Posts Tagged ‘pollution’


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Drugged Drinking Water

by The Green A-Team

Are we being drugged by our drinking water?

According to the latest results from an investigation conducted by the Associated Press, 24 major metropolitan ares from Southern California to Northern New Jersey have tested positive for traces of prescription drugs in the drinking water.

This is being caused by drugs entering the watershed through sewers and landfills. Samples taken from reservoirs serving at least 41 million Americans are showing everything from anti-pshychotics to sex hormones streaming right from our tap.

While short term effects may go unnoticed, what’s troubling scientists are the long term human health consequences.   As aquatic life adapts, genetic mutations travel up the food chain and ultimately effect us.

While studies are ongoing it would be wise to think twice before flushing expired prescription drugs down the toilet.

For more on drugs and the environment, click here.

Photo by Carly & Art.

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Listen to this Green Air Minute:

Worst Polluters: US Department of Defense

by The Green A-Team

Who is our nation’s biggest polluter?

According to the Washington Post, it’s the US Defense Department.

According to a recent report, the Defense Department has refused to sign agreements required by law to allow Environmental Protection Agency officials to oversee cleanup of 12 military sites on American soil.

At Fort Meade, located in Maryland, toxic chemicals are being dumped into the soil and contaminating groundwater.  This is causing, and I quote, “imminent and substantial dangers to public health and the environment.”

Regarding other military branches, cleanup efforts have been mixed.  While the Navy has taken certain responsibility for their dirty sites, the Air Force has not signed an EPA agreement in 14 years.

Despite the threat of $28,000 fines per day, the Pentagon continues to ignore their duty to protect the health and well being of the citizens they’ve vowed to protect.

Check out some more of the country’s worst polluters here.

Photo by Citizen110.

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Rain, Rain: Beijing Pollution Washes Away

by The Green A-Team

Full AP article here.

Green Air Filter:

With wacky weather the world over, it seems the Games might have finally caught it’s breath from some recent downpours.  The heavy rains have cleansed the smog and brightened up the skies over Beijing but is this reason to rejoice?

Global precipitation patterns have been changing as a result of rising atmospheric temperatures and many areas have received increased amounts of rain and snow over the course of this past year while some have received less.

Global warming
increases the intensity of precipitation in two key ways:

1.) By increasing the temperature of the land and the oceans, global warming causes water to evaporate faster.

2.) By increasing air temperature, global warming enables the atmosphere to hold more water vapor.

These factors combine to make clouds richer with moisture, making heavy downpours or snowstorms more likely.  With periods of heavy rains, it’s believed that these will punctuate longer periods of relative dryness, increasing the risk of drought.

It appears while the Games might have gotten their lucky weather break, the larger climate problem lingers all the more ominously overhead.

Photo by northcapital.

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Can air quality damage athletes?

by The Green A-Team

Full BBC article here.

Green Air Filter:

With the summer Olympics coming up, there should be much excitement in the air. Instead, the main concern of most athletes is what really is in the air. China is notorious for the high amount of pollution in its atmosphere due to loose regulation of factory wastes. It may not have a very noticeable effect on the inhabitants other than nothing but grey skies to look at. But for the Olympics athletes, especially ones involved in endurance events, it will have a great impact on their ability to intake oxygen.

The level of particles in the air can be measured for 10 minutes a day at the same time in micrograms/cubic meter. According to the World Health Organization, the maximum should be 50. But in China’s case, it is well over 3 times the amount. This rising global power wants to leave the world breathless, but it may be going about it the wrong way if serious changes are not made in time.

Photo by Ben Kimball.

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