Archive for the 'Pollution' Category

You may have heard a news report or two of a tanker loosing oil so it spilled out into the waterways. This is known as oil pollution or a form of marine pollution. These events gain national attention for awhile, but then we forget until the next time. In between these catastrophes, there is everyday damage being done to our waterways and beach fronts that is the result of oil pollution and oil by-product pollution.

What Is Oil Pollution?

Oil pollutants or an oil spill is when a liquid petroleum hydrocarbon is released into the environment, usually due to human activity. This term is usually linked with oil that is released within our oceans or coastal waters. The oil can be in the form of crude oil, petroleum products (gasoline or diesel), by-products, oily refuse, or oil mixed in waste. Sometimes oil is released into our environment from geologic seeps that occur naturally on the ocean floor.

How Does It Happen?

Most of the human-based incidents of oil pollution start on land. There are many industries that line our coastal waterways that illegally dump wastes and oil-based products into the environment. Some are dumped directly into the water and others are improperly buried into faulty tanks which will seep into the ground and eventually end up in the ground water, which will seep into the waterways or become part of the runoff that will find its way to the ocean.

Others come in the form of accidents on the water. Large tankers may collide with other ships causing damage to the holding facilities and the oil or oil product will pour directly into the water. Drilling facilities with faulty equipment or practices have accidents all the time and their inability to cap the leak will cause tons of oil to be released. In wartime, Insurgents have purposely opened up valves of oil and oil products into the water, so a diversion is caused to aid attacks.

Who Is Affected?

The damage of oil pollution is not limited to the water being dirty. There are millions of organisms that call the water and the coast their home. Some spills can be cleaned up without lasting damage; however most change the course of events forever. Some of the affected often include:

• Fowl – The bird’s feathers are greatly damaged by oil, which reduces its ability to insulate. This makes them more vulnerable to temperature change and less buoyant in the water. Their flight ability is difficult, so they are less likely to escape from predators or hunt for their needed food supply. Their natural instinct is to try to clean the foreign matter off, but in doing so they ingest the oil product thus damaging their internal organs, which will cause for major dehydration and metabolic imbalances. Most fowl species will die without human intervention.
• Marine mammals – Most of these mammals are affected like the sea birds. The oil coats their fur, reducing their insulation, also causing for temperature vulnerability. Also, eating tainted fish will cause for digestive issues and may result in death.
• Humans – Our waterways provide food and large spills will shut down the fishing industries of that area. Unemployment of fishing industry workers, the cost of food, our beaches and the industry that surrounds them, etc.

Oil pollution touches so many aspects of our lives and those who live around us. It is important to prevent such disasters, so that we may offer cleaner waters for our future generations.

You may have heard a news report or two of a tanker loosing oil so it spilled out into the waterways. This is known as oil pollution or a form of marine pollution. These events gain national attention for awhile, but then we forget until the next time. In between these catastrophes, there is everyday damage being done to our waterways and beach fronts that is the result of oil pollution and oil by-product pollution.

What Is Oil Pollution?

Oil pollutants or an oil spill is when a liquid petroleum hydrocarbon is released into the environment, usually due to human activity. This term is usually linked with oil that is released within our oceans or coastal waters. The oil can be in the form of crude oil, petroleum products (gasoline or diesel), by-products, oily refuse, or oil mixed in waste. Sometimes oil is released into our environment from geologic seeps that occur naturally on the ocean floor.

How Does It Happen?

Most of the human-based incidents of oil pollution start on land. There are many industries that line our coastal waterways that illegally dump wastes and oil-based products into the environment. Some are dumped directly into the water and others are improperly buried into faulty tanks which will seep into the ground and eventually end up in the ground water, which will seep into the waterways or become part of the runoff that will find its way to the ocean.

Others come in the form of accidents on the water. Large tankers may collide with other ships causing damage to the holding facilities and the oil or oil product will pour directly into the water. Drilling facilities with faulty equipment or practices have accidents all the time and their inability to cap the leak will cause tons of oil to be released. In wartime, Insurgents have purposely opened up valves of oil and oil products into the water, so a diversion is caused to aid attacks.

Who Is Affected?

The damage of oil pollution is not limited to the water being dirty. There are millions of organisms that call the water and the coast their home. Some spills can be cleaned up without lasting damage; however most change the course of events forever. Some of the affected often include:

• Fowl – The bird’s feathers are greatly damaged by oil, which reduces its ability to insulate. This makes them more vulnerable to temperature change and less buoyant in the water. Their flight ability is difficult, so they are less likely to escape from predators or hunt for their needed food supply. Their natural instinct is to try to clean the foreign matter off, but in doing so they ingest the oil product thus damaging their internal organs, which will cause for major dehydration and metabolic imbalances. Most fowl species will die without human intervention.
• Marine mammals – Most of these mammals are affected like the sea birds. The oil coats their fur, reducing their insulation, also causing for temperature vulnerability. Also, eating tainted fish will cause for digestive issues and may result in death.
• Humans – Our waterways provide food and large spills will shut down the fishing industries of that area. Unemployment of fishing industry workers, the cost of food, our beaches and the industry that surrounds them, etc.

Oil pollution touches so many aspects of our lives and those who live around us. It is important to prevent such disasters, so that we may offer cleaner waters for our future generations.

Since the days of cavemen building fires in poor ventilated caves, the effects of air pollution have been a fact of life. Unfortunately, that fact of life has become a major pollution issue that needs to be dealt with. Increased industrialization, building, and population have caused the levels of air pollution to go soaring. The effects of air pollution are not good and have harmed many species and continue to be the main reason for many diseases and even death.

Reasons for Pollution

Air pollutants stem from many sources and are made up of many types of molecules. A few contributing components include:

• Carbon Dioxide – Burning fossil fuels, such as gasoline
• Nitrogen Dioxide – Burning biomasses and fossil fuels
• Nitrous Oxide – From nitrogen based fertilizers
• Sulfur Dioxide – Combustion of sulfur-based fuels, such as oil
• Chlorofluorocarbons – Or Freon come from refrigerants, aerosol cans, and the burning of plastics
• Smog – A combination of gases that are released with the burning of fuels from industries, transportation devices, and fires

Indoors And Out

There is no escaping the effects air pollution and they are all negative. It is true that those who live in and around cities are increasingly exposed, due to the amount of industry, autos on the roadways, and population. However, those who live on farms are subjected to exhaust from farm equipment, fertilizers, and animal waste that contain chemicals. Some may think that they are safe if they are in the confines of their own home but that is not true. There are air pollutants inside that are just as dangerous. Poor ventilation of heating and cooling systems, household chemicals, fibers, and more contribute to air pollutants.

What Happens As The Result

The damage done by air pollution touches many organisms and many are not directly exposed. The effects of air pollution can travel in the atmosphere for days, therefore spreading across the miles from its original source. The results can vary, but some examples include:

• Plant life – Plants clean the air of carbon dioxide, but with deforestation comes fewer plants to do so. Plants will also absorb the toxic levels of carbon dioxide, which will lessen their protective waxy coating. This coating is vital for water and food storage, so without this then disease and pests are more likely to attack and the plant will die.
• Health – The lungs need oxygen to survive and that oxygen is carried through the blood stream to the heart and then pumped to the other organs throughout the body. Many illness are linked to air pollution, such as: common cold, croup, asthma, bronchitis, COPD, lung cancer, heart failure, coronary disease, and much more.

The effects of air pollution are not a new problem, but it seems to get worse and not better. The governments have gotten better regulating and fining the big industries, but it is hard to regulate air pollution on the personal level. It is our responsibility to regulate and decrease our use of air pollutants or else we will not live in our world as we have grown accustomed to.

People have been using trucks to move goods around North America since there have been trucks. However, the use of trucks to haul goods and food across long distances of the continent is a relatively recent phenomena.

The rise of tricking was largely fueled by the implementation of the he Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways were constructed with both the intent of increasing interstate commerce and built with overpasses high enough to allow military vehicles to pass. Virtually all products of interstate commerce travel on interstate highways at some point in their journey.

Trains are actually more efficient and have enjoyed a resurgence since the mid-1990s due to double trailer loads that can be directly hooked up to a semi-tractor. These roads also deliver international goods that have additional air miles attached. Nearly all sectors of the economy have continually sourced their raw materials and services from further and further away since the gas crisis of the 1970s.
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Most of us do it everyday. We get into our automobiles, start it up, and drive away to our daily destination. We may not give it a second thought and if it enters our realm of thinking then we are quick to rationalize the importance of using our cars. The thought of car pollution is one that everyone is aware of but many are not willing to do what it may take to reduce if not deplete it.

Car Pollution – It’s In The Air

Many cars and other forms of transportation require the use of fossil fuels. When burned, these fossil fuels release emissions into the air that are filled with carbon dioxide and other possible toxic particles. An excess of these gases has been recognized as a major contributor to air pollution. Air pollution is the introduction of chemicals, particles, or biological materials into the atmosphere causing harm to humans and other living organisms or damages the environment. Cities are filled with fossil fuel burning transportation and the effects are damaging those who are driving and those who are simply passing by.

Emissions Effects

It is true that emissions are a cause of ozone depletion and global warming. These have ramifications that are endless; from changing weather patterns, melting ice caps, to air quality. But what does all this mean? How does driving a car affect our everyday living? What are the effects of car pollution? Here is a sampling of the ways:

• Health – Gases like carbon monoxide, lead, benzene, formaldehyde, and others are entered into the body through the blood stream. These cause heart disease, breathing disorders, possible cancers, and contribute to general illness and allergies. Since the amount of cars on the road is rising it is safe to say the amount of traffic has too, this brings more accidents and many of them fatal.
• Economy – Some may argue that cars help the economy through production of jobs and fuel refineries, however with that comes more cars on the road and more emissions into the air from car pollution. The demand for fossil fuels has been on the rise and keeps going up and production can hardly keep up. Since demand has not kept up with the supply then the cost of fuel goes up which is never a good thing for the common man, only for the oil moguls.
• Pollution – Air pollution is only one form that is fueled by cars. There has been an increase of noise pollution due to the amount of cars on the road. Noise pollution causes hearing loss and a vast amount of stress disorders. Sight pollution is not a word someone made up but a reality and cars are a leading factor. Due to the amount of car demands and traveling done by our busy world, bigger roads were needed to support the traffic. Precious land was used to create these asphalt monsters that transport automobiles faster and supposedly more efficiently.

Creative Car Pollution Solutions

There are many things that we all can do to help reduce the amount of pollution our cars are making. Some may include simple changes in the way we live while a few others may include governmental action. A few examples are:

• Psychology – The thought process of why we should drive a car needs to change. Driving a car should be a privilege not a right.
• Reduce – The amount of vehicles on the road needs to be reduced and the amount we drive them should too. Perhaps tax credits for lower mileage…
• Production – Car manufacturers have gotten better at creating more efficient technology, but there is still work to be done. Making the newer technology readily available and more cost efficient would help in this matter.

There are a lot of ideas that could be put into place to help with car pollution. We are all responsible for the world we live in. If every one of us reduced the amount we used our own vehicles then we have made a good start. It is time we got creative and took this matter into our own hands and demanded that the government gets serious too.

When sulfur and nitrogen dioxides (both common by-products of coal and other fossil fuels) are emitted into the atmosphere, they often fall back to Earth as acid rain. While normal rainfall has a very slightly acid pH of about 5.6, acid rain can be so highly acidic that it is capable of literally melting rocks. In parts of the world with a great deal of atmospheric pollution, rain, snow and fog with a pH lower than that of vinegar has been reported.

This is a problem for urban Europe for many reasons, but perhaps most notably because the statues and buildings that have stood for thousands of years are now, suddenly, disintegrating due to the very crush of people who want to see them. Calcium containing stones such as marble, granite and limestone are particularly vulnerable, now noted in many historical districts as causing statues and buildings to quite literally flake away as bits of gypsum.
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Since the days of cavemen building fires in poor ventilated caves, the effects of air pollution have been a fact of life. Unfortunately, that fact of life has become a major pollution issue that needs to be dealt with. Increased industrialization, building, and population have caused the levels of air pollution to go soaring. The effects of air pollution are not good and have harmed many species and continue to be the main reason for many diseases and even death.

Reasons for Pollution

Air pollutants stem from many sources and are made up of many types of molecules. A few contributing components include:

• Carbon Dioxide – Burning fossil fuels, such as gasoline
• Nitrogen Dioxide – Burning biomasses and fossil fuels
• Nitrous Oxide – From nitrogen based fertilizers
• Sulfur Dioxide – Combustion of sulfur-based fuels, such as oil
• Chlorofluorocarbons – Or Freon come from refrigerants, aerosol cans, and the burning of plastics
• Smog – A combination of gases that are released with the burning of fuels from industries, transportation devices, and fires

Indoors And Out

There is no escaping the effects air pollution and they are all negative. It is true that those who live in and around cities are increasingly exposed, due to the amount of industry, autos on the roadways, and population. However, those who live on farms are subjected to exhaust from farm equipment, fertilizers, and animal waste that contain chemicals. Some may think that they are safe if they are in the confines of their own home but that is not true. There are air pollutants inside that are just as dangerous. Poor ventilation of heating and cooling systems, household chemicals, fibers, and more contribute to air pollutants.

What Happens As The Result

The damage done by air pollution touches many organisms and many are not directly exposed. The effects of air pollution can travel in the atmosphere for days, therefore spreading across the miles from its original source. The results can vary, but some examples include:

• Plant life – Plants clean the air of carbon dioxide, but with deforestation comes fewer plants to do so. Plants will also absorb the toxic levels of carbon dioxide, which will lessen their protective waxy coating. This coating is vital for water and food storage, so without this then disease and pests are more likely to attack and the plant will die.
• Health – The lungs need oxygen to survive and that oxygen is carried through the blood stream to the heart and then pumped to the other organs throughout the body. Many illness are linked to air pollution, such as: common cold, croup, asthma, bronchitis, COPD, lung cancer, heart failure, coronary disease, and much more.

The effects of air pollution are not a new problem, but it seems to get worse and not better. The governments have gotten better regulating and fining the big industries, but it is hard to regulate air pollution on the personal level. It is our responsibility to regulate and decrease our use of air pollutants or else we will not live in our world as we have grown accustomed to.

Corals are an entire class of animals that are among the most threatened creatures on Earth. While you may think an organism that more closely resembles rock would be immune from pollution, these creatures are not only immobile but reside in some of the most commonly polluted areas: warm, shallow seas.

Growing very slowly, corals were once primarily threatened by collection and the occasional nuclear test. One of the most ancient forms of true animal life, corals have existed for over half a billion years though numerous climatological shifts. However, the effects of various types of pollution will likely destroy half the coral reefs on Earth by 2030. Most “modern” corals rely upon constant temperatures, salinity and pH. When these requirements are not met, or they’re stressed, the symbiotic algaes that help them digest food leave. The corals starve and only their “bones” are left behind in what is known as “coral bleaching.”
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Most people are aware of the damage to cognitive development that arises as a result of lead poisoning. In fact, even thought it used as a sweetener for wine during the Roman Imperial Era, even Roman contemporaries knew it was a neurotoxin. It is especially harmful to pregnant women and children, causing blood and brain disorders, accumulating in the tissues and shaving IQ points off entire neighborhoods.

Until the 1970s, lead paint and leaded gasoline were common in North America. Unlike many of the other neurotoxic metals, it also happens to be rather common, naturally. It is still used extensively in car batteries, though most of these are caught in the hazardous waste recycling stream as per federal, state and provincial law. It’s use in paint has proven particularly difficult to remediate given how long these substances are capable of persisting in soils, particularly in urban areas. The long time use of lead in gasoline has resulted in a very widespread soil contamination.
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There are more than 80,000 man-made chemicals on the market, approved for use in North America. Several thousand more are submitted for approval each year. In nearly every case, regulatory organizations are responsible for testing each of these chemicals, individually, for human toxicity.

Not all chemicals that are approved will even go through this process. However, the truly frightening thing about this process is that not one of these chemicals will be tested for how they react with the other 80,000 existing chemicals. Even when they are designed to be combined with other chemicals, are they tested together.

It is well known that chemistry does not take place in a vacuum. The human body itself has become a hodge-podge of these chemicals, often stored in body tissues and fats because the liver simply doesn’t know how to deal with and eliminate these substances. When each new one is added, this unregulated chemistry experiment begins anew, with consequences that people can only imagine.
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