Message boards :
Cafe SETI :
Environmental damage seen from shuttle.
Message board moderation
Author | Message |
---|---|
Chris Schweizer Send message Joined: 29 Jun 05 Posts: 2 Credit: 137,699 RAC: 0 |
NASA Commander Eileen Collins said "The atmosphere almost looks like an eggshell on an egg, it's so very thin," she said. "We know that we don't have much air, we need to protect what we have." What do you think of her statment. |
David@home Send message Joined: 16 Jan 03 Posts: 755 Credit: 5,040,916 RAC: 28 |
NASA Commander Eileen Collins said "The atmosphere almost looks like an eggshell on an egg, it's so very thin," she said. "We know that we don't have much air, we need to protect what we have." The fact that the climate is changing is well acknowledged. Alas the explanation of the underlying causes is hotly disputed. Maybe time to switch some CPU resources to ClimatePrediction, or even turn our PCs off? |
jrmm22 Send message Joined: 30 Jan 04 Posts: 353 Credit: 24,536,157 RAC: 0 |
Never... I wouldn't have a life... noooo |
tekwyzrd Send message Joined: 21 Nov 01 Posts: 767 Credit: 30,009 RAC: 0 |
It's well past time for the government to fund alternate energy sources programs conducted by organizations other than the big oil companies and major utilities. The companies that receive the lion's share benefeit from green power sources NOT being found. As the demand for power increases so does the emission of pollutants which damage the ecosphere. I know there's clean power sources available. I even have an idea for a green power generator design. Nothing travels faster than the speed of light with the possible exception of bad news, which obeys its own special laws. Douglas Adams (1952 - 2001) |
Fuzzy Hollynoodles Send message Joined: 3 Apr 99 Posts: 9659 Credit: 251,998 RAC: 0 |
The answer: Wind energy, solar energy, and geothermal energy! "I'm trying to maintain a shred of dignity in this world." - Me |
GALIFREAN Send message Joined: 14 Jul 99 Posts: 148 Credit: 28,658 RAC: 0 |
We need more trees to filter and replenish the atmosphere, and less concrete to reflect heat back into the atmosphere. |
Kajunfisher Send message Joined: 29 Mar 05 Posts: 1407 Credit: 126,476 RAC: 0 |
|
Fuzzy Hollynoodles Send message Joined: 3 Apr 99 Posts: 9659 Credit: 251,998 RAC: 0 |
That goes without saying! But by increasing the energy production from renewable sources of energy and research into renewable energy, the need for fossil fuels will go down. "I'm trying to maintain a shred of dignity in this world." - Me |
Murasaki Send message Joined: 22 Jul 03 Posts: 702 Credit: 62,902 RAC: 0 |
We need more trees to filter and replenish the atmosphere, and less concrete to reflect heat back into the atmosphere. And herein lies the rub. Why do trees get pulled out and concrete put in? More people. Urban sprawl. "Economic development" of both rich and poor countries by deforestation to ranch or farm. All other things being equal, if we cut pollutants by 25% per capita in 50 years, but the population is up another 33%, have we gained anything? |
Kajunfisher Send message Joined: 29 Mar 05 Posts: 1407 Credit: 126,476 RAC: 0 |
We need more trees to filter and replenish the atmosphere, and less concrete to reflect heat back into the atmosphere. Japan has been years ahead of us as far as popululation control, is it working? I haven't looked to see lately... |
Misfit Send message Joined: 21 Jun 01 Posts: 21804 Credit: 2,815,091 RAC: 0 |
The answer: Wind energy, solar energy, and geothermal energy! Here in SoCal (outside of Palm Springs) they are shutting down some of the wind generators because birds get chopped up by them. I say build more! |
RDC Send message Joined: 17 May 99 Posts: 544 Credit: 1,215,728 RAC: 0 |
The answer: Wind energy, solar energy, and geothermal energy! Here in the Western Pennsylvania area, a planned windfarm that environmentalists fought for has been facing stiff opposition now from the very same environmentalists that are using the bird example as well as the fact some trees would have to be cut down to install the windmill towers. You just can't win with enviromentalists, first they want it and then after they get their way they don't want it (of course after millions of taxpayer dollars have been sunk into the planning of the project). To truly explore, one must keep an open mind... |
Siran d'Vel'nahr Send message Joined: 23 May 99 Posts: 7379 Credit: 44,181,323 RAC: 238 |
The answer: Wind energy, solar energy, and geothermal energy! It's not the wind generator's fault that some birds are stupid enough to fly into them.... >;-) Those blades do not spin fast enough that they cannot be seen. They actually spin rather slowly.... CAPT Siran d'Vel'nahr - L L & P _\\// Winders 11 OS? "What a piece of junk!" - L. Skywalker "Logic is the cement of our civilization with which we ascend from chaos using reason as our guide." - T'Plana-hath |
Siran d'Vel'nahr Send message Joined: 23 May 99 Posts: 7379 Credit: 44,181,323 RAC: 238 |
The answer: Wind energy, solar energy, and geothermal energy! And, those same environmentalists are probably driving around in those BIG gas guzzling SUVs.... Spewing out exhaust, detrimental to the environment.... >:-) CAPT Siran d'Vel'nahr - L L & P _\\// Winders 11 OS? "What a piece of junk!" - L. Skywalker "Logic is the cement of our civilization with which we ascend from chaos using reason as our guide." - T'Plana-hath |
Misfit Send message Joined: 21 Jun 01 Posts: 21804 Credit: 2,815,091 RAC: 0 |
The answer: Wind energy, solar energy, and geothermal energy! Well some do spin at a pretty good clip. I can't find the article on Palm Springs but I did find one that has to do with a wind farm outside of San Francisco. Click this link. |
Mad Max Send message Joined: 16 Mar 00 Posts: 475 Credit: 213,231,775 RAC: 407 |
All I got to do is get into a Cessna, fly it at the 1500-2500ft range and look out the windshield. That's where I have to stay to be under O-towns class B airspace. I called it the garbage level. I'll bet that the wind generators are just as much fun as watching bugs in a bug zapper! IAS - Where Space Is Golden! |
tekwyzrd Send message Joined: 21 Nov 01 Posts: 767 Credit: 30,009 RAC: 0 |
There would be a lot less fossil fuel related emissions if the epa would enforce existing guidelines. Many power plants are still running under old standards and are not required to upgrade pollution control equipment unless plant expansion or upgrades are done. They are even allowed to buy permits for excess emissions. Newer, cleaner ways of using fossil fuels are available, but it's cheaper not to use them, which insures higher profits. Nothing travels faster than the speed of light with the possible exception of bad news, which obeys its own special laws. Douglas Adams (1952 - 2001) |
Jord Send message Joined: 9 Jun 99 Posts: 15184 Credit: 4,362,181 RAC: 3 |
We need more trees to filter and replenish the atmosphere, and less concrete to reflect heat back into the atmosphere. Did you know that trees only make about 30% of the oxygen? The other 70% is made by pythoplankton. So we should stop throwing raw waste in our oceans and seas. As for wind energy, solar energy, and geothermal energy .. they all have moving parts, which need to be greased with... yep, oil. Oh well. :( |
Digger Send message Joined: 4 Dec 99 Posts: 614 Credit: 21,053 RAC: 0 |
Interesting topic... Is there really such a thing as 'clean' energy though? Regardless of fuel source... sun, wind, water, coal, oil, etc... aren't we always simply converting one form of energy into another, thereby drawing from a finite cache of energy and interrupting the natural cycle in favor of human consumption? Isn't any form of energy production we come up with going to harm the environment in some way... and equal in magnitude to the benefit we draw from it, regardless of source? I attended an interesting lecture on wind power last fall at school, and one of the concerns raised (aside from the bird issue) was that there simply IS no such thing as 'free' energy. If we installed enough wind turbines to serve the energy needs of the entire planet, would it not have catastrophic consequences to global wind patterns and therefore the climate? Sure it's an extreme example but I think it points to the fact that regardless of how we do this, the result is always going to be the same. To extract each and every kilowatt-hour of energy we require from the earth, we are depleting the earth of exactly one kilowatt-hour of energy that was intended to do something else (i.e. heat the earth's crust, drive climate patterns, etc). I really don't know the answers... I'm just posing some additional questions to fuel (forgive the pun) the discussion. :) Dig |
tekwyzrd Send message Joined: 21 Nov 01 Posts: 767 Credit: 30,009 RAC: 0 |
Interesting topic... Actually there is a readily available resource that can easily be converted to a usable form of energy. It would be nice to say what it is but I hope one day to produce the system and don't want someone to beat me to it just because I let it slip out. Nothing travels faster than the speed of light with the possible exception of bad news, which obeys its own special laws. Douglas Adams (1952 - 2001) |
©2024 University of California
SETI@home and Astropulse are funded by grants from the National Science Foundation, NASA, and donations from SETI@home volunteers. AstroPulse is funded in part by the NSF through grant AST-0307956.