Pollution in the Charles River

Posted on September 15, 2009 by mastadonzq

chales 2

pollution

I just read a book called Zodiac by Neal Stephanson and I liked it very much mostly because it takes place in Boston, the rivers and harbor which I know quite well.

It made me realize how different things are now in terms of pollution. In the eighties even the Charles and the Inner harbor were totally toxic, and I remember seeing the remnants.

44 Pleasant street in Watertown and behind all buildings to the west of there was poison. The small waterfall directly to the east had shopping cart, plastic bags, and all sorts of unidentifiable trash. I saw a large transistor and battery once.

Me and my friends played in the extensive muck  surrounding the beginning of the smooth Charles, past the tiny waterfall in Watertown.

Creepy trees growing out of slime

All still water a magic petroleum of rainbow colors

sink to the knees take many showers

But now like many places in Boston, IE Southie and the Combat Zone, the river has been gentrified.

Rich folks lead to clean rivers and corners and I suppose it’s not a bad thing, the Charles River in Watertown smells good and in the former combat zone there is nary a hooker or coke dealer to be seen.

The point is that at least in North America (excluding Mexico) the populous seems to have a proper outrage at being poisoned and so at least on the surface, plants can grow again.

charles-river-in-watertown5

Filed under: Business, Environment, Philosphy, Recycling, Science, Tidal Power | Tagged: , , , | 2 Comments »

Conflicting results

Posted on August 14, 2009 by mastadonzq

SeaLevelSatellite2000_12we21

I got some harsh feedback from the last post, particularly because of the idea that sea levels are not rising. The UN hired some scientists to research levels rising and when they found no positive results they were fired and replaced with scientists who found results more in line with the rest of the report.

don’t overestimate our knowledge of the global climate, particularly it’s influences and reactions, very little about the climate is intuitive

the earth is on a much larger time scale, we have existed for the smallest fraction of time and may not be as powerful as we think…I hope not.  Take a look at scenarios showing t what would happen if humans disappeared instantly.

The tides are mysterious, oddly enough in the 19th century we had the tides down to the minute but that’s a secret lost in the modern age.  Perhaps this is because it isn’t necessary  to sail on the tides anymore, I’ve had to do that when a motor broke and it’s quite a pain in the ass.

-we know more about the moon than the ocean

–this is not a reason to think emissions and pollution are not dangerous

at this point all sides of the political debate are throwing out a lot of BS…lots of spin on both sides.

find the studies by Dr. Nils-Axel Mörner, he’s an expert in the field despite the slander of fools.

sea level fall morner

Filed under: Business, Environment, Global Warming, Science | Tagged: , , , | 1 Comment »

“It offends the human ego that nature is indifferent to our dreams”

Posted on July 13, 2009 by mastadonzq

This post is somewhat dated, I’ve been moving and haven’t had internet.

I forget where I heard that quote but if you haven’t guessed it relates to the G8’s “decision” not to allow an increase in global temp of more than 2C

This is dumb because it implies that we have a lot more control over global climate than we do.

Yes reducing carbon emissions would help the planet get back to an equilibrium but whether we can actually stop the current trends initiated more than two hundred years ago is a different question.

It is arrogant to state we have this much control over nature and stupid to assume that we know what will happen as temperatures rise.

Take sea level rise for example, IT IS NOT HAPPENING.  This is not to say we shouldn’t reduce emissions and be clean for the future, just that symbolic goals without any reason to believe we can accomplish them doesn’t seem like the most effective way to change things.

…Particularly not when developing countries (ie the majority of the world) refuse to abide by this “decision”

G8_climaterankingGraphic_z_2

Filed under: Business, Environment, Global Warming, News | Tagged: , , , , | Leave a comment »

Top 50 Environmental Engineering Blogs

Posted on June 26, 2009 by mastadonzq

GROG is on this LIST at number 13 as an “Industry Insider”

They even wrote a little summery:

“GROG: green tech blog The main focus of this blog is Green Technology. Get reviews of the newest developments in sustainable design and renewable energy, and certain technologies that will promote energy independence and a cleaner environment.”

The list is a resource for engineering students and has a lot of good blogs on it.

Filed under: Environment, News | Tagged: , , | 1 Comment »

What are China’s Priorities?

Posted on June 9, 2009 by mastadonzq

There is somewhat of a standoff going on between all the countries in the world over this cap and trade emissions idea.  Most notably is the US and China as we account for 40% of the world’s carbon emissions.

So what happens if we cap our emissions and China does not?

First we should look at what China wants because this is a hard thing to pin down.  It seems clear that the people in charge in China do not put the same value on human life or quality of life.  It follows that they could really care less about the environment or it’s inhabitants and wouldn’t pursue alternative energy on the grounds it poisons the planet.

China does want to be THE new superpower in the world and if they are clever they will have figured out that long term growth will inevitably require alternative energy infrastructure.  China already has some alternative energy initiatives in place.

if we cap and they don’t we could put carbon tariffs in place but that might just lead to a large black market…

So until peak oil declines and coal reserves run out, China won’t actually cap emissions because it is a short term economic restriction. They will invest in alternative energy but like everyone else they will use fossil fuels to the bottom of the barrel.

Of course we might be told that they have capped emissions but like most regulations in China, they will go unenforced.

garbage river

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Managed relocation of endangered wildlife

Posted on May 26, 2009 by mastadonzq

usa elephants

This is a debate that has become more relevant as more and more people get freaked out about all the species that are being killed indirectly by people.

I say why not?

If Asian elephants are being poached or if most of china’s air and water is fairly poisonous, send them to South Dakota. Nature is nothing if not adaptable though it does seem impossible to predict what would happen, some cases of invasive species are quite nasty.

We killed a lot of animals in this country, Teddy Roosevelt shot one of each and put them in the Smithsonian and way before that Native Americans killed all the animals of any large size in North and South America.  Now we have a lot of empty spaces that are devoid of large animals and since grazing generally improves the quality of the ecosystem over time, it could be beneficial to the American landscape as well as to the animals.

elephant-around-world

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Why burning carbon is bad, Chaos Theory and Laws of Thermodynamics

Posted on May 15, 2009 by mastadonzq

entropy

Givens:

The Earth is a closed system exposed to radiation.

  • Second law of thermodynamics, about entropy:
The total entropy of any isolated thermodynamic system tends to increase over time, approaching a maximum value or equilibrium.
  • First law of thermodynamics, about the conservation of energy:
The change in the internal energy of a closed thermodynamic system is equal to the sum of the amount of heat energy supplied to the system and the work done on the system.

A Basic Explanation of Chaos Theory:  This is a mathematical theorem that attempts to predict the behavior (results) of complex systems.  The result (answer) is K, which is a range of values not an actual number.  The greater the number of variables, the larger the value of K.  In a system with an infinite number of variables or a system where a large proportion of the variables are unknown, K is also undefinable.

Chaos Theory is the backbone of climate modeling.

Preliminary Conclusions:

Climate Modeling is inherently inaccurate because the unknown variables are too many.

-The chemical composition of the Earth is drastically different than it has ever been before due to our proliferation of heavy elements.

–This means that models based on historical climate change are also invalid.

Hypothesis:

The equilibrium of the planet has been thrown out of balance due to human activity.

The system has had significant additional work done on it by human industrial and population growth, increasing the internal energy and entropy.

The accumulation of heavy elements in the atmosphere has caused a green house effect, whereby the system’s membrane has become less permeable in terms of heat transference while retaining the same degree of permeability in terms of ultraviolet radiation.

The One Conclusion:

The Earth is experiencing an increase in Heat and Entropy.

This does NOT mean anyone has any idea what will happen as a result, all we can do is takes informed steps to minimise the effects of the earth restoring it’s own equilibrium.

living_earth

Filed under: Environment, Global Warming | Tagged: , , | 3 Comments »

A short discussion of Cap and Trade

Posted on May 5, 2009 by mastadonzq
cap_and_trade_article
Emissions trading (or emission trading) is an administrative approach used to control pollution by providing economic incentives for achieving reductions in the emissions of pollutants. It is sometimes called cap and trade.
A central authority (usually a government or international body) sets a limit or cap on the amount of a pollutant that can be emitted. Companies or other groups are issued emission permits and are required to hold an equivalent number of allowances (or credits) which represent the right to emit a specific amount. The total amount of allowances and credits cannot exceed the cap, limiting total emissions to that level. Companies that need to increase their emission allowance must buy credits from those who pollute less. The transfer of allowances is referred to as a trade. In effect, the buyer is paying a charge for polluting, while the seller is being rewarded for having reduced emissions by more than was needed. Thus, in theory, those that can easily reduce emissions most cheaply will do so, achieving the pollution reduction at the lowest possible cost to society.
It’s not every day we get to invent a commodity…
TeamLDCO (6:46:36 PM): do you have a post about cap and trade anywhere in your blog?
IRAHit (6:48:59 PM): no
IRAHit (6:49:09 PM): that’s a good idea though
TeamLDCO (6:49:23 PM): are you for or against it?
IRAHit (6:50:39 PM): well it seems to be working in europe as another commodities market
TeamLDCO (6:50:53 PM): hmm
TeamLDCO (6:51:16 PM): then why do conservatives say its a failure if it’s working?
IRAHit (6:51:24 PM): but it might put the US at a disadvantage
IRAHit (6:51:37 PM): they say it won’t work in the states
IRAHit (6:52:38 PM): cause china india africa south america ain’t capping shit
IRAHit (6:53:39 PM): we could pay a heavy price for being green
IRAHit (6:53:58 PM): though in the long term it would pay off
TeamLDCO (6:54:14 PM): thats what i think too
TeamLDCO (6:54:30 PM): so republicans don’t want to pay the initial costs
IRAHit (6:56:02 PM): well they seem to have less of a concern about global warming
IRAHit (6:56:14 PM): but yeah basically
IRAHit (6:56:52 PM): when the oil runs out we will be glad we have a sustainable energy infrastructure
TeamLDCO (7:00:13 PM): and
TeamLDCO (7:00:17 PM): at the current pace
TeamLDCO (7:00:24 PM): oil will be gone in our children’s lifetime
IRAHit (7:00:59 PM): probably ours
TeamLDCO (7:01:07 PM): geez

Filed under: Energy, Environment, Global Warming | Tagged: , , , | Leave a comment »

Earth Hour 2009: seeing at night

Posted on March 30, 2009 by mastadonzq

Here in Los Angeles I couldn’t tell that anyone had turned their lights off but HERE are some great pictures.

I would be interested to know if anyone saw the stars?

earth-hour-to-financial

Filed under: Environment, News | Tagged: , | Leave a comment »

Gas Hydrate solid methane

Posted on March 26, 2009 by mastadonzq

gas-hydrate

collected from the bottom of the ocean. vast amounts. Why can’t drill for it like we do for oil?

Those were the questions I had about the large amount of natural gas trapped mostly on the bottom of the ocean by the pressure and cold temperatures. One obsticle with drilling is the extreme depths…not like offshore oil drilling which is done in relatively shallow waters.

Gas hydrates are crystalline solids consisting of gas molecules, usually methane, each surrounded by a cage of water molecules.  Gas hydrate looks and acts like ice, but it contains vast amounts of methane.

The real problem with considering this as a fuel source is the fuel would be Methane. Methane is a Greenhouse gas and when it is burned for fuel it produces Carbon Dioxide.   Taking the Hydrate out would also destabilize the sea floor and cause giant Tsunamis. So let’s not spend a lot of time and money on this kind of pipe dream.

Filed under: Environment, Global Warming | Tagged: , , , , | 3 Comments »

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