Unit 3 Compilation
**Chapter 4
- Case Study
- Past & Current Population Growth Are Very Different
- Perspectives on Population Growth
- Many Factors Determine Population Growth
- Fertility is Influenced by Culture
- A Demographic Transition Can Lead to Stable Population Size
- Family Planning Gives Us Choices
- What Kind of Future Are We Creating Now?
**Chapter 14
- Case Study
- Cities Are Places of Crisis & Opportunity
- Urban Planning
- Economics & Sustainable Development
- Trade Development & Jobs
**Chapter 13
- Case Study
- What Waste Do We Produce?
- Waste Disposal Methods
- Shrinking the Waste Stream
- Hazardous & Toxic Wastes
**Chapter 9
- Case Study
- What is the Atmosphere?
- Climate Changes Over Time
- How Do We Know the Climate is Changing Faster Than Usual?
Chapter 4: Human Populations
“For complex problems there is an answer that is clear, simple, & wrong.” –H.L. Mencken
Case Study: Family Planning In Thailand
Date Accessed: April 10, 2012 @ 2:00 p.m.
In 1974 Thailand founded a new program to support family planning and safe sex in a laughing way. The Population & Community Development Association (PDA) founded a program known as Mechai, named after its founder Mechai Viravaidya. Mechai started by handing out condoms wherever they found a crowd and was followed by creating T-shirts with humorous slogans such as “A condom a day keeps the doctor away” to relieve the tension on such a taboo topic in their culture. They began training people in different areas to teach others about oral contraceptives and distribution as well as offering free vasectomies on the king’s birthday! This program has been so successful that by 2005 the birth rate in Thailand dropped drastically from an average of 7 children per family to less than 2 children per family! Had this program not been implemented, the population of Thailand could be 20 million higher than it is today!
The PDA has grown to educate on more than just birth control in turn making this organization internationally recognized for their success. Education and support is what people need to be successful. The Mechai program offers all of this and more allowing for poverty reduction and proving success for non-government.org (NGO) success.
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| http://mechaifoundation.org/mechai_bio.asp (4/16/2012) Mechai and family |
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Past & Current Population Growth Are Very Different
How does population growth effect our environment, future, and us as an individual? Well that all depends on who you ask! The facts estimate an average gain of 2.5 humans per second, which means more resources would be utilized and needed for each human created. As from chapters we know our resources are diminishing for multiple reasons. So how does population growth affect these resources and what can we do to change it in a positive way? Unfortunately there is no “easy” solution as perspectives on this subject are extremely diverse and compromising between cultures and class do not come easy.
As the beginning case study proved, education on this subject makes all of the difference. Convincing everyone and finding funding can be much more difficult though. Machai’s success come with a paid staff of approximately 800 people while an additional 12,000 people volunteer their time and efforts to its success. As you can see, this kind of success takes an accumulation of energy from many dedicates people with the same goal in mind.
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| http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/thumblarge_578/1296503656DDwr4g.jpg (4/16/2012) |
Perspectives on Population Growth
While some blame population growth for its diminishing resources, others place blame on the government for things such as improper expenditures being the cause that leads to diminishing resources. Both may be the problem, but what approach should we (as an individual) take to finding a solution? At the rate our population has grown it is inevitable that eventually humans will outnumber resources. Multiple methods of birth control have been introduced and strongly recommended but funding to provide these options to individuals who cannot afford it has not been of high priority to many. David Pimental, entomologist at Cornell University stated “By 2100 if current trends continue, twelve billion miserable humans will suffer a difficult life on Earth”, implying that birth control should take precedence.
A convincing affirmation claims that with population growth comes advancement in technology which increases the availability for the production of food. What is not accounted for in the claims though is the availability of natural resources such as the fossil fuels that power this technology. An ecological footprint describes the amount of productive land needed to sustain life for each individual. This can vary based on each individual’s “needs”. A formula was created to help better understand this concept, I=PAT . It translates that our environmental impacts (I) are the product of our population size (P) multiplied by affluence (A) and the technology (T) needed to produce the goods and services we consume. Although these calculations may not draw a perfect conclusion, they do give us an idea of the possibilities for the future if we continue our current trend for utilizing our natural resources.
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| http://ecology110eva2011sp.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/ecological-footprint.jpg (4/16/2012) |
Many Factors Determine Population Growth
The population of every country varies immensely due to the culture, religion, government, and income levels. People in developing countries, especially those of the African population, tend to be of lower income and therefore less than 10% of the population use any type of birth control. Non-use of any type of birth control not only leads to population growth, it also contributes to the spread of death causing diseases such as AIDS. Countries where AIDS infects the majority of the population such as Bostwana, the average life expectancy doesn’t exceed 50 years of age. Whereas in more developed countries such as Japan and Europe, the average life expectancy is well into their eighties.
There are many factors that affect population growth and decline. All numbers provided by each country aren’t necessarily perfect for numerous reasons. The Census Bureau uses a system of demography to form an educated estimate of population size based on birth rates and death rates. Not everyone cooperates such as people who are not residentially legal and others who do not have a place to live are not easily accounted for.
The total fertility rate (average number of children born per woman) has fallen drastically over the past 50 years. Fifty years ago the average woman bared 6 or more children and today the average woman bares less than three children nationally with the average being less than two children per woman in wealthier countries, as known as the replacement rate. Another statistic used by demographers is the crude birth rate and the crude death rate which is the amount of births and deaths occurring every year per thousand people. These rates coincide with the other factors previously mentioned within each country. Although the average life expectancy has risen almost 30 years nationally (more in wealthier countries), many people still have multiple obstacle to overcome before seeing these years of life. Sanitation in many countries is still of major concern. In order to stop the high death rates and extend the life expectancy, then education and political guidance is necessary from surrounding countries.
As population declines, the dependency ratio for retirees to their grandchildren becomes an issue. Because the population was growing at an average of three times higher than today, the average four grandparents only have one grandchild to depend on. China is faced with this issue since they implemented the “one child per couple” law. China has began to gradually allow two or more children to necessary families in attempt to reverse this problem, but could there have been a better resolution? Once again, proper education on appropriate birth control methods for different situations is necessary nationally to help control population growth in a successful manner.
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| http://www.emc.maricopa.edu/faculty/farabee/BIOBK/expgrowth.gif (4/16/2012) |
Fertility Is Influenced By Culture
The reasons for reproduction continue on and on across the world. Each culture has their own beliefs and reasoning behind child baring that may sound absurd to another culture. In more rural areas it is important to have enough hands on board to keep up with farming and daily chores. Generally these rural areas do not require much in way of clothes and housing, so an addition to the family isn’t quite the expense it is in the U.S. Males are more beneficial to families in rural areas for multiple reasons such as stronger hands for farming, taking care of the elderly, and carrying on the family name. Sometimes families will have more children than wanted originally in hopes that each new pregnancy would produce a male.
In more urban areas of wealthier countries peoples reasoning for production come with more caution. Pronatalist pressure is the term used to describe what influences each person’s “want” to reproduce. In the United States, expenses for raising a child rise greatly to cover medical, 18+ years under their parent’s roof, and educational costs. Also a woman’s desire or need to pursue their education to support themselves or a family, factors in to their decision to or not to have children and when.
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| http://afutured.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Growth-of-population-01.jpg (4/16/2012) |
A Demographic Transition Can Lead to Stable Population Size
Many countries have different approaches in attempt to stabilize population growth and the economy as a whole. Some approaches work for certain economies while different approaches work for others but what is most important is finding one that WORKS! Each country goes through stages of demographic transition during trial and error of theories to control population size. Frank Notestein noted 4 stages of pattern consistent with the economy that coincide with population change found in all areas of the world. The first stage of demographic transition starts in the beginning, of course, with lack of food, sanitation, and medicine in turn creating higher death rates. When death rates are high then birth rates are equally as high to make up for the loss, per se.
As life stabilizes, the economy becomes stronger and thus moving us to stage 2 of the demographic transition. In this stage the economy experiences better jobs, which creates higher levels of sanitation, furthering medical care and reducing the amount of deaths. Stage 3 expresses the length of time in which death rates are consistently decreasing as technology advances, yet birth rates are still high due to families being able to afford and desire additions (multiple children). This stage varies in length across world but has lasted more than one round of population doubling before moving to stage 4.
The final stage of the demographic transition is defined in developed countries as complete when death rates as well as birth rates are reasoned low. This stage can complicate progression and can revert back to stage 1 as there aren’t enough people of the younger generation to support the retired generation. This creates a vicious cycle of rapid over-reproducing to bandaid one problem while in turn, creating another. While countries may reach stages at different times, the results are comparable to more or less, equally developed countries. There is no ONE “easy” solution to this problem. Trial and error seems to be our most promising pattern as long as we learn from our mistakes. As technology grows hopefully more answers will too but educating and including others HAS to be part of the plan!
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| http://afutured.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Growth-of-population-01.jpg (4/16/2012) |
Family Planning Gives Us Choices
Although family planning is ideal to create a sustainable economy, everything doesn’t always go as you plan. When carefully planning a family, some form of birth control will be required unless unlimited children are affordable and part of the “plan”. Birth control can be anything from celibacy to contraception or even abortion. There are probably hundreds of implied type of birth control around the world varying by culture, religion, and even era of time. Other well known types of common birth controls include mechanical barriers such as condoms and spermicides or surgical procedures to prevent the delivery of sperm or egg.
As technology advances, so do the methods of birth control available. While all birth control products are required the U.S. Food & Drug Administration testing and approval process, all drugs react differently to each individual and long term side effects may not be known. Newer and more promising options become available on a regular basis in hopes of regulating population growth and allowing for easier family planning.
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| http://www.aed911blog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/family-plan.jpg (4/16/2012) |
What Kind of Future Are We Creating Now?
Our path to population stability is in the right direction and demographers do foresee a promising future. Our greatest accomplishment in advancing our approaches has come from the leading provider of funding for family planning and reproductive health known as the United Nations Family Planning Fund (UNFPA). This program is funded with contributions from countries across the world and is used to provide assistance in family planning to citizens of undeveloped countries. It has been successful in cutting birth rates half while increasing family planning techniques used from 10% of families to 50% of families!
Succession of such programs comes with more education then just family planning. Overall triumph is found with political stability including rights and empowerment of women. Consistent support is needed for success in these programs and the world as a whole depends on these changes. Support is found in different ways and may be the complete opposite from country to country, but what matters in the end is implementing a program that meets the needs of the economy while respecting culture and religion.
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| http://massextinction.web.unc.edu/files/2010/12/World-Population-Growth-2050.jpg (4/16/2012) |
Chapter 14: Economics & Urbanization
“What kind of world do you want to live in?” Demand that your teachers teach you what you need to know to build it.” –Peter Kropotkin
Case Study: Community Group Cleans Up Chicago’s Industrial District
Date Accessed: April 10, 2012 @ 3:00 p.m.
A lady named Mrs. Hazel Johnson suspected her husband died of cancer related to pollution. Destined to make a change she founded the People for Community Recovery (PCR) in 1982. PCR’s goal is to clean up public waste sites and be sure rules are enforced.
The PCR is an African-American grassroot organization in the Lake Calumet Industrial District on Chicago’s far south side. Although the area has a lot of room for improvement, it is the only African-American grassroot organization to receive the President’s Environmental & Conservation Award. They have empowered the community to strive to better their quality of life together through workshops, seminars, and outreach programs.
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| http://www.myspace.com/pcr_chicago/photos/354096#{%22ImageId%22%3A354096} (4/16/2012) |
Cities Are Places of Crisis & Opportunity
The American dream is a fancy house with a 2 car garage and as much space between you and your neighbor as you can buy. Of course you need those 2 fancy cars to go in the garage at night, while suffocating our air we breathe during the day, but what other options are there? A large portion of our society resides in cities where generally a car is necessary to get from point A to point B, but what if that wasn’t the case? Imagine a city where houses are built together in an eco-friendly manner and streets were crowded with bicycles and children playing rather than pollution infested vehicles and daily, deadly car accidents. Sounds great, right? Well this dream is lived in Vauban, Germany. Around the world urban agglomerations make up a good portion of the growing economy and greater use of resources, such as in Vauban, is critical for the future of our environment.
By 2007 there were over 300 known cities with populations over one million and 100 of them were in China alone! Demographers predict that by the year 2025 there will be at least 93 cities which populations have exceeded 5 million people, and a quarter of those cities will be in undeveloped countries, The big question is, where are we going to put everyone? In 27 years Shanghai alone grew from 10 million to 19 million people! China has signed a contract with the British engineering firm to build at least 5 new “eco-cities” that will replace the current over-polluted, over-populated and sinking cities many people currently reside in. These eco-cities will require its residents to be self sufficient in energy, water, and the majority of food products with a goal of zero emissions of greenhouse gases for transportation purposes! An incredible way to utilize resources and save the Earth!
As large cities expand, many countries are not equipped for sanitation and sewage. For example, in Cairo, Egypt they built their sewer system over 50 years ago and it was meant for approximately 2 million people while Cairo currently populates over 10 million people! Many places such as Port Au Prince aren’t equipped with any type of sewer system at all making it extremely difficult to find safe drinking water. The U.N. estimates that approximately 1.1 billion people or more do not have access to safe drinking water, further causing the spread of illness and disease.
Pollution is the cause for an estimated 400,000 premature deaths annually in China alone! In such an urban city as Beijing, an estimated 4 million cars occupy the roadways while unregulated factories as well contribute to the extremely poor quality of air. An organization known as People for Community Recovery (PCR) was founded in 1982 in order to help clean up the community in many ways. They work together to educate others on the importance of discarding toxic waste properly, enforcing statutes, and cleaning up different areas such as contaminated properties and waste sites. They also provide job training and placement to those in need to stabilize the economic environment. They work in areas known as slums (inadequate multi-family rooming housing) and shanty towns (shacks built out of left over, random material). These forms of housing are illegal because of usage and waste created around them. Some governments burnt them down in attempt to get rid of the waste but only to leave thousands homeless and living/sleeping on the streets. Many people are merely trying to provide for their family by working hard with very little return. Some places such as Mexico City are beginning to recognize these people and attempting to cooperate with shanty town dwellers.
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| http://www.sciencephoto.com/image/182816/530wm/E7850079-Shanty_town,_Nigeria-SPL.jpg (4/16/2012) |
Urban Planning
Remember the time that life existed before automobiles? Okay well even if we weren’t here we’ve read about it sometime during our life. Me personally, I wish I could’ve lived during that time. As technology advanced to the automobile it seems as though life on earth has only become more difficult? Although many people would argue with that, why don’t we look at the facts. Since the invention of the automobile people began to move further and further apart and most people today don’t even know their neighbors name. We do this to find privacy, get away from the congested cities, and most of all, away from crime (which also was not a major issue). This is known as sprawl. As this form of living continues to grow, so does the amount of hours the average person spends in a vehicle. The average person spends approximately 443 hours a year behind the wheel, thus raising the amount of lives taken from accidents and pollution. People continue to create smaller and smaller vehicles that not only cost less to purchase, but also less to operate. An example of this would be the Tata Nano in India. Costing less than $2,000, this mini car puts more people on the road, once again raising the accident rates, taking up more land for freeways, and creating more pollution. Public transit has slowly become more available but can cost up to $100 million per year to operate and doesn’t help when people continue to move further and further from their job, stores, and schools.
Smart growth is a proposed alternative by many urban planners to reverse this issue. Between 1970 and 1990 there was a comparable population growth to Portland of about 50%. The difference is Portland followed the smart growth program where empty spots were filled and no land went to waste. Portland’s actual land expansion was only 2% while Atlanta experienced a three-fold expansion! Portland benefited in multiple ways such as property taxes decreased 29% and pollution decreased 86%! Sadly Atlanta’s property taxes increased 22% and it’s pollution by 5%.
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| http://www.linternaute.com/sortir/sorties/architecture/citadelle-vauban/diaporama/images/vauban01.jpg (4/16/2012) |
Economics & Sustainable Development
One of sciences biggest concerns is sustaining life &resources for the future generations. Sustainable development by popular definition is: “Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of the future generations to meet their own needs.” Everyone has an answer to the problem, but who’s right and who’s wrong?
Philosophers Adam Smith and Thomas Malthus defined people’s perception of capital goods in the 1700’s as classical economics, assuming that natural resources are finite. In believing so, all resources at some point become scarce and affect population growth. John Stuart Mill agreed in the 19th century that resources are finite, but believed that if properly managed in a steady state economy, then sustainability can be reached. Further into the 19th century neoclassical economics expanded these ideas to create resources such as labor, knowledge, and capital. Capital is considered to be any form of wealth that contributes to the production of more wealth and include primarily:
1. 1.)Natural Capital- goods and services provided by nature.
2 2.)Human Capital- Knowledge, experience, and human enterprise.
3. 3.)Manufactured (built) Capital- Tools, buildings, roads, and technology.
Finally we have natural resources economics that further stresses the importance of useful production and usage of natural resources. Natural resources are not endless and cannot be replaced by wealth. If people continue to waste these resources, future life could suffer greatly.
Ways to track goods and costs have been formulated for different information needed such as gross national product (GNP) and gross domestic product (GDP). GNP tracks all services and products sold and bought in an economy, including offshore companies, while GDP only tracks the goods and services bought and sold locally. Marginal cost is a way to track what profit sellers are making from their product.
Ecological economics accounts for ecological principles in accounting systems. This includes processing pollution, recycling wastewater, and creating soil, also known as ecological services. There are two different types of natural resources, renewable and non-renewable. Non-renewable resources are natural resources resources that cannot be replaced and will eventually run out, such as fossil fuels and minerals. Renewable resources are the opposite and generally naturally replenish their supply if used in moderation. Examples would be fisheries, forests, air, and most living organisms.
We can lengthen the availability of the resources through proper recycling of non-renewable resources and proper use (not wasting) renewable resources. Some non-renewable resources have been substituted to preserve its existence. A good example of this would be the use of fiber optic cables from silica (sand) to run phone lines instead of copper. Steps have been taken to preserve renewable resources from extinction as well such as American Bison farms and Atlantic Cod fisheries. Id used in moderation, these resources wouldn’t come so close to extinction. It is predicted though that many natural resources will deplete causing devastation if continued usage of high rates does not decline. Some argue that technology will eventually substitute natural resources but unfortunately only time will tell.
There have been two theories developed on how natural resources and population growth will affect our future. Limits to growth is the belief that the world is only made to fulfill the maximum capacity. Once this capacity has been exceeded, resources and food supply will deplete while pollution rises, ultimately causing catastrophic social and environmental collapse. The opposing side argues that technology will curb this collapse in a model known as Beyond the Limits.
A consequence from what is known as an “open access system”, where there are no rules to manage the resources would be the ultimate destruction of land and its resources. “The Tragedy of Commons” was written by Garret Hardin in 1968 to describe these consequences. It depicts how the majority of the population is worried about their own well being and not concerned with how their actions will affect others. A management system is enforced in many countries to prevent the abuse of land and resources.
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| http://www.businessplexus.com/uploads/media/1/population_growth.gif (4/16/2012) |
Trade, Development, & Jobs
Generally speaking, almost every country has at least one product they produce at an extremely competitive price for many different reasons. One of the biggest reasons is laborers in poorer countries are paid far less for a day’s worth of hard work than people in wealthier countries therefore making the shoes you may buy or the clothes you may wear more affordable and in return the poorer country earns some much needed profit. Another big reason production of some products is cheaper in other countries but is not a good reason, is pollution control. In the U.S. and many other wealthier countries there are strict laws on the extraction of pollution to protect our environment. Many countries do not have or enforce laws on the extraction of pollution from production of goods and in turn they are causing destruction to our environment by increasing risks of global warming. The question that comes to mind is if we know the reason their products are offered cheaper is because of this, then why are we still purchasing their products? We are criticizing their ways while promoting them.
Around the world poverty is an endless battle while so many struggle to find work and when they have it, they only make a few dollars a day. This is obviously not enough to support a family so women use their abilities and creativity to make goods to sell at the local market. Some women will take out very small loans to purchase the supplies needed for their goods and after interest is paid on the loans there is very little left over, thus creating an endless cycle. Many non-profit organizations have gotten together to ask citizens of wealthier countries to help by making small loans to these entrepreneurs in amounts as low as $25 with what is called microlending. This type of loan has been very successful with 98% return rates paid back in roughly 12-18 months without interest but knowing the lender helped someone to better their life and support their family.
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| http://8020vision.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/Fueling_Population_Growth.jpg (4/16/2012) |
Chapter 13: Solid & Hazardous Waste
“We are living in a false economy where the price of goods & services does not include the costs of waste & pollution.” –Lynn Landes, Founder & director of Zero Waste America
Case Study: Chattanooga: A Model Sustainable City
Accessed April 10, 2012 @ 2:30 p.m.
As toxic wastes are cleaned up and towns are re-build, people across the country are able to live happier, cleaner, and overall safer lives. Chattanooga is a living example of how poor cities can be cleaned up and turned around.
David Crockett (nephew of the famous Davey Crockett) led the city town council and encouraged the ideas of 1700 people on how to improve the quality of life in this struggling town. Between 1984 & 1990 the town had created a new way of life. With 8,000 new jobs created, new home buyers obtaining affordable housing, the river cleaned up and the air up to national air quality standards, a community was build.
Now property value has increased due to the growing “want” for residents to be a part of all the opportunities Chattanooga now has to offer. This is one of many examples that have benefited from the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Superfund.
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| http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2011/mar/27/gross-green-city-makes-strides-becoming-sustainabl/?print (4/16/12) |
What Waste Do We Produce?
Sadly people have become unbelievably wasteful not realizing the extent of the damage they are causing to our Earth and the environment as a whole. The average person produces 3.6 tons of solid waste per year! Even though the wealthier countries have the resources available to recycle many products, the ignorance level of most is far too high. One of the most important challenges we see is that solid waste is too hard to use. Municipal solid waste is a mixture of material produced in our homes and offices. Items that are easily recycled such as paper, aluminum cans, and glass get thrown into the waste stream smashed up with tons of other garbage and end up taking up more landfill space rather than being reused.
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| http://workjournal.archipelago.gr/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/waste-1-epr1-landfill.jpg (4/16/12) |
Waste Disposal Methods
Developing countries struggle with waste and proper disposal. Open dumping is the most common method and recycling is rare. Wealthier countries fight what seems to be a never ending battle against dumping motor oil and solvents into sewers or simply into the ground. There’s approximately 200 million liters of motor oil dumped in sewers or onto the ground in the U.S. alone every year! These chemicals along with others are led to the ocean or soaked into groundwater in which half of Americans depend on for drinking.
The ocean is not only littered with toxic oils and chemicals but an additional 25,000 tons of recyclable waste are lost or purposely dumped at sea each year as well. This not only clutters land such as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch found in the north Pacific gyre, but it kills an extremely unnecessary amount of wildlife every year. Many fish and 90% of dead birds found each year contain a stomach full of plastic fragments. A boat made from recycled plastic bottles named Plastiki travelled the world in attempt to teach others and raise awareness about careless dumping by people on land and on boats in hopes to change viewpoints on the true damage this causes our environment.
More developed countries depend on sanitary landfills for disposal of waste productions. Landfills can be dangerous when strict regulations to contain methane gas produced from organic material decomposing in the anerobic conditions deep inside the landfill are not enforced. Because of improper procedures, 90% of landfills were closed after new laws enforcing these restrictions were passed in 1984. Methane gas is now controlled and derived for use as fuel in electric generations. Currently the U.S. spends approximately $10 billion every year on waste management and that number is expected to increase to $100 billion a decade from now!
Many developing countries suffer medical risks and at least 100,000 people receive treatment for complaints such as breathing difficulties, headaches, and vomiting from an excessive amount of illegal dumping of hazardous materials shipped over from other countries. E-Waste is referred to as electric waste, is now the biggest form of illegal dumping in developing countries. While citizens attempt to scrap these materials to find valuables such as metals, gold, silver, copper, nickel and steel, they expose themselves to extremely dangerous environments. These areas are soaked in toxic chemicals such as oil, diesel fuel, and asbestos, along with lead, mercury, and arsenic.
Another hot topic for debate is the health risks involved in using incinerators to reduce excessive waste in landfills and in return it’s a form of energy recovery as the heat is used to produce steam needed for heating buildings or generating electricity. Some companies pay others to sort high burning products, known as refuse-derived fuel, while others use the mass burn approach and just throw everything in. This imposes health risks while items such as batteries and fluorescent lights, when burned, will emit a dangerous chemical into the surrounding air. These types of incinerators are required to have installed costly pollution control equipment but many fear the enforcement of properly managed equipment will not be a priority and the outcome could cost many their lives.
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| http://preventcancernow.ca/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/incineration.jpg (4/16/12) |
Shrinking The Waste Stream
Recycling of reusable products not only saves money, but it also saves our environment. Some cities such as Seattle claim they recycle 60% of their waste while many other cities contribute to an estimated 350,000 metric tons of aluminum cans wasted every year! While sometimes it’s cheaper to recycle than cover the costs incurred to meet regulations in landfills and incinerators, often times the costs involved to collect and transport items for recycle can be greater than producing a new product. Many people are not enticed to recycle when the end result costs them more time and money. Many waste management companies, especially in rural areas charge an additional monthly fee to provide a recycling can and to dump it from residential areas. As the economy continues to struggle, people must make cuts in their budgets and many are made to costs that are not “necessary” for their survival, including recycling disposal fees. The most highly wasted product is plastic water bottles due to the risk of contamination. In The U.S. alone it is estimated that only 7% of 30 million tons of plastic are recycled annually! Globally that number rises to an unbelievable 300 billion water bottles used and less than 20% of them are recycled! Even the consideration of 75 billion liters of oil used to ship these bottles with oil costs as high as they are doesn’t encourage people to recycle! Some states require enforced deposit laws on all beverage containers and they recover an astonishing 78% compared to the average 20% in states without deposit laws.
Unfortunately many countries/states do not understand the importance of recycling until their forced to. A perfect example would be the ignorance exemplified Mayor of New York Michael Bloomberg in 2002 when he put a halt to recycling, justifying his decision with the cost involved being too high. With 27,000 tons of garbage being produced daily and only one landfill left to dispose of it, they quickly discovered the costs of disposal were more expensive and therefore they reinstated the majority of their recycling programs.
In some placing having as many as 30-40 different categories for recycling, many have also banned landfills to except products used for composting. Composting is the process of creating nutrient enriched soils from organic matter such as ends of vegetable and fruits not eaten from meals, or fallen leaves and wood chips from the yard. Some landfills separate their compostable materials to generate and capture the methane gas.
Alternative cheap options are to reuse items and reduce the amount of product put in to each item. The most common form of reusing would be plastic bottles. Water delivery companies generally visit houses or offices once a week and drop off several large plastic bottles of water and pick up the empty ones from the week before to clean and reuse. Another big form of reusing that is becoming popular is grocery bag. Many stores will now give you a discount off of your purchase if you buy one of their reusable grocery bags and bring it for use instead of plastic bags every time you shop. There are millions of ways to reuse items at home you just have to be creative. Reducing unnecessary waste such as too much plastic in a bottle or aluminum in a can are ways major production companies have cut back. Fast food places have cut back by asking if the guest would like catsup or napkins rather than just throwing them in the bag. A good way to reduce waste at home is to make compost out of ends of vegetables and peels from fruit. Some larger production companies are also trying to create items photodegradable, meaning the product breaks down under ultra violet radiation, and biodegradable items that decompose.
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Hazardous & Toxic Wastes
‘Hazardous waste is any discarded material, liquid, or solid that contains substances known to be:
1. 1.)Fatal to humans or laboratory animals in low doses
2. 2.)Toxic, carcinogenic, mutagenic, or tetragenic to humans or other life forms
3. 3.)Ignitable with a flash point less than 60 degrees Celsius
4. 5.)Corrosive
5. 6.)Explosive or highly reactive.
It is estimated that the U.S. alone produces approximately 900 million metric tons of hazardous material each year, about 3 metric tons per person, and at least 40 million metric tons are released into the environment. There are federal laws requiring the monitoring of proper disposal of hazardous wastes. Many toxic waste sites were abandoned and Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation & Liability Act was designed to contain, clean up, and remediate these sites for protection of people and the environment. Of course the costs involved come with a large price tag and the EPA will hold anyone involved with the land responsible, even current owners of land that was destroyed by its previous owners. Areas known to be previously used to produce or contain hazardous waste are known as brownfields. These pieces of land can go for cheap but are hard to sell because of the liability that could take place if future testing of land shows danger to the environment. Those who choose to take the risks have also been successful in creating jobs rebuilding cities, and saving needless destruction of useful land.
CERCLA is now required to notify people when toxic waste has been found in their neighborhood. Manufacturers are also required to notify people on releases of more than 300 toxic materials annually, this is known as the toxic released inventory, which includes a list of addresses of these locations as well. Sometimes it can take a very long time to pinpoint exactly who will be responsible for the cost of clean up so a fund was created by the government to get the job started. The Superfund is a revolving fund paid by taxing producers of toxic waste. Because the EPA estimates at least 36,000 seriously contaminated sites (an estimated cost of total clean up ranges between 370 billion to 1.7 trillion) criteria for the most hazardous to human health and the environment bases the decision on which ones get done first.
Wastes of all types can be best approached by the reduce, reuse, and recycling methods. Developing countries are most efficient at doing so but unfortunately the wealthier societies find too much ease with constant production of resources at their disposal. Some hazardous materials take more precautious steps, but options are still available. Conversion of hazardous material can be done in 3 different ways:
1.) Physical treatments tie up or isolates substances
2.) Incinerations of products, leaving only ashes behind which take up 90% less space in landfills, but can be very pricey
3.) Chemical processing can’t transform materials to make them non-toxic, in some cases these options are not permeable.
Permanent retrievable storage is used to store hazardous waste that can be monitored and secured in safe locations such as old mines. Secure landfills are most commonly used with layers of clay and gravel to protect from it entering the ground.
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Chapter 9:Air: Climate & Pollution
“The next decade is critical. If emissions do not peak by around 2020, ….The needed 50% reduction by 2050 will become much more costly. In fact, the opportunity may be lost completely.” –International Energy Agency, 2010
Case Study: Killer Smog
Dated Accessed: April 10, 2012 @ 4:00 p.m.
Coal burning along with multiple other contributions to high pollution rates has been proven deadly but attempts to make a change are not nearly significant for a healthy future. Even though regulations have been made in developed countries, regulations aren’t always enforced and still many ways of life such as gas emissions from transportation are causing serious damages to our atmosphere.
In 1952 London experienced a deadly smog outburst that took over for 4 days and killed more than 4,700 people! This dense smog was caused from pollution caused by unnecessary and unsafe emission of multiple chemicals into the air. People were not able to see as far as their own feet and used wet towels to try to prevent it from seeping into their homes through cracks in the windows.
Laws were eventually changed and enforced, technology and knowledge has advanced, and improvement in the pollution has been beneficial. Although things have been better there that doesn’t mean anyone is “okay”. People continue to suffer medical risks around the world from pollution and it will only get worse.
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What is the Atmosphere?
Our atmosphere is made up of gaseous mass that is thicker the closer to earth you are and thins out until it ends approximately 300 miles away into space. The atmosphere is made up of different layers, the layer closest to the earth’s surface is known as the troposphere. Within the troposphere is where we find our daily weather and determine and overall climate. This layer is thicker due to gravitational pull which pulls liquid droplets, also known as aerosols, into the troposphere. Aerosols circulate in vertical and horizontal convection currents that regulate temperatures by redistributing the heat and moisture.
The layer of atmosphere directly above the troposphere is called the stratosphere, and contains the ozone layer forming an ultra violet absorbing shield that protects from mutagenic radiation. Without this important layer of protection, life on earth would not exist. This is why many scientists stress resistance of chemical pollutants in the air as they are slowly destroying the ozone layer and putting life on earth at risk. This along with absorbing gases (also referred to as the greenhouse effect) is gradually raising our climate.
Ultra violet rays come from the sun as well as much of our energy. Some surfaces have a high albedo to reflect energy, such as snow, sand, and ice. Other energy is absorbed in many things ranging from water vapor to carbon dioxide and even asphalt. Water vapor absorbs 580 calories of energy in each droplet which stores heat called latent heat. The wind moves these tiny droplets of energy around the world and when released they’re strong enough to power tornadoes, thunderstorms, and even hurricanes! These tiny droplets of energy need two sources to be successful, a water source such as the ocean, and a force to pull them up to cooler climates and higher elevations such as wind. Once these little balls of energy then we feel the effect in the form of rain or snow. The circulation of water and energy is referred to as thermohaline and includes not only surface circulation, but deep-water circulation as well. Approximately 11,000 years ago this cycle was interrupted and sent Europe into a 1,300 year cold period. It is possible this may happen again when the Greenland’s Ice Sheet melts.
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Climate Changes Over Time
“Climate is an angry beast and we are poking it with sticks,” suggests climatologist Wallace Broeker.
One way, to learn a lot about the history of climate change is through ice cores found by drilling deep down into an ice sheet. The biggest component in learning about climate change is through CO2 concentration found in each layer of ice over the past 800,000 years, climatologist have discovered varying CO2 concentrations from 180 ppm to 300 ppm while we currently sit on 390 ppm of CO2 concentration. Milutin Milankovitch created what is now referred to as the Milankovitch cycles, which explains the earth’s orbit and tilt cycles. This cycle explains the long term periodic shifts as follows:
1. 1.)The earth’s elliptical stretches and shortens in a 100,000 year cycle
2. 2.)The earth’s axis changes its angle of tilt in a 400,000 year cycle
3. 3.)Over a 26,000 year period, the axis wobbles like an out-of-balance spinning top, zoning in shows a peak of the sun’s intensity every 11 years.
Volcanic ash found in some layers shows the role volcanic eruption has on climate change as well. In the past 28 million years only one eruption cause significant damage and change. Mount Toba erupted 75,000 years ago in Sumatra, lowering temperatures 16 degrees celsius for 160 years by dimming 75% of incoming sunlight from the ejection of sulfuric acid and particulate material.
Oscillation of the ocean also plays a huge role in climate changes at is controls the moisture emitted into the air that provides rain for crop growing. The most famous of these is called El Nino/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) that occurs in the Pacific Ocean. It occurs approximately every 3-5 years and causes drought and chases away the fishing. Its counterpart El Nina causes the opposite effects of El Nino in each area. The long term effects are debatable, some believe it is effecting climate chnge while others argue it could eventually pump heat into the stratosphere which would cause a cooling effect and benefit global warming.
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How Do We Know The Climate is Changing Faster Than Usual?
Climate change is so complex that scientists around the world (including 130 countries) collaborate their research and findings over a 6 year period into the Intergovernmental Panel & Climate Change. 2,500 Scientists agreed in their 2007 release that climate change is caused by human activity. Unfortunately even IPCC underestimated the accelerated rate of damages. Concerns of greenhouse gas emissions, sea level, temperatures, and energy use are effecting increased heat stress and drought at a rate that if it continues will cause crop failure and increased death rates. Rising temperatures is causing Greenland’s ice sheet to melt faster, which in turn will flood many states and countries including parts of Florida and Manhatten Island right here in the U.S. Scientists suggest our biggest hope for stopping “the point of no return” in global warming is by shifting our energy dependency from coal to wind and solar. This would reduce our greenhouse gas emissions considerably and could produce millions of jobs while saving billions of dollars that are spent on healthcare associated with the burning of coal.
It is predicted that if trends continue CO2 will reach a level of 500 ppm by the end of this century. While CO2 has the highest emissions from the burning of fossil fuels, it isn’t the only concern that contributes to global warming. The emissions of methane gas from multiple resources absorbs 23 times as much infrared energy per molecule as CO2. Methane gases release primarily from organic matter decaying without oxygen and is accumulating in the atmosphere about twice as fast as CO2. Another 17% of human cause global warming chlorofluorocarbons and nitrous oxide is released from developing countries such as China and India who have not yet banned production that causes these emissions. Countries where oil is more highly derived generally emit approximately 3 times as much CO2 per person than countries who do not.
The evidence of damage being caused from climate change is overwhelming and the costs to control emissions would be much cheaper than the damages, but convincing everyone of this isn’t as easily done. The long term affects could cost anywhere from $5 trillion to $90 trillion, or 5% to 20% of the annual GDP, whereas lowering gas emissions to save global warming would only cost .12%-2% of GDP. Sadly the ones who will suffer most if change is not made are the ones who didn’t create the problem, our children, grandchildren, and the poorest countries of Africa, Asia, and Latin America. These people are also the ones who are helpless in stopping this trend.
People like to argue against these theories for many reasons that do not withstand to the evidence provided. Humans are creatures of habit, this is apparent. They say it takes the average human 21 days to break a habit, how many days do you think it would take millions of unwilling humans to change? The general majority of people who “argue” the facts are the ones who don’t want to lose money and are comfortable with their way of life. What these people don’t understand is the advancement of technology to provide a more ecological way of living would more likely increase jobs, boost the economy, and sustain life all together. Change is not bad it just takes willingness and cooperation. Where would we be today if change wasn’t made, technology hadn’t advanced, and transportation was still only provided by a horse and carriage?
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