World’s Air Conditioning Boom Would Worsen Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Study

Gaby Puig:

http://www.nbcnews.com/science/environment/world-s-air-conditioning-boom-would-worsen-greenhouse-gas-emissions-n583816

Studies have found that there is no chill on the airconditioning boom that’s expected to heat up to historic levels over the decade.

Studies are seeing that air conditioner sales have grown about 15% a year. It also means that air coniditoning sales can nearly double from about 900,000 million in 0 to roughly 1.6 million by 2030. Scientists now are trying to shut off inexorable growth so that they can find fresh energy efficient technologies that can offset the effects that A/C units have on the climate.

If fresh energy air conidtioners are implemented then we will be cutting down on the use of hydrofluorocarbons. HFCS are among the fastest growing ggreenhouse gases with “global warming potentials thousands of times higher” than carbon dioxide.

They thought that reducing the amount of HFCs in the environment would be a better alternative to mitigating climate changge than trying to control carbondioxide alone.

In the united states, where two thirds of homes have air conditioners, roughly one hundred million tons of carbon dixode are released into the air each year.

Deodorant Can Be Harming Our Environment

 

Amanda Martin

 

Many deodorants contain the ingredient triclosan. Triclosan is an ingredient used as an antibacterial additive to many beauty products, clothing, toys, and furniture to name a few. While triclosan may not have been found to be harmful to humans, some studies have shown that the antibacterial additive can make humans immune to antibiotics. However, triclosan has been proven to harm aquatic animals. This is because the chemical, which has been used as a fertilizer, has been found in rivers, streams, and in sewage sludge, thus contaminating their habitats. A solution to this problem, is replacing products that contain the toxic triclosan with a more organic and natural antibacterial ingredient.

 

http://mashable.com/2015/03/07/beauty-products-environment/#djcHBTihfPqP

http://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/ucm205999.htm

Nile Crocodiles invade Florida:

Hunter Serrate,

In recent studies, more and more nile crocodiles have been found in Florida’s swamps. Four were found in 2000, which did not pose much of a threat, but they are starting to show up in larger numbers. Nile Crocodiles are much more aggressive, since 2000, alligators and crocodiles combined have killed 33 people. In that same time span, the Nile Crocodile has killed 268 people. They reach lengths of up to 20 ft, and can take anything down from Hippos to humans. We do not want to encounter one of these while fishing the swamps or paddleboarding in the the bay. The numbers have not grown at a rapid rate, but it should be taken seriously, because it can seriously cause a lot of damage to our environment if we let them get too big. The population of alligators and crocs could die off significantly if we do not take action and try to prevent the reproduction of these Nile Crocodiles.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/21/us/nile-crocodiles-florida-irpt/

Dirtied by success? Nigeria is home to city with worst PM10 levels

Fabiana Lacau

An increasingly common sight for those in Nigeria is that of smog, rubbish and polluted water, according to a new report.

According to data released by the World Health Organization (WHO) four of the worst cities in the world for air pollution are in Nigeria, according to data released by the World Health Organization (WHO).

 Onitsha, NIgeria is the world’s most polluted city for air quality, when measuring the concentration of PM10.  Onitsha recorded 30 times more than the WHO’s recommended levels of PM10.

The contributing factors to pollution are a reliance on using solid fuels for cooking, burning waste and traffic pollution from very old cars.At home, due to unreliable electricity supplies, many Nigerians rely on generators, which spew out noxious fumes.Levels of pollution are increasing because of rapid economic development and industry without the right technology.

Better Combustion for Generations to Come

 

Andrea Gonzalez

There has been a major growth in domestic natural gas production, meaning increasingly low prices. Although coal still accounts for the majority for the US’s electricity generation, every day more and more companies are moving towards cleaner natural gas. Coal plants are being replaced with high efficiency, low maintenance gas turbines. This transition is considered a key step for the reduction of global greenhouse emissions. The manager  engineer for General Electric stated “Advanced gas turbine technology gives customers one of the lowest installed costs per kilowatt. We see it as a staple for increased power generation around the world.” This is a great advancement, but we still have a lot of work to do!

http://www.enn.com/pollution/article/49570

 

GMOs May Be Safe to Eat, But Some Are Still Bad for the Planet

http://www.enn.com/ecosystems/article/49544

Antonio Colmenares

At first the biggest scare about GMOs was that “by tampering with a plant’s DNA, it could potentially cause health issues for consumers.” But after years of study they have concluded that GMOs are “safe for consumers.” And this study is not industry based scientist that do it for the money. But rather “It is, instead, the result of a review of more than 1,000 studies on the effects of GMOs, testimony from more than 80 expert witnesses, and more than 700 public comments. It’s basically a summary of everything the scientific community has learned about GMOs over the past two decades.” They compared the US population and that of 90s Europe which doesn’t use many GMOs and have found no change in diseases like “There was no demonstrable correlation between GMO consumption the development of cancer, obesity, Type II diabetes, celiac disease, food allergies or autism.” But this GMOs are producing insects that are amune to the GMOs that are harming the environment.

‘Minivan-sized’ sea creature discovered off Hawaii

Chad Serrate:

A massive sponge was recently discovered off the coast of Hawaii. The sponge is roughly the size of a minivan and a shocking find. Scientists aboard the NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer spotted the massive sea creature at a depth of 7,000 feet within the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, a protected U.S. National Monument spanning 140,000 square miles of ocean, during a month-long expedition from July to August of 2015. (Imam) It was so large that when they first came upon it on their feed; they had to keep zooming out to get the whole span of the sponge. They believe it is a new species and have collected samples. It is around 11 feet long, 6.5 feet high and 5 feet wide. It was discovered in an area considered pristine and in which a species like this could flourish. As we make more discoveries it is important to know that there are still places creatures can flourish.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/28/us/massive-sponge-hawaii-irpt/index.html

A Brewing Problem

Delaney Reynolds

Today almost one in three American households have a pod-based coffee machine. Last year K-Cups accounted for most of Keurig Green Mountain’s $4.7 billion in revenue (more than five times what the company made five years prior). While profitable, the company has received some backlash because they are generating a ton of plastic waste.

The cups that hold the coffee brew inside of them are not recyclable or biodegradable and are becoming more and more popular. Even with this backlash, the company continues to grow without making any changes to the plastic that it uses and in fact, inventor of the K-Cups, John Sylvan, even says that he regrets making them because of all of the plastic he is wasting.

In 2014, enough K-Cups were sold that if they were placed end-to-end, they would circle the globe 10.5 times and almost all of them ended up in landfills. A video called “Kill the K-Cup, before it kills out planet” was made about the pollution of these K-Cups and can be viewed here: https://vimeo.com/116606409

Last year, Keurig Green Mountain pledged to create a fully recyclable version of the K-Cup by 2020 and last month the company’s annual sustainability report reaffirmed that vow. While nice to think about, the inventor of the cups, Sylvan, said that, “no matter what they say about recycling, those things will never be recyclable. The plastic is a specialized plastic made of four different layers.”

“If you ever find yourself throwing out a K-Cup, and then you remember that 13 billion went into landfills last year, do you feel okay contributing to that? That’s what it comes down to.” – Hachey, leader behind the Kill the K-Cup campaign

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2015/03/the-abominable-k-cup-coffee-pod-environment-problem/386501/

Air Pollution Exposure worsens Blood Sugar and Cholesterol

Christopher Dorsy

According to the Endocrine Society’s Journal of clinical Endocrinology and metabolism, the more air pollution one inhales, the higher the chance of contracting one of these cardiovascular diseases. This is not only an issue pertaining to diseases and pollution, but also a financial issue worldwide. As of 2011, $320 billion was spent treating cardiovascular disease. Researchers analyzed the results of more than 600,000 blood samples taken from 2003-2012, and the reports showed that the participants tended to have poorer cholesterol and higher blood pressure when exposed to large amounts of air pollution. This exposure also showed less levels of HDL, or “good” cholesterol.

This research shows another example of the countless reasons of how and why the excessive amount of pollution is an issue, not only in terms of the climate or health, but also economically.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/05/160524144659.htm

 

San Francisco mandates solar on all new buildings 10 stories or less

Nicolas Montana

http://www.triplepundit.com/2016/05/cities-can-learn-san-frans-new-solar-law/#

Although those who reside outside of San Francisco may not be aware of the fact, mid-April 2016 marked a huge milestone in the advancement of green technology in the city and its mandated usage in all newly-constructed buildings. The new legislation, unanimously approved by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors on April 19, states that all new buildings with 10 stories or fewer, including all residential and commercial projects, must include a photo voltaic solar panel installation that encompasses 15 percent of the building’s total rooftop. San Francisco’s new law doesn’t officially take effect on January 1, so builders and contractors still have time to prepare their businesses for the new regulation. However, any buildings that are under construction within San Francisco city limits will be required to accommodate the recent legislation.San Francisco is certainly the first major U.S. city to require the installation of solar panel systems on new buildings, but it’s not the first governmental entity to do so.