Issues to consider when a neighborhood may be exposed to Hazardous Case Study - 1

Issues to consider when a neighborhood may be exposed to Hazardous Emissions - Case Study Example People are availing the best of its positive approaches like medical facilities, communications and traveling facilities that has improved the quality of life tremendously. But at the same time, several negative impacts have emerged which are affecting people and their surroundings to quite an extent. One of the main battles which are going on between people and nature is to restore mother earth from the destruction which is happening because of the rapid growth of population and energy shortage. To overcome the energy problem, several alternatives have been tried to fix the issue like Biomass which itself is not good for people and environment and it leads to the misbalancing of a natural equilibrium of earth. Testing and experiments is been done on daily basis and every day is a day of discovery. In regard to this assignment, I would like to discuss Phosphorus as a chemical used in different kinds of utilities like toothpaste, fireworks, pesticides, matches, explosives, detergent e tc. Elemental Phosphorus: One of the main elemental phosphorus which is made up of common allotrope of phosphorus is white phosphorus. It is highly reactive elements with air, water and with any other chemical and due to this reason this element is not freely found on earth. White Phosphorus is extremely flammable and is formed by four atoms which cause high ring strain and instability. It is self igniting and results in a luminous light when reacts with air and can produce thick smoke. It should be handled with high precautions as it can cause severe burns to the skin if contacted. It is a wax like substance with yellowish color or sometimes colorless and it smells like garlic and can produce thick smoke when ignites. Its flames are also hard to extinguish and can burn flesh to bone under its covering thick smoke. (Ref: Elemental Phosphorus by A.K Saxena , 1982) Human Exposure of White Phosphorus: Emission of white phosphorus is possible through a lot of conditions like while handl ing or transportation, accidental spillage, during production of arms and ammunition. It is estimated by EPA 1989 that during the production of white phosphorus, 0.58kg is emitted in air and while the military use for illuminating the air or for producing smoke, the density of smoke is 0.1mg/m3 and the concentration of white phosphorus in smoke was 21 ppb according to EPA 1991. The presence of white phosphorus in environment or air can be fatal as it is very poisonous. Any human exposure to White phosphorus can experience nausea, stomach ache and drowsiness. It is damaging for liver, kidneys or and it burns the flesh to bone if contacted with skin. (Reference: Potential for Human Exposure) Environmental Effects of Phosphorus: Industrial use of White Phosphorus in the production of ammunition, the excretion of wastewater containing a large amount of white phosphorus settles at the surface at the side. White phosphorus is not very reactive in water and but it accumulates in the organi sms which can be harmful for aquatic life. It stays in the soil for several days before it turns into less harmful substances but in deep soil it can stay for thousands of years and that is one of the main reason for desalination and

Role of geography in shaping life and evolution Essay

Role of geography in shaping life and evolution - Essay Example Geography as a discipline refers to the study â€Å"variations in phenomena from place to place† and explains the spatial features of a place (including climate, topology, land and water elements) that distinguishes it from other places (Holt-Jensen, 2009:9). The influence of a land’s geographical characteristics and the life forms that develop therein have been commonly known in a general way, in the manner that polar bears are known to inhabit glacial areas and elephants are known to naturally thrive in Africa and Asia. There is a need, though, to more profoundly appreciate the impact of geography to the development of animal and plant life, and vice versa, in order to effectively address sustainability. Biogeography involves the junction among biology, geography and history – that is, a merging of the study of the distribution of a species in location and time. Many authors have cited a host of factors that affect the evolution of life forms through time in re lation to geography: speciation, extinction, continental drift; glaciation and changes in water forms; landmass areas and isolation; available energy supplies; adaptation, and adaptive radiation Schluter (2000). Adaptation and adaptive radiation are closely related, but not the same. ... There are several links that may be drawn between biology and geography. The spatial attributes transcend the mere physical characteristics but also impact upon the subtle changes in the chemical constitution of the place. A causal link has been established, for instance, between the calcium levels of a place and the clutch size of birds and other life history traits. This is a relatively new finding, in that avian clutch size (i.e., the number of eggs/ nestlings produced by one female at one time) used to be linked only to food availability, predation and seasonality. It was found, however, that active females consume supplemental calcium during the breeding season and throughout egg formation, which they do not otherwise do during the off-season. This tends to support the observation that calcium availability is a factor that limits reproduction (Patten, 2007). A similar development is the change in the permafrost caused by the interaction between atmosphere, and snow cover in plac es such as the Swiss Alps, that impact upon the life cycles and survival prospects of snow-bound species (Luetschg & Haeberli, 2005). Biogeography has been described as â€Å"a science that is not only about islands but about the whole fabric of the natural world† (Kanigel, 1996). This definition appears to separate â€Å"man-made† from nature, that anything man-made upsets the natural balance. If that were held to be true, then the very existence of man would be unacceptable. The alternative position should therefore admit the viability of the anima urbis, or the role of nature in defining human-animal relations in the context of city life. There has been a resurgence of interest in exploring animals and the urban moral