Toxic Waters

This is a picture of a man drinking contaminated water

Toxic Waters:

Near Charleston, W. Va the residents know not to drink the tap water as it could be very costly to their health. Children have burns in places the bath water has touched them. It was discovered that local coal companies were pumping chemicals into the ground and it was affecting the groundwater. There was found to be lead, nickel, and arsenic in the tap water. While it was easy to find evidence that the coal company was mostly responsible, but state regulators never punished them. In the past 5 years many companies and manufacture plants have disregarded the law and failed to show what was found in the tap water testing. However, they are still not punished, not even by the EPA who doesn't want to intervene.

Opinion/Reflection

I think something should be done immediately to hold the coal company accountable for their actions. They have gotten away with it for far too long, often harming the residents in the area. The amount of chemicals found in the water was dangerously high and could sometimes cause birth defects or cancer and this is unacceptable anywhere, let alone 20 minutes outside a states capital. The need for punishment is obvious, but the need to fix the problem is more important.

Questions: 

1. Should the coal company be punished for polluting the waters? Why or why not.

2. Why do you think the EPA refused to intervene?

3. What can be done to fix this problem?

Drinking Lead Contaminated with Water

Lead in Water at Home

 A typical sink with lead-contaminated water: http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/faucet-running.jpg

Summary: Learning disabilities, shortened attention span, and behavioral problems in children are just a few of the possible issues that can occur from consuming lead. Also, a buildup in lead can lead to many health issues, especially in women's pregnancies.The environmental protection agency, or EPA estimates that over 40 million U.S. citizens consume water contaminated with water every day.  Lead is predominantly found in typical faucets at homes. The reason for this is that even though the original water isn't always contaminated with lead, the pipes that carry the water concentrate the water with lead as the water passes. Homes built before 1986 are known to have pipe systems contaminating lead, but even newer homes from that point run the risk of drinking water with lead, unless things are done to prevent it. The best possible way to prevent water from being contaminated with lead when drinking from the faucet is to purchase a water filter to attach to the faucet. Most water filters are said to be priced thirty dollars and under. This is just one possibility.

Opinion: I think that lead in water is a fairly large issue at hand that is not being noticed by the U.S. in general. With masses of tens of millions of people drinking this type of water everyday, a lot of people can be negatively impacted, and most people are unaware of the possible harmful effects of drinking this type of water. I think that buying water filters is a good idea in removing the harmful contaminants from water, but I think that we need more options than buying a filter to have clear tap water. Although filters are sometimes said to be 100% effective, that is actually quite doubtful. I think that drinking lead-contaminated water can have many harmful effects, as the EPA has acknowledged, and I think that we need more methods of completely removing lead from our faucets. Drinking lead contaminated water is very risky health-wise in my opinion. 

Source: Title: Forty Million Americans Drinking Lead Contaminated Water; Author: Linda Symonds; Publication and Date: Ezine articles in 2006

Questions:

1. What are some ways that you think lead can possibly be removed from our water systems?

2. Do you think that drinking water contaminated with lead is an issue that needs to be faced fairly quickly or over time?

3. Do you think that drinking water contaminated with lead is harmful enough to completely stop drinking it?

Prescription Drugs in Our Drinking Water

Summary: Recently, issues have come up regarding exactly what is contained in the drinking water reserves of public areas such as towns and cities. Drugs have been detected in the water of 24 major cities in the US. Information of the contents of drinking water is difficult to acquire, as water departments do not freely give detailed reports. Many water departments have stated that the reason for this is the public would learn of this and become alarmed, when the extra substances in the water are supposedly harmless in the small quantities they exist in. But how did these substances even get into the waters? Prescription drugs are consumed by humans, and the remaining substances of the drugs are transferred in the waste and go through the waste systems. The wastewater is then treated and sent out. That water is treated and cleaned, then recycled through the public distribution. The waste is removed, but not all of the drug contents. Because of lack of information and other unknown factors, the possible effects, the severity, and the locations cannot be exactly determined at this time.

Response/Reflection/Connections: I think that this could become an issue eventually, but is not currently one of the most important topics of today. However, this does make us stop to think about where our tapped water really comes from. So far in recent history, extra substances in water reserves has not been a part of any major events, maybe minor differences from city to city. In my opinion, we’ll eventually have to attend to this, but as of now, there are some other issues that are quite a bit more important and urgent. And if I may go on a bit of a tangent, I’m a bit sick of hearing about whether people should drink bottled water or tap water. This may be part of the argument of tap vs. bottled water, but I haven’t actually read anything about that topic, so I’m not sure. I recently read a short story by Stephen King titled An End to the Whole Mess that I didn't follow all too well, but I believe was about this man that discovered that a certain chemical in some water reserves caused the area drinking the water to live with a low crime rate and little violence, and he planned to isolate this chemical and distribute it to all water supplies.

·     
            Do you think we need to handle this issue now? Or can it wait?

·         Do you think water departments do not give information freely because of the reason mentioned above, or do you think it may be something else?

·          Do you own a water purifier in your home? Do you know why? Do you think it works?

Source

 

The Struggle for Water in India

Picture: Many people in India struggle to get clean water. Sometimes they struggle to get any water at all. In the Picture above, the people get their water from wells, puddles, drains, and aqueducts running through the streets.
Summary:
    Recently, India has been facing a clean water crisis. The water that flows from the sacred Yamuna River and runs through New Delhi is full of sludge and garbage. Most of the population is getting the dirty water from this river. A ruling from the Supreme Courts has not been acted upon for years which stated that the treatment of the water that flows through the Yamuna is necessary. Only parts of India actually treat the water that they get from rivers. In some areas on India, private tanks of water are brought in for the community. The thing is, the water almost never gets there on time. The wives of India have had to quit their jobs in order to watch for the tanks that pass through to get their fair share. There are pipes that run through India, but those pipes leak more than 30% of the time. To make things worse, new apartment complexes are popping up in New Delhi that use the water crisis as a means to market their amenities. Some of the public have already become complacent with the quality of their water.
Response/ Reflection/ Connections:
      This water crisis has been going on since before 2006. It is heartbreaking to learn that children and wives are forced to stay home from school and work, which are means of making money, to wait for trucks that carry low quality water. The precedent law has not been enforced which gives people the right to preform rituals over and in the Yamuna river. India is the world'd largest democracy, but it seems like the government is struggling to give people the freedom to access clean water. This makes me and other think about how precious a commodity water is. I remember learning about water pollution in middle school, we only talked about how it happens here in the United States. This article shows the rest of the world the problems that face countries throughout the world. The lack of drinking water affects populations, economies, infrastructure, and even the government. Sometimes we forget just how important a little thing like water is.
Think about it!:
   1) What ways can the people of India get fresher water besides the tank trucks?
   2) How they make their sewage systems more efficent at holding ans distributing water?
   3) What do you think about the fact that families are losing income just for fresh water?
       a) Do you agree?
       b)Why do you agree/dsagree
(Source)

Coral Reef Bleaching

                                                                             Matt Newman

Some Corals May Adapt to Warmer Seas

By: Dennis Normile

“Science Now” - March 12, 2012

http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2012/03/some-corals-may-adapt-to-warmer-.html

Summary:

Global Warming has affected more than just the temperature. It has caused Coral Reef Bleaching. It has been discovered that coral is more adaptable than once thought to be. Global Warming has caused coral to change colors to a bleached white. The article that I read discussed the fact that some of the types of coral were able to survive Global Warming which biologists study and are areas for much marine life. Coral depends on symbiotic algae which is responsible for giving the coral its color. When the water gets above a certain temperature, some corals will die off although as the article talks about, some can survive.  There are more studies taking place now to look further at the impact that high temperature has on coral and reefs.

Opinion:

After reading this article, I learned that Global Warming is more than just higher temperatures. I also learned that the increase in temperatures negatively affects the environment even including coral and reefs in the ocean. I remember when I was on vacation in the Caribbean and went snorkeling to see the beautiful coral reefs which were filled with colorful sea life, fish and coral. After seeing first hand how beautiful coral is and how important it is to sea life and the eco system, I am happy to know that biologists are studying Coral Reef Bleaching.  

Questions:

1. Are there areas in the United States where there is Coral Reef Bleaching?

2. Are there factors other than Global Warming which can cause Coral Reef Bleaching?

3. Does the time of the year affect Coral Reef Bleaching?

 This picture shows coral after it has been bleached. 

Electric Cars: Can They Really Help?

http://www.eea.europa.eu/articles/the-electric-car-2014-a-green-transport-revolution-in-the-making

http://electriccarsfacts.com/

There is no doubt that in a matter of decades, humans will need to have more reliable sources of energy, other than fossil fuels. One of the greatest uses of nonrenewable energy now is in transportation, specifically, something that almost every person uses every day- the automobile. Electric cars have actually been around since the 20^th century, but only recently have been looked at as something necessary to saving the planet.

Opinion/Reflection- As of now, fully electric cars are driven by some, but are not very popular. Another car that is a bit more popular is the Hybrid, which still runs mostly on gasoline, but is helped by an electric motor. This is not enough though, but is a good way to introduce people to a gradual switch to electricity. However, there are strong, legitimate reasons why electric cars don’t sell very well. They tend to cost double a gas-powered car, and though their power source is cheaper and renewable, it can take years for the car to just even its price out with buying a gas car and paying for fuel, let alone pay for itself in the foreseeable future. Also, filling a fuel tank takes several minutes and can run an average sized car several hundred miles. Charging an electric car takes several hours or is done overnight and usually takes the car 100 miles. Imagine driving to a vacation that is a few states away. With gasoline, you may have to refuel maybe two or three times. With an electric car, you may have to stop and charge five to seven times. Then, while the car is charging, you have to find a way to kill several hours, or even find somewhere to stay for the night. This points out that the main issue is that our current technology for electric cars is only in infancy. It’s a relatively new idea to use these cars in helping the planet, and because they are so underdeveloped, they are less efficient than gas cars, so less of them are bought, the industry receives less money, and less research and improving can be done. What we need is for some of the wealthier countries that are in a better economic state put a bit of the money towards researching ways to power cars with electricity. We don’t have to make them perfect, just efficient enough that they will be used more. That way, more money will go towards the research and development and the cars will improve so that eventually, they will outnumber gasoline-powered cars. Currently, the slowest part of this idea is starting it, and the conflict is that we need it to start working now.

Questions-

1.      Are electric cars a good investment for the world? Or are there other efficient methods of transportation that don’t harm the planet or use nonrenewable resources?

2.      What could we do about other forms of transportation, such as boats, aircraft, or trains?

3.      Do you ever see this possibly working out and this plan actually succeeding in the world?

Population Control Eco-terrorist

Picture: This is a mugshot of the gunman, James Lee, who is now 

deceased.

On September 1st, 2010, a gunman came rushing into the Discovery Channel headquarters in Maryland. He took hostages, saying that he was strapped with bombs that were ready to go off. The gunman, James Lee, was shot by police 4 hours later and no hostages were harmed. Lee ran a website called SaveThePlanetProtest.com, starting in 2008. protesting the Discovery channels television shows. He complained that the shows on the channel were for profit and not humanitarian purposes. Lee had been charged with disorderly conduct in 2008 for a protest outside the same building. The police tried to negotiate with Lee for over 4 hours, his demands very similar to those listed on his website a few days before, demanding that the channel show how to save the planet by decreasing human population. He specifically asked that they not show “the birth of any more parasitic human infants,” and that “in those programs’ places, programs encouraging human sterilization and infertility must be pushed.” Lee was shot and killed by police after most of the people had evacuated the building, including the day care center. 

Picture: Here is a picture of Lee in his 2008 

protest which later became a bit more violent

Opinion/Reflection:

Some people don't know where to stop when it comes to protecting the environment. Lee also has the view that we must take down our population in numbers. In further research I find that he finds infants disgusting creatures, and on his website has many misspellings and uses capital letters most of the time. Personally, I think it was right for the police to shoot him, and that we shouldn't have to stop growing as a nation, that is not our problem.

Questions:

1. Was it right for the police to shoot Lee even though he may have been mentally unstable?

2. In what ways can we improve our living without a decrease in the population?

3. Do we need to set limitations on the number of children a family is allowed to have? Why or why not.

4. While many environmentalists aren't this crazy, why do you think so many take it way overboard?

5. Do you think the environment is more important than a human life? Would you risk others lives to only possibly help save the environment?