Global Warming- How are Animals Affected by Global Warming

Global Warming- How are Animals Affected by Global Warming

It is not a secret that we humans have been destroying the environment for years. It is now that some of us are trying to make all people aware of the affects that our lack of care has had on the environment and what will happen if we do not make changes now and try to stop the progress of global warming. Our focus, or drive, is the thought of what type of world are we leaving our children. We also need to be looking at how global warming is affecting our animals now and in the future if we do not stop and make the needed environmentally safe changes.

There are numerous studies that are being conducted and have been conducted where watching animal behavior and traits to measure the status of the environment. These studies are showing that our Earth is changing in unnatural ways and it is disturbing. Think about the fact that right now as things stand, reindeer will no longer wander the places they currently do, they will disappear.

Marmots no longer hibernate the same amount of time that they used to. Actually compared to thirty years ago, they are ending hibernation three weeks earlier. The Canadian red squirrel is breeding 18 days earlier. Studies are showing that the red fox is moving north and invading the territory of its Arctic cousin. Polar bears are not as healthy as they were 20 years ago and they are thinner.

If we look at the sea and our creatures there we also see changes that should cause alarm. Coral reefs are expected to increase by up to a third in size. Elephant seal pups are thinner because their prey is migrating to cooler waters. Our turtles are changing behavior as well, the loggerhead is laying eggs 10 days earlier and the Hawkbill turtle hatchlings are having more females then males due to temperature changes.

Birds are changing their diets to insects that do not consume leaves that have been treated with high amounts of pesticides. What does all of this mean? It means that global warming is going to cause many of our animal species to become endangered if not extinct.

The melting ice, the warm seas, the spreading dessert are all threats to our animals. These changes, no matter how subtle have a dramatic influence on the lives of our wildlife. In the sea the disappearance of the tiny organisms that the larger creatures feed off of is causing the sea life to migrate northward.

Keeping in mind that global warming plays a huge part in our weather and climate, the increased storminess destroys the breeding colonies of the albatross that already battle the possibility of being captured and killed by fishing boats. The rise in sea levels wipe out the nesting sites of the sea turtles, seals and wading birds are also on the list of species to be affected by their habitats being destroyed.

Thought the very source of nature is change, and adaptation, the changes that are taking place in our environment due to global warming are just happening to fast. The speed is what makes it difficult for the animals to adapt effectively and this will cause us to loose a lot of our wildlife. Can you imagine a world with no reindeer? What about the day that the Sahara dessert covers all of Africa and makes migration impossible for birds?

These are changes that we can see everyday and we need to start paying attention to them. The predicted elevation of sea level by an amazing three feet coupled with the disruptions to the Earth life support systems should be our wake up call.

While you can look out your back window and see these changes taking place, the full effect will be seen by the year 2100 if the predictions of scientist come through and we do not change our ways. Think about is, 2100 is less then one hundred years away. You and I would probably not be here, but our grandchildren will and what will we have left for them? Help stop global warming, do your part to save the Earth, our children and our wildlife. They need us.

“The radical right is so homophobic that they're blaming global warming on the AIDS quilt.”

Nuclear Power

Is Nuclear Power Safe?

The Kashiwazaki Kariwa nuclear power plant in Japan discharged approximately 350 gallons of radioactive water into the sea today after an earthquake shook the Japanese town, which is 160 miles northwest of Tokyo.

Fortunately, the radioactive contamination levels fell well below legal limits. The power plant is the one largest nuclear facility's in the world and just one of fifty-five nuclear reactors in Japan. The incident, in light of the recent swarm of headlines regarding alternative energy use and the possible re-emergence of nuclear power as a primary alternative energy source, leaves many to wonder, is nuclear power safe?

Nuclear energy has both good and bad points. It creates a huge amount of energy without using valuable fossil fuels, but it also produces radioactive materials that can be extremely harmful to the environment. Consequently, nuclear safety includes actions taken to prevent nuclear and radiation accidents or to limit their consequences.

Workers at nuclear plants, and the larger environment, run a risk due to this radioactive material. Nuclear power plants must be run very carefully to ensure that there are no mistakes, which is why nuclear power plant operators promote a safety culture. The term "safety culture" is a term introduced by the International Nuclear Safety Advisory Group in a report published on the Chernobyl disaster in 1986. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) defines safety culture as "an assembly of characteristics and attitudes in organizations and individuals, which establishes that, as an overriding priority, nuclear plant safety issues receive the attention warranted by their significance." Safety culture is about improving safety attitudes in people, but it is also about good safety management established by organizations with a holistic, whole community, whole of life approach. A good safety culture implies a constant assessment of the safety significance of events, such as earthquakes or other natural disasters.

Additionally, nuclear power plants possess both active and passive safety systems. Active safety systems are systems activated by a human operator, an automatic computer driven system, or even a mechanical system to respond to dangerous events in an appropriate manner. Passive safety systems rely on the laws of nature to ensure a reactor responds in an appropriate manner during potentially dangerous events. The laws of nature include for instance, incorporating the law of physics in engineered components of nuclear power plants whereby a nuclear reaction would slow versus accelerate during potentially dangerous situations or events.

Nuclear power plants also possess structural safety systems. Surrounding a nuclear reactor are certain containment structures, such as the fuel ceramic, metal fuel cladding tubes and the reactor vessel and coolant system. Finally, nuclear reactors are housed in containment buildings. Containment buildings, which are made of steel or concrete, enclose nuclear reactors to contain the escape of radiation.

Ultimately, human exposure to radiation, the primary contamination of concern at nuclear power plants, is more likely to come from exposure natural background radiation and from some medical procedures. In fact, studies exist finding no evidence of increased risk of exposure to radiation or occurrences of cancer in individuals living near nuclear facilities. For instance, in 1990 a study by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) of the National Institutes of Health, which surveyed over 900,000 cancer deaths in counties near nuclear facilities, found no increased incidence of cancer mortality in people living near 62 different nuclear facilities in the United States.

Regardless of the safety systems in place, which promote a culture of safety in nuclear power plant operations, no industrial activity is risk-free. Occurrences take place, which are completely outside our control, as evidenced by the earthquake, which impacted the Kashiwazaki Kariwa nuclear power. Any malfunction, accident or natural disaster at or near a nuclear power plant presents potentially devastating, long-term impacts to the surrounding community and environment.

source from : myadddirectory


“The radical right is so homophobic that they're blaming global warming on the AIDS quilt.”

Global Warming Debate

The Great Global Warming Debate

Climate Change and Global Warming are indeed a huge debate topic in all its controversy and media hysteria. The majority of people are up in arms over the possibility of global warming and indeed they want the United States to sign the Kyoto Treaty and pledge to reduce our emissions of greenhouse gases.
We cannot say for sure how much the planet may be warming though, how much is down to human activities versus natural activities, or whether these changes in global temperature would be mostly good or mostly bad for the majority of people.
Recently in an online think tank one think tanker was berrated for placing a post in the Global Warming area of the website on a Chinese Flooding event which washed away 90 people and in another province killed 117 folks.

Though Global Warming doesn't seem that bad, with many people's idea of it being that of a globe wrapped snuggly in a warm blanket, it's something that needs to be taken seriously and it's something that could greatly hinder, and alterthe future.
In a nutshell, Global Warming is the gradual increase of the temperature of the earth's lower atmosphere. Actually global warming is the increase of the earth’s surface temperature due to chemicals in the atmosphere. Some Global Warming Alarmists believe it is too late to stop the effects of man on our atmosphere and that these undesired effects will cause the triggering of super storms, freak weather and catastrophic events. In order to control and avoid the effects of global warming we must first agree with a fact that it is occurring, and take some steps to end or even reduce it. Maybe the whole world needs to rethink the level playing field rules over again and then we can get together and talk about Global Warming, CO2 emissions and the Kyoto Treaty or a more realistic version of it.
Luckily most of the Global Warming ideas are not based on very solid scientific evidence, but our Planet is going through a climate change cycle and this cycle, which is actually caused by a lot of inter-related cycles are warming areas our Planet among other things. There is no compelling scientific evidence that global warming is caused by anything other than ordinary, natural climatic cycles.Some Global Warming alarmists are now thinking it is time to invest their money in House Boat Stocks and pick out a big ship to live on?
So the debate of climate change battles on and whilst I see no end in site to it the doomsdayers will have you believe the sky is falling ,just like chicken little.So get yourself some scientific education on the subject because if you dont you'll end up becoming one of them.

source from : myadddirectory

“The radical right is so homophobic that they're blaming global warming on the AIDS quilt.”

What is the best solution?

Recycling and Landfill

Production of waste is a global problem that won't just go away on its own so we constantly have to find convenient and suitable ways of disposing of it. Every area of our lives involves getting rid of something, whether it is household rubbish, plastic, paper, metal, commercial waste or anything else for that matter that we simply don't want or need and wish to discard.

Unfortunately today, most of our waste tends to end up in landfill sites, which is far from ideal. Landfill has an immediate advantage in that it is convenient, however, there are other more serious issues regarding landfill which are not so advantageous to human or animal health or for the environment despite the protection agencies, legislation and monitoring that is in place.

The introduction and steadily rising cost of The Landfill Tax is designed to reduce the amount of waste deposited in landfill by encouraging waste producers to produce less waste and to reuse or recycle mixed waste rather than to dump it. Landfill sites are heavily regulated and monitored by environmental agencies in an attempt to minimise the risk to health and the environment.

What is landfill?
Simply put, landfills are sites, sometimes old quarry sites, where waste is deposited into the ground in order to rot. As each new load of rubbish arrives for disposal, it is pushed down and compacted into the site and then covered with a layer of soil. In order to prevent leakage of toxic material into the surrounding earth and water, the landfill must first be lined in order to seal in the waste.

Once a landfill site has been filled to capacity, it has to be capped or covered and a new site must be found. Usual ways of covering are with a layer of plastic, more soil, a protective covering, sand, more soil and then something like grass. This helps keeps rodents away and minimises the risk of waste gases and other toxins being released into the surrounding land and waterways.

Problems with Landfill

Currently around 80% of our household rubbish ends up in landfill sites and as the amount of rubbish continues year after year, a major problem is that basically, we are running out of space. It isn't easy to find a new site for landfill either as no one wants to have it in their "back yard" so to speak. Apart from the risk of explosion, landfill sites also give off unpleasant odours and gases and contain volatile organic compounds (VOCs) which can have a negative impact on health even at low doses.

Greenhouse Gases

As the rubbish rots in a landfill site, Methane gas is given off and as Methane is a greenhouse gas, this is a major cause for concern. The liner in the landfill site helps to prevent the gas escaping. What often happens is that pipes collect the Methane and carry it to the surface where it can be burned off (a process known as Flaring) or it can be extracted and used as fuel elsewhere.

Leachate

Leachate is produced in landfill sites from water and liquid draining from the rotting rubbish and again, the liner helps prevent this substance from contaminating the surrounding land and water systems. Pipes will usually collect Leachate and pump it to the surface where it may be re-circulated but if a lot of Leachate is produced it will often be sent to wastewater treatment plants.

Time

Another major problem with landfill is that some non-biodegradable substances such as plastic bags for example, can take maybe hundreds of years to break down. There is no light or oxygen in landfill so rubbish cannot be broken down very quickly.

Health Risks

Despite all the measures in place, several studies have highlighted health risks in relation to landfill sites and the full impact on human, animal and environmental health is still not clear and is being widely debated.

Recycling – a solution

A large proportion of the rubbish ending up in landfill sites is not really rubbish at all as most of it could serve other more useful purposes with a far less damaging effect or could be recycled to produce new products. So, by far the best way to minimise the amount of waste going to landfill and reduce the impact on health and the environment, is to reuse or recycle as much waste as possible.

Currently, only around 7 or 8 per cent of household waste is recycled but if more people were aware of the risks associated with landfill they might be prepared to make more effort to sort and either reuse their waste or recycle it at one of the growing number of recycling depots. One mans trash is another mans treasure as they say so waste not want not.


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Recycle Your Old Film

Saving the World One X-ray at a Time

Just because medical imaging supplies are increasing in popularity does not mean that they have to ruin the environment at the same time. When it comes down to it, it is very important that supplies such as x ray film are recycled appropriately. As you can imagine, with so many x rays being taken every day, the number of films laying around for disposal is quite large. Luckily, there are many x ray film recycling programs that are meant to take care of this problem.

There are many reasons that you should look into using a recycling firm if you find yourself with a lot of x ray films that need to be disposed of. A few of the more popular reasons are listed below, and are sure to open your eyes to what this industry is all about.

1. A recycling program will come to your location, and in turn take the x ray films to the appropriate area. In other words, you do not have to do anything but work with them to ensure success. There is no hauling on your part.

2. Only EPA approved recyclers will be used. If you are going to look into properly disposing of your medical imaging supplies it is important that you do it right. With EPA approved recyclers you can be rest assured that the program you are using is going to help the environment.

3. Any confidential records will be appropriately destroyed so that your company does not get into any legal hot water. This is one of the most important things to consider in today's day and age. You have probably heard the horror stories of personal data getting into the wrong hands. Make sure that you work with a recycling program that ensures that they will destroy any confidential records.

Believe it or not, you can save the world one x ray at a time if you begin to recycle your old film. This is not to say that you are going to have a noticeable impact on the environment, but in your heart you can be rest assured that you are helping the situation.

The bottom line is that there is no reason to not recycle medical imaging supplies. If your company is not doing this, it is because you have yet to look into the process. Do yourself and the world a favor, and look into how you can set up a medical imaging supply recycling program.

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