Nuclear Power

Among the various energy sources used today, there is nuclear power.

Nuclear power is obtained by forcing a nuclear reaction to happen, normally nuclear fission, so that the resulting heat can be transferred to water, which in turn will evaporate and move turbines and so on.



Due to the nature of nuclear power it actually produces little waste and is a reliable energy source, however, the waste it does produce is extremely toxic, so much in fact that it must be sealed and buried so that no one will come in contact with it until the radiation disappears entirely.

There's also the problem that if the nuclear power plant is not properly taken care of, it might blow up, releasing a great amount of radioactivity that could endanger many people.

Still, future designs for reactors may actually reduce waste almost entirely, and an incident like the one mentioned above has only happened once, in a power plant (Chernobyl) with safety conditions too poor to be allowed today.



In addition, there has been hopes to build a nuclear power plant that uses nuclear fusion instead of fission, with many scientists agreeing that it would be safer than fission. The main problem besides developing the technology is obtaining the rare materials that can be used in the reaction, but it still remains an increasingly real alternative.

In short, nuclear power is a source of energy that carries risks, but that promises enough energy to make it worth the trouble of minimizing the risks.

Information and pictures from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_power#Flexibility_of_nuclear_power_plants
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl_disaster#Planning_the_test_of_the_safety_device
http://home.clara.net/darvill/altenerg/nuclear.htm

Deforestation

As we make efforts to reduce the causes of disasters like global warming and the ozone hole, with the hope that the planet is able to heal itself after some time, we must also remember to not destroy the means that it uses to heal.

Such as the tropical forests, which play an important part in reducing the excess of CO2 in the atmosphere, and are being cut down for not only the materials, but also the land.

If the trees were being cut down for the sole purpose of acquiring the materials the problem would be significantly smaller, since it would mean that the same area could be replanted over and over again, with these trees providing the necessary materials.

But since the natural landscape is also cleared to make room for farms, pastures and houses, it means the same area might never be replanted again in the recent future, and because of that, the deforestation of the tropical forest will continue.


In addition, the tropical forests contain about half of the world's species, including unique trees and creatures who are so dependent of their habitat that they would have no hope for survival should the forests disappear entirely, and even if we were to replant the forest in the future, by then, it might be too late for some creatures.



Fortunately, international and national organizations of all kinds are hard at work to prevent such a disaster, one that could end any hopes of the planet recovering from all the other problems currently existing in it.

Information and images from:
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/Deforestation/

Water pollution

…We all know that pollution is a major responsible of global warming and biodiversity loss ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-x0AJQ5zHQ&feature=fvst

Water pollution is when the water, physical properties, chemical and biological change, that make the water polluted. The pollution is very dangerous for all living beings on the planet, since water is the element that also keeps us alive and is 60 ℅ of our body, the polluted water can result in serious human health problems: Cholera, Hepatitis Diarrhea diseases, etc.

The water pollution is mainly due to:
Population growth - population growth with the seas, rivers and lakes are used as rubbish bins, whereas our sewers will all stop in somewhere, treated or not.

Industrial Expansion - More and more, our factory has been trying to improve the filtering of waste, in this case, liquid (sewage), yet it is almost impossible after filtered there is no physical, chemical and biological weapons that disrupt the environment, However the authorities have done much but there is a grid walk way to go, that is, they all try to care about the environment.
To help the planet, we must first of all, use less water because the water we spend wasting a valuable asset and fairly cheap now and that one day may be the price of gold. One of the greatest enemies of the water is acid rain that is causing another kind of pollution (air pollution), acid rain while being in contact with water courses (rivers, lakes) pollutes more water and causes a loss biodiversity, and to solve the problem of acid rain first have to solve the problem of air pollution and only by reducing the release of greenhouse gases, we were able to acid rain that pollute much the water and destroys not only the living but also non-living beings (monuments, etc.).

Information from site http://www.eb1-pias-alandroal.rcts.pt/agua.htm
http://e-geo.ineti.pt/.../imagens/fig9.jpg


Luis Gomes, Ourplanet2009

Natural Disasters enhanced by Global Warming

Natural disasters are happening more and more often in these days and we have ourselfs to blame. Climate change is the reason why this catastrophes are getting "stronger" and also "bigger".

Let's take two examples: Hurricanes and Wildfires

Hurricanes

As you all know, hurricanes are also reffered to as tropical storms, their fast and devastating winds produce a great deal of property damage and a serious number of deaths.

Tropical storms are usually form at the Antlantic Ocean and travel to Central American countries and to the Southeastern America.
Hurricanes are formed at sea when powerfull thunderstorms converge at sea creating a tropical depression. The heat from the sea rises and generates high winds. So, in this situation, the more the heat in the ocean the more powerfull winds has the hurricane.

On August of 2005 the hurricane Katrina destroyed New Orleans. Those effects were devestating, the streets and highways were impassable due to the flood. Since the water level rose to 4.5 meters, people who didn't left their homes before the hurricane hitted land were forced to get on the houses rooftops in order to be rescued by the US Army.

Wildfires

The most common origin of natural wildfires are lightning hitting leaves or trees and sparks produced by rock slides. The conditions that favor the creation of wildfires are high temperatures and air with low humidity percentage. Wild fires have been increasing also in number and in amout of are devastated. This is a "side effect" of global warming, since the increase of temperature wild fires have become more frequent around the world. So, due to the raising temperature these fires are getting harder and harder to fight against.

From June to September of 2007 Greece passed trough a living hell. These wildfires destroyed more than 2700 square kilometers during those 4 months and destroyed over 2000 buildings.

There’s a program called Eagle Eye Protection that helps the firefighters by detecting a wildfire. It analyzes the weather patterns to determine the direction the flames are heading to. It also uses the information gathered so far from other fires in the area to help determine what are the best solutions to fight it. It also largely reduces false wildfire alarms from pre gathered information about the area such as dust clouds of dirt roads and also licensed fires.

These are only two of the natural disasters that will become dangerously devastating. We must arrange more efective mesurements and the most recent technology to prevent these disasters saving the lives of inumerous people.

Renewable energy

Due to the large holding of non-renewable energy, today, we were forced to start using other energy sources, renewable energy, that are sustainable energy sources. Raw materials such as coal, oil, natural gas, have consumed very quickly.

Renewable energy is energy that does not run out, which can be used to generate electricity or for transports.

Some sources of renewable energy are the sun, rain, wind, ocean waves, the heat of the earth, biomass.



Hydro power:

Hydro is the production of electricity through hydroelectric plants, which are associated with dams. Centrals, use the energy generated by water passing from a higher level to a level lower spins the turbines and generators, generating electricity.

The production of hydro-electricity is fairly efficient and relatively non-polluting.

Currently, approximately 30% of the electricity consumed in Portugal was produced by hydropower.

http://www.explicatorium.com/images/Krasnoyarsk_hydroelectric_station.jpg

Wind power:

Wind energy is to harness the wind to produce electricity. You can build wind farms in areas where wind is abundant. Wind farms consist of wind turbines that are a few towers with propellers that rotate with the wind. When the blades rotate, move a generator, which in turn produces electricity.

http://www.solarnavigator.net/images/wind_turbine_aalborg.jpg

Biomass energy:

Biomass is the natural waste and waste of human activity. Biomass can be used directly as fuel, or by its degradation to produce a combustible gas, called biogas. The heat produced can be used to heating or for steam production. This steam drives a turbine that will produce electricity.

http://www.akenergyauthority.org/images/photos/AEEEBiomass.jpg

Photovoltaic solar energy:

Solar energy is to harness the radiation from the sun through photovoltaic cells or by heating water.

Photovoltaic cells, when they receive radiation from the sun, generating electricity. This electricity can be used for electrical equipment, or directly to the mains.

In solar water heaters, they're mirrors which concentrate the radiation, which will heat the water. Is generated steam to spin turbines, and thus produces electricity.

http://www.ciclosystem.com/imgprodutos/paineis_fotovoltaicos.jpg

Geothermal energy:

Geothermal energy is to harness the heat from the earth. Through a turbine-driven steam to produce electricity. The water vapor comes from the high temperatures inside the Earth. This type of energy can only be used in areas where there is volcanic activity, where there are rocks or water at high temperature.

http://www.greenenergywebsites.com/photos/geothermal_greenenergywebsites.jpg

Waste water

http://www.enviroblog.org/WasteWater.JPG

There is little freshwater on our planet.


Seventy percent of the planet's surface is covered by water. Approximately ninety five percent of the water that exists on Earth is salty and is in the oceans, and can not be used in agriculture and industry. Only two and a half percent of our planet's water is fresh and most are in glaciers. Less than one percent of all water that exists is fit for human consumption and is in rivers, lakes and groundwater. As an inhabitant of Mozambique uses on average less than ten liters of water a day, a European consumes two hundred to three hundred and one American, five hundred and seventy-five. Each person should have available at least twenty gallons of drinking water per day.

Between 1970 and 1995 the amount of water available to each inhabitant of the world fell Thirty-seven per cent.

Brazil has twelve percent of the freshwater in the world.

Today, about 1.4 billion people lack access to clean water.

The European Union has wasted twenty percent of its water due to inefficient use and forty percent of water used could be saved.






Tricks to avoid wasting water:

Do not wash the car with the hose, use a bucket;

Control the amount of water when you spend watering the garden;

Do not take more than five minutes in the bath;

Turn off the tap when brushing your teeth;

Leave the cutlery and plates immersed in water before washing;

People must be aware that water is precious and should save as much as they can.

Luminous Pollution

…Nowadays luminous pollution is getting a more and more serious problem, mainly in cities and big cites…
…due to this kind of pollution we are not able to see the stars at night…

«Light pollution, like other forms of pollution, resulting from the use unconscious resources and distracted»#
Luminous pollution is the type of pollution caused by excess light (artificial light), reduced the visibility of stars and stars. This type of pollution causes health problems and ecosystems:

CAUSES

• Over-illumination
• Advertising (publicity bills)
• Incorrect choice of light bulbs
• Not using timers to extinguish lighting when not needed

CONSEQUENCES

Light pollution is causing some serious problems affecting the entire planet:

• Global warming: to create light takes electricity → electricity is generally generated by the burning of fossil fuels → this increases carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere → this contributes to global warming and climate change.
• Human health threatened – stress, headaches, fatigue, hypertension
• Disruption of ecosystems :
  - Some nocturnal birds use the moon and stars for navigation during their migrations; and they can become disoriented when flying through brightly lit areas.

- Female sea turtles shy away from areas with bright lights, which interrupts their nesting patterns.

- Other reptiles and mammals are believed to suffer from bright lights in relation to feeding habits.


SOLUTIONS

What you can do:

- Light only where needed

- use sensors where possible

- Don’t waste light

- Shine light downwards, using shields and reflectors

- Light with energy efficient sources such as compact fluorescents.

Information and images from site:
www.conexaoitajuba.com.br/.../090609-unifei.jpg
www.silvestre.eng.br/.../efeitos/udi03.jpg
http://www.oal.ul.pt/oobservatorio/vol3/n6/vol3n6_6.html
http://geoleiria.blogspot.com/2009/07/observar-o-ceu-sem-poluicao-luminosa.html
#(http://www.oal.ul.pt/oobservatorio/vol3/n6/vol3n6_6.html)

http://www.apolo11.com/imagens/etc/poluicao_luminosa_imagem_de_satelite.jpg


Luis Gomes, Ourplanet2009

Colder Winters

Sometimes, it's very easy to forget that nature has brought us ironic and unpredictable moments during our stay on our lovely planet. Because of this, some people may forget that global warming may actually bring colder temperatures during winter.

This kind of weather change happens because of the importance the world's oceans have on climate near coasts. Sea currents can take warmer waters to colder places, or the exact reverse, cold water to warmer locations, in other words, they regulate the temperature between the various places they are in contact with.

These sea currents make it very difficult to fully predict some changes until they actually take place.

The fact that there are regions that depend on these currents to maintain a certain temperatures means that tempering with these currents can cause serious problems.

In recent years, global warming has caused glaciers to melt. This, in turn, has been responsible for adding large quantities of cold water to the ocean, which can cause a lot of problems with the currents, destroying some and creating new ones entirely. Another possible cause, one that has only appeared in certain isolated incidents, is water pollution.



A good example is Britain, whose "mild" temperatures during winter may come to an end since the warmer waters brought through the Golf Stream, which were responsible for said weather, may stop reaching Britain because of the recent climatic changes.



As for the solution, there isn't much to write about, since most of this problem is a "side effect" of global warming, and as such holds the same solutions.

Information and images from:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/sci/tech/3266833.stm
http://www.noc.soton.ac.uk/rapid/sis/sistop.php

Sixth Extinction

We are constantly hearing about species going extinct (or near extinction), but how bad is the problem?

In the known history of the world, there were five events known as the "Five Great Extinctions". These events were (as the name obviously implies) massive extinctions on a global scale, the worst of these actually killing 90% of the species existing at the time.

One that is actually well known is the one that caused the extinction of the dinosaurs, which was actually the "best", killing a smaller number of species when compared to any other. It's been hard to determine the causes, but they're generally attributed to climate changes.



Currently, however, we are facing a mass extinction that may surpass the worst the world has seen so far, and like many other things, it's because of us.

And it's not recent either, as some people like to actually divide this "Sixth Extinction" into two parts: the first part being between our appearance and the the creation of agriculture and the second part between that and now.

Our influence was actually felt whenever we reached new land, any land that wasn't used to us. As we hunted there for food, which were normally medium or large sized animals, certain species either became rarer or disappeared entirely, normally the largest being the first to go due to both having to compete with us and being hunted themselves.

This is easy to see when you consider that at this time, the only place we existed in where this did not happened was in Africa, in other words, the place where Homo Sapiens first appeared before spreading and what we could call our original ecosystem, one that was used to us at the time, unlike the rest of the world.



We were even partially responsible for the extinction of our cousins, the Neanderthal, in the region now know as Europe (however, their biggest problem was the change in climate)

When agriculture was invented it only gave us more reasons to mess with the various ecosystems, since we needed the land for the crops, and we haven't taken a look back since, rising the number of problems caused in an extraordinary way, now being the cause for global warming itself.

Simply put, we need to act soon before nothing at all can be done, as current numbers are alarming, with an estimation of 3 species going extinct each hour. And it won't be easy.

Information from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_extinction
http://www.actionbioscience.org/newfrontiers/eldredge2.html

Images taken from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Tyrannosaurus_BW.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Neanderthaler_Fund.png

Noise Pollution

... With the urban and industrial development, noise pollution has been worsening ...

... This type of pollution causes some problems in human but not only ...

This type of pollution is when there is noise, something that is inappropriate / undesirable to be harmful to humans and not only, but also to other living things (birds, mammals, etc.).
Noise pollution causes hearing problems, stress, sleep loss, difficulty concentrating, etc.., but also interferes with human activities (communication between people, etc...). The noise makes human activities but also causes other living beings having problems, eg noise causes the birds to divert their paths of migration since the excess sound causes the birds to stray and lose is just this type of pollution and not only damaging to health (living), but is also a problem of survival (eg. migratory birds).

Noise Pollution is created by anything that does sound too:

• - Means of transport (cars, trucks, motorcycles, airplanes, etc.).
  
  
• -Industries (quarries,...)
  
  
• -Works (due to pneumatic hammer,...)

• - Etc.

This type of pollution is, but nevertheless is less bad than the other types of pollution because it does not leave contaminants, does not pollute other resources (water, soil, etc..).

To solve this type of pollution and also easier, just that:

• - Reduce the noise emission source

- Be less susceptible to noise, or when not possible, use hearing protection to reduce the effects of excessive sound in our health,etc.



Information from site:
http://ambiente.maiadigital.pt/ambiente/ruido/mais-informacao-1/sobre-a-poluicao-sonora/

http://www.terramater.pt/?pag=146

http://images.google.pt/imgres

http://wiki.bemsimples.com/download/attachments/1038...

Luis Gomes, Ourplanet2009

Air pollution

... Due to industrial development, technological development for the general population, air pollution is a problem ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aq_RzjmNyL8


The air is considered polluted when the air is harmful to the environment (animals, plants, etc.) causing other environmental problems as set out below.
The polluted air is very bad for the planet as air pollution contributes to the greenhouse effect, acid rain, ice melting, global warming, ozone hole, etc.; and also very harmful to the inhabitants of the planet because this type of pollution also causes living things die. Air is an essential element to life, without it life is impossible, which means, if the air is polluted also kills us but a little slower in humans, the most obvious problems are:

• Problems with the respiratory system

• Heart problems

The pollution is mainly due to emission of gaseous pollutants (SO2, NO2, CO) are from stationary sources (power plants, incinerators, industrial furnaces, etc..), Mobile sources (cars, trucks, buses, planes, trains, boats, etc..) and natural sources (volcanoes, forest fires etc.)..
Our planet to achieve a temperature more or less uniform need some greenhouse gases to create the greenhouse effect, but if there is more greenhouse gases cause the planet overheat creating all the problems mentioned above.

To combat this major problem we have:
• Use the least possible fossil fuels (coal, diesel, petrol, gas, etc.).
• By recycling we are to make you spend less energy to produce new products.
• Use clean energy (wind, solar, tidal, etc.).

The human being polluted over the last few years of the rest of their lives, so something had to be made and one of them was the implementation of the Kyoto Protocol between the countries, however one of the great powers, the United States still not signed this protocol, but it is very important to be signed as America and the countries that pollute more.

Information from site:

http://www.epa.gov/ebtpages/airairpollutants.html
http://www.radford.edu/~wkovarik/envhist/4industrial.html
http://www.epa.gov/air/ozonepollution/basic.html
http://europa.eu/scadplus/leg/pt/lvb/l28060.htm
http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ficheiro:Kyoto_Protocol_participation_map_2009.png
http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ficheiro:Monongahela_River_Scene_Pittsburgh_PA_1857.jpg

Luís Gomes, Our Planet2009

Consequences of the excessive ultraviolet radiation

Our planet has been receiving excessive ultraviolet radiation through the Ozone Hole.

The Ozone Hole was created by the emission of the CFC gas (from old refrigerators, aerossol sprays and old air conditioning devices) into the Ozone Layer.

The consequenses excessive exposure to the UV-B rays in the Nature are:

-damaging terrestrial plant life;

-aquatic ecosystems;

-defreezes ice caps;

The consequences in humans are:

-increasing risk of skin cancer;

-cataracts;

-suppressed immune system.

The factors that influence the risks of the consequences in humans are explained by this graphic:

As seen in the graphic the most  "risk taking" individuals are outdoor workers and sun-seeking cultures. The regions with the most UV-B radiation levels are snow covered areas, the high altitude places, cloud covered zones, and regions closer to the ozone hole like Australia and Southern Argentina and also regions closer to the Equator such as Central Africa and Northern South America.

Humans still have means to protect themselfs from the ultraviolat rays but Nature cannot protect itself from those. The Ozone Layer was "the Nature's sunscreen" with the purpose of protecting all the planet from that kind of radiation. Around the year of 1990 developed countries have stopped using CFC's but developing countries still use it. Now it is up to quemists to discover a new quemical which is more economical and also less pollutant than the CFC gas.

Global Warming

Global Warming

Global warming is a climatic phenomenon.It is an increase in average temperature on Earth's surface.

Some scientists think that increased concentration of pollutants of human origin in the atmosphere is causing the greenhouse effect. The earth receives radiation emitted by the sun and returns most of it into space by radiation heat. Air pollutants retain a part of this radiation that would be reflected back into space. This portion retained cause a significant increase in global warming. The greenhouse effect is the absorption by the atmosphere of infrared emissions by preventing them from escaping to outer space. The greenhouse effect is a characteristic of the atmosphere, without this effect the temperature would be much lower.

The current imbalance is because this effect is steadily increasing. The main evidence of global warming comes from the temperature measurements from weather stations around the globe since 1860. The data show that the average rise in temperature was 0.5 ° C during the twentieth century. The largest increases were in two periods: 1910 to 1945 and from 1976 to 2000.

Pollution of air contributes to global warming

Ice Melting

Ice Melting in Antarctica

Ice Meltin is a fhenomen which consist in a fusion of Arctic ice. Sea levels could rise by more than a meter by 2100 with the melting of Arctic ice, causing flooding of coastal regions and potentially affecting a quarter of the world.
Air temperatures in the Arctic have increased almost twice as fast as the global average in recent decades.
The huge loss of sea ice due to warming twice as fast in Arctic with the rest of the world will affect the climate beyond the poles, Europe and North America may, for example, through unusually cold winters, while the Greenland may have warmer winters with the change of moisture and rising sea levels.
Moreover, the warming of the Arctic may become in itself an engine for global warming.

Arctic sea ice boundary in 1979

Energy Resources in Portugal

In 2005 the portugese government promised several objectives.
One of them was to Portugal environmentaly converge with Europe.

So moving on,  what did this government actually did for the past 4 years in charge that concerns the topic of reducing pollution and helping the planet to recover from the harm?

Well, after 4 years Portugal now produces over 2500 MegaWatts from electric windmills scattered along several hills of the country. Almost 11% of the electric energy is colected from this windmills.

The government also motivated the families to produce wind energy for selling to EDP.

Another comitement was to pay 50% of the cost for a solar panel to any citizen who wanted to use them in their houses to use solar energy.

Now it's up to everyone to help decreasing the production energy by fossil fuels.How will you contribute for the preservation of the planet?

The Ozone Hole

In this topic I'll talk about the "Ozone Hole".

But first, let's get everyone into the same "page":
The Ozone Hole unlike what some people think, it’s not an actual hole in the skies of Antarctica but a thinner ozone layer above the same region.

With everyone’s head with that fact cleared, these are the facts I will develop later on: The Ozone Hole was created by Human activities, the Montreal Protocol saved Humanity from a world with almost no ozone in the atmosphere and, last but not least, good news concerning the renovation of the Ozone Hole do exist.

Let us start by the first topic. It is common knowledge that the Ozone Hole is a “man-made” product. The great majority of gasses thrown at the air by factories, aerosols and also air conditioning devices, pollute the atmosphere, hence, some of them have the characteristics of destroying the ozone layer such has the CFCs. These gasses are extremely volatile at high altitudes but still with relatively big “life time”. So they collide with ozone molecules, breaking both of them apart and then joining into another gas molecule which will divide itself again, this time leaving the original ozone molecule divided into an oxygen molecule and an oxygen atom and the CFC molecule back to it’s former self.

Concerning the Montreal Protocol, actually it was a terrific choice decided by the governments of all around the globe to come with the idea of banning ozone-destroying gasses. The treaty might not yet have contributed to a straight forward positive effect for the ozone hole, but, just like I said, there is none yet, but enormous damage cannot be mended by some little time as the past 20 years since the agreement, these things take much time to recover. Because of it we have been separated from a dead world without life supporting atmosphere.

And some other good news, scientists have discovered that the ozone layer is actually recovering. At the upper stratosphere, the recovery of the “missing” ozone is fully explained by CFC reduction. But the lower stratosphere has a bigger recovery than expected, so, the same scientists (or others I’m not quite sure) came out with the theory that “Winds carry ozone from the equator where it is made to higher latitudes where it is destroyed. Changing wind patterns affect the balance of ozone and could be boosting the recovery below 18 km.”*. Could these big events of natural hazards like hurricanes and tropical storms a way of the Earth healing itself? There is no decision made whether the theory is right or wrong. We just have to give time to the time and see what happens I think.

Edgar Azevedo

___________________
*Information from the site http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/05/060527093645.htm