Living Green Is Going To Have A Positive Impact On Our World Which We Can Leave To Our Children

By Howard Grier

image: depositphotos

We are now living in a world where pollution is adversely affecting everything in nature, and we're seeing terrible effects like acid rain and global warming. It appears as if we're ignoring the damage we're causing this amazing planet of ours. How wonderful it would be if we could breathe natural air in our cities, uncontaminated by poisons and toxins due to our way of living. However, this is no longer attainable; we humans have guaranteed that with the pollution we've created we'll be breathing in airborne poisons, which can impair our habitat and ultimately our health.

All types of life found in that massive body of water, our oceans, which total 70% of planet earth's surface, are being ravaged by pollutants such as oil and chemical spillage, which inevitably affects us as well. Lots of fishing jobs that were reliant on the healthy bounty of the sea have been wiped out. Since way back in time, fishing has fed and given economic means to a significant section of our population, all of which is already being taken from many. Anyone wanting to be persuaded of how harmful oil spills are, need look no further than the recent Deep water Horizon disaster, which cost billions to subsequently fix and left many unemployed. The whole ecosystem was damaged through the large numbers of wildlife that perished, avian as well as marine, causing a backlash along the whole of the food chain. An unfortunate example of mankind prioritizing its short-term necessity for oil, a dead substance, over the well-being of the earth and its other inhabitants.

Why We Shouldn't Use Fossil Fuels

By Pete A Harris

image: depositphotos

Fossil Fuels

Consumers are familiar and comfortable with conventional power sources. Power generated by fossil fuels such as coal, natural gas, or petroleum (oil) is widely used across the world and many countries rely on these finite resources as the primary source of power production. According to the latest report by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (2011a), fossil fuels are expected to continue supplying much of the energy used worldwide, with petroleum based fuels remaining the largest source of energy.

However, there are significant problems with relying on this type of energy. Firstly, fossil fuels are not considered a renewable energy. The formation of coal, natural gas and oil takes millions to billions of years; consequently these resources will be consumed well before they are renewed. Experts have suggested that the world is currently at the peak of oil production, with only another forty years of oil reserves available and sixty five years of gas remaining. With population growth continuing to rise and the nature of economic growth and consumption, undoubtedly these fossil fuels will become very scarce and eventually unavailable.

It is reasonable to expect that as these resources become further reduced, the cost of power will increase and it will become less affordable for many people. This is a scary prospect, especially for future generations.

Whilst there are very legitimate concerns about the future availability of fossil fuels, another problem is the environment impacts of using fossil fuels for our principle energy source. Fossil fueled power stations are major emitters of carbon dioxide (CO2), a greenhouse gas considered one of the major contributors to global warming within the last century. For example, the burning of brown coal emits three times as much CO2 as natural gas, and black coal emits twice as much CO2 per unit of electric energy generated. Unless new technology can be developed to make energy production 'greener', regulations to reduce CO2 emission will certainly impact the consumer, whether this is by higher prices due to carbon taxes or a limitation to the amount of energy available.

The impact of burning fossil fuels on human health is also a major concern. For example, exposure to particulates released from coal power plants has been proven to increase death through respiratory and cardiac problems (Grahame and Schlesinger, 2007). These particulates irritate small airways in the lungs, which can lead to increased problems with asthma, chronic bronchitis, airway obstruction, and gas exchange (Nel, 2005). Uranium, thorium and other naturally occurring radioactive isotopes are also found in low levels within coal. Whilst they are in low concentrations, there is enough coal being burnt that there is a significant amount of these substances being released, causing radioactive contamination of the environment. Other damaging side effects of burning coal are the contamination of waterways. Research has shown that the coal ash produced by coal-fired power plants dumped at sites across America has lead to the contamination of ground water with toxic element, including dangerous poisons such as arsenic and lead (Schoof, 2010).