Renewable Energies- Wind Turbines

photo courtesy of Colourbox

 

     Renewable energies are a leading means of improving environmental stability, and have been on the rise around the world over the past several decades. With the invention of Wind powered energy came both the positive impacts it had on the environment and economies of nations that adopted its use, and the controversy surrounding its convenience.

     A few primary things that hold people back from supporting wind energy would be the price, appearance, and bird deaths.
     Although the amount of money spent on purchasing, transporting, and assembling wind turbines is quickly made up for by the amount of energy generated, a portion of people believe that the initial cost of purchasing a wind turbine is too much, and that wind energy is too inefficient. Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker has made the claim before that "wind turbines are an expensive, inefficient source of electricity" despite all of the science going against him.

     Politicians around the world have argued that having wind turbines propped up ruins the visual appeal of landscapes and, while good for the environment and the economy, take too  much away form the landscape. When the Obama Administration approved Cape Wind, an idea for an offshore wind park which would cleanly (without pollution or other emissions) generate 75% of the energy for all of Cape Cod, the Islands of Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket, protests began. Citizens believed that the wind park would take away from the "visual impact" of the area, with the support of figures such as environmental lawyer Robert Kennedy Jr. and Senator Scott Brown who liken the park installment to placing wind turbines in the Grand Canyon. According to a study done by researchers Bohumil Frantal and Josef Kunc in the Czech Republic though, while Wind Turbines are eyesores to locals, a majority of tourists (65%) are reported to find wind farms interesting, going so far as to say that if there were visitor centers or tourism opportunities, they would go! The primary issue people are having with wind turbines is personal convenience and comfort...
     Bird deaths caused by collisions with turbines have been roughly estimated to range anywhere from 140,000 and 328,000 per year, according to the Smithsonian. Although this is only a small fraction of the hundreds of millions of birds killed by buildings, pesticides, fossil-fuel power plants, and other human causes, it is still a concern to both citizens, and power company leaders. In an attempt to reduce the amount of bird casualties, several wind turbine companies are better siting the turbines, setting up radar detection, changing turbine shapes and colors, and adding Ultrasonic Acoustic systems to repel birds.
     Overall, wind energy is extremely beneficial to national economies and to the environment, but is not strongly supported by

Sources: Not on my Beach, Smithsonian article, 8 Ways Wind Power Companies Are Trying to Stop Killing Birds and Bats, Frantál, B., & Kunc, J. (2011). Wind turbines in tourism landscapes Annals of Tourism Research, 38 (2), 499-519 DOI: 10.1016/j.annals.2010.10.007

Plastic in the Oceans

 photo courtesy of soiledearth.com

While the fact that the Oceans are full of plastic is no news, the sheer amount of plastic in our Oceans is leading to mass death among fish and sea creatures that either mistake the plastic as food or accidentally ingest it some other way.

The media headlines acts of heroism in instances of people saving distressed sea creatures from plastic deaths and injuries, but never actually headlines ways to help reduce the amounts of plastic in the seas.

Credits/Sources: IFLScience!

Renewable Energies- Solar Panels

 photo courtesy of www.howtomakeasolarpanels.com



     Solar panels are a friendly, simple means of generating electricity, both on small and large scale operations.
     There are situations in which one may see a single solar panel on the side a light pole in a parking lot, or one may stumble upon an enormous solar panel farm.

Renewable Energies- Nuclear Power

 photo courtesy themediacoach.co.uk



     Nuclear Power has been a debatable energy source for about as long as it has been an energy source altogether.
The Pros-
     Nuclear Power creates a vast amount of energy. The amount of energy generated by nuclear power plants in the United States alone made up 19.5% of all American energy in 2014.
     Another positive aspect of Nuclear Power is the fact the generation of power itself does not create harmful emissions. What looks to be smoke coming from the reaction towers is really just condensation.
The Cons-
     Nuclear Waste has been a growing problem in the U.S., with only one way of handling spent nuclear fuel and two places to do so. In the U.S., nuclear waste is either transported to the Yucca Mountain Repository in Nevada, or the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico, where the waste is simply stored and monitored. At Yucca Mountain, the waste is stored underneath the mountain itself, while in WIPP, the waste is stored 2,150 feet (660 meters) underground. There is not a known way to break down and/or use up remaining nuclear waste, and so the only thing being done at this point in time is, storing it in places where the radioactive emissions won't be able to reach people or human resources. While nuclear energy rises, nuclear waste rises as well, but is simply buried and forgotten about by the general population.
     The most notable, harmful con that most people will know of, are the affects of a Nuclear Meltdown. With horrifying examples such as the Chernobyl and Fukushima meltdowns, the world has seen what can happen

My Take on Global Warming

Throughout time, climate change has been a part of Earth's history. Most of our planet's mass extinctions have occurred due to natural changes in the climate over time (while the dinosaurs didn't exactly disappear because it was especially hot out one day, and giant asteroids aren't really natural, their extinction was a natural part of Earth's evolution). From the sea-based microorganisms that began life, to the dinosaurs, to the Ice Age, global climate has played a massive role in all mass extinctions. What is so different and controversial about global warming at this point in time then? If it has happened before and is simply a typical part of Earth's agenda, why is it such a problem today?

Because it is not natural and is leading to the extinction of animal species that are not far along in their species' lifespan. While some species persist to a staggering ten million years, most mammals have an average species lifespan of around one million years from origination to extinction. But for most animals on Earth right now, the end is drawing near. Countless species have been going extinct in recent years due to the drastic temperature changes, and the inability to evolve at the extreme rate the planet is warming up at. Global warming is outpacing Evolution, and it is taking a deathly toll

There are many man-made creations the world is proud of, though a less prized creation is the Earth's current state, in the midst of a man-made mass extinction. Humans have been contributing to this extinction for hundreds of years, with global climate changing greatly since Industrialization made its way around the world. Factory emissions were one of the first means of environmental harm, with deforestation, oil drilling, and many more forms of human advancement taking their toll on the natural world.

In my opinion, the rate of global warming we are currently going at in the world is preventable. The root cause of global warming is unsustainable human growth, and the primary way to fix the growth pattern would be to standardize growth rates for the world. Standardizing how much individual countries may develop their land, how much gas emission they can allow into the atmosphere via factories, and so forth would lead to a regulated and sustainable amount of growth. If one large nation wants to go over their growth limitation and another smaller country doesn't need to meet theirs, the larger country could in theory buy the growth rights of the smaller country. Doing so would keep human growth regulated around the world, and give incentives to smaller countries that don't develop as much of their land (or don't want to develop as much of their land in order to sell the rights). A method like this would be beautiful and keep a good amount of order in human growth, global warming, and prevent further rapid extinction.

The only real issue is that, while standardization like this would be wonderful and do great things for the world, it would also require global cooperation... The day when all nations are able to come together and agree on the effects of global warming, and what needs to be done in order to prevent further worsening of the situation, will be the day when global warming decreases. Is it feasible? Someday.

Litter

Almost everywhere in the world that doesn't require a plane to see, we can find litter. On the side of the road on our way to work, floating along down a local river or stream, and although slightly more frowned upon, in our parks and forests.