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A recent study by climatologist Kerry Emanuel
of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
(MIT) concluded that tropical storms and
hurricanes in both the Atlantic and Pacific
oceans have increased in both duration and
intensity by a whopping 50 percent since
the 1970s. These increases have taken place
over the same time period as average temperatures
at the ocean’s surface, suggesting
that this warming is responsible for the
greater power of the storms.
Indeed, the hottest years in recorded history
have been over just the last 15 years, and
with worldwide industrial emissions of carbon
dioxide at their highest levels ever, most
scientists agree that human industrial activity
is a significant culprit. Scientists have
been predicting that worldwide sea level
rises due to melting polar ice caps would
bring about frequent flooding of low-lying
areas as well as more frequent and intense
hurricanes, among other weather irregularities.
“My results suggest that future warming
may lead to an upward trend in [hurricanes’]
destructive potential, and--taking into
account an increasing coastal population--a
substantial increase in hurricane-related
losses in the 21st century,” says
MIT’s Emanuel.
Beyond reigniting debate about global warming,
Katrina’s impact is also highlighting
the consequences of the rapid destruction
of wetlands throughout the United States.
Louisiana alone has lost more than a million
acres of coastal wetlands since the 1940s,
and some environmental leaders maintain
that the installation of the levees surrounding
New Orleans a half century ago led to the
decay of nearby wetlands that historically
served as buffers in protecting against
flooding and other storm damage.
According to the environmental organization,
Ducks Unlimited, which has pledged $15 million
to help restore coastal wetlands in Louisiana
damaged by Hurricane Katrina, as a general
rule one mile of marsh can reduce a storm
surge by about one foot. “Theoretically,”
explains Tom Moorman, director of conservation
planning for the group’s Southern
Regional Office, “if you had a healthy
chunk of marsh when Katrina hit, that could
have mitigated some of the damage…the
storm surge that hit the Gulf Coast reached
some 29 feet, the highest ever recorded.
But, in New Orleans, a few miles of marsh
may have made a difference.”
CONTACTS:
Kerry Emanuel, “Anthropogenic Effects
on Tropical Cyclone Activity,” http://wind.mit.edu/~emanuel/anthro2.htm
Ducks Unlimited, www.ducks.org
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Dear EarthTalk:
Where can I recycle my plastic CD jewel
cases?
—
Bianca Hoffman, Bridgeport, CT
Environmentalists have been worried about
CD jewel case disposal ever since compact
discs first became popular in the 1980s.
Jewel cases are made out of Polyvinyl Chloride
(PVC), a petrochemical-based plastic that
is notoriously difficult to recycle and
has been linked to elevated cancer rates
among workers and neighbors where it is
manufactured. Also, the lead often added
to strengthen PVC can contaminate water,
soil and air around PVC manufacturing sites.
Worse yet, because it contains a variety
of additives and lacks a uniform composition,
PVC is far less recyclable than other plastics.
Its quality degrades after only two or three
“cycles.” Recycling operations
are burdened by having to carefully sort
out PVC since it melts into corrosive gases
at lower temperatures than other plastics,
contaminating whole batches while ruining
equipment and raising health concerns. Greenpeace
has identified PVC as the least recycled
of the six major common plastics used in
consumer, household and construction projects.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) estimates that less than one
percent of total post-consumer PVC is recovered
or reprocessed.
As a result, most municipal recycling centers
do not accept PVC products, meaning that
millions of CD jewel cases either take up
room indefinitely in landfills, where they
won't biodegrade, or are incinerated. And
unfortunately the burning of PVCs creates
airborne dioxins, some of the most toxic
carcinogens known to man.
While options for recycling CD jewel cases
and other PVC plastics are limited, the
Sammamish, Washington-based GreenDisk company
will take jewel cases and any other hard-to-recycle
“technotrash” (such as defunct
printer cartridges, cell phones, compact
discs, videotapes and rechargeable batteries)
for a fee of $5.95 for up to 20 pounds.
GreenDisk then turns the resulting raw materials
into GreenDisk-branded office supplies including,
you guessed it, CD jewel cases containing
at least 76 percent post-consumer waste
content. The company makes it easy by charging
just one flat fee that covers the collection
box and its shipment to the GreenDisk processing
facility.
Another way to make use of old jewel cases--as
well as the compact discs within--would
be for art’s sake. The website Make-Stuff.com
suggests reusing jewel cases for picture
frames or to show off collections of miniature
items (like coins, stamps, butterflies or
dried flowers), or as necklace holders.
Meanwhile, compact discs themselves, also
hard to recycle, can be re-used as reflectors,
drink coasters, large poker chips or game
pieces, or other fun stuff.
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