Atmosphere Current Event Discussion Board by Benjamin Williams

Brief exposure to tiny air pollution particles triggers childhood lung infections. Andrew Collins

2018-05-09 11:28:58 UTC

The article that I found is about how small amounts of air pollution can cause massive amounts of damage in youth. Pollution causing particles 3% the diameter of hair has been known to cause Acute Lower Respiratory Infections, ALRI for short, in youth. Scientists have done a study about the Short-Term Elevation of Fine Particulate Matter Air Pollution and ALRI. This study involved nearly 150,000 patients between 1999-2016 in Utah. The study found that 77% of those with ALRI were newborns and toddlers. 17 children of 0-2, 9 children of 3-17, and 81 adults have died within 30 days of diagnosis among the study. Gas powered vehicles contribute to 48% of the emissions, small business/industry contribute to 39%, and large manufacturing contributes to 13% of the emissions that lead to the particles that cause ALRI.

I think that it’s terrible to think that these kinds of daily emissions lead to over 100,000 cases of ALRI in Utah alone. I think that it also shows how damaging pollution can be. The diameter of hair is between 17 to 181 millionths of a meter. The particles that caused damage were 3% of that size. I think that the only way to truly avoid these particles is to drive more economically or just to drive less. What do you think? What do you think the best way to avoid these kinds of pollution causing particles is?

Intermountain Medical Center. "Brief exposure to tiny air pollution particles triggers childhood lung infections." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 13 April 2018. .

Air Pollution Contributes to Global Deaths - Eli Barbee

2018-05-09 20:54:55 UTC

My article was about how deadly pollution around the world is and how much worse it can get. Over 95% of all humans live in areas classified by the World Health Organization as unsafe to live in. One out of every nine deaths worldwide is caused by air pollution. Thorough research has connected each kind of air pollution to fatal health issues. Pollution from air particles ranks sixth in health risk factors connected to worldwide deaths, and household pollution places eighth. The different forms of airborne pollution contributed to 6.1 million deaths in 2016 alone.

I think this is awful and needs to be fixed before the next few generations have to suffer from pollution related deaths. I feel like my purpose on Earth is to make the Earth a beautiful and most importantly habitable place for my kids to live, their kids and so on and I can't do that alone. People and corporate companies need to create regulations to avoid and prevent further damage. What do you think needs to be done? How do you feel about the unnecessary amount of deaths related to pollution?

References

Huth, Lindsy. "Air Pollution Contributes To Global Deaths." U.S News. N.p., 2018. Web. 9 May 2018.
<https://www.usnews.com/news/data-mine/articles/2018-04-20/air-pollution-contributes-to-global-deaths>

What is Steve? Mysterious aurora seen in Scotland Rachel James

1155565 — 2018-05-10 01:17:50 UTC

Stargazers in Scotland happened to spot a mysterious aurora. They named the phenomenon "Steve" (Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement). Scientists are trying to learn more about the aurora and NASA is funding a citizen science project to ask stargazers about what they have seen. Steve was found along with the aurora borealis and identified by its narrow arc shape, aligned eat-west, and extended thousand of miles. Steve also admits a purple color which hasnt been seen before. With some research NASA was certain that it was not a proton aurora (usually causes northern lights). Although they made this conclusion, what is causing the rare color and shape is still a mystery.

I think this is pretty interesting how electrons collide in the atmosphere to create colors and shapes in the sky. Although this always fascinated me, I always wondered why we fund so many projects for space exploration but not ocean exploration. We go and look for other living organisms galaxies away but arnt willing to look in our own back yard for new organisms/medications/resources. What do you think? Do you have a hypothesis on how Steve was formed? Whats your thoughts on space and ocean exploration? Should there be a priority?

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/03/20/steve-mysterious-aurora-seen-scotland/

What you need to know about Ocean Acidification- Zya Andrews

7712766118 — 2018-05-10 17:15:48 UTC

Ocean acidification the phenomenon thats affecting the oceans currently. Oceans absorbs about a quarter of the CO2 being released into the atmosphere, and the increased carbon dioxide levels in the ocean are causing the ocean to become more acidic, effecting the life forms within it. The increasingly acidic water has been proven to give problems to organisms that have calcium carbonate structures like corals, mollusks, and crabs. The acidic water prevents the calcium carbonate from forming properly. Clownfish are also negatively effected by the acidic water preventing them from detecting predators and finding prey. The 10 billion dollar fishing industry in the Gulf of Mexico is already being negatively affected. There are ways to combat the ocean acidification, reducing carbon emissions by using renewable energy is the main way that individuals can reduce try to combat this.

So what do you think? Do you think that ocean acidification is really that big of a deal? DO you think there should be laws or programs put in place to try to fight this?
Ireland, Perrin. "What You Need to Know About Ocean Acidification." NRDC, National Resource Defense Council, 13 Aug. 2015, www.nrdc.org/stories/what-you-need-know-about-ocean-acidification.

Consumer and industrial products now a dominant urban air pollution source- Hiatt Alford

2018-05-11 14:59:49 UTC

My article was about scientist finding out that pollution from from paints and pesticides are polluting the environment more than vehicles now. The number one pollutant to the atmosphere was from cars, but people use 15 times more fuel like gas for cars and other machines than they do petroleum based things like lotion and paint but the petroleum based materials are still adding up to as much as or more of a problem to the environment than the transportation area. People living in cities and suburbs assume that much of the pollution we breathe comes from car and truck emissions or leaky gas pumps. That's for good reason: it was clearly true in past decades. But manufactures have made large changes in engines and in how much pollution comes off of the cars and we also have electric cars that admit no pollution. Everyone thinks that 75 percent of VOC (volatile organic compounds) emissions come from vehicular sources, and about 25 percent from chemical products but its actually more like a 50-50 situation.

I think that we need to pay more attention to the products we use and how much they can effect the environment because ozone pollution and air pollution is a very big problem right now. We need to find a way to fix this problem we have made and we need to do it soon. So I ask you, how do you think we need to go about fixing this problem and how do you think something like paint is polluting the environment more than cars?

NOAA. "Consumer and industrial products now a dominant urban air pollution source." Science Daily, University of Colorado at Boulder, 15 Feb. 2018, www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/02/180215141840.htm.