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Blackout Was Good News, For Pollution
squidfrog writes "In regard to the August blackout, University of Maryland researchers have announced the results of measurements indicating the level of pollution normally caused by power plants in the region of the blackout, which could be measured for the first time by comparing the idle power plants with those still operational. 'Aircraft sampling in the 24 hours following the blackout found a 90 percent drop in sulfur dioxide and a 50 percent cut in ozone levels, while visibility increased by more than 25 miles.'" MSNBC has a related story.
There was a fairly informative story about this on NPR recently. You can listen to it here
One of the nice things is that such a quick change bodes well for the effectiveness of improved scrubbers and clean-air standards applied to existing power plants, some of which are supposed to reduce emissions by as much as 50%.
"An unarmed man can only flee from evil, and evil is not overcome by fleeing from it." Col. Jeff Cooper
It was reported in New Scientist 2 week ago.
Carbon-14 is not really a hazard.
The hazard's from naturally-occuring elements such as Uranium in the coal. Uranium is only present in coal in minute amounts... approximately 1 - 3 parts per million, Thorium is about double that. This seems to be fuck-all, until you burn a 1000 million tons of coal a year (total for the US, year 2000) and end up with a thousand tons of uranium and thorium in your atmosphere and the local surrounds of your power plants.
An interesting article I just found, by searching for "radioactive coal" is here
You are in a twisty maze of processor lines, all alike.
There is a lot of hype here.
Hydroelectric power can have severe environmental impact. The building of dams can be devestating to the people and animals who lived in the flooded area. Dams and hydroelecric plants kill fish, both from the increased difficulty of migration and from being chewed up in turbines. Dams fail and cause catastraphic floods. Dams cause damage to wetland areas both upstream and downstream of the dam. There are many other bad effects caused by dams depending upon their location. Dams can cause concentration of pcb's, mercury and other toxins, dams cause the retention of silt, there are many ways that dams can cause reduction in water quality.