Florida was hit by a category 5 storm, Hurricane Irma, and now there is an indeterminate amount of wastewater that is accumulating over the land. The EPA estimated that there is tens of thousands of gallons of sewage piling out of the sewers in many parts of florida as a result to the storm.
Because of this, Florida’s devastation is not to be cleared any time soon, until solutions are proposed for this conflict. In class, we’re trying to propose solutions for our own assigned sewersheds, so maybe one of our solutions that we come up with may in fact be the one for Florida’s conflict.
This article quantifies the effects of pollution. To generalize, pollution is responsible for 16% of all deaths globally,
“Pollution, which us at the root of many diseases and disorders that plague humankind, is entirely preventable”(Lanphear).Moreover, negative effects of pollution disproportionately kills low income people (with 92% of deaths occurring in low income countries). This shows a link between money and environmental issues; leading countries should do their part and switch over to eco-friendly energy (seeing as third world countries may not have the resources). As more nations move towards sustainability more will follow. Lastly, this percentage is projected to increase if nothing is changed. Therefore, we should continue to encourage innovations in sustainability.
The article I posted on Twitter, shown above, is ominous, yet painfully true. Titled “Kiribati’s fight for survival,” the article discussed how the 33 islands that make up Kiribati, a low-lying nation in the Pacific, are in tremendous danger with climate change. The highest point on most of the islands is only a couple of metres above sea level. On one island, South Tarawa, there is only one road.
Rising ocean water as a result of climate change is threatening to engulf the islands. Not only will it sink Kiribati, it also leaves it susceptible to storm damage.
Houses on the lagoon side around the village of Eita have been isolated by salt water from sea incursions and storm surges.
The most immediate concern, tied also to climate change, is fear of crop destruction. Sea incursions and king tides are ruining taro plant pits and fresh water sources. Villagers are already being forced to relocate, as evidenced from the photo. One villager says the following: “I talk about life because before this land was full of banana, babai, coconut trees, so many coconut trees, so many trees we get food from, but now how can those trees continue to live when you don’t have fresh water to give them? This is community land and so everybody has a right to live on it but now it seems like the sea has taken that away.”
“At the southern end of Abaiang in the village of Tebontebike, Maria Tekaie leans against an uprooted coconut tree that used to be 100 metres from the shore. The village had to be moved recently, as did the babai pits, due to the incursion of the sea.”
The plight of the Kiribati is real for many other countries worldwide, but as the video explains, they might be our very first climate refugees. And as my discussion question asks: Who will be saved? The industrial work of countries like the U.S. and the UK are a good deal responsible for recent temperature changes that are affecting sea levels, and yet the lives of their entire populations is not at stake – the Kiribati’s are.
Water sustainability is an important topic, especially in regions missing adequate water supplies. In this TED video, Fahad Al-Attiya discusses how Qatar creates its water supply. With suddenly increasing populations, the country utilizes technology to create a water supply. In this case, they use the process of desalination from lakes and rivers.
He also mentions the crisis that is about to occur. People are demanding more meat and other energy-needing foods. At the same time, climate change is declining yields. Qatar only has enough water reserved to last under two days. Big companies are also ruining the small farmers.
In our classroom discussions, we have often talked about how important companies are to sustainability. Though he mentions industry, Al-Attiya is the one who creates them – they are not the ones monitoring, lobbying, or forming policies. He intends to promote education and technology to support a sustainable solution for the water needed.
The risk of flooding has increased in NYC due to a rise in sea levels caused by pollution, global warming etc. The research preformed in this article shows that Antarctic ice sheets will melt, green house gases will increase and this will become visible in sea level in New York City. We need to further exam this because flooding itself does not cause shock value/great concern but flooding will cause loses to biodiversity and property damage. Along with organism displacement future NYC residents are at risk by, “2100 the estimated 500-year flood height would be 17 feet, and by 2300 the 500-year flood height would be about 50 feet” (Penn State). Although 2100 seems far far away, it is not. Future changes in sea level and storms would be smaller if policies were put into place.
Policy makers should tax corporations more (specifically tax oil/fuel companies) if they chose to continue with non eco-friendly methods. This will push companies to develop better practices and dimish the risk of future flooding especially in NYC. Along with this NYC residents should reduce their waste because if not future generations will have to deal with the mess we’ve created and perpetuated.
Althouhg climate change has consistently been identified as an environmental issue, it has also been revealed to cause major health problems for people. Many medical journals, including the Lancet, have “reported that pollution of the air, water and soil is “the largest environmental cause of disease and death in the world today, responsible for an estimated nine million premature deaths (Nesbit).” Many outdoor labor carreers have found that employee capacity has fallen about 5.3 percent due to sickness from heat stress and many other conditions make the work environment much more difficult. Additionally, “Temperatures much higher than the rising global average are occurring in large urban areas, afflicting, in particular, the elderly, children under 12 months and people with chronic cardiovascular and renal disease (Nesbit).” Studies show that lower income countries have been taking big hits to resources and gross domestic products due to climate risks. Not only is the environment and human health affected but the economy is affected as well. Climate change has increased the risk of spreading infectious diseases and is affecting treatment as aid decreases rapidly. Citizens need to be alerted and changes need to be made to ensure a healthier and safer society.
Superstorm Sandy hit the east coast with such strength that many neighborhoods are still trying to get back on their feet five years later. Although some undated infrastructure has been repaired and improved, there are still way too many plans that haven’t gone anywhere passed the planning portion. Actions haven’t been taken to increase the safety of cities and neighborhoods and shield them from other natural disasters like Sandy, leaving many people defenseless and scared for the future. Some of the plans that are in place include: looking for every area in which water can come in and sealing it, “installing submarine doors, Kevlar curtains and mechanical gates to plug more than 3,000 openings into the subway below 14th Street (McGeehan and Hu),” and building walls around buildings to create flooding barriers. Some of the actions that have already taken place in the effort to prevent damage include: raising equipment and living establishments, as well as hospitals, schools, and etc. “The utility installed a submarine door that can seal off a tunnel that runs under the highway to the river, which originally was used to shuttle coal from barges (McGeehan and Hu).” Although there have been many efforts by the city and by government officials to push for better preparedness, there is still a long way to go to ensuring that our city and other cities are safe from natural disasters that could possibly create more damage than even Sandy did.
Would private home owners employing green space make enough of an impact on flood prevention or would city planners need to devote more space than private home owners can supply? If yes what percent of home owners would be sufficient?
Climate Change:
Do we have a duty to protect all endangered species, or only the ones that we as humans have endangered through our tampering with the environment?
Livia Albeck-Ripka’s article, “For an Endangered Animal, a Fire or Hurricane Can Mean the End,” published on October 25, 2017, is simply a list of all the endangered animals that have dwindled in numbers and/or lost their habits due to recent natural disasters. This is, of course, the reality of climate change. With natural disasters becoming more frequent, articles like this one are to be, unfortunately, more common place. It is unfortunate that little is being done protect these animals, but even more so that they are endangered only because humans have tampered with the environment. Mostly unable to fend for themselves in the case of natural disaster, these animals are reaping the most harm from the damage humans caused. And because their numbers are so insufficient, few will likely survive the winter to reproduce. This should be a story of national coverage. Immediate money should be set aside for the capture, protection, and proliferation of these species and their habitats. However, under the current administration, this is unlikely to happen.
Jacques Leslie writes of the drastic improvements Los Angeles has made to its water distribution system in the New York Times article, “Los Angeles, City of Water,” published on December 6, 2014. To illustrate the process, Leslie writes, “The house’s roof was lined with gutters that fed rainwater into two 1,800-gallon cisterns, and the lawns in the front yards and backyards were lowered six inches to form a wetland.” During a test, houses outfitted in this manner were able to absorb 4,000 gallons of water, which was then, naturally, cleaned of pollutants and was able to be redistributed for consumption. “These projects will treat polluted and even sewage water, capture rainwater, store water in aquifers, and use (or reuse) all of it, often while mimicking or supporting natural processes.”
By replacing concrete with green space, Los Angeles has been able to reduce its reliance on outside sources of water as well as consume less water than it did in 1970, even though its population has grown about a third since that time. I see this as an example the rest of the country, and even the rest of the world, should follow. I think this could be particularly useful in Red Hook, New York where there are many concrete lots used for parking which could be converted into wetlands that would absorb and naturally purify water.
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