Wiki World: pollution

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Culling of Camels in Australia's Outback Is Misplaced

Where there's money to be gained someone will jump in. This is now the case for camels in Australia. Plans are being made to kill the animals in exchange for carbon credits. It is claimed that their flatulence is polluting the atmosphere.

Northwest Carbon apparently believes it owns the camels or has the sole right to cull them. The Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency first suggested taking such action. Apparently, one camel produces a ton of carbon dioxide each year. This is an exaggeration.

Culling camels has nothing to do with reducing Australia's carbon footprint. It is just a money-making exercise. Admittedly camels are feral. They were introduced into Australia in the 19th century because they were ideal for moving goods about in the dry outback. But their metabolism is higher than cattle and their pollution level is low.

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Climate

Plastic Resin Pellets Pollute Western Australian Beaches

Western Australian beaches are in the throws of an ecological disaster. Tiny pellets of plastic resin are in the environment which absorb industrial chemicals particularly pesticides. The pellets are a bi-product of plastic drink bottle manufacturing.

There is real danger that Bisphenol A will create estrogen leading to infertility. Bisphenol A was first found in plastic in the 1950s. Such plastic is now found everywhere. It is not known how or even if marine animals consume the plastic. Other chemicals, many estrogenic, are put into bottle plastic for flexibility, color and other properties. The chemicals are not fully absorbed in the plastic, so they migrate to the surface and escape. It was established several years ago that PCBs, DDT and HCH chemicals. all hormone disruptors. were in plastic resin pellets.

Australia is playing a "waiting game", watching to see what other countries do in regard to these pellets. Many people are not worrying because the pellets blend into the sand being small and a similar color. Stopping production in Australia will not do any good: many pellets drift here from other countries.

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Science

Australian Will Have a Higher Cost Of Living With a Carbon Tax

What has happened to Australian society that the support for a carbon tax, so high when Kevin Rudd was in charge, has vanished? It seems everyone thought that a tax on pollution wouldn't really mean a financial burden. With the sudden hits from water and electricity price increases they know that it will cost - a lot. Kevin is crying into his handkerchief saying they made me do it - his cabinet told him to give up his push for a carbon tax, so he says. Julia Gillard has apparently had a change of heart and it is now her baby.

Australians will have to accept that they will get less for their money in the near future. All countries will have to join the carbon club eventually. Not using as much petrol is a possibility, but doing without air conditioning particularly the wealthy that will be difficult. It seems the pillars of capitalism will be challenged. This is the kind of post-capitalism that twenty years ago hardly anyone would imagine. A society that really cares for the environment? That is something new. We have spent two centuries running rough-shod over the countryside, dumping pollutants everywhere. The time has arrived to get out the shovel and broom and start cleaning up.

Lower consumption will not be a problem. Permanent prices rises are in order across the board, with national GDP remaining at about the same level. The cost of living will be significantly higher. House prices will probably fall, though, due a lower capacity to pay. The problem lies in convincing those in developing countries that they will never enjoy the standard of living we in the West had for such a long time.

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News

You Cannot Avoid Polluted Air

If you want healthy lungs don't take up running or vigorous exercise. Perhaps it is better to head for the country and stay away from smokers. Your body needs clean air in order to stay healthy.

Living in cities is a no, no. If you live in London you will already have lung damage. Spending just 48 minutes there is equivalent to smoking a cigarette. It is not only cigarette smoke that is troublesome. Fumes from cars and diesel buses is something you can't avoid.

Heading indoors is a waste of time. Pollution condenses down into corridors, tunnels and homes. Toxins are more than double that of the external environment. Plants help to clear the air. Don't use artificial air fresheners. Even the television pumps out volatile organic compounds (VOC).

Unfortunately there is not a lot we can do in the modern world to avoid toxins. It's everywhere. Doing exercise will make the body take in more pollutants. Taking a holiday in the country is no answer - ozone from cities ends up there.

~~~~~Health~~~~~

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Don't Get Excited About Nuclear Power

The world is in a tight corner and people are far too optimistic. Thinking that carbon pollution will cure itself is not scientific fact. Only a fool would hang onto the notion that nothing is wrong. The poles are thawing out and that is fact. Polar bears are dwindling in number as their traditional frozen feeding grounds get warmer. Butterflies that used to stay on in winter in southern England have moved north to colder climes. Those species that stay are getting larger.

Despite coal power stations being the main culprit more are being built to meet Mankind's increasing demand. Much is said about nuclear power stations holding the key to a "clean" future. Used uranium is going around Europe at this very moment without finding a home in any country. Where will this dangerous product be put in the future? Unless it is blasted into space toward the sun there is no where for it to go. France gets more than 80 percent of its electric power from nuclear means, but this is the country with the used uranium problem.

Even some scientists say the carbon footprint of nuclear power will be reduced to zero. This is hogwash. If you ignore nuclear waste everything looks good. Include it and it all looks very bad indeed. Nuclear power isn't cheap. Building a nuclear power plant requires long term planning. Safe guards are costly. Their useful life is also limited. Coal plants can stay in operation for much longer.

Within twenty years all 25 of China's new nuclear plants will come online. The world will be a militants' paradise with used uranium for sale on the open market. The consequences will be catastrophic. Saying there is no carbon price is absolute rubbish. If a bomb goes off there will be plenty of pollution.

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