Canary in a Coalmine

"It does not matter how slow you go so long as you do not stop"

Posts tagged pollution

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Fukushima Nuclear Crisis Update

For the first time since the March nuclear disaster, a select group of journalists was allowed to tour J-Village, the former sports complex being used by as many as 3,300 TEPCO employees involved in cleanup efforts at the Fukushima nuclear plant. The compound’s 12 soccer fields now house sleeping facilities for 1,000 workers, helipads, decontamination areas, and a medical center, as well as a cafeteria and laundry. The complex also stores nuclear waste in the form of used protective clothing and safety gear. Currently, almost half a million sets of radioactive gear is being stored there. Workers are checked daily for radiation exposure and receive a whole body counter (WBC) exam monthly. The facility provides a sharp contrast to workers’ living conditions in the months immediately following the accident, when workers slept on floors and were given only a biscuit for breakfast and a bowl of noodles for dinner. One worker said, “Conditions have gotten better but it’s still tough.”

(source Greenpeace)

Filed under Fukushima nuclear pollution environment nuclear disaster Japan

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From the Washington Post 

Everyone needs to watch this. It is unequivocally related to every field, and cannot be avoided. It is real, it is happening, and we need to start paying attention and working to reverse our own wrongdoings.

Urban planning is directly related to mitigating climate change and improving the environment through restructuring cities to be sustainable (transit-oriented, and denser in land use, among a variety of options). The combined footprint of thousands of vehicles creates greenhouse gas emissions that need to be mitigated; planning provides alternatives that could increase economic revenues, and slow climate change. With knowledge about the significance of human activities on climate change, there is a great potential for a paradigm shift in lifestyles.

Just watch it. 

(via sprnvasidra)

Filed under weather climate change climate pollution

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Enel must thought Italians have rings on their noses! The Italian State Council has rejected the conversion plan of one of Enel’s gas power plants into a coal power plant. According to Enel, a coal power plant would be less polluting than a gas power plant because its higher chimneys are able to release pollutants further from the ground. Greenpeace Italy campaigns director Alessandro Giannì said that “coal is the worst plant enemy”, totally unsuitable to an area like the one where Enel intended to convert the gas power plant. (source Greenpeace)

Enel must thought Italians have rings on their noses!

The Italian State Council has rejected the conversion plan of one of Enel’s gas power plants into a coal power plant. According to Enel, a coal power plant would be less polluting than a gas power plant because its higher chimneys are able to release pollutants further from the ground. Greenpeace Italy campaigns director Alessandro Giannì said that “coal is the worst plant enemy”, totally unsuitable to an area like the one where Enel intended to convert the gas power plant.

(source Greenpeace)

Filed under Italian state Council Enel gas power coal power pollution Greenpeace