OPR1 Solar Energy
Solar energy refers to the harnessed heat and radiant light from the sun. solar energy is termed as inexhaustible and renewable because it is produced by the sun. Solar energy is one of the most promising sources of energy in the world. Firstly, it is non-polluting. This means that solar energy does not negatively impact the environment or bring about any hazard to the environment, hence it is considered as a safe source of power and recommended for a great course of natural resource sustainability. Secondly, solar energy is free and available world-wide. The sun heats the earth, providing solar energy to every corner of the globe. Depending on the geography, the solar energy intensity varies with higher intensity around the equator and becomes lower as you move further away from the equator. The solar energy is harnessed using panels and mirrors ( Gordon, 2013).
For instance, China is the top producer of solar power in the world. With a call to reduce the amount of carbon emissions from its power industries, China decided to renewable energy that led to the mass production of solar energy. Through its industrial economy, china is able to produce photovoltaic(PV) modules in large amounts. PV modules converts sunlight into electricity. The country aims at eradicating dependency on fossil fuels and building 10GW of solar power industries by the end of coming ten years (Bloomber News, 2017).
Additionally, Germany has followed suite in the mass establishment of renewable sources of energy. On the 30th of April 2017, renewable power accounted for 85% of the total consumption in Germany. In the recent years, Germany has been undertaking PV installation projects in large numbers. Solar power has been the highest contributor to renewable energy in Germany that saw it surpass the 2020 target for green power in 2017.
In a nutshell, solar power will improve global sustainability of natural resources.
OPR2 Reduction of Industrial Air Pollution
According to (Scutti, 2017) a study by Lancet Commission on population and health linked air pollution to 6.5 million deaths in 2015. The study also claimed that air pollution is the largest contributor to premature deaths. This number can be greatly reduced by the use of proper technologies that ensure polluted air from industries has been cleaned and made safe for the environment. Below are some promising developments to help curb industrial air pollution.
Firstly, is the use of solar powered systems. solar systems do not produce any air pollution, no hazardous waste and produce minimal or no noise. Therefore, solar systems are critical in the implementation of a zero-air pollution environmental solution (Perfect Pollucon Services, 2016).
Secondly, the use of hydrogen-powered vehicles will help reduce the amount of fossil-fuel polluted air. For instance, automobile companies like Volkswagen have been developing an environmental friendly vehicle that uses hydrogen fuel cells. The move comes as a bid to support a sustainable environment.
Thirdly, some construction companies are adapting the sustainable environment principle by using eco-friendly construction material. For instance, the introduction of green buildings came as a way of contribution towards maintaining a green environment. Green buildings use bricks that does not go through the process of baking as it is with the conventional bricks. These bricks are made through a process of compressing and drying by sun (SunPower, 2017).
To sum up, the fight against air pollution is a collective task by all industries to ensure the reduction to environmental hazards brought by air pollution.
OPR3 Marker-Assisted Breeding
Marker assisted breeding is a process where a trait such as disease resistance or quality, is selected based on a marker such as DNA that has been linked to that trait of interest. It employs the idea that it is possible to manipulate the marker of a plant or animal, to produce an improved product according to the selected trait (Mondal, 2018).
Arguments for Marker Assisted Breeding(MAB)
It has a high accuracy. The reason being, changes in the environmental conditions do not affect the markers and hence the margin of failure is very low. Even when the markers have a low adaptation to the new environmental condition, it still proves to be fairly effective.
Additionally, marker assisted breeding is a quick method of crop improvement. While the conventional method takes 10-15 years, the MAB takes 3-5 years to develop a new generation of breed (Mondal, 2018).
Moreover, MAB allows early detection of traits. For example, characteristics such as fruit quality and male sterility can be screened and identified at a seedling age. This helps to shed some light about the expected trait to be expressed later in the life of the plant.
Arguments Against Marker Assisted Breeding
Cost-effectiveness is a major issue of using MAB. It beats the logic of using MAB compared to conventional methods as the cost of developing MAB does not reflect in the crop yields. This means that the expertise and equipment required cost more than the return from the crop yields.
In summary, the MAB is a highly effective method. The only thing required is to make it cost-effective
Impact of Biological, Chemical, Physical and Cultural Hazards on Human Health
Biological Hazards
Biological hazards are caused by agents also known as pathogens, that are capable of causing or transmitting a disease. Biological hazards are likely to affect people in various workplaces. This varies according to the occupation, seasons, location and the nature of work. A prevalence of a biological hazard and its unusual increase causes an epidemic in a certain region or within a particular population (Kyung-Taek Rim, and Cheol-Hong Lim, 2014).
For instance, between 2013 and 2016, a biological hazard occurred in West Africa where there was a widespread outbreak of Ebola disease causing great loss of lives and harm to human health. Ebola is caused by a virus that is able to hide in the body of a recovering patient.
Chemical Hazards
Chemical hazards are mostly brought about by factories and industries releasing effluent into the environment. These industrial waste gets into contact with the basic environmental elements such as water, air and soil and contaminates them. The interaction of human with these basic environmental elements compromises the health of a human being as they intake chemical wastes through the contaminated elements.
For example, lead is a chemical that causes adverse effects on the intelligence and blood pressure of a human being. This chemical can be found in household items such as house paint. A painter aged 40 was for a long time exposed to lead paint and was admitted to hospital presenting a 6 weeks history of malaise, nausea and mental impairment. Investigations from the blood practitioner showed a considerable increase in the amount of paint in the blood (J N Gordon, A Taylor, and P N Bennett, 2002).
Cultural Hazards
Cultural hazards involves those factors that can be controlled by a matter of choice. These are mainly morality factors. In most cases, people engage in these cultural hazard behaviors because they gain some form of pleasure from them. For example, activities such as smoking, driving too fast, eating a lot, drinking alcohol and taking addictive drugs are all proven to bring harm to the human health. These morality issues can be avoided by making a choice (G. Tyler Miller, Scott Spoolman, 2016).
Physical Hazards
These include natural disasters such as hurricanes, floods, forest fires, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. All these hazards occur due to an effect of hydrological, geological and meteorological forces. These disasters are known to be highly fatal as they leave mass destruction of properties and loss of human life. For example, in the years 2004 through 2005, hurricane Katrina wreaked havoc and caused loss of lives on the United States Gulf Coast. Later in the year, an earthquake around Pakistan area, spawned a Tsunami that claimed 225000 lives. This toll was more than any that have been recorded (Gregg M. Stave, Peter H. Wald, 2016).
In summary, taking care of the environment will get rid of or greatly reduced the hazards that human beings are subjected to in their daily lives. While some like cultural hazards can be prevented and avoided, others like physical hazards are unavoidable. However, as human beings, we should understand that pollution of the environment causes the natural disasters and hence we can reduce the occurrence of natural disasters by taking care of the environment.
References
Gordon, J. M., 2013. Solar Energy: The State of the Art. New York: Routledge.
Bloomber News, 2017. China on Pace for Record Solar-Power Installations. [Online] Available at: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-11-20/china-on-pace-for-record-solar-installations-as-forecasts-jump [Accessed 16 April 2018].
Tyler Miller, Scott Spoolman, 2016. Living in the Environment. 19 ed. Boston: Cengage learning.
Gregg M. Stave, Peter H. Wald, 2016. Physical and Biological Hazards of the Workplace. Reprint ed. New york: John Wiley & Sons.
J N Gordon, A Taylor, and P N Bennett, 2002. Lead poisoning: case studies. British Journal of Clinical Pharmavology, 5(53), pp. 451-458.
Kyung-Taek Rim, and Cheol-Hong Lim, 2014. Biologically Hazardous Agents at Work and Efforts to Protect Workers’ Health: A Review of Recent Reports. Journal of Saf Health Work, 5(2), pp. 43-52.
Mondal, S., 2018. Marker Assisted Selection (MAS): Meaning, Steps and Application. [Online] Available at: https://www.biologydiscussion.com/biotechnology/marker-assisted-selection/marker-assisted-selection-mas-meaning-steps-and-application/38113
[Accessed 16 April 2018].
Perfect Pollucon Services, 2016. How to Reduce Air Pollution from Industries. [Online] Available at: https://www.ppsthane.com/blog/reduce-air-pollution-industries [Accessed 16 April 2018].
Scutti, S., 2017. Pollution linked to 9 million deaths worldwide in 2015, study says. [Online] Available at: https://edition.cnn.com/2017/10/19/health/pollution-1-in-6-deaths-study/index.html [Accessed 15 April 2018].
SunPower, 2017. What is green building? Explaining eco-friendly construction. [Online] Available at: https://businessfeed.sunpower.com/articles/explaining-what-is-green-building [Accessed 16 April 2018].
