Oil sands causing excessive levels of pollution

In 2009, a study done by researchers at the University of Alberta, Canada showed that Canadian oil sands increase the levels of air and water pollution in surrounding environment. The Canadian researchers were conducting experiments along the Athabasca River and its tributaries from Fort McMurray to Lake Athabasca and have concluded that the increased levels of air and water pollution in this area was a direct result of nearby oil sands (tar sands) operations.

According to a latest study that was recently published in the Geophysical Research Letters the scientists have concluded that the levels of oil sands pollution are comparable to those of a large power plant.

The Canadian scientists used satellites to measure nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide emitted from the oil sands. In an area 30 kilometers (19 miles) by 50 kilometers (31 miles) around the mines, they found elevated levels of these pollutants comparable to levels what satellites usually see over a large power plant.

Extracting oil from oil sands is bound to have negative environmental effects since this type of oil production requires the burning of fossil fuels. Not only this, extraction of oil from tar sands often uses more water and require larger amounts of energy compared to conventional oil extraction.

The exceeded levels of nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide can lead to acid rain formation so their levels should be monitored frequently in order to avoid a possible environmental disaster.

Oil sands are certainly in need of more independent studies because world's hunger for oil is constantly growing and with it there will be also more pressure on oil sands to generate more oil. This will no doubt have a negative impact on our environment.

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Organic aerosols contribute to smog pollution

Organic aerosols which are the major component of smog particles have been largely underestimated as major air pollutants by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This is because EPA used old models that do not tell the right story about what is actually in the air and for how long it remains in the air.

The predominant theory about organic aerosols suggests that organic aerosols in smog pollution form liquid droplets that quickly dissolve potentially unhealthy gases. The latest research done by several U.S. scientists argues this by claiming that once organic aerosols are sucked into a particle, they get buried deeper and deeper which basically means that these gases are sucked into smog particles from which they cannot escape.

Smog pollution is not only major environmental threat but also major health threat that has been connected to everything from asthma to heart attacks. And since EPA and other air regulators use older models the currently predicted levels of smog pollution are everything but certain.

UCI air chemist Barbara Finlayson-Pitts explained this by saying that organic aerosols "check in, but don't check out. They cannot escape. The material does not readily evaporate and may live longer and grow faster in total mass than previously thought."

This latest study has been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The researchers have already announced the need for further studies in order to straighten the older models, especially in relation with future climate change calculations where aerosols are still the big unknown.

Smog is usually caused by the burning of large amounts of coal in cities. In United States, for instance, one of the worst affected areas with smog pollution is the city of Los Angeles.

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Air pollution leads to heart attack and cognitive decline

Air pollution is not only a serious environmental issue but also a serious health concern and is known to cause adverse health effects. This was confirmed by three latest studies.

The first study done by French researchers concluded that even the short term exposure to major air pollutants such as carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and particulate matter significantly increases the risk of heart attack.

Many people still fail to acknowledge the fact that air pollution is behind many deaths in industrialized countries as one of the leading factors contributing to cardiovascular diseases (the leading cause of mortality in industrialized world).

The second study was conducted by the researchers at Rush University Medical Center and their conclusion was that the chronic exposure to particulate air pollution is likely to accelerate cognitive decline in older adults, especially older women.

This means that air pollution reduction could lead to a significant reduction of the future population burden of age-related cognitive decline such as dementia.

The third study conducted by Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center found that air pollution, even at levels generally considered safe by federal standards, increases the risk of stroke by 34 percent. Stroke is the third leading cause of death in the United States attributing to more than 135,000 deaths per year.

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Why is littering bad for environment?

Littering is a very frequent form of environmental pollution and a clear sign that our society still has to learn a lot when it comes to a global environmental conscience. The most obvious form of pollution connected with littering is of course visual pollution because litter presents one of the worst sights that can be seen in nature.

Litter can disrupt the balance of many ecosystems because it can provide perfect breeding ground for many insects and rodents that not only harm our environment but can also carry different diseases.

Many animal species can get hurt while stepping on certain litter items and litter can also lead animals getting trapped and poisoned. Cigarette butts for instance, which are the most littered items in our planet, have been found in the stomachs of many fish, birds and whales, who have mistaken them for a food.

Littering can also sometimes lead to wildfires because it is possible for spark to hit a piece of litter like a paper bag and start a fire. Cigarettes could also start fire if not being properly put out prior to being littered.

Organic litter is particularly hazardous form of litter as it can even lead to a major water pollution and lead to a shortage of drinking water, for instance if there is garbage in a river then the water is no longer safe to drink. Organic litter has been also found to cause algal bloom in certain water bodies.

Many litter items are not biodegradable which means that their chemical decomposition takes a very long time and these items can therefore create long-term damage to environment (as this is the case with cigarette butts).

Decomposition of certain litter could also lead to even more greenhouse gas emissions and further contribute to climate change and global warming.

One of the worst examples of littering is no doubt The Great Pacific Garbage Patch where litter already has twice the size of France and continues to grow exponentially, representing major shame to our entire civilization.

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Cadmium causing huge pollution in Chinese river

Over the last couple of decades China has become one of the symbols for excessive pollution and Chinese are certainly doing their part in prolonging their notoriously poor environmental record with the latest proof coming in form of 20 tons of discharged cadmium poisoning China's Longjiang River.

The authorities still do not know the exact source and the time of the discharge that could poison close to 4 million people that live in the city of Liuzhou.

One of the main downstreams of Longjiang River is Liujiang River that provides drinking water for the 3.7 million residents of the city of Liuzhou.

The city authorities still say that drinking water in Liuzhou is safe for drinking despite having cadmium levels 80 times higher than what is described as the safe limit.

The authorities are trying to tackle cadmium pollution by dumping hundreds of tons of aluminum chloride into the Longjiang River in an effort to dissolve the cadmium but so far less than half of discharged cadmium has been dissolved and neutralized.

Cadmium is a toxic metal heavily used in batteries. Exposure to cadmium can cause adverse health effects by damaging kidneys, and can also cause diarrhea, stomach pains and severe vomiting, reproduction issues and even cancer.

This is just another example of how difficult is for Beijing to improve environmental condition throughout the country with many local authorities choosing to sacrifice environment by giving pollution industries a helping hand in order to boost its economic development.

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