Arctic Ice

The ice in the Arctic is rapidly disappearing, and the region may have its first completely ice-free summer by 2040. Polar bears and other indigenous cultures are already suffering from sea-ice loss.

Arctic Ice Arctic Ice

Glaciers

Glaciers and mountain snows are rapidly melting. Right now, Montana's Glacer National Park has only 27 glaciers. It had 150 in 1910.

Glaciers Glaciers

Coral Reefs

Coral reefs are highly sensitive to small changes in water temperature. Up to 70% of some reefs died due to bleaching (or stress) in 1998 because of temperature changes.

Coral Reefs Coral Reefs

Temperature Change

Average world temperatures have risen 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit (0.8 degree Celsius) in the last one hundred years, much of it in the recent decade.

Temperature Change Temperature Change
 
 
Nuclear Power - Its Back? Print E-mail
Nuclear power plants currently provide about 17 percent of the world's electricity, yet how much of the worlds current and future environmental problems does Nuclear Power contribute to? Nuclear power has both powerful enemies and friends but does the bottom line come down to costs? The December 2005 World Nuclear Association report The New Economics of Nuclear Power states that Nuclear power is cost competitive with other forms of electricity generation, except where there is direct access to low-cost fossil fuels. The need for cheap energy can not be argued when every week price increases are announced from all the gas and electricity suppliers in the UK. The Ukraine recently had their gas supply stopped by Russia, how long is it before this happens to the UK? Do we not need to be self-sufficient when it comes to the generation of power? Can renewable energy not begin to take a larger role in this supply? See GuideMeGreens green directory for renewable energy companies and recycled products in the UK.

The report goes on to say that fuel costs for nuclear plants are a minor proportion of total generating costs, though capital costs are greater than those for coal-fired plants. At the NIA 2006 launch of the Commissions position paper on the role of nuclear it confirmed that nuclear is a low carbon technology with an impressive safety record in the UK and Nuclear could generate large quantities of electricity, contribute to stabilising CO2 emissions and add to the diversity of the UKs energy supply. While we have an impressive record of safety in the UK, Chernobyl has proved that a nuclear accident thousands of miles away can effect the UK for decades to come. The Tsunami also caused problems at Nuclear Power plants around Asia as the plants are built near the sea due to the large amount of water needed to cool the rectors.

About Author

David Oglaza is the founder of the Green and Ethical directory GuideMeGreen.com This growing green resource lists 100s of Organic, Fairtrade, Eco and Ethical companies. Also Green Jobs

Source: ArticleTrader.com
Read more at: http://www.articletrader.com/science/environment/nuclear-power-its-back.html.
 
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