Different energies Part 1

   Nuclear energy is using uranium to generate energy.
Pros 
-lower CO2 released in the atmosphere in power generation
- lower operating costs
-developed technology ready for market
-large power generating capacity able to meet industrial and city needs unlike low power technology like solar that might only meet the needs of local, residential or office needs but can not generate power for heavy manufacturing.
-existing and future waste can be reduced through waste recycling and re processing like Japan and the EU.

CONS
-high construction costs due to complex radiation containment systems and procedures
-high subsidies needed for construction and operation as well as loan guarantees
-subsidies and investments could be spent on other solution such as renewable energy systems
-high unknown risks in an accident
-unknown risks
-long construction time
-waivers are required to limit liability of companies in the event of an accident this means either no one will be responsible for any of the damage or the government will just cover the cost of the damages
-uranium sources are just as finite as other fuel sources such as coal, natural gas etc and are expensive to mine, refine and transport with a lot of environmental waste including green house gases
- waste last 200-500 thousand years


  Wind Power, the wind turns the propellers to create electricity
Pros
- Clean energy, no fuel to drill, mine transport or burn
-renewable and sustainable
-costs are relatively low and continue to decrease 
- Abundant domestic supply
- the power is basically free once the infrastructure is paid for
-low life cycle carbon footprint 
-can be used almost everywhere

CONS
- wind is inconsistent, unsteady and very unpredictable
-wind power is not cheap and like many energy sources, rely on the government subsidies to remain competitive
-wind farms are generally located in rural areas and some people complain that the wind generators are an eyesore
-people complain about the noise of the turbines
- birds and bats have had fatalities



   Tidal energy works like an under water wind turbine
PROS
-renewable, requires no fuel
-emission free
-reliable, a plant can last 100 years
-high efficiency
-predictable output
- could provide a storm surge barrier 
-environmental impact local not global

CONS
-expensive to build
-very location specific only 20 sites identified with high potential
- non continuous, storage or grid backup required
-barrages may restrict access to open water
- can change tidal level of local area
- impact on fish, marine mammals and birds
- disrupts regular tidal cycles- decreases salinity in tidal basins


  

  Waikiki Beach Erosion

     The Waikiki is a man made beach and is quickly eroding away. Because this beach was not natural it does not go naturally with where it is. The rising waters are continuously eroding away the sand that is always replaced there.

   There have been many attempts to keep Waikiki beach but so far none have been efficient. Waikiki beach has had erosion problems since the late 1800s when buildings were built way to close the the shore, by 1950 more then 80 structures including seawalls, groins, piers and storm drains were counted. 10 sand replacement projects since 1939. 300,000 cubic yards of sand has been placed into Waikiki beach over the passed 77 years. In the present  there have been many projects to keep the beach stable like the recovery of up to 24,000 cubic yards of sand from deposits located 1,500 to 3,000 feet off shore of the project are in a water depth of about 10 to 20 feet. Also pumping sand to an on shore dewatering site within the eastern Kuhio beach crib walls and the transport of sand bags along the shore in the project area.

   The Waikiki beach is a very popular beach for tourists and if it were to go not maintained then that would be a 2 billion dollar loss in overall tourists money and a 150 million dollar loss in tax revenue and a job loss of 6,350 people. The beach is an economic necessity but there are some dangers. Erosion caused a cement slap to be exposed that is uneven with sharp edges with pieces of rusting re-bar which could be very dangerous to the people on the beach. There has been a 100 ft plastic chain to highlight the problem to keep people away but the chain is dangerous to surfers because they surf and they can not stop mid wave and sometimes crash into it. 

Desertification in Botswana

      Desertification is a certain type of land degeneration were dry land slowly becomes more arid and usually lose its bodies of water, vegetation and wild life. It is caused by climate change and human activities like pumping water and the overuse of soil.


    Botswana is a semi arid to arid country in the Kalahari region in South Africa. Botswana is drought prone and it is difficult to have a good idea of how the country looks like because there are only fifty data points. At one point it is dry and arid while the other will be in a thick forest. Botswana gets around a minimum of 250 mm of rain in the south west and a maximum of 650 mm of rain in the north east. Desertification is naturally very common in these countries like Botswana because of the already dry climate and climate change with accelerated soil erosion by wind is increasing its rate.


     Botswana, in terms of desertification is the most seriously effected countries in the Kalahari region of southern Africa. There are many human factors to deforestation. these include overstocking, sheet-washing and gullying and large scale vegetation depletion and changes. There is lots of pressure of commercial exploitation of a very fragile ecosystem owing to the increasing pressure on already crowded communal grazing areas in the east. Cattle plays an important role in the economy. 77% of the country is used for grazing and there is still not enough food for the cattle so the government imports cattle food. Since drought is very common and since the rain patterns are very predictable Botswana started to depend on ground water because of the increasing technology. Now 75% of the people and animals are dependent on ground water up to 100,000 million cubic meters of water with only 1% rechargeable by rain fall.



   There are quite a few challenges to stopping the spread of desertification.
- lack of community knowledge
- lack of space for infrastructure and people
- the need to increase agricultural land in the expense of forests
- climate change and frequent droughts
But there are some steps that people in Botswana are taking to help stop desertification 
-nurseries 20 producing 5 hectares of baby trees.
- 52 5 hectare woodlots and plantations
- sand dune stabilization
- reclaiming gullies and Dongas

     

Flooding in Queensland Australia

          On January 13th 2011 a major flood destroyed Queensland. The flood was caused by La Nina which is when an area gets an unusually large amount of rain. In Brisbane, the capital city, the water levels reached the highest at 4.46 meters when it started to recede. With houses being built trees are being uprooted so when high levels of water come flooding in there are no tree roots to stop erosion and to absorb water and with so much cement the water can not go under ground so it floods.

  Social impacts
        With a state the size of Germany and France combined completely flooded it was extremely difficult for first responders to give medical help to injured people. Across the state the flood related health challenges was trying to get access to clean drinking water, medicine and safe food. In Queensland wounds risked becoming infected and chronic illnesses escalated. But instead of physical trauma, the most coming symptom bringing people was stress related chest pain. Rockhampton suffered an out break of food poisoning due to food and water contamination, with sub tropical climate and power shortages speeding up the process of food rotting. For 24 hours people in Toowoomba had to boil there water to drink because of contamination. When the water reacted a certain level Queensland towns shut down utilities such as power, water and sewage services. The when people used different power sources like lanterns, generates and gas ranges inside homes they had the risk of dying from monoxide poisoning. So people who return to their homes they found them filled with toxic water, sewage, animal and human feces and petroleum products. Within 48 hours mold started to grow on carpets and on walls. Dampness indoors can last for weeks. The spores irritate allergies and asthma attacks especially in children. The mold also contaminated food. Many people also suffered from depression and anxiety from the disaster and the fear of losing someone close to them. 


  Economy impacts
       It is estimated that the cost of the flood is 6-9 billion dollars mostly because of the destruction of Queensland and also because of the sharp decline in tourism even when main attractions like the great Barrier Reef were undamaged. Queensland economy will suffer a lot because there tourism is a very big industry and tourism operators in Queensland say it will be at least a year before things get back to normal. The floods have closed roads and disrupted agriculture, coal and transport industries. The biggest short term impact in the terms of dollars is the disruption to coal exports and figures put that at 400 million dollars a week. Australia is the worlds largest coal exporter and the state of Queensland is the main export. Because of the economic damage and the disruption of agriculture food was to be expected to rise as much as 50%.

  Environmental impacts
        75% of Queensland had been declared a disaster zone. rivers flooded and when the levels went back down fish were stranded and then rotted in the sun and the floods swept away trees and dirt. When the houses and buildings were destroyed debris were washed everywhere littering the state. Because of the shut down of power and sewage the flood waters were filled with human and animal feces and chemicals contaminating the water and the soil. When the coal mines were flooded the government approve to pump out water from 44 different coal mines ignoring most environmental laws. The water that was pumped out in to rivers was highly contaminated with chemical and other deadly poisons. This destroyed many plants and animals and people were very upset when they learned what their government did. It will be a very long time if not never that the environment will recover from this disaster.

   Government Prevention

    Queensland is on a flood plain so it is impossible to prevent flooding but the council has developed a Brisbane's flood smart future strategy. The buildings in the future will be built with higher levels off the ground and to build in back flow devices to help curb the severity of future floods.

Pros and Cons of three types of water irrigation

Drip irrigation uses a system of tubes looped around each plant at soil level so that water can seep into the ground for instant moisture and can be controlled manually or timed with a timer.
Pros
-concentrating the irrigation to specific plants prevent weeds from growing nearby.
-retaining the moisture at the soil level also reduces water loss to wind and evaporation.
-the tubes supply an even amount of water to each plant.
-maintains a healthy soil environment with no muddy or drought areas.
- less runoff to local drains so soil keeps nutrients and reduces ground water pollution.
Cons
- bad installation often leads to poor root development and die back.
- very expensive
- the system needs periodic flushing to remove mineral build up and the farmers will have to check every single emitter for any blockage so water pressure does not build up within the tubing and damage the entire system.




Irrigation sprinkler system functions by dispensing water to the air to fall like natural rain.
Pros
- is ideal for most crops and so more adaptable to many irrigable soils.
- very efficient 
Cons
- can be impacted by wind
- some crops are affected by leaf scorch, fungal disease along with other damage which may be caused by salt being deposited on the leaves.
- costs a lot of money and requires lots of maintenance.


Surface irrigation
Pros
- less affected by climate and water quality factors .
- large areas can be irrigated
-floods can be controlled
Cons
- less efficient than other systems 
- difficult to engineer and very labor demanding
-drainage can also be a problem in some circumstances
-amount of available water varies from year to year.
-sediments in the irrigation water if not taken care of can lead to problems with crops and soil.


      farmers should use drip irrigation systems. It would be very expensive but what system is not? Also you would have to check every emitter to see if there is a blockage but it uses much less water. The water in the other system uses to much water and becomes polluted runoff or just makes weeds. Water is a very valuable resource and is starting to dry up so the country needs to think about that. 

Land Subsidence in the American South West

     Land subsidence is the lowering of the land surface elevation from changes that take place under ground. The increase in human activity underground have lead to land subsidence. Human activity is the cause because people are pumping water, oil and gas from under ground. Over drafting of aquifers is the major cause of land subsidence in the southern united states. As ground water pumping increases, so will the land subsidence. land subsidence is going to get worse in the next few years because the population is increasing and people us a lot more water then they need.

      When the underground water is pumped the rocks compact because the water is partly responsible for holding the ground up so when the water is taken away the rock falls in on itself. Land subsidence has a huge impact. Land subsidence leads to changes in elevation and slope of streams, canals and drains. It can also lead to damage to bridges, roads, railroads, storm drains, sanitary sewers and leeves. People homes and public buildings will be damaged. More then 80% of the identified subsidence in the nation has occurred because of exploitation of ground water.


Ways to prevent Land Subsidence
People should;
-take very short showers like 5-10 minute showers and no baths and only once a day.
- water flower pots but not grass and if you do water grass only for a small time and do not leave the hose running laying on the grass for a half hour.
-Put a brick or a milk jug filled with gravel in the back part of the toilet that holds water so your toilet does not flush as much water.
-when you need hot water from the tap, put a large container under the faucet while the water is running and you are waiting for it to go warm so the container catches the cold water and keep this water for when you are watering the flower pots.
-fix sinks so they do not leak.
- do not buy a massive pool for the yard unless you are going to actually use it.
-the mega hotels in Las Vegas should not use giant water fountains.