Land Reclamation Failures

In a few parts of the world, the desert has been made to bloom by the use of irrigation. Such programs transform the productivity of the land, but sometimes they suffer from technical problems: waterlogging of the soil, or growth of crusts of salt or other chemicals that render the land unproductive. In Pakistan, for example, an irrigation project backfired when the amountof salt in the soil rose so high that it became unusable for agriculture. In addition, dams constructed to bring water to dry areas have caused massive damage to the landscape with the loss of plant and animal life as well as of agricultural land. With modern population pressures, many agricultural problems are more acutethan ever before. Unless more appropriate forms of land management can be practiced in many parts of the world, the prospects for adequate resources in future are gloomy.

Interesting Recycling Facts

Recycling should be an activity practiced by households, individuals and businesses alike. If you don't already recycle, here are some fun recycling facts that should help convince you to do so.

Facts about Recycling Metals:

• Nearly 350,000 aluminum cans are produced every minute worldwide. By recycling one aluminum can, enough energy is saved to run a TV for three hours. This is equivalent to using a half gallon of gas.

• Once a can is recycled, it can be formed into a new can within six weeks.

• There is no limit to the amount of times an aluminum can be recycled.

• During a one year period in the U.S., the recycling of steel saves enough energy to heat and light 18,000,000 homes.

• The energy saved by recycling one pound of steel can power a 60-watt bulb for over a day.

Facts about Recycling Paper:

• 500,000 trees must be cut down to produce each week's Sunday newspaper.

• If all newspapers were recycled throughout the year, we would save about 250,000,000 trees per year!

• Roughly 1 billion trees worth of paper are thrown away every year in the U.S.

• About 27 % of all the newspapers in America are recycled.

• The amount of paper and wood thrown away every year is equivalent to the energy needed to heat 50,000,000 homes for 20 years!

Facts about Recycling Glass

• By recycling one glass bottle, a 100-watt light bulb could run for four hours.

• By not recycling glass, it takes over 4,000 years for it to decompose in a landfill.

Hopefully these recycling facts will help convince you to recycle if you do not already do so!

Land Reclamation

The term reclamation applies both to the reworking of land that has been damaged by people. The principles and techniques of land reclamation varyaccording to the setting, but the common reason is that land is a scarce and valuable resource which should be made available for productive or beneficial use wherever possible. Reclaimed land can be used for agriculture – for arable or pastoral farming – as sites for new towns and villages, for transport systems such as new airports, harbor facilities or road networks and for industry. Usually the most pressing need is for more living space, and many of the world's most ambitious reclamation schemes have been carried out in countries (such as the Netherlands and Japan) that have high population densities.

Limited Energy: Earth's Fossil Fuels

Fossil Fuels are a non-renewable source of energy formed from plants and animals that used to live up to 300 million years ago. Chemical energy is stored in these fuels, and when we burn these fuels the energy is released. Coal, natural gas and oil are the three fossil fuels that currently providemore than 85 % of all the energy consumed in the United States. They account for 2/3 of all the electricity produced and nearly all transportation fuel comes from fossil fuels. Fossil fuels produce around 6.3 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide per year worldwide. Carbon dixoide is a greenhouse gas that contributes to the effects of global warming. Our dependence upon fossil fuels is still likely to increase over the next few decades even while new renewable fuels are being developed. With decreasing amounts of fossil fuels located on Earth, humans will have no other choice other than to switch to renewable resources. It's already happening slowly, but time will only tell. An optimistic time estimate on how long fossil fuels will last is displayed below (Oil & Gas Journal, World Oil):

oil: 45 years;

gas: 72 years;

coal: 252 years.

GREEN ACTIVISM

Green Activism: 25 Environmental Organizations and Agencies

Sierra Club

The Sierra Club, founded in 1892, is one of the oldest conservation organizations in existence. With over 1.3 million members, this organization is one of the most effective and powerful at effecting changes in government and corporate America. Fighting for the preservation of land and forest, clean air and water, and a host of other issues, the Sierra Club is well-known and respected.