"Wisdom begins in wonder" – Socrates
Category: Earth/Climate science
Landfills
05/06/17
“Where does trash go?”
Every second of every hour of every day humanity disposes of large volumes of trash. However, have you ever wondered where this trash goes? Well, let’s use our engineering mindsets to figure out. One very lazy way is just to dump everything under a big pile of land and cover it up to not worry about it! These systems are known as landfills and are used all over the world, from the plains of North America to the forests of Europe.
Exhaust gas
04/22/17
“Why do diesel engines vehicles cause pollution?”
Every day, you probably hear about how the levels of greenhouse gas concentration in the atmosphere are growing exponentially, and how much of that derives from the use of petroleum vehicles. However, why do such machines cause so much harm? Well, let’s use our scientific mindset to figure this out. Upon analysis, one would be able to obtain that the exhaust gas emitted by vehicles are composed of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and hydrocarbons. These pollutants are potent greenhouse gasses, and can not only impinge upon the health of the atmosphere but the health of human society through the instigation of smog and other health hazards.
Desalination plants
04/21/17
“How can we make saltwater drinkable for humans?”
Humanity is running into a problem. With each year our water supplies are getting lower and lower. Soon enough, we may not be able to provide ourselves with one of the most basic components of life.
But does it have to be this way?
If we apply our engineering mindsets, then we can devise a method for water purification to sustain our livelihoods. To begin, let’s start out with some simple chemistry. 96% of the water on this planet is stored in oceans as salinated water. And because of its salty nature, by default, it is unsafe for human consumption. However, we must take one more fact into consideration, that the evaporation point of liquid water is lower than that of salt. So what if we used some simple logic and create a device that would heat salt water up until the point of evaporation, move it over into another container, and then condense it into drinkable water? Well, this is the fundamental idea behind a system which engineers have termed desalination plants, and are used to treat saltwater around the world. One downside of traditional desalination plants is the vast amount of energy required to heat up the water, taking around 5 kWh for a cubic meter of just fresh water!
Aeroponics
04/20/17
“How does NASA grow plants suspended in the air?”
With the advent of hydroponics, the roots of plants have been liberated from the soil, allowing for far more sustainable agricultural systems to develop. One of these methods actually involves suspending the roots of the plant in the air and then filling the environment with a nutrient mist. Scientists have termed this process aeroponics, and allows for a higher density yield and allow for the roots to more efficiently absorb oxygen. However, one drawback is that this system must be constantly sprayed with a 35% hydrogen peroxide to prevent the spread of impinging fungi and bacteria. NASA uses aeroponic systems to grow food for astronauts on year long missions.
Hydroponics
04/19/17
“Can we grow plants without soil?”
For the vast majority of human civilization, human agriculture has relied on the soil it rested upon to grow plants. However, with the ascent of global urbanization, global warming, and soil acidification, we must find novel ways to generate agriculture in order to survive. So what is one way we can achieve this? Well, let’s use our engineering mindset to find out. One of our major roadblocks is that we need to rely on soil material to grow our plants, so what if we were to create a way to grow such lifeforms without the use of soil? Well, a fascinating technology known as hydroponics accomplishes this using a technique in which minerals in a water solute are directly substituted for soil, therefore enabling sufficient nutrition for plant growth. Hydroponics is being used all over the world to create urban agricultural systems, and might become a major agricultural powerhouse in their own right one day!
Fracking pollution
04/03/17
“How does fracking cause pollution? ”
Now that the fracking process has been covered, it would only be logical to cover how fracking causes pollution as well.
When natural gas is suctioned up from the Earth, the coarse and toxic fracking fluid is taken in with it. Since this material is completely corrosive, it must be stored somewhere. Usually, this fluid will be kept in deep underground “pits” strewn throughSincearea. SInce these pits are dug into the earth, the stored waste can seep into the surrounding area and pollute groundwater that is used by humans. Not only this, but earthquake frequency also skyrockets as pushing fluids deep underground degenerates the earth’s internal structure.
If you have carefully read through this series of articles, you should now have the necessary knowledge to make informed voting and policy decisions regarding fracking
The fracking process
04/02/17
“How exactly does fracking happen?”
Turn to any energy new source and you are bound to read debates about a nascent energy process called fracking so heated that they could power a steam turbine. However, before we make any decisions regarding its benevolence or malevolence, it is our duty as scientific thinkers to learn about the fundamental process first.
Until recently, natural gas was thought to be a worthwhile extraction only if it was found in dense quantities. However, there is an expansive amount of such resources scattered within rock formations hundreds of feet below the Earth’s surface. Since these reserves hold voluminous potential, petroleum engineers came up with a method known as hydraulic fracking. With fracking, pipes are constructed that will delve hundreds of feet below the Earth’s crust to thrust high-pressure fluids (containing water, proppant, and chemical additive) to open up the natural-gas containing rocks. Once cracked, the fluid will then be sucked back into a container, where the waste fluid will be separated from the natural gas, therefore producing energy-containing materials.
Now that we know more about this fracking process, we can act as informed citizens and vote accordingly. Tune in to learn about the environmental hazards of this method
How the poor will be disproportionately affected by climate change
02/11/17
“Is it true that fighting climate change will also fight poverty?”
In the current political discourse over climate change, there seems to be people camped on to two sides, those who value action to increase the impact of sustainable systems and those who value fighting poverty. However, if one were to analyze this issue scientifically, then one would realize that this is a false dichotomy. An increase in global temperatures would cause a corresponding devastation in agriculture. Not only would this inhibit the daily productivity of impoverished farmers worldwide, but it would also cause a rise in food prices. Since the global poor spend the majority of their income on food, this would cripple their livelihoods. On top of this, since much of the developing world lives near the equator, increased global temperatures will make this already balmy region even hotter, throwing the entire system out of equilibrium and devastating people of lesser economic means. Therefore, if you see a politician talk about how investing in sustainability is a “waste of money” please tell them to analyze the facts and then make an informed decision.
A brief primer on coal’s demise
Isaac Gendler
01/27/17
“Why is it that coal is on a pre-destined trajectory to decline?”
The current president of the United States has promised to return the dwindling coal industry back to it’s pre-post-industrial “glory days”, and has already taken action to lobotomize it’s supposed vanquisher, the EPA. However, despite Trump’s rhetoric, coal is on an inevitable decline regardless of action from regulatory agencies. Instead, the main agents for the decline of coal are simple economic and market factors.
Over a century of mining activity in the Appalachia region of the United States has resulted in a dearth of easy to reach coal. This causes the prices for said item to rise, hamstring their market competitiveness with the ever declining prices for renewable energy resources (which compose of two-thirds of all new generating capacity in the United States). Compounding this with growing international concern for climate change and a decreasing desire to use power supplies to contribute to it, the market for coal is shrinking ever more. So even with the environmental regulations set by the prior administration’s EPA, not much can be done to save coal. Instead of trying to resurrect a dying technology, the United states should move forward with adopting cleaner forms of energy, since a nation walks faster looking forward
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