georgia that include areas such as the Shenandoah and Great Smoky Mountain National Parks.
By coming into contact with exhaust gases, acid rain makes a great impact on aquatic animals. Acidic rain drops fall to the ground including the rivers, lakes, and oceans. By changing the acidity of water, acid rain causes decrease of inhabitants’ number in these fresh water bodies. As lakes and streams become more acidic, the amount of fish, aquatic plants and animals that live in these waters decrease. Acidity of water is very important. Although some plants and animals can survive acidic waters, others are acid-sensitive and will die as the pH declines. The change in food chain affects the entire ecosystem. For instance, in New York's Adirondack region, the diversity of life in these acidic waters has been greatly reduced. Fish population has disappeared and loons and otters have moved to other lakes where they can find food. In Canada, over 14,000 lakes have been acidified to the point where they have lost significant amounts of fish.
Acid rain effects can easily be seen on infrastructure. Rapidly, buildings begin to deteriorate after withstanding thousands of years. In spite of the reduction in emissions there is no clear evidence that cleaner air has brought about a reduction in building degradation. This destruction can be explained by the reaction which takes place on the stone surfaces. It is called sulphation. A process where the exposed surface of limestone dissolves away as rainfall washes away the sulphated layers. This result is commonly seen on old gravestones where the acid rain can cause the inscription to become completely illegible.
To conclude, acid rain is a problem that has a harmful effect on almost every thing due to it's acidity. The governments all over the world are trying to come up with a solution. Some already have acted by enacting new laws, some have limited the fuel use, and made power companies clean their facilities and clean their toxins they were putting out.
Both natural vegetation and crops are affected by acid rain. Damaged and stunted by acidic rainfall, roots are vulnerable to diseases, which cause the death of the plants. Nutrients in the soil are also destroyed by the acidity of the rain. Useful micro organisms which release nutrients from decaying organic matter into the soil are killed off, resulting in less nutrients being available for the plants. Even if the plant survives, it will be very weak and unable to survive climatic conditions like strong winds, heavy rainfall, or a short dry period. For example, acid rain has been implicated in forest and soil degradation in many areas of the eastern U.S., particularly high elevated forests of the Appalachian Mountains from Maine to Georgia that include areas such as the Shenandoah and Great Smoky Mountain National Parks.
By coming into contact with exhaust gases, acid rain makes a great impact on aquatic animals. Acidic rain drops fall to the ground including the rivers, lakes, and oceans. By changing the acidity of water, acid rain causes decrease of inhabitants’ number in these fresh water bodies. As lakes and streams become more acidic, the amount of fish, aquatic plants and animals that live in these waters decrease. Acidity of water is very important. Although some plants and animals can survive acidic waters, others are acid-sensitive and will die as the pH declines. The change in food chain affects the entire ecosystem. For instance, in New York's Adirondack region, the diversity of life in these acidic waters has been greatly reduced. Fish population has disappeared and loons and otters have moved to other lakes where they can find food. In Canada, over 14,000 lakes have been acidified to the point where they have lost significant amounts of fish.
Acid rain effects can easily be seen on infrastructure. Rapidly, buildings begin to deteriorate after withstanding thousands of years. In spite of the reduction in emissions there is no clear evidence that cleaner air has brought about a reduction in building degradation. This destruction can be explained by the reaction which takes place on the stone surfaces. It is called sulphation. A process where the exposed surface of limestone dissolves away as rainfall washes away the sulphated layers. This result is commonly seen on old gravestones where the acid rain can cause the inscription to become completely illegible.
To conclude, acid rain is a problem that has a harmful effect on almost every thing due to it's acidity. The governments all over the world are trying to come up with a solution. Some already have acted by enacting new laws, some have limited the fuel use, and made power companies clean their facilities and clean their toxins they were putting out.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Thinkin
_____________16888888861__________________________, ____________888888888888881_______________________, __________68888888888888888______________________, ________68888888888888888888______________________, _______5888888888888888888885_____________________, _______68888888888886688888881____________________, _______888888888888551188888886___________________, _______888888888888111158888888___________________, _______688855111888115156888888`__________________, ________655651111611111558888888`_________________, _________`66661111111115555668881_________________, _________115661111111111111511555_________________, ________`__`111111111111111511116866______________, _______`1`111111111115555111111888888888888_______, ______`1`_1111555115566855511888888888888888______, ____````111___5565555688865688888888888888888_____, ____11``111______11668__6888888888888888888886____, ____1`15651_____________88888888888888888888881___, ____1115511____________888888888888888888888888___, ____111511___________`88888888888888888888888881__, ___`11155_________188888888888888888888888888888__, ___``115_________1888888888888888888888888888888`_, ____`115_________88888888888868888888888888888881_, ____1``11_______688888881688881188888888888888886_, ____1``11______`8888868816888888611````1115888885_,
____`1`11______8888868888888888611``````111888881_,
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______111`115511111111155111111111111115688888`___,
______1111111555555551111111111111111156888886`___, ______1111`11166655555155111111111111558888881____, _______51111115168666555551111111111556888888`____, _______15111115188888666665551111155568888886_____, ________1511115588888888886666551556688888881_____, ________111155688888888888888888868888888886______, _________11156688888888888888888888888888886______, ______________68888888888888888888888888888`______,
____`1`11______8888868888888888611``````111888881_,
_____1``11_____6818888888888888111`````1111888881_, _____11`11`___888188888888888881111```11115888861_, _____11`111__156518888888888888111```11111888886__, _____11``111_1111168888888888861111``1111588888`__, _____`11`11151111115566888868851111111111888886___,
______111`115511111111155111111111111115688888`___,
______1111111555555551111111111111111156888886`___, ______1111`11166655555155111111111111558888881____, _______51111115168666555551111111111556888888`____, _______15111115188888666665551111155568888886_____, ________1511115588888888886666551556688888881_____, ________111155688888888888888888868888888886______, _________11156688888888888888888888888888886______, ______________68888888888888888888888888888`______,
Monday, February 1, 2010
What pollutants do you think do the most damage and why?
The issue at the hand is what kind of pollutants do the most damage to our planet. It was and it is still one of the most popular topics to be discussed in the past few decades. What does a pollutant mean? A pollutant is simply a waste. As a human being makes progress in development, the amount of the pollutants produced by him tends to increase. Although there are many pollutants on this planet, I am going to bring only three most dangerous examples of pollutants to which, in my opinion, should be paid more attention. They are freons, heavy metals, and carbon oxides.
Freon, an organic compound which was widely used in the manufacture until 1989. Refrigerator, is one of the well-known products where freon was used. And it was also used in military aircrafts, extinguishers, etc. But the interesting thing about this compound is that it almost never decomposes. And once this compound was created or produced there is no way back. One might still wonder how does this compound effect our lifes. And the answer for that is freons deplete ozone layears. These ozone layers protect living things, including humans, from the solar radiation. Otherwise, there would be no life on the Earth. Fortunately, the use and production of this compound was prohibited by Montreal Protocol in 1989. And this is how responded Kofi Annan for the signed convention, and I quote: “perhaps the single most successful international agreement to date has been the Montreal Protocol”.
The next dangerous pollutant is a heavy metal and nowadays they can be found everywhere due to the development of industry. Every developed country tries to use this part of industry as an advantage in economic sustainability. Heavy metals can be used in the gold production, in nuclear power plants, etc. Although heavy metals are part of the planet, the inappropriate use of these elements in the industry can cause many disasters. There are many notorious cases like Chernobyl disaster, Three mile island disaster, etc. Not only it poisons birds and other wildlife in the area, but also it can alter genetic material of all the living things for thousands of years. Pollution of this source can be deadly and have really bad consequences.
The last and most dangerous pollutant is carbon oxide. A human produces carbon dioxide while breathing. And many scientists proved that global warming occured exactly due to the increase of the carbon oxides in the atmosphere. The decrease of snow level, the rise of sea level and temperature are all undesired effects of global warming, or also known as “Greenhouse effect”. To put it differently, “Greenhouse effect” is the increase of the temperature due to the presence of gases that absorb and emit infrared radiation in the atmosphere. And carbon oxide is one of these gases that play a big role because all the organic compounds like gasoline, kerosene, and even coal produce carbon oxide when they are burned. And nature, that tends to balance everything on the planet, can not convert these produced big amount of gases back to oxygen. As an output, the temperature increases and ice tends to melt. This means that our world can end up flooded under the water.
To sum up, there many pollutants that do damage to our planet and also to our life. But the progress in industry and technology makes these three polltants, that I mentioned, the most crucial and dangerous pollutants in 21th century. This topic is very important because every mistake made today will have bad consequences tommorow. And I assume that a human being is the only one who is responsible for preventing those undesired results to happen.
Bek
Freon, an organic compound which was widely used in the manufacture until 1989. Refrigerator, is one of the well-known products where freon was used. And it was also used in military aircrafts, extinguishers, etc. But the interesting thing about this compound is that it almost never decomposes. And once this compound was created or produced there is no way back. One might still wonder how does this compound effect our lifes. And the answer for that is freons deplete ozone layears. These ozone layers protect living things, including humans, from the solar radiation. Otherwise, there would be no life on the Earth. Fortunately, the use and production of this compound was prohibited by Montreal Protocol in 1989. And this is how responded Kofi Annan for the signed convention, and I quote: “perhaps the single most successful international agreement to date has been the Montreal Protocol”.
The next dangerous pollutant is a heavy metal and nowadays they can be found everywhere due to the development of industry. Every developed country tries to use this part of industry as an advantage in economic sustainability. Heavy metals can be used in the gold production, in nuclear power plants, etc. Although heavy metals are part of the planet, the inappropriate use of these elements in the industry can cause many disasters. There are many notorious cases like Chernobyl disaster, Three mile island disaster, etc. Not only it poisons birds and other wildlife in the area, but also it can alter genetic material of all the living things for thousands of years. Pollution of this source can be deadly and have really bad consequences.
The last and most dangerous pollutant is carbon oxide. A human produces carbon dioxide while breathing. And many scientists proved that global warming occured exactly due to the increase of the carbon oxides in the atmosphere. The decrease of snow level, the rise of sea level and temperature are all undesired effects of global warming, or also known as “Greenhouse effect”. To put it differently, “Greenhouse effect” is the increase of the temperature due to the presence of gases that absorb and emit infrared radiation in the atmosphere. And carbon oxide is one of these gases that play a big role because all the organic compounds like gasoline, kerosene, and even coal produce carbon oxide when they are burned. And nature, that tends to balance everything on the planet, can not convert these produced big amount of gases back to oxygen. As an output, the temperature increases and ice tends to melt. This means that our world can end up flooded under the water.
To sum up, there many pollutants that do damage to our planet and also to our life. But the progress in industry and technology makes these three polltants, that I mentioned, the most crucial and dangerous pollutants in 21th century. This topic is very important because every mistake made today will have bad consequences tommorow. And I assume that a human being is the only one who is responsible for preventing those undesired results to happen.
Bek
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