Energy & the Environment News and Discussions

[wjfox]

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[firestar464]

Article on the comeback of East Island, Hawaii

https://www.civilbeat.org/2024/11/this- ... s-crucial/

[firestar464]

Greenland's meltwater will slow Atlantic circulation, climate model suggests

https://phys.org/news/2024-11-greenland ... imate.html

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[Powers]

Did we really generate more energy in 2014 than now ??

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[wjfox]

Leaded Fuel May Have Triggered a Mental Health Crisis Among Generation X

10 December 2024

In its various forms, lead has been used in many everyday products for millennia. The Romans even added it to wine as a sweetener. Its most widespread use, however, was its addition to petrol.

And it is this use that has been associated with increased mental health disorders, according to a new study published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry.

Americans, especially those born between 1966 and 1986 (largely so-called generation X), have probably suffered from an additional 151 million mental health disorders that would not have occurred without the use of leaded petrol.

The study finds increases in anxiety and depression, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and neuroticism, as well as decreases in conscientiousness.

Although the toxicity of lead for humans has been known for almost as long as it has been used, the full extent of its effects and the exposure levels at which they manifest is still being uncovered.

https://www.sciencealert.com/leaded-fue ... neration-x



Joe Mabel/Wikimedia commons/CC-BY-SA 3.0)

[wjfox]

Finland first in world to ban cargo ships from dumping wastewater

12.12.2024

Last week, the Finnish Parliament passed legislation banning cargo ships from discharging wastewater in the country's coastal waters.

The new law, set to take effect in July, will make Finland the world's first country to implement such comprehensive wastewater regulations.

Passenger ships have long been prohibited from such practices, but now cargo vessels will also be held to the same standard.

"This is a huge achievement. Major environmental victories are rare, but this decision is truly world-class. No other country has enacted such ambitious laws," said Ville Wahlberg, CEO of the Baltic Sea Action Group (BSAG), an NGO dedicated to preserving the sea's fragile ecosystem.

https://yle.fi/a/74-20131006



Ships will now have to pump out their wastewater when docking at Finnish ports. Image: Mårten Lampén / Yle

[Tadasuke]

I remember when the world population crossed 6 billion in 1999, I was like "why there needs to be so many people? wouldn't it be easier to make everyone happy and safe with 1 or 2 billion? it would be plenty already, wouldn't it?".

However I also noted that larger populations could be sustainable with sufficiently advanced technology. And I was aware we were only scratching the surface when it came to mining or construction. As of today we are still before the first kilometre-high building being completed (although it is likely going to be completed before 2030) and before even five hundred 300 meter high buildings being present on Earth (which means humans/machines are only getting started).

With 2024 technology there could probably be at least twice as many "sustainable" people on the planet with the same level of prosperity as with 1999 technology, because 2024 solutions can be significantly more efficienct and signinifacntly less polluting.

PM 2.5 is exceptionally hazardous for human health. It's not CO2. PM 2.5 strongly varies locally, even across the same city.

South Korea and Japan have lower PM 2.5 than India and China, even though they also have highly populated cities. Which means it's not only about highly populated areas. More developed countries are cleaner and less polluted.

[Powers]

The population reduction is not the mouse utopia that everyone is making it to be.

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