Month: February 2014 (Page 2 of 4)

Bill Nye “The Science Guy” and Marsha Blackburn debate climate change.

Here’s an article from NBC about the televised debate, and a YouTube link to the video.

I came across this article that I thought was pretty interesting. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry talks about home important climate change is and the necessary actions that need to be taken in order to improve the atmosphere’s conditions.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/02/16/secretary-state-kerry-lashes-out-at-climate-change-skeptics/

This link is about a bacteria found in the ocean that eats plastic which is the reason the quantity of debris has remained level according to the article. Scientist have begun to research whether this bacteria does good or just recycles the plastic toxins up the food chain.

http://www.nature.com/news/2011/110328/full/news.2011.191.html

http://climatechange.thinkaboutit.eu/think4/post/950_whales_and_dolphins_killed-_ok_in_the_denish_traditions/

Talk about wreckless killing for no reason…..  this is just disgusting.

This piece fits into the underlying theme of the video Dr. Brandes posted from the Wall Street Journal. In this case, the authors argue that green energy technology has not lived up to the promise of stimulating the economy.

A biologist friend sent me this link about birds getting scorched at a new concentrated solar plant in the desert along the CA/NV border.

While the numbers of birds killed is probably much lower than the number that are killed by domestic cats and windows, ecologists look at what species are being killed in the context of their overall populations. If your cat kills 10 starlings or English sparrows this has much less ecological impact that if a wind farm kills 10 golden eagles.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/05/us/epa-staff-struggling-to-create-rule-limiting-carbon-emissions.html

I mentioned cap and trade in class so here is bit more info on it.

Quinoa, a nutritious grain-like food, has been in high demand over the past few years. This article addresses some concerns about the regions where quinoa is grown and how it is affecting their culture and sustenance. Can Americans and Europeans figure out a way to strike a balance, or will the Bolivians continue looking elsewhere for affordable food?

(Although this article was written three years ago, it still applies today because quinoa was served at dinner tonight, and at almost every meal)

Bolivian Farmer Holding Quinoa

Sustainable Management and Beneficial Reuse of Residual
Wastes and Byproducts

2014 Cal Poly GWRI REU Announcement

This crisis is still unfolding. The dam was constructed to combat drought-related water shortages. Flooding caused by recent heavy rains has seriously damaged the partially constructed dam. Families are being evacuated and there is a chance that the dam will completely fail. This illustrates that there are risks associated with engineering solutions to manage scarce resources.

Pictures of the situation: http://www.bulawayo24.com/index-id-news-sc-national-byo-42695.html

Technical explanation of the damage to the dam: http://victoriafalls24.com/blog/2014/02/13/update-on-tokwe-mukosi-crisis/

First the Freedom Industries spill, now Patriot Coal spills coal waste: http://thecontributor.com/want-see-what-100000-gallons-spilled-coal-waste-looks

As Keystone XL moves past political hurdles, we are left with practical questions as well as moral ones. If exploiting the oil sands is inevitable, is the pipeline the lesser of two evils?

http://www.history.com/topics/water-and-air-pollution

I came across this link while writing an essay response to one of the questions on my first assignment for Prof. Nicodemus’ class, EGRS 352: Energy Technology and the Modern World. However, I’d like to share this with VAST 203. The photo I came across that website shows a lake full of pollution. It appears that almost all the garbage on the lake are recyclable materials. In my opinion, people should volunteer to not only pick up those bottles, aluminum, etc. but also take them to the recycling center to be recycled.

Here in the United States, we rely on cars to get around. Some of us, including me, drives a large SUV that only averages about 13 miles per gallon. While I enjoy driving an Escalade, I do have some concerns. I sometimes have a guilty feeling when I find myself driving alone (without any passengers and cargo). Since the Escalade is a nice car, I do get positive attention from friends. I also noticed that a large number of Lafayette ski team members drives SUVs, including a few Suburbans.

Since the US (especially outside the Northeast) do not have great public transportation system like Europe and East Asia, we have no choice but to drive. Some of us must drive SUVs due to carrying a lot of cargo or even due to having large families. Whether their SUV is for personal use or business, households prefer to keep the number of cars to a minimum to minimize costs of owning cars. Therefore, this leads people to drive their SUV alone. I do know someone who sold their SUV and switched to a sedan due to costs; I personally pay $80 to fill up my Escalade.

Petroleum is running out at a fast pace, unfortunately. While the gas mileage of cars have improved over the past few decades, the great news is that SUVs are being included too. I have seen an advertisement for a Hybrid Escalade, running on roughly 20MPG.

https://www.google.com/search?q=trash+mountain&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=gxf5UtGDOKrlyQGRuoGAAw&ved=0CD4QsAQ&biw=1279&bih=636#facrc=0%3Btrash%20mountain%20ocean&imgdii=_&imgrc=_

YUCK…the above link is the Google Images result of Trash Mountain, which shows a consequence of garbage dumping. Not only that it is harmful to the natural environment and hurting especially the oceans, it also ruins the beautiful landscape.

Thinking about Lafayette College’s Tripple Bottom Line

We all have been here. We are complaining about gas prices these days. I can still remember when, as recent as a decade ago, the gas prices were between $1.00 and $2.00 per gallon. Now we pay around $3.00-3.50  a gallon in the northeast. I drive an SUV and it costs me $80 to fill up my gas tank. However, I think the gas prices are relatively low. In spring 2012, I took “VAST 270: Energy Resources and Tech” taught by Prof. Hornfeck (yes, VAST 203 is my second VAST course) and I can recall Prof. Hornfeck saying that our gas prices are actually low, considering the high demand for gas resulting in a major shortage. I believe that higher gas prices would deter larger number of people from continuously getting gas and get them to use a more efficient form of transportation (public transportation, bicycle, walk…). In Europe, while public transportation system is very good, the fuel prices are expensive. € 1.50 per liter, which is equivalent to $7.75 per gallon.