http://www.treehugger.com/fossil-fuels/nasa-satellite-photos-show-decline-key-coal-pollution.htmlBrian Merchant
December 2, 2011
December 2, 2011
This article is about how the U.S. has cut down on the pollutants coal produces, without just flat out getting rid of it as a fuel source. These satellites have shown that the amount of sulfur dioxide has registered a very steep decline in these past years.All they had to do to make this sulfur dioxide less abundant, was add desulfurization devices. These effectively scrub the air and take out the sulfur dioxide. This "cleaner" air is much better for our earth, and reduces the chance of acid rain. They managed to achieve all of this without laying anybody off, and actually ended up hiring people to install these new desulfurization devices.
I think that this addition is extremely beneficial to us. Coal is the biggest polluter out of the fossil fuels and now we've found ways to clean it up. This will stop acid rain, and create jobs. Overall, this is just a great solution to this problem. I hope that we can keep this up and keep inventing new things that will help us stop pollutants from getting into the air. I also hope that they can find ways to do this for other fossil fuels that heavily pollute the environment.
Questions
#1: What other ways do you know of that helps us stop pollution like this? Are they being used effectively?
#2: Do you think we should continue using these fossil fuels as energy? Why or why not?
#3: Is the energy coal gives us worth the harmful effects on the environment? Why or why not?
I am very glad to hear that our pollution is decreasing. This is the first blog post that actually deals with something positive, and it is good to hear about. It's good that someone figured out how to make the air cleaner of coal. Maybe next they will find ways to clean it of other contaminants.
ReplyDeleteQuestion 2
No, I do not think that we should still be using fossil fuels for energy. There are many "cleaner" ways to do this, and people now realize the environmental impact that burning fossil fuels has.
Question 3
Like I said in question 2, there are many ways to have energy besides burning coal that are better for human health and for the environment. Coal will not last much longer at the rate that we are burning it, and we will need to find something else to use for energy before it is gone forever.
I am happy to finally see an article about something good that is happening to our environment. Athough based on what I've learne dthoeugt my entire life I feel pressed to think that this article is not true. I think that it's great what we have done and are still doing but this is only one footstep in the direction that we need to take. If people are satisfied with what we have have accomplished as of now they are wrong and are doing no good for the progression of this clean up process.
ReplyDeleteQuestion 2: I think we will need to use these fossil at least for another generation in order to transition to using cleaner energy sources. It would far too dificult to make a straight transition from one type of source to the other. What we should do is over the next 50 years we should gradually use less and less fossil fuels and more and more renewable resources. Then by the time any non renewable resources compleatly run out we will have successfully transitioned to using only renewable resources.
PS: Yes I know I never posted. I've been trying over and over this whole week to get blogger to work correctly for me and it hasn't. I have been unable to create a post. I did give the post to Mrs. DeLuca and I don't know if you guys will ever get to see it or not.
I'm happy to learn that we are making an attempt to help the environment while also creating jobs. Hopefully we can figure out how to get other contaminants out of the air. I'm sure we could, and that would be great for the environment and the economy!
ReplyDeleteI feel like people think that helping the environment will hurt the economy even more, but obviously it can really help. If anything, this should really inspire big companies to go out and try to make a difference.
Hopefully, though, we can figure out a way to do this with all contaminants so we can have a cleaner, healthier earth.
Question #2: I think we need to ease ourselves off of fossil fuels since they obviously harm the environment very much. Either way, we'll have to stop using them soon since we are quickly depleting the Earth's resources and we will run out of fossil fuels soon.
I personally think that this is pretty cool. I mean I know that this doesn't completely solve the problem, but it certainly must help. We are going to run out of coal soon, possibly in our lifetime. It's nice to know that while we still have "to use" it we are at least trying to find ways to make it marginally cleaner. Alternative energy solutions is something that I think about a lot. It is becoming one of the biggest global issues that we are facing right now.
ReplyDeleteIn response to question number three I think that right now, the energy coal gives us is unfortunately worth it. I really don't like that it is polluting the environment as much as it is, but until we come up with a viable replacement we need coal. I hope we can find an alternative energy solution as soon as possible.