According to the EPA, air pollution indoors is often two to five times worse than it is outside. In extreme cases, air pollution inside can be a hundred times worse than outside. The reason is partly because numerous chemicals, like cleaning supplies, hair sprays and perfumes, are used inside the home. Another part of the problem is that many items inside our homes and materials used in home construction are notorious for letting off poisonous gasses - for years. Carpets, shower curtains, paints, upholstery, plywood, particle board, cabinets, computers, and synthetic materials all let off poisonous gasses and chemicals. Because most homes are well insulated, it leaves those poisons trapped inside for us to breathe.
However, there's a solution and as with most problems, the solution comes from nature - and not from a chemical company. NASA studies show that having ample plants indoors can detoxify up to 85 percent of indoor air pollution.
Acting like a filter for the air, some plants mop up formaldehyde. Others remove benzene, carbon monoxide, and trichloroethylene.
I think that this articles is very interesting and very useful. We can help prevent harming ourselves by putting plants in our homes.
Source: naturalnews.com
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Friday, April 16, 2010
How aerosol pollution interferes with thunderstorm activity
Aerosol is tiny fine particles that are suspended in the air or in liquid. They can either be man-made or natural.
Recent research has revealed that the tiny pollutants can either inhibit thunderstorms or make them stronger depending on wind shear conditions.
Their research strongly suggests that aerosol pollution may be changing local weather patterns, including the amount and rate of rainfall that occurs and the types of storms.
The winds that blow near the surface of the Earth have two beneficial effects: They provide a renewable source of clean energy and they evaporate water, helping rain clouds to build up. But aerosol's particles created from vehicle exhaust and other contaminants can accumulate in the atmosphere and reduce the speed of winds closer to the Earth's surface, which results in less wind power available for wind-turbine electricity and also in reduced precipitation, according to a study by Stanford and NASA researchers.
Source : http://www.naturalnews.com/ and http://www.sciencedaily.com/
Recent research has revealed that the tiny pollutants can either inhibit thunderstorms or make them stronger depending on wind shear conditions.
Their research strongly suggests that aerosol pollution may be changing local weather patterns, including the amount and rate of rainfall that occurs and the types of storms.
The winds that blow near the surface of the Earth have two beneficial effects: They provide a renewable source of clean energy and they evaporate water, helping rain clouds to build up. But aerosol's particles created from vehicle exhaust and other contaminants can accumulate in the atmosphere and reduce the speed of winds closer to the Earth's surface, which results in less wind power available for wind-turbine electricity and also in reduced precipitation, according to a study by Stanford and NASA researchers.
Source : http://www.naturalnews.com/ and http://www.sciencedaily.com/
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Child Labour in India (Term2 ACE) MY perspective
Child Labour
My own perspective
Child labour is very cruel and I do not understand why people in India still use all kinds child labour. Maybe it is because of money or profit which is the most likely reason to me.
I think that child labour should be prohibited in all parts of the world. I know that this is quite nearly impossible but we can start bit by bit from now.
Firstly, I think that the Indian government should step in more in this situation of child labour. From what I have read so far, the Indian government only say and do not mean what they say. When they say something, I think it is only right to enforce it. Next, I do not think the Indian government really want to prohibit child labour in India.
The most likely reason is that without child labour in India, many of the large companies in India using child labour will lose a huge sum of profit and in the long run, India’s economy would most likely go down. I think that overall, the Indian government should step in this matter more. If the Human Rights and the Indian government were to cooperate together with the same aim to prohibit child labour in India, I think most likely in due time, child labour would be abolished.
Although the infomation here is not enough please do your own research by this link or find them yourself and also share your views by commenting and if you have other information to add on please also comment. Thank You.
To view more on child labour, please go to this site :)
http://www.indiatogether.org/
My own perspective
Child labour is very cruel and I do not understand why people in India still use all kinds child labour. Maybe it is because of money or profit which is the most likely reason to me.
I think that child labour should be prohibited in all parts of the world. I know that this is quite nearly impossible but we can start bit by bit from now.
Firstly, I think that the Indian government should step in more in this situation of child labour. From what I have read so far, the Indian government only say and do not mean what they say. When they say something, I think it is only right to enforce it. Next, I do not think the Indian government really want to prohibit child labour in India.
The most likely reason is that without child labour in India, many of the large companies in India using child labour will lose a huge sum of profit and in the long run, India’s economy would most likely go down. I think that overall, the Indian government should step in this matter more. If the Human Rights and the Indian government were to cooperate together with the same aim to prohibit child labour in India, I think most likely in due time, child labour would be abolished.
JOHN LOH
Maybe I will post on how to connect to village by the sea and slumb dog millionairre later.Although the infomation here is not enough please do your own research by this link or find them yourself and also share your views by commenting and if you have other information to add on please also comment. Thank You.
To view more on child labour, please go to this site :)
http://www.indiatogether.org/
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Hello
Its been a long time since I last posted but I will post soon. Recently in LA class we learnt about letter writing. Informal and Formal. The next post will be on LA ACE on the topic Child Labour and on the 3 point perspective on child labour.
Enjoy your Good Friday.
:D
Enjoy your Good Friday.
:D
Thursday, March 25, 2010
GREEN WORKZ!
Engineers at a national lab have shown that small fans embedded in car seats could help cool passengers down -- saving up to 7 percent of the 30 to 40 gallons of gasoline per year an average driver consumes for powering air conditioning systems. The engineers are also studying ways to power A/C by converting some of the engine's heat into sound waves first.
An average driver uses 30 gallons to 40 gallons of gasoline each year just running the car's air conditioning. That adds up to seven billion gallons of gas annually. At the Department Of Energy's National Renewable Energy Lab, engineers are researching ways to cool the people in the car rather than the entire car.
Mechanical engineers at NREL are researching ways to reduce gasoline consumption while increasing passenger comfort. First, solar reflective glass keeps the parked car cooler when passengers first get in. Then, small fans in ventilated seats pull hot air away from the seat's surface.
The ventilated seats pull air through your clothing, causing your sweat to evaporate and using the body's natural mechanisms to cool itself. Also, thanks to acoustics the engine's excess heat is put to work cooling the inside of the car.
Also, view the video on that cooling car : http://www.sciencedaily.com/videos/2006/0901-cool_car.htm
Adapted from: science daily.com
An average driver uses 30 gallons to 40 gallons of gasoline each year just running the car's air conditioning. That adds up to seven billion gallons of gas annually. At the Department Of Energy's National Renewable Energy Lab, engineers are researching ways to cool the people in the car rather than the entire car.
Mechanical engineers at NREL are researching ways to reduce gasoline consumption while increasing passenger comfort. First, solar reflective glass keeps the parked car cooler when passengers first get in. Then, small fans in ventilated seats pull hot air away from the seat's surface.
The ventilated seats pull air through your clothing, causing your sweat to evaporate and using the body's natural mechanisms to cool itself. Also, thanks to acoustics the engine's excess heat is put to work cooling the inside of the car.
Also, view the video on that cooling car : http://www.sciencedaily.com/videos/2006/0901-cool_car.htm
Adapted from: science daily.com
Sunday, March 14, 2010
CAMP on ST.JOHN
The camp on St.John island was our first camp as Sec ones and my first time on an island. Our sleeping conditions were one night in tents and another night in domes. The camp was generally fun and nice. We really got to know our friends better and it was tiring especially after sleeping in the hot and stuffy tent.
Although we did not have any exciting or wet activities, we had team building games which I think are more suitable now as we are new to each other in our class. I hope that in the near future we will have more exciting and challenging games and activities in our camps as we will be more familiar with each other at that time.
Team building games was also not that bad or boring after all, it was quite fun and although not as fun as other challenging activities, I still enjoyed myself. Some activities I would like to bring to remembrance are the Multi Level Captains Ball and the Camp fire held on the second night.
So far, I think that the Captains ball was the most enjoyable activity. I will just give those who were not at the camp but are reading this post now a brief introduction on what is the Multi Level Captains Ball is generally about. There are about 5 types of balls that will be given into the game at each or the same time during the few parts of the game. The biggest ball will be worth 10 points while the smallest ball is worth about 50 to 60 points I guess. At the last round, a water bomb with MAMA brand washing soap in it was given and introduced into the game. The player must not drop or let the water bomb burst and past it to the group's captain. It was very easy to burst so the Instructor brought a big pail of those identical water bombs to the game so when one of the water bomb bursts, he will throw another in to the game.
That game was really fun.
The Campfire was also very fun. We sang some campfire songs and also had a performance by each class. Our class group name was 'TIK TOK' so we danced to the song tik tok. We had a star performer Leon Ng from our class and he stood right in the middle of the class and did special moves which were very impressive and all the audience were really impressed.
Overall, I would like to thank our instructors from the company High Achievers and also to our teachers who gave us support when we were doing the 'caterpillar' activity, but I am not going to talk about the caterpillar thing, it is too hard to mention.
Well, this camp was enjoyable and it taught many of us to not take things for granted and to step out of our comfort zone at the same time.
Sorry I can't show any pictures from that place because we could not bring our phones in case it got lost.
That's all
Bye for now.
Although we did not have any exciting or wet activities, we had team building games which I think are more suitable now as we are new to each other in our class. I hope that in the near future we will have more exciting and challenging games and activities in our camps as we will be more familiar with each other at that time.
Team building games was also not that bad or boring after all, it was quite fun and although not as fun as other challenging activities, I still enjoyed myself. Some activities I would like to bring to remembrance are the Multi Level Captains Ball and the Camp fire held on the second night.
So far, I think that the Captains ball was the most enjoyable activity. I will just give those who were not at the camp but are reading this post now a brief introduction on what is the Multi Level Captains Ball is generally about. There are about 5 types of balls that will be given into the game at each or the same time during the few parts of the game. The biggest ball will be worth 10 points while the smallest ball is worth about 50 to 60 points I guess. At the last round, a water bomb with MAMA brand washing soap in it was given and introduced into the game. The player must not drop or let the water bomb burst and past it to the group's captain. It was very easy to burst so the Instructor brought a big pail of those identical water bombs to the game so when one of the water bomb bursts, he will throw another in to the game.
That game was really fun.
The Campfire was also very fun. We sang some campfire songs and also had a performance by each class. Our class group name was 'TIK TOK' so we danced to the song tik tok. We had a star performer Leon Ng from our class and he stood right in the middle of the class and did special moves which were very impressive and all the audience were really impressed.
Overall, I would like to thank our instructors from the company High Achievers and also to our teachers who gave us support when we were doing the 'caterpillar' activity, but I am not going to talk about the caterpillar thing, it is too hard to mention.
Well, this camp was enjoyable and it taught many of us to not take things for granted and to step out of our comfort zone at the same time.
Sorry I can't show any pictures from that place because we could not bring our phones in case it got lost.
That's all
Bye for now.
Monday, March 8, 2010
Methane Releases from Arctic Shelf May Be Much Larger and Faster Than Anticipated
The research results, published in the March 5 edition of the journal Science, show that the permafrost under the East Siberian Arctic Shelf, long thought to be an impermeable barrier sealing in methane, is perforated and is leaking large amounts of methane into the atmosphere. Release of even a fraction of the methane stored in the shelf could trigger abrupt climate warming.
"The amount of methane currently coming out of the East Siberian Arctic Shelf is comparable to the amount coming out of the entire world's oceans," said Shakhova, a researcher at UAF's International Arctic Research Center. "Subsea permafrost is losing its ability to be an impermeable cap."
Methane is a greenhouse gas more than 30 times more potent than carbon dioxide. It is released from previously frozen soils in two ways. When the organic material -- which contains carbon -- stored in permafrost thaws, it begins to decompose and, under oxygen-free conditions, gradually release methane. Methane can also be stored in the seabed as methane gas or methane hydrates and then released as subsea permafrost thaws. These releases can be larger and more abrupt than those that result from decomposition.
This worries me a little as if the layer of ice above the sea continues to destabilise, there will me more amount of methane produced which will greatly contribute to the green house gases.
In April 2007, studies in Siberia had conducted a winter expedition on the sea ice. They found that more than 80 percent of the deep water and greater than half of surface water had methane levels more than eight times that of normal seawater. In some areas, the saturation levels reached at least 250 times that of background levels in the summer and 1,400 times higher in the winter.
The release to the atmosphere of only one percent of the methane assumed to be stored in shallow hydrate deposits might alter the current atmospheric burden of methane up to 3 to 4 times," Shakhova said. "The climatic consequences of this are hard to predict."
"The amount of methane currently coming out of the East Siberian Arctic Shelf is comparable to the amount coming out of the entire world's oceans," said Shakhova, a researcher at UAF's International Arctic Research Center. "Subsea permafrost is losing its ability to be an impermeable cap."
Methane is a greenhouse gas more than 30 times more potent than carbon dioxide. It is released from previously frozen soils in two ways. When the organic material -- which contains carbon -- stored in permafrost thaws, it begins to decompose and, under oxygen-free conditions, gradually release methane. Methane can also be stored in the seabed as methane gas or methane hydrates and then released as subsea permafrost thaws. These releases can be larger and more abrupt than those that result from decomposition.
This worries me a little as if the layer of ice above the sea continues to destabilise, there will me more amount of methane produced which will greatly contribute to the green house gases.
In April 2007, studies in Siberia had conducted a winter expedition on the sea ice. They found that more than 80 percent of the deep water and greater than half of surface water had methane levels more than eight times that of normal seawater. In some areas, the saturation levels reached at least 250 times that of background levels in the summer and 1,400 times higher in the winter.
The release to the atmosphere of only one percent of the methane assumed to be stored in shallow hydrate deposits might alter the current atmospheric burden of methane up to 3 to 4 times," Shakhova said. "The climatic consequences of this are hard to predict."
I hope all of you will enjoy reading this article from www.science daily.com. For more articles regarding science, I recomend you to go to the website to read the articles. Next Term I will focus more on the 3r's which I have yet to explain clearly.
source: http://www.sciencedaily.com
source: http://www.sciencedaily.com
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