Natasha Lebby
On the 3rd of December I was not in class; however, I read the chapters and did not realize that London “created a congestion- charging” program. I believe that it is slightly unfair to people with lower income that need to work in the central city. As a whole; it is more intelligent to have people pay to enter the CBD because nobody wants to pay more than they have to. I was also interested in learning about the terms normal conditions, and thermal inversion. When looking at the thermal inversion diagram, I was able to understand what temperature profile Beijing and Hong Kong goes through. They have a humid climate and when the heat rises; the area receives an inversion layer where the pollution is trapped around the city.
What I learned from chapter 15
I learned that there are three major types of fossil fuels in the world; which consist of coal, natural gas, and crude oil/ petrol. The United States contains much of the world’s coal as Russia does with natural gas and the Middle East with crude oil. Coal used to be the main source for heating homes and fueling machines such as ships and trains. Today, coal is used to generate electricity. In the state of Pennsylvania, a tire was on fire and happened to go underneath a town in a mining shaft. The town, Centralia caught on fire and till this day is still burning. I never knew that before and found that quite interesting. The second type of fossil fuel is natural gas. This fossil fuel is located inside the pores of the bedrock and can only escape outward by a pump. Salt water is used to pump out the natural gas. This practice is known as hydraulic fracking. A third type of fossil fuel is a liquid and is known as crude oil. Saudi Arabia is the largest producer of petrol in the world. The largest consumer in the world is the United States. I was surprised to find out that the US uses almost a quarter of the world’s petrol. I was also surprised to find out that we have already consumed half of the world’s reserves.
I agree that Americans are not used to taking mass transit. We like to have the ability to do things on are own time; however, I believe that the mass transportation that we do have can be unreliable. Many different types of people travel by mass transit in Europe because it is an easier and cheaper form of traveling. In the US, mass transit is not an easier form of transportation.
Much of the rail lines that we did have were abandoned to creating roads for the military/our automobiles.
What I learned from chapter 16
It seems that scientists are taking the time to research cleaner and more efficient ways for people to use power. I learned that there are various sources of renewable energy that can replace the use of fossil fuels. The use of hydropower, biomass, and bio-power are ways to avoid the usage of fossil fuels that can harm the environment in a negative way. However, renewable resources still have negative impacts. For instance, hydropower can reduce fish populations by the stirring up of sediment. Solar energy and wind power is also a cleaner for people to gain power. I believe that use of solar and wind power is a great way to receive energy.
What I learned from chapter 17
People create an extraordinary amount of waste. Some how, I was not surprised that the US throws away almost 5 pounds of rubbish a day. I think the only way to deal with our waste problem, is to produce less! I don’t believe that the use of incinerators is smart because the ash still has to be sent to a landfill. It also creates pollution in the atmosphere when it burns. The use of plastic is extremely high and we should reduce the amount created. For instance, shopping bags are not necessary needed. I believe many people today are aware of the problems we are creating with landfills. In some cases people are trying to be less wasteful; however, it needs to be done faster and more efficiently.
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