Month: September 2015

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Overpopulation effects on urban life

“Urbanization, Overpopulation – National Geographic.” National Geographic. Web. 24 Aug. 2015. <http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/habitats/urban-threats2/>.

 

Overpopulation poses many threats to our society and planet. Urban growth can overwhelm social services and increase poverty. When there is an excess of people the amount of waste can be uncontrollable. Air pollution is also a negative effect of overpopulation and because more people require more resources nonrenewable resources will deplete faster.

 

Over population can be dangerous for human life. Too many people could overwhelm current systems and lead to a collapse of society.  Disposal of waste and air pollution are big issues that continue to grow as does the population. To counter these immediate problems people must use less and leave a smaller ecological footprint.

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Predictions of Overpopulation

Haberman, C. (2015, May 31). The Unrealized Horrors of Population Explosion. Retrieved August 24, 2015. <http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/01/us/the-unrealized-horrors-of-population-explosion.html>

 

Over population is a major issue in modern society and predictions of when humanity will grow beyond what the earth can support have been many times. Paul R. Ehrlich is the most well-known to make this prediction because he predicted the end so soon and when his predictions didn’t come true he was heavily criticized for his inaccuracy. Ehrlich stood by his predictions because when he made his predictions food was not as easily grown making the population limit much lower than it is now.

This relates to environmental science because Ehrlich made a prediction about when our environment could not support the number of humans. It has to do with carrying capacities of an environment and how humans can increase their environments carrying capacity with advanced agriculture. This manipulation of the environment can hurt the natural ecosystems.

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Solar Energy 5

Google launches ‘Project Sunroof’ to help you decide of solar power is right for you. (2015, August 23). Retrieved August 25, 2015  

http://wthitv.com/2015/08/23/google-launches-project-sunroof-to-help-you-decide-of-solar-power-is-right-for-you/

 

Google has just announced a new program that helps people with solar panels figure out how much sun the really use. It also allows for people considering buying solar panels, decide if it is worth the investment. This program analyzes, using a map, how much sun your particular house will get. It will also tell you where the best location on your roof is to place the solar panels. This program is called “Project Sunroof”. Finally this site tell you how much money you will save by using solar panels. However at the moment this site only works in San Francisco and the Bay area. Google says soon it will be available in all states.

Again I think this is important because it will encourage more people to use solar panels because they are able to estimate how much they will save. the more economic benefit placed on solar energy, the more it will be used.

 

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Solar Energy 4

Environmentalists: Incentivize solar power generation. (n.d.). Retrieved August 21, 2015 http://www.jpost.com/Business-and-Innovation/Environment/Environmentalists-demand-regulations-for-property-taxes-on-rooftop-solar-installations-413020

Israel is pushing for taxes to be taken off Solar panel installation prices. The country has made major improvements in Air pollution since the initial use of solar panels a few years ago. Many people feel that more solar energy will be used if access to the energy is cheaper. The country is also looking at this as an act of Social Justice. They feel the need for solar energy is improving the lives of many people in Israel and having such high prices on solar installation is prohibiting people from the use of the energy.

 

I think this article makes a good point on how much benefit solar energy has on pollution but solar energy is so expensive which is a big issue for people all over the world. There is a high price on using the sun for home energy, but why? We as humans use the sun for free as a source of energy. In this day and age with the technology we have it is crucial that we utilize the better environmental energies

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Solar Energy 3

30 MW Solar Farm Inaugurated In The Philippines – Energy Matters. (2015, July 27). Retrieved August 21, 2015.

The Philippines has just opened yet another solar farm. A Thailand native came to the Philippines and supplied a farm with 98,000,000 Solar panels. This farm is expected to create energy for about 50,000 households. Over 3,000 workers were employed to create this farm, and they will continue to work at the plant.

This is a very big step in a third world country. The installation of these solar panels not only had positive environmental effects, it was also highly beneficial for the economy of the Philippines. It provided over 3,000 jobs. This is very hard to do in a poor country. It is also providing power to homes that otherwise would not have much power to work with and at cheaper prices. Finally the philippines is a very polluted area. With these solar panels more energy is being created that is not bad for the environment.

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Solar Energy 2

Edwards, J. (n.d.). Retrieved August 24, 2015.

The White house has just announced monetary incentives for households using solar energy for power and electricity in homes. The incentive has a 1 billion dollar loan program for the purchase of solar panels. In California alone the White House is hoping this will bring Solar energy to 145,000 more homes.  It also allows new solar homes to pay off the cost of installation in taxes spread out over time, rather than just one hefty bill.

I think It is great that the White house is providing incentives for using solar energy for power and electricity. There are many benefits to solar energy. The more we use solar energy the cheaper electric bills will be. The White house has major influence on what people decide is right too do. Hopefully this pushes for more environmental friendly household changes.

 

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Solar Energy 1

Next Texas Energy Boom: Solar. (n.d.). Retrieved August 23, 2015.

Solar Energy for a long time has been mainly focused in California due to the benefit of alot of sun, and many industries wanted in improve the environment. However in a Pecos County, Texas, there are plans to build a solar farm. This farm will be as large as 900 football fields and will create One billion dollars in investments for Texas. This is similar to what arizona did a year ago. They created a large solar farm in order to gain money for the state. California, Nevada, and North Carolina produce the most solar energy at this time in the United States but Texas and arizona hope to join in soon.

This is important to the United States because we are depending on a lot of other countries for our energy. We take oil from all over. With the aid of Solar energy we will no longer need to rely so much on other countries. The United states through solar energy can produce much more sustainable energy. While a lot of people have slight issues with Solar Energy, the benefits outway the cons. Texas, setting up a solar farm is is expected to gain a lot of money and the cost of electricity and taxes should drop as well.

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Proposal to Ban Wind Energy in the LA County

California Wind Energy Association. “Wind Energy Industry Reacts to

LA County Supervisor Proposal to Ban Wind Energy.” July 13, 2015. Retrieved August 22nd, 2015 from http://www.calwea.org/pdfs/CalWEA_Press_Statement_LA_County_Antelope_Valley_7-13-15.pdf

This article explains the reaction by the California Wind Energy Association to reports that say that the Los Angeles County Supervisor may put a ban on wind turbines in unincorporated parts of Antelope Valley under LA jurisdiction. Across California, wind energy is providing over 70 Million dollars in revenue to counties and a ban would stop such benefits to LA County. California’s plan to achieve climate change goals depends majorly upon LA county as it is a very large area.

My reaction to this article is that this ban is potentially very problematic to the growth of wind energy as well as protection of the environment. Without a ban, wind energy can grow massively as well as put many other dirty power plants out of business which will protect the environment and work to slow down global warming.

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Wind Energy On the U.S. Power Grid

American Wind Energy Association. “American wind power reaches major power generation milestones in 2013.” March 5, 2014. Retrieved August 22nd, 2015 from http://www.awea.org/MediaCenter/pressrelease.aspx?ItemNumber=6184

In 2013, American wind energy accounted for upwards of 4% of the U.S. power grid. That year, wind energy was the 5th largest energy source in the country according to the Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration. The electricity generated by wind power has more than tripled since 2008, showing major growth in a very promising industry. Within the large amount of energy created from wind energy in 2013, California alone harvested enough electricity to power over 1 million homes.

This contribution to the U.S. and Californian power grids by way of wind energy is in fact incredibly important because, at the rate that wind energy is growing throughout the country, it will soon create much more electricity and shut down many dirty power plants that pollute the environment or use up fresh water to create energy. My reaction to this article is that Wind energy will soon become a much more influential piece in the field of providing electricity to California and the country.

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Wind Energy Decreasing Pollution

California Wind Energy Association. “Wind Energy, Tax Credits Needed to Combat Global Warming.” December 4, 2014. Retrieved August 22nd, 2015 from http://www.calwea.org/pdfs/Envt_CA_More_Wind_Less_Warming_Release_12-4-14.pdf

This article explains wind energy’s effect on pollution within California. In 2013, wind energy displaced nearly 10 million metric tons of carbon dioxide pollution in California alone. This change happens because as wind energy replaces old dirtier energy sources, the pollution of the older sources disappears because wind energy doesn’t cause the pollution that the dirty sources did.

Wind energy is extremely beneficial to the environment because due to the lessening of pollution, global warming can be slowed down massively. This article puts the effect of wind energy on pollution into scale, showing that it is in fact incredibly helpful to the environment as a replacement to older forms of energy that polluted the environment. Global warming is a massive environmental issue so this effect that wind energy has on pollution is very beneficial.