Alternative Energy Sources

Three main sources of alternative energy are wind, solar and hyrdo-power.

• Hydropower is generated from the flow of water, and the most common source of hydropower are dams. As power plant capacities can be added to already existing-dams, there is usually no further harm to the environment, save for the impact the dam already made. The second type of hydropower comes from tide turbines/generators and they have significantly less of an impact on the environment. They are, however, a new technology, and are being constantly being experimented with, and changed, and as they continue to improve the technology, tide turbines will probably see a surge in popularity.
• Wind Energy is generated by wind pushing turbines at a fast enough speed. Right now, they are the greenest alternative available, because they can easily generate enough electricity to cancel out the resources needed to make, transport and maintain the turbines. The major downside to turbines, besides relying on the wind, is the aesthetics. Many people refuse to endorse the technology in their area because they are afraid that it will ruin the view. While this is true, wouldn't you rather lose a bit of your view, and gain a source of renewable energy?
• Solar power is generated by solar radiation and heat being transformed into electricity via a photovoltaic cell (photons of light knock electrons into a higher state to create electricity). This is known as active solar energy, as opposed to passive generation which simply takes advantage of light, temperature, and energy-efficient building materials.

Passive solar energy and other passive technologies are what individuals can do reduce energy usage. Short of changing one's lifestyle, simple architectural details like aligning the house so it gets the most sunlight, a roof overhang, a skylight, and using building materials with more thermal mass can reduce energy usage.

Pesticides and their Effects

What is a pesticide?

How do pesticides affect people?

Pesticides cannot be contained to a designated area.

- It is common place to overuse pesticides because of the common belief that pests are the largest enemy of farmers.

- Pesticide Treadmill

- Picture below: Coffee Beans

o The coffee beans on left are a result of the overuse of pesticides.

o The coffee beans on the right were grown without the aid of pesticides.

Sources:

"About Pesticides." Environmental Protection Agency. May 3, 2010.

Berg, Linda, and Peter Raven. Environment. United States of America: John Wiley &

Sons, Inc., 2006.

"Environmental Impacts." Equita. May 3, 2010.

Pesticides and Your Everyday Life: Why Should You Care?

- We still use pesticides which we know cause cancer, and pesticides developed as a nerve gas

- The US uses about 1 billion pounds of pesticides each year

- Increased Use

- The 2006 USGS report found that pesticides were in every stream that they sampled.

- Many of these pesticides are found not only in water, but in food sources

- Developed countries have more pesticides in their water systems than developing countries

Sources:

"Migrant Farm Workers and Pesticides: The Health Danger." May 3, 2010.

"States Battle Pesticides in Groundwater." ABC News. May 3, 2010.

How Do Pesticides Affect Our Lives?

- Pesticides are known to cause illness among the farmers
- Studies show that exposure to pesticides increase sex linked cancers
- Pesticides affect nursing mothers and babies
- Children and their mental development
- Pesticide Poisonings
- Water’s role in transporting pesticides

Sources:

"Baby Suffers Due To Mother Being Exposed to Pesticides." Pesticides: useful and harmful
effects. May 3, 2010

Berg, Linda, and Peter Raven. Environment. United States of America: John Wiley &

Sons, Inc., 2006.

"Pesticides in Water.” Californians For Pesticide Reform. May 3, 2010.

Wheel of Hormones: Gambling with the Future of Mankind. Lars Mortensen. 1997. VHS.
Denmark Films: Filmakers Library, 2010.

Pictures of Contamination in Developing Countries

- Pesticides usually enter the water in 3 ways:

o Air

o Percolation

o Run Off

Sources:

"Aerial Spraying." Cape York Weeds and Feral Animals Program. May 3, 2010.

Berg, Linda, and Peter Raven. Environment. United States of America: John Wiley &

Sons, Inc., 2006.

"Pesticides: Frequent Questions." Environmental Protection Agency. February 8, 2010.

"Pesticides In Groundwater." USGS. May 3, 2010.

"Polluted Runoff In Upper Nemahbin." Upper Nemahbin Lake Management District. May 3,
2010.

Pesticides and Water Pollution

- Fish are more sensitive than some land animals, because the pesticide is dissolved so they are swimming in toxins

- Pesticide Persistence

- Pesticides do not always cause death in fish many times the pesticides cause chronic health problems for the fish

- Bioaccumulation

- Biodiversity

- Pesticides threaten aquatic ecosystems

Sources:

Berg, Linda, and Peter Raven. Environment. United States of America: John Wiley &

Sons, Inc., 2006.

"Pesticides in Water.” Californians For Pesticide Reform. May 3, 2010.

"Seagulls helping with cleanup of dead shad." Muskegon News Archive. May 3, 2010.

Background on Water Pollution

Water pollution is the contamination of water bodies (lakes, rivers, oceans, and groundwater). Water pollution occurs when pollutants are discharged directly or indirectly into water bodies without adequate treatment to remove harmful compounds. There are two broad categories that explain water pollution.

There are four main factors that explain the contamination of our waters today: the chemicals were dumped into the water intentionally; the chemicals leaked into groundwater, rivers or streams because of broken pipes or tanks; the chemicals infected waterways because of industrial catastrophes; and the pollution of water settled out of polluted air.

Effects on the Environment and Human Life

Water pollution not only has negative effects on the environment but also on human life.
- Increase in diseases due to water pollution
- The effects of water pollution have damaged the food chain
- Diseases can spread via polluted water
- Pollutants in the water will change the chemistry of the water
- Mercury in the air can settle into water bodies and affect water quality.
- Organic mercury compounds are also important. Methylmercury is a dangerous compound that is widely found as a pollutant in water bodies and streams.

The Social Impact

- There have been many events that prove how dangerous water pollution is for humans and the environment. The Exxon Valdez oil spill was a major oil spill that took place on March 23, 1989 in Alaska.
- In developing countries water resource issues are extremely present. These issues consist of unsanitary facilities and drinking-water supply. More or less, 1 billion of the world’s population does not have a sufficient amount of water, and around 2 billion people do not have access to satisfactory sanitary services.
- In developing countries, water pollution is caused by human and animal waste, excessive usage of fertilizers, industrial chemicals, and slim enforcement of pollution prevention laws.

Contamination in Developing Countries

This picture is a representation of some of the dangers that humans in developing countries are exposed to.

Here, a girl in Dhaka, Bangladesh, washes in water pouring out from a water pipe on March 22, 2000.

Is There a Solution?

There are various laws that have been put in place offering solutions to water pollution, but they are not effectively enforced. These are some solutions to water pollution:
- Promote smart agricultural practices
- Reduce urban and suburban runoff of lawn fertilizers and pesticides
- Improve the sewage treatment system
- Stop deforestation
- Conserve water
- Pick up litter before it gets into storm drains, rivers and other water sources

Dolphin Slaughter in Taiji, Japan: The Blood Money

Local fishermen are expected to slaughter about 2,000 of the estimated 20,000 dolphins that will be killed in Japanese coastal waters between now and April.

The hunters bang on metal poles to drive pods of dolphins into secluded coves, where they are speared and hacked to death. The few that survive are sold to aquariums in Japan, Europe and the US.

Despite international condemnation of the culls, the people of Taiji, where coastal whaling is said to have been practised for 400 years, claim the local economy would collapse if coastal whaling and dolphin hunting were banned.

What Happens Behind Barbed Wire

What really happens in Taiji?

This is an actual photograph taken during the dolphin slaughter season in Taiji. The water literally turns red in this hidden cove because of the numerous dolphins they kill every time.

Animals Have Rights -- Wait, What?

• Animals are on the same biological continuum according to Darwin so why are they not on the same moral continuum?
  
• The fact that animals have the capacity to suffer distinguishes them to be on the same plane as we are in regards to ethical treatment.
  
• We cannot hide behind the fact that we do not know for sure if animals suffer.
  
• The dolphins in Taiji are being harpooned and killed for no good reason. This should not be considered acceptable.
• It is harder to convince humans that they are exhibiting a type of discrimination when they say that animals do not have the same rights to life as humans do but that is because our philosophical background has programmed us to dismiss the fact that animals have feelings and psychological lives too, and should not be instruments to human endeavors.

Mercury Contamination: It Goes Further Then You Think

THE EFFECTS OF MERCURY INCLUDE:

• headaches
• cough
• chest pain
• difficulty breathing
• soreness of the mouth
• loss of teeth
• nausea
• diarrhea
• may lead to permanent lung scarring
• high exposure to mercury can damage your kidneys

SURPRISING FACTS ABOUT DOLPHIN MEAT

A study by two Japanese universities found that residents of Taiji, a whaling town on the Pacific coast, who frequently ate the meat of pilot whale - a member of the dolphin family - have mercury levels 10 times the national average.

The hair of three tested residents contained quantities of mercury higher than 50 parts per million, a level that can lead to neurological problems.

The average mercury level among the men was 21.6ppm, and 11.9ppm among women - both about 10 times the national average. The three men with dangerously high levels of mercury said they ate pilot whale meat more than once a month.

Mercury levels halved among people who stopped eating the meat for two months.

Last year a study of dolphin meat served in school lunches in the Taiji area revealed mercury levels 10 to 16 times higher than the health ministry's accepted level of 0.4ppm.

Dolphin Slaughter: The Ugly Truth

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How Do We Connect?

• The issues of pesticide use, water pollution, and dolphin slaughter in Taiji are inherently connected to the use of chemicals in water.

• The actions needed to reverse the negative effects of pesticides; water contamination and dolphin slaughter are time sensitive. If actions are not to be taken soon, our environment will suffer the degradation of water resources.

• The connection between water pollution and pesticides is a substantial one in that pesticides contamination contributes to water pollution water bodies (oceans, lakes, streams, etc)

• In the legislation aspect of our issues, laws have been put in place offering solutions to water pollution and pesticides, such as regulation the pesticides that are in the food we eat every day as well as regulation of pollutants in surface water.
  
• This leads to a deadly chain that organisms in the oceans are living in an environment polluted with chemicals, which in turn are the food of bigger mammals such as dolphins. Since the dolphins are eating organisms that are contaminated with chemicals, their mercury content increases which leads to adverse consequences to the Japanese people who consume dolphin meat.(BIODEGRADATION)

Different Issues, Different Focus

Despite these similarities, pesticides affect much more than water pollution. There are a lot of viable options currently that we could be using instead of pesticides.

Water pollution encompasses much many more contaminants than pesticides do such as the pollutants found in oil spills.

With the dolphin slaughter that occurs in Taiji, a significant portion of the issue revolves around animal welfare and inhumane killing practices, which does not directly correlate to the effects of pesticides and the consequences of water pollution.