Environmental Science Essay

If you were the energy czar of your state, where would you invest your budget? What changes, if any, would you make to the existing program? I would invest on the renewable energy resources in the budget. This is because with the current expenditure on energy, renewable energy sources would reduce the monetary allotment on the energy budget. The changes I would make include, purchasing solar panels, wind turbines and also the geothermal energy equipments and have them installed in major government industries and buildings that have got very high energy consumption power. The installation would be very easy especially on the solar panels because they are fitted on the already existing buildings hence does not affect land use in any way. Other changes would include funding the projects that have to with installation of renewable energy sources and also encouraging citizens to switch to the renewable energy sources for their daily energy needs in seminars and through the media. Qn 3. What are some of the global environmental problems caused by the extensive use of fossil fuels worldwide? Pollution is a major environmental problem caused by use of fossil fuels. All fossil fuels are used by burning them. Burning produces waste products due to impurities in the fuel which are usually particulates and gases like sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and volatile organic compounds. These waste products affect the environment and people in a harmful way. This burning also produces carbon dioxide and water vapor as by-products. This is because carbon is a part of what makes fossil fuel useful. Studies have shown that these carbon dioxide emissions contribute to harmful heat retention by the air that is global warming and climate change. Qn 4. What are two of the advantages and disadvantages of each of the perpetual or renewable energy resources described in the text books? Which seem to be most desirable from an environmental standpoint? Why? Renewable energy sources consist of solar, hydro, wind, geothermal and biomass. They all have advantages which include the fact that each and every one of them is renewable. This is an advantage in the sense that they can not be depleted due to the reason that they are naturally and continuously replenished. The renewable energy sources also are clean energy that do not pollute the air hence do not contribute to global warming or greenhouse effects. A common disadvantage of the renewable energy sources is that the cost of initiating them is very high. For one to install the solar panels and wind turbines, a large amount of capital is required for purchase and installation. These energy sources have difficulties of producing the large quantities of as compared to their fossil fuels counterparts. From the environmental standpoint, solar energy source seems to stand out. This is because it uses the sun’s energy. The system can be fitted into existing buildings and it does not affect land use hence it has no negative implications on the environment. II. Qn 1. What is indoor air pollution and why has it become such a problem in recent years? Provide examples of at least three indoor air pollutants responsible for this problem. What might be done to improve the situation? Is this a problem in developing countries? Why or why not? Indoor air pollution is the contamination of air indoors. The person is exposed to air borne substances originating not from outdoors but indoors. This has become a problem over the years because studies show that people in industrialized nations spend more than 90% of their time indoors (Gammage & Kaye 10). This includes homes, school and workplace. The lung is the most site of injury by airborne pollutants. Among the acute effects that result include non-respiratory symptoms which mostly depend on the toxicological characteristics of the substance and host related factors. This then makes it a very big problem. The examples of indoors pollutants include; Environmental tobacco smoke, Combustion products such as stoves, fire places, space heaters and furnaces. There are also volatile organic compounds like cleaning agents, solvents and even pesticides. This situation can be improved by eliminating all smoking from the individual’s environment. This can be done through smoking prohibition or through restricting smoking to properly designed smoking rooms that are separately ventilated from outside. Periodic professional inspection and maintenance of installed equipments like furnaces are also recommended. Such equipments should be ventilated directly from outside. It is also advisable to increase ventilation when using products that emit volatile organic compound pollutants and meet the label precautions. One should also not store opened containers of unused paints and similar items within homes or offices. Indoor air pollution also affects developing nations. This is because the pollutants involved in indoor air pollution are also commonly found in developing nations in more or less the same environment putting the same risk to people of these developing nations. Qn 2. Summarize the problems with worldwide freshwater supplies. The major problem is water stress. This is a situation whereby, there is not enough water for all use. Inefficiency of fresh water affects its supply considerably. Population growth is also another problem. In most developing countries, the population growth is escalating and thus fresh water demands increase. This is a problem because there is no much increase in water conservation and recycling as compared to the population increase. Increased affluence, expansion of business activities and rapid urbanization also pose a challenge to fresh water supplies. Climate change has a significant effect on water resources. Fresh water supplies experience it a problem because, rising temperatures will increase evaporation and lead to increased precipitation which leads to floods (Almasi & Pescod 126). Higher temperatures also affect the water quality. Last but not least, water pollution. Many pollutants threaten supplies world wide and more especially in the underdeveloped countries. This is caused by discharge of raw sewage into natural waters, a very common practice in underdeveloped countries and even in the quasi-developed countries like China, India and Iran. Qn 3. What is eutrophication and why is it a problem? Provide examples of eutrophication in both the United States and European countries. What are some of the ways in which this problem can be mitigated? Eutrophication is a process whereby water bodies such as lakes receive excess nutrients that stimulate excessive plant growth (Khrisanov & Osipov 69). This excessive plant growth in turn reduces dissolved oxygen in the water so that when dead plant materials decompose, they can cause other organisms to die. The aquatic plants stimulated to grow include, algae, periphyton attached algae and nuisance plants weed. In the U. S eutrophication is mostly human induced. Nitrogen and Phosphorus concentrations for the U. S are estimated to exceed reference median values (Khrisanov & Osipov 103). According to information in the literature, a conservative estimate of the increase in nitrogen loads from land and atmosphere to the Baltic and North Sea regions is a doubling from the 1950s to the 1980s, and a fourfold increase in the phosphorus load from the 1940s to the 1970s. This is in the European countries. Eutrophication is in most cases caused by point inputs of phosphorus like in the case of sewage discharges mostly found in developing countries, or nonpoint inputs like runoff from agriculture, principally in developed nations. Mitigation differs depending on whether most of the phosphorus comes from point or nonpoint inputs. Therefore, decreasing soil phosphorus is a very important step towards the mitigation of eutrophication. Once soil phosphorus is decreasing, steps to decrease transport of phosphorus in surface waters and manipulations to decrease phosphorus recycling within lakes is recommended. III. Qn 1. How has population growth in less developed countries overwhelmed economic growth? What effect has this had on the environment? Population growth in less developed countries has an overwhelmingly negative effect on the economic growth. This is because, with land being fixed and not growing, increased population eventually leads to diminishing outputs. Thus shortage of food and hunger that makes the working population not put much into economy development due to famine hence the economy dwindles. Growing population also leads to capital and resource thinning. The low capital causes reduced per capita output resulting to lower economic growth rates. Population growth in less developed nations also leads to investments diversions from things like infrastructure development to provision of basic needs that are scarce due to the increase (Ehrlich, P. & Ehrlick, A 37). This results to lowering of the economic growth rate considerably. Population growth has a great effect on the environment in the sense that, the environment’s carrying capacity has been exceeded by population increase thus strain on natural resources leading to their depletion The more the people are, the more the houses there are to warm, so more trees are cut. The forests and atmosphere are most at threat from population increase. Hence, degradation of all facades of the environment can be blamed on population increase. Qn 2. What are cultural resources? Provide examples of cultural resources in the United States and in two of the less developed countries discussed in the text. Why is it important to make an attempt to preserve these resources? Cultural resources are archaeological and historical resources eligible for or listed on the National Register of Historic Places. They include buildings, sites, districts, structures or objects having historical, architectural, archaeological, cultural or scientific value. In Kenya which is a developing country there are quite a number of cultural resources that a big tourist attraction. In the U. S there is COSO Rock Art National Historical Landmark District, China Lake Naval Air Weapons Station, California and The Pentagon building as examples of cultural resources (Adams & Goldbard 37). There is the Kenya National Museum and also The Nairobi National Park. It is very important to preserve because they are a source of a country’s heritage. They also help in the economic growth of many developing nations through tourism hence should be preserved. Qn 3. What are the major environmental problems facing the National Park System? What is being done to minimize these problems? Which National Park has been most affected? National Park System faces various environmental problems which include insufficient funding for park operations. The increase of its visitors has increased the amount of wear and tear on the park. With limited funding, repairs and maintenance often take a back seat. According to Abramovitz, overuse is another problem in that the amount of visitors is increasing hence overusing the limited park facilities (17). Mining claims on national parks is another problem. If any of the claims were developed, it could directly impact on the health of the ecosystem within the park. Atmospheric pollution is yet another issue. Acid rains harm delicate organisms like amphibians. Laguna de Tacarigua National Park IN Venezuela has been most affected. This is due to the many problems that combine to threaten its biodiversity. High rates of sedimentation, solid waste contamination, water contamination and forest fires are just but some of the problems it encounters. Works Cited Abramovitz, J. Imperilled waters, impoverished future: The decline of freshwater ecosystems. Washington, D. C. , Worldwatch Institute, Mar. 1996. p. 5-66. Adams, Don, & Goldbard, Arlene. Creative community: The art of cultural development. New York. (2001).Almasi, A. and M. B. Pescod. Waste water treatment mechanism in anoxic stabilisation ponds. Water Sci. Tech. 33(7):125-132. (1996a). Ehrlich, P. & Ehrlick, A. The Population Explosion. New York: Simon and Schuster. (1990). Gammage, R. B. , Kaye, S. V. Indoor Air and Human Health. Lewis Publishers, Inc. Chelsea, MI. Khrisanov, N. I. and Osipov, G. K. Eutrophication control of water bodies. Gidrometeoizdat. Sankt-Petersburg, Russia, 278 p. (in Russian) (1993). Wadden, R. A. , Scheff, P. A. Indoor Air Pollution – Characterization, Prediction, and Control. 1983. John Wiley and Sons, Inc. New York, NY.