Cancer Now #1 Cause of Death in China, Coal Largely to Blame

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China is beginning to see the effect of their rapid march toward industrialization. Nearly 25% of China's deaths are contributed to cancer, while the leading cause of death in China is lung cancer. This is all caused by the heavy industry, coal-fired power plants, and numerous factories have so saturated the air with pollution. The number one contributor to this pollution is coal. According to the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, the burning of coal is responsible for 70 percent of the emissions of soot that clouds out the sun in so much of China; 85 percent of sulfur dioxide, which causes acid rain and smog; and 67 percent of nitrogen oxide, a precursor to harmful ground level ozone. Coal burning is also a major emitter of carcinogens and mercury, a potent neurotoxin. So coal is literally killing China.
Reaction: Wow this is scary. I mean I know that China has horrible pollution, but I didn't know it was so bad that their cancer rate increased so much. This makes me think that it could be America in a few years. If we don't stop burning coal we could be at this point or somewhere close to this point in a number of years. I think this is a wake up call for the world and shows that alternative energy should be integrated into societies, like China, that are really over populated because it could help with problems like this.
Questions:
1) Do you think America will be able to avoide this fate? Why or why not?
2) Why does China have such bad air pollution?
3) What could be done to fix China's problem?

An Oxygen Tank-Equipped Bubble Dress Makes Air Pollution Irrelevent

Summary: Hannah Marie Newman came up with a dress called 8. The dress has a bubble and an air tank pumps clean air into the bubble. This dress has solved the problem of air quality. It is really just a funny play on our air quality problems. The 8 will not be sold in stores or worn around for pleasure. Newman just wanted to show that the air quality pollution is a problem and if we do not solve it then this is the solution.

Reflection: This is pretty funny. Newman really put herself out there by challenging our government like this. This dress is very funny and will put the air quality problem in perspective for a lot of people. I hope that it doesn't come to people wearing bubble suits for clean air, but if it did then this would be a good solution. I am completely shocked and excited to see the future for our air.

Questions:
1. How do you feel about the bubble dress?
2. Do you think our government will do anything about the air soon?
3. How do you feel about the air quality problem?

Air Pollution Can Harm Human Reproduction

Summary: The effects of air pollution from burning fossil fuels are not only bad for humans respiratory health, but now there are reports that air pollution lowers fertility in men and can complicate pregnancy in women. These problems are likely compounded by the rapid urbanization taking place in the rest of the world where it is harder to access healthcare. A test that examined 748 male workers that inhaled air pollution daily, 500 of those men showed change in their fertility.

Reaction: I always knew air pollution from burning fossil fuels was damaging to human's health, but this is very surprising! Air pollution causes so much damage and it is surprising that we have not done much about it, even after these test were taken and are clearly something we should worry about.

Questions:

1. How will this effect our world in the future?

2. What do you think can change so this is prevented?

3. What else can air pollution effect other then human's health?

Article:

Air Pollution Hurts Worker Productivity as Well as Lungs

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Summary: New ideas for better pollution control are constantly being proposed, but unfortunately these ideas are quickly shut down by the defenders of the status quote who says we can't afford them. They say, we could come up with cleaner technologies, but it would drag the economy down. "We're made to believe that it's a choice: protect air quality and human health or protect the economy." However, this assumption has been proven false by Matt Yglesias. According to Yglesias' recent studies a 10 ppd decrease in ozone concentrations increase worker productivity by 4.2 percent. Also, coal plants and factories cause hundreds of billions of dollars of damage to the economy annually. These facts can help us conclude that if we have better pollution control, then there will be better work productivity and our economy will benefit from it.

Reaction: I thought this new study was extremely interesting. The people who are opposed to making air quality better have to realize that we can always rebuild our economy. Large amounts of pollution in the air causes people and animals to become extremely sick and it's really bad for the environment. These issues are clearly a important and serious then having the economy go down. Additionally, if better air quality is going to improve the productivity of workers, then over time it will benefit the economy as well.

1.) Do you think we should spend the money on better technology?

2.) What are other risks of having alot of air pollution in our air?

3.) Why do you think better air quality causes better work productivity?

Landfill Taking Drilling Waste

In Weeling, West Virginia, the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection gave permission to Chesapeake Energy to dump waste at the Short Creek Landfill. They are allowing this to happen because there are protective liners in the landfills at Short Creek which would collect leachate and test on it. However many people are unhappy with this approval. This is because recently, Wetzel County property owners sued Chesapeake Energy for dumping radioactive material into a large hole on their property. Now, Chesapeake is claiming that their waste contains no more radioactive waste. Many are concerned for the quality of their drinking water.

I thought this article was extremely interesting. I am really shocked that the Department of Environmental Protection would allow them to dump waste that recently was reported to contain radioactive material. If I live near this area, I would be furious. This is because the leachate from the landfill would be EXTREMELY dangerous to consumer's health if it was not properly taken care of.

1. Do you think the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection made the right decision?

2. How would you feel if a similar situation happened near us?

3. Would you be surprised if there was an disease outbreak in this area? Why?

Virtual Reality Lab Foucus on Conservation

Summary: "If a tree falls in a virtual forest, will anyone hear an environmental message?" That is the question that Sun Joo Ahn asked. She and Jeremy Bailenson are starting a new phenomena. Reality replications of cutting down a red-wood tree in the forest. A group of test sbjects were split into two groups. The first group read an article about the descriptive sounds and scenes of a red-wood tree being cut down. The second grop actually got to cut the tree down, with the help of virtual reality. The user puts on a helmet where all they see is the forest, and the speakers project the noises that one would hear. In fact when cleaning up a spilled glass of water the group who read the article used 20% more napkins than those who cut the tree down.

Reaction: I think that this new way of thinking is a great way to get our society to start listening. We need to conserve the forests we have left, or our animal s will have no more habitats to live in, and we will be out of birds to look at and animals to eat in some cases. I feel so strongly about this because I want our earth to survive and in order for that to happen we all need to pitch in and conserve.

Questions:

1) Do you think that this technology could help us start to conserve more paper and not be so wastefull? Why or why not?

2) What concerns you about our declining amount of forest habitats?

3) Would you be the one to step up and start to make a change? If so what will you do?

Wind Farms Paid Not To Produce - A Lesson In Energy Transmission & Storage

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2011/05/wind-farms-paid-not-produce-energy-transmission-storage-lesson.php?campaign=th_rss

Summary: Last month six Scottish wind farms were paid 1.46 million to operate their farms. The power that was produced was too much though for the UK eletrical grid to withhold. Wind farms in the UK are outspacing the the ability for the grid to accomadate the extra power.The power that is produced by wind farms needs to be taken care of properly and supplied where it needs to go. All though we need to get off fossil fuels we need to put this energy somewhere where it is needed.

Reflection: This is very interesting. I understand that we need to find a way to replace fossil fuels but i can't believe this alternative is making more than we need. They should sell the excess power to other countries. That way there is no waste and places that don't have power are supplied. This would be a great solution. I believe if you have the option to use an alternative energy you should. Look how much money these people made. I would definitely do this if i lived there.

Questions:

1) Would you use wind energy if you could? Why?

2) What do you think the UK does with the excess power?

3) Do you think it is possible for the world to get rid of fossil fuel use?