France Set to Shut Down All Coal Power Plants By 2023

Sydney Mkay. “France Set to Shut Down All Coal Power Plants By 2023 – The Ring of Fire Network.” The Ring of Fire Network. N.p., 20 Nov. 2016. Web. 21 Nov. 2016.(https://trofire.com/2016/11/20/france-set-shut-coal-plants-2023/)

In the article, the author reveals that France is attempting to remove all coal power plants from its country by the year 2023. They are also attempting to become carbon neutral by the year 2050. Along with being an environmental leader, France also creates 75% of its energy from nuclear fission.

By removing all coal power plants from their country, France is making a huge step in helping the environment. These sort of changes are what makes France an environmental leader as the article stated. More countries should use nuclear fission for energy. France’s actions should be very beneficial for the environment and their actions should be followed by other countries.

Optimism Runs High for Coal Industry, despite Trump’s Conflicting Promises

Kery Murakami CNHI Washington Reporter. “Optimism Runs High for Coal Industry, despite Trump’s Conflicting Promises.” Terre Haute Tribune Star. N.p., 20 Nov. 2016. Web. 21 Nov. 2016. (http://www.tribstar.com/news/optimism-runs-high-for-coal-industry-despite-trump-s-conflicting/article_316eb35a-6e9c-5fdb-b48f-c411383ffb78.html)

The article describes the implications for the future that Trump is proposing for the coal industry. He has stated that he is going to end the assault on coal that current president Barack Obama has implemented. Although he wants to end the war on coal, he also wants to increase production and infrastructure for natural gas, a task that many are criticizing him for, saying it cannot really be done.

With Trump’s proposed plan for the use of coal, the environment will likely suffer. The end of the “war on coal”, will increase pollution. Also to help coal, you have to increase the price of natural gas, not lower it, as Trump is proposing. In conclusion, the proposed plans for coal will likely cause the environment to suffer.

Enabling China to Shift from Coal to Natural Gas

Http://www.facebook.com/scienceblogfan. “Enabling China to Shift from Coal to Natural Gas – ScienceBlog.com.” ScienceBlog.com. N.p., 20 Nov. 2016. Web. 21 Nov. 2016. (https://scienceblog.com/489974/enabling-china-shift-coal-natural-gas/)

The article reveals China’s ambition to add the useage of natural gas instead of coal. They hope to have 10 percent of their energy come from natural gas by 2020 instead of the 6 percent it is now. To put that in perspective the global average is 25 percent. The benefits from the decrease in coal use have been predicted to decrease welfare costs by 0.5% due to cleaner air.

China has had many pollution problems. The air has been contaminated so severely that it causes health problems. The decrease in coal use and increase in natural gas use should be very beneficial for the environment due to less pollutants in the air. People will inherently be more healthy due to the cleaner air.  

Rise in Imported Coal Prices Puts Overseas Coal Mines Back in Focus

Pillay, Amritha. “Rise in Imported Coal Prices Puts Overseas Coal Mines Back in Focus.”Business Standard News. Business-Standard, 20 Nov. 2016. Web. 21 Nov. 2016.(http://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/rise-in-imported-coal-prices-puts-overseas-coal-mines-back-in-focus-116112000644_1.html)

The article summarizes the increase in coal prices and the results from it. India has now increased its investments in their mines as a result. The company, GMR, has invested 500 million dollars recently into Indonesia’s PT Golden Energy to purchase 30 percent of the stakes. A coal analyst that was quoted in the article said that the increase in coal prices may cause many of the energy companies to invest in coal mines if the price begins to firm.  

The article leads us to the conclusion that the increase in coal prices could actually allow the coal market to grow. The large investments from the energy companies would allow the growth to happen. This could hurt the environment since the energy companies would still continue to use coal to create energy.

Asian LNG and Coal Prices Jump to Rarely Seen Highs- Nikkei Asian Review

“Asian LNG and Coal Prices Jump to Rarely Seen Highs- Nikkei Asian Review.” Nikkei Asian Review. N.p., 20 Nov. 2016. Web. 21 Nov. 2016. (http://asia.nikkei.com/Markets/Commodities/Asian-LNG-and-coal-prices-jump-to-rarely-seen-highs)

The article reveals that the prices of coal and liquefied natural gas have taken a large to unusual highs. Apparently the price of coal has doubled since last January. Also China has restricted the number of days coal mines can operate. Now Chinese power companies are importing much more coal to replenish their supplies. As most Asian companies use long-term contracts for most of their coal imports, one of the major importers just agreed to an annual contract for $94.75 per ton of coal, which is the highest it has been in four years.

Hopefully the increase in coal prices will drive companies to switch to other, less polluting resources for energy. Coal pollutes much more than the other alternatives to create energy. Since the prices have doubled within a year, we should see companies making the change but we cannot be sure. To sum it up, it should create change that would benefit the environment.

Acid Rain and Snow

Melting snow and heavy rain downpours can result in episodic Melting snow and heavy rain downpours can result in what is known as episodic acidification. Lakes that do not have usually have high levels of acidity may temporarily experience effects of acid rain when the melting snow brings great amounts of acidic deposition and the soil cannot absorb it. This can result in short term stress on the ecosystem.

Acid rain can affect any environment. However, I do find it interesting that snow is also negatively affected. I wonder why doesn’t the ice particles in the air absorb  the acid and release it when the snow melts. I also wonder if there a way to stop the snow from becoming acidic in the presence of the harming.

 

Source:

ENN: Environmental News Network — Know Your Environment. (2016, September). Retrieved December 02, 2016, from http://www.enn.com/ecosystems/article/50014

Air Quality and Acid Rain

Sulfur Dioxide affects air quality. It is generally produced in the burning of sulfur-containing fossil fuels, mostly in vehicle engines, power plants and domestic heating. It combines very happily with water to produce sulfuric acid. In the atmosphere, this makes it the main cause of acid rain, causing damage to buildings, alters our lakes and rivers, and strips soil of its essential nutrients. SO2 also irritates the lungs and throats of anyone who breathes in even low levels of it, and it particularly affects those with existing respiratory conditions, such as asthma or bronchitis.

There is a whole cycle of pollution that somehow, can be lead back to acid rain and its effects. I personally never thought that small particles in the air can affect everyday life. The worse pollution gets so does acid rain and vice versa, there should be a solution to stop this abusive cycle.

 

Source:

(2016, July). Retrieved December 02, 2016, from

http://www.forbes.com/sites/lauriewinkless/2016/07/11/air-quality-in-cities-what-you’re-actually-breathing-in/

Benefits of Acid Rain

The environment can adapt to a certain amount of acid rain. Often soil is slightly basic, because bases counteract acids, these soils tend to balance out some of the acid rain’s acidity. However areas, such as southeastern United States, where limestone does not naturally occur in the soil, acid rain can harm the environment. Frogs, have a hard time adapting to and reproducing in an acidic environment. Plants such as evergreen trees, are damaged by acid rain and acid fog. Due to needles being destroyed the black forest had a lack of green pine needles. Acid rain has also eaten away the stone in some buildings and stone artwork.

The rot we see on buildings come from acid rains, looking at buildings today in places like New York we see wear and tear but not really any drastic erosion on buildings. We can assume this is due to the amount of acid actually put into the atmosphere through rain. Acid rain is very common, however small amounts are released every so often, meaning that the amount of amino acids in the air builds over centuries. Reading the part about the frogs, it makes me think that in certain areas that acid rain leads to the extinction of certain species, since the rainfall can make it harder for certain species to adapt and reproduce.

Source:

Wong, J. (2016, November 06). Gardens: The surprising benefits of acid rain. Retrieved November 30, 2016, from

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/nov/06/the-surprising-benefits-of-acid-rain

Acid Rain Imposes on North American lake

The impact of decades of acid rain (better known as acid precipitation) is causing North American lakes to turn to jelly. The water isn’t literally turning to jelly, but acid reduces the availability of calcium in lakes, only aquatic organisms with low calcium requirements can survive, causing others that have higher calcium requirements to become covered in a jellyish coating. The overabundance of these critters disrupts food webs and clogs intake pipes. The biological impact of “jellification” is unknown, but this development is especially disheartening given that the effort to combat acid precipitation was mostly successful. This can cause disruption in aquatic ecosystems, killing fish and aquatic organisms.

Shocking how acid rain is found to be affecting our environment in different ways. There should be some regulations the government can pass to insure the purification of lakes and rivers. I never thought that acids can cause “jellification” in bodies of water.

 

Source:

The Latest Legacy of Acid Rain: Jellied Lakes | JSTOR Daily. (2016, November). Retrieved December 1, 2016, from

http://www.bing.com/cr?IG=27103B6D701845F79C3AB654BBF1FC59&CID=36908AB83A7762DA30D983583B4663BA&rd=1&h

=8a2WPmnw2SpuwRSTNYp6xf-7EcyY0BiqXoKz4ew0QCk&v=1&r=http://daily.jstor.org/the-latest-legacy-of-acid-rain-jellied-lakes/

&p=DevEx,5085.1

Does Greenhouse Gasses Effect Acid Rain?

Acid rain is any form of precipitation with high levels of nitric and sulfuric acids. Acid Rain occurs from small/dry material that comes from fog. These small particles settle on earth and raises the levels of sulfuric and nitric acids. Rotting vegetation and erupting volcanoes release some chemicals that can cause acid rain, but most acid rain falls because of human interactions with the burning of fossil fuels. Coal burning is the biggest factor;power plants, factories, and automobiles also emmitt acids that contribute to Acid Rain, when released into the atmosphere. These chemical gases react with water, oxygen, and other substances that form solutions of sulfuric and nitric acid. Winds can spread these acidic solutions across the atmosphere up to over hundreds of miles. When acid rain reaches Earth, it runs across the surface in runoff water, it then enters water systems, and sinks into the soil. Acid rain has many ecological effects, but the greatest impact it has is on lakes and streams. Acid rain makes waters acidic and causes them to absorb the aluminum that makes its way from soil into lakes and streams. Some species can tolerate acidic waters better than others. However, eventually this will end up affecting the whole entire food chain, including non-aquatic species.

Knowing that acid rain can run into water systems and destroy aquatic environments is very concerning. If society as a whole limited our role in the emissions of greenhouse gasses, we can lower the amount of acid rain. Because of acid rain, lakes and streams are highly affected, that makes one wonder if acidic water is causing a decrease in aquatic biodiversity? I think in order to reduce these kinds of things from happening, we should start with regulations that limit the amount of greenhouse gasses emitted per month by humans.

 

 

Source:

Society, N. G. (2016, September). Acid Rain Facts, Acid Rain Information, Acid Rain Pictures, Acid Rain

Effects – National Geographic. Retrieved November 30, 2016, from

http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/acid-rain-overview/