Download or read book Greenhouse Warming and Nuclear Hazards written by Peter Fong and published by World Scientific. This book was released on 2005-11-24 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is a rebuttal of the common belief that grave environmental consequences are associated with the issues of global warming and nuclear hazards. Firstly, it is argued that after 25 years of research no-one has actually found evidence for greenhouse warming. Instead, the heat has caused the evaporation of ocean water to increase cloud coverage, reflecting more sunlight away, cooling down the earth and nullifying the effects of greenhouse warming. The author describes this revolution in climatology through new scientific discoveries that solve the longstanding mystery of the ice ages and explain the enigma of the missing greenhouse heat. The solution of the ice age problem is a far most important scientific accomplishment. In the second part of the book, the author argues that the effects of low-level radiation can be beneficial rather than damaging. Evidence is presented proving that low-level radiation in the US from both natural sources and human activities such as nuclear bombs tests actually reduces death rates from cancer and other diseases and increases longevity. In the Indian State of Kerala life span has been shown to increase 10.5 years due to the natural radiation from thorium mines. The book proposes that primitive life forms must have developed immune systems to counter the harmful effects of natural radioactivity and that low-level radiation from nuclear waste may one day be transformed from trash to treasure. Nature has always been kind to humans. But our self-aggrandizing species has mistaken blessings for disasters and spoiled the otherwise splendid 20th century. Contents:Greenhouse Warming and Nuclear Hazards:Three Smoking Guns Prove the Falsity of Greenhouse WarmingNuclear Waste Disposal, from Trash to TreasureCancer Death Rates of 50 States of US Related to Natural and Nuclear-Bomb-Test-Induced Low Level RadiationGreenhouse Warming:Latent Heat of Melting and Its Importance for Glaciation CyclesOrigin of Ice Ages: Initial Condition Forcing and DynamicsUnraveling a Century's Mystery of the Ice AgesThe Fourth Phase of Water and the Theories of Greenhouse Effects and Ice Age Glacial CyclesResearch Papers on Nuclear Hazards:The Ultimate Direct Measurement of Low Level Radiation EffectsLong Life Expectancy as the Beneficial Effect of Low RadiationLow Level Radiation Extends Life Span by Cutting Death Rates of Disease Including Heart Disease, Cancer, Stroke, etc.Reexamining Nuclear Energy Safety Readership: Undergraduates and general public. Keywords:Greenhouse Effect;Global Warming;Environment;Energy Nuclear;Cancer;Ageing;Ice Age;Climate;Thermodynamics

Download or read book Insurmountable Risks written by Brice Smith and published by RDR Books. This book was released on 2006 with total page 452 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Dangers of Using Nuclear Power to Combat Global Climate Change.How much will nuclear energy cost relative to other means of getting rid of carbon dioxide emissions? What will be the risks of catastrophic accidents if we build reactors at the rate of one a week or more, cookie-cutter style, around the world? What about the risks of proliferation and terrorist attacks and nuclear waste? This is THE book providing a meticulously researched analysis of the risks of using nuclear energy to combat global warming. Were there no alternative, the severity of the threat facing humankind and other species from global climate change might warrant serious consideration of the risks of nuclear energy. But as Insurmountable Risks convincingly shows, there are far safer economical alternatives. A perfect factia; companion to the nuclear power debate at the heart of the 2008 Presidential campaign.

Download or read book Greenhouse Warming and Nuclear Hazards written by Peter Fong and published by World Scientific. This book was released on 2005 with total page 282 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is a rebuttal of the common belief that grave environmental consequences are associated with the issues of global warming and nuclear hazards.Firstly, it is argued that after 25 years of research no-one has actually found evidence for greenhouse warming. Instead, the heat has caused the evaporation of ocean water to increase cloud coverage, reflecting more sunlight away, cooling down the earth and nullifying the effects of greenhouse warming. The author describes this revolution in climatology through new scientific discoveries that solve the longstanding mystery of the ice ages and explain the enigma of the missing greenhouse heat. The solution of the ice age problem is a far most important scientific accomplishment.In the second part of the book, the author argues that the effects of low-level radiation can be beneficial rather than damaging. Evidence is presented proving that low-level radiation in the US from both natural sources and human activities such as nuclear bombs tests actually reduces death rates from cancer and other diseases and increases longevity. In the Indian State of Kerala life span has been shown to increase 10.5 years due to the natural radiation from thorium mines. The book proposes that primitive life forms must have developed immune systems to counter the harmful effects of natural radioactivity and that low-level radiation from nuclear waste may one day be transformed from trash to treasure.Nature has always been kind to humans. But our self-aggrandizing species has mistaken blessings for disasters and spoiled the otherwise splendid 20th century.

Download or read book Nuclear Power is Not the Answer to Global Warming Or Anything Else written by Helen Caldicott and published by Melbourne Univ. Publishing. This book was released on 2006 with total page 250 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In a world torn apart by wars over oil, politicians have increasingly begun to look for alternative energy sources-and their leading choice is nuclear energy. The myths that have been spread about nuclear-powered electricity are that it does not cause global warming or pollution, it is inexpensive and it is safe. In this revealing examination of the costs and consequences of nuclear energy, world-renowned antinuclear spokesperson Helen Caldicott uncovers the facts that belie the nuclear industry propaganda: nuclear power contributes to global warming; the true cost of nuclear power is prohibitive, with taxpayers picking up most of the tab; there's simply not enough uranium in the world to sustain nuclear power over the long term; and the potential for a catastrophic accident or a terrorist attack far outweighs any benefits. Trained as a physician and thoroughly versed in the science of nuclear energy, the bestselling author of Nuclear Madness and Missile Envy here turns her attention from nuclear bombs to nuclear lightbulbs. As she makes meticulously clear in this essential book, the world cannot withstand either.

Download or read book Climate Change and Nuclear Power 2020 written by IAEA and published by International Atomic Energy Agency. This book was released on 2020-09-14 with total page 104 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This publication provides an update on the current status of nuclear power and prospects for its contribution, together with other low carbon energy sources, to ambitious mitigation strategies that will help the world limit global warming to 1.5°C in line with the 2015 Paris Agreement. Since 2000, the IAEA has issued such information and analysis regularly, in order to support those Member States that choose to include nuclear power in their energy system as well as those considering other strategies. The focus of the 2020 publication is on the significant potential of nuclear energy, integrated in a low carbon energy system, to contribute to the 1.5°C climate change mitigation target, and the challenges of realizing this potential. Energy system and market related factors affecting the transition to a low carbon energy system are reviewed. This edition also outlines developments needed to realize the large scale capacity increase required to rapidly decarbonize the global energy system in line with limiting global warming to 1.5°C.

Download or read book Why We Need Nuclear Power written by Michael H. Fox and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2014-03-03 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Nuclear power may just be the most important solution to our search for clean, sustainable energy sources. Although wind and solar can contribute to our energy mix, we need a reliable source to meet large-scale energy demands and break our dependence on fossil fuels. However, most people are wary, if not downright afraid, of nuclear power. Given nuclear disasters such as Chernobyl and Fukushima, it's not difficult to see why. In the wake of these events, fear has clouded the public's understanding of the facts. It's time to clear up those misconceptions and examine the science behind nuclear power, in order to determine what role it could and should play in our future. In Why We Need Power: The Environmental Case, radiation biologist Michael H. Fox argues that nuclear power is essential to slowing down the impact of global warming. He examines the issue from every angle, relying on thirty-five years of research spent studying the biological effects of radiation. Fox begins with the problem, carefully laying out how our current energy uses and projections for the future will affect greenhouse gases and global warming. The book then evaluates each major energy source and demonstrates the limits of renewable energy sources, concluding that nuclear power is the best solution to our environmental crisis. Fox then delves into nuclear power, looking at the effects of radiation, the potential for nuclear accidents, and the best methods to dispose of nuclear waste. By systematically analyzing each aspect of the nuclear issue, Fox clarifies which concerns have a scientific basis and which remain unsupported. His in-depth exploration of the facts persuasively demonstrates that nuclear power is critical to reducing the effects of energy production on the global climate. Written in an engaging and accessible style, Why We Need Nuclear Power is an invaluable resource for both general readers and scientists interested in the facts behind nuclear energy.

Download or read book Fukushima and Beyond written by Dr Christopher Hubbard and published by Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.. This book was released on 2014-09-28 with total page 217 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The catalyst for this study was the Fukushima-Daiichi major nuclear accident of 11 March 2011. In this event, a severe earthquake and15 metre tsunami caused serious damage and equipment failures at Japan’s Fukushima 1 Nuclear Power Plant which were judged by the International Atomic Energy Agency to be equally as serious as the Soviet Chernobyl nuclear disaster of 1986. Against a background of nuclear hesitancy and reassessment, the prospect of including or excluding nuclear power in a low-carbon twenty-first century world is now increasingly critical. It is in this emerging scenario and context that this book presents a full suite of historical, contemporary and projected data. Its use of complementary and comparative country-based case studies provides ample opportunity for developing strongly illustrative analysis of policy effectiveness in diverse polities and markets. In this way, it combines clear, comprehensive and rigorously science-based evidence, analysis and interpretation of data, all leading to conclusions and policy recommendations. Furthermore, it builds an understanding of the complexities and many challenges posed by the nuclear power option.

Download or read book Nuclear Power Is Not the Answer written by Helen Caldicott and published by ReadHowYouWant.com. This book was released on 2010-10-29 with total page 330 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The world-renowned antinuclear activist's expertly argued(The Guardian) case against nuclear energy. In a world torn apart by wars over oil, politicians have increasingly begun to look for alternative energy sources and their leading choice is nuclear energy. Among the myths that have been spread over the years about nuclear-powered electricity are that it does not cause global warming or pollution, that it is inexpensive, and that it is safe. Helen Caldicott's look at the actual costs and environmental consequences of nuclear energy belies the incessant barrage of nuclear industry propaganda. Caldicott reveals truths, Martin Sheen has said, that confirm we must take positive action now if we are to make a difference. In fact, nuclear power contributes to global warming; the true cost of nuclear power is prohibitive, with taxpayers picking up most of the tab; there's simply not enough uranium in the world to sustain nuclear power over the long term; and the potential for a catastrophic accident or a terrorist attack far outweighs any benefits. Concluding chapters detail alternative sustainable energy sources that are the key to a clean, green future.

Download or read book Policy Implications of Greenhouse Warming written by National Academy of Engineering and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 1992-02-01 with total page 945 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Global warming continues to gain importance on the international agenda and calls for action are heightening. Yet, there is still controversy over what must be done and what is needed to proceed. Policy Implications of Greenhouse Warming describes the information necessary to make decisions about global warming resulting from atmospheric releases of radiatively active trace gases. The conclusions and recommendations include some unexpected results. The distinguished authoring committee provides specific advice for U.S. policy and addresses the need for an international response to potential greenhouse warming. It offers a realistic view of gaps in the scientific understanding of greenhouse warming and how much effort and expense might be required to produce definitive answers. The book presents methods for assessing options to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, offset emissions, and assist humans and unmanaged systems of plants and animals to adjust to the consequences of global warming.

Download or read book Fire Ice written by David E. Fisher and published by HarperCollins Publishers. This book was released on 1990 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An analysis of the three interlocked ways we are threatening to degrade and destroy the atmosphere of our planet, and the steps that can be taken to forestall and reverse the process.

Download or read book Contesting The Future Of Nuclear Power A Critical Global Assessment Of Atomic Energy written by Benjamin K Sovacool and published by World Scientific Publishing Company. This book was released on 2011-05-05 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides a concise but rigorous appraisal about the future of nuclear power and the presumed nuclear renaissance. It does so by assessing the technical, economic, environmental, political, and social risks related to all aspects of the nuclear fuel cycle, from uranium mills and mines to nuclear reactors and spent fuel storage facilities. In each case, the book argues that the costs of nuclear power significantly outweigh its benefits. It concludes by calling for investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency as a better path towards an affordable, secure, and socially acceptable future.The prospect of a global nuclear renaissance could change the way that energy is produced and used the world over. Sovacool takes a hard look at who would benefit — mostly energy companies and manufacturers — and who would suffer — mostly taxpayers, those living near nuclear facilities, and electricity customers. This book is a must-read for anyone even remotely concerned about a sustainable energy future, and also for those with a specific interest in modern nuclear power plants.

Download or read book No Immediate Danger written by William T. Vollmann and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2018-04-10 with total page 626 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “The most honest book about climate change yet.” —The Atlantic “The Infinite Jest of climate books.” —The Baffler A timely, eye-opening book about climate change and energy generation that focuses on the consequences of nuclear power production, from award-winning author William T. Vollmann In his nonfiction, William T. Vollmann has won acclaim as a singular voice tackling some of the most important issues of our age, from poverty to violence to the dark soul of American imperialism as it has played out on the U.S./Mexico border. Now, Vollmann turns to a topic that will define the generations to come--the factors and human actions that have led to global warming. Vollmann begins No Immediate Danger, the first volume of Carbon Ideologies, by examining and quantifying the many causes of climate change, from industrial manufacturing and agricultural practices to fossil fuel extraction, economic demand for electric power, and the justifiable yearning of people all over the world to live in comfort. Turning to nuclear power first, Vollmann then recounts multiple visits that he made at significant personal risk over the course of seven years to the contaminated no-go zones and sad ghost towns of Fukushima, Japan, beginning shortly after the tsunami and reactor meltdowns of 2011. Equipped first only with a dosimeter and then with a scintillation counter, he measured radiation and interviewed tsunami victims, nuclear evacuees, anti-nuclear organizers and pro-nuclear utility workers. Featuring Vollmann's signature wide learning, sardonic wit, and encyclopedic research, No Immediate Danger, whose title co-opts the reassuring mantra of official Japanese energy experts, builds up a powerful, sobering picture of the ongoing nightmare of Fukushima.

Download or read book The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels written by Alex Epstein and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2014-11-13 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Could everything we know about fossil fuels be wrong? For decades, environmentalists have told us that using fossil fuels is a self-destructive addiction that will destroy our planet. Yet at the same time, by every measure of human well-being, from life expectancy to clean water to climate safety, life has been getting better and better. How can this be? The explanation, energy expert Alex Epstein argues in The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels, is that we usually hear only one side of the story. We’re taught to think only of the negatives of fossil fuels, their risks and side effects, but not their positives—their unique ability to provide cheap, reliable energy for a world of seven billion people. And the moral significance of cheap, reliable energy, Epstein argues, is woefully underrated. Energy is our ability to improve every single aspect of life, whether economic or environmental. If we look at the big picture of fossil fuels compared with the alternatives, the overall impact of using fossil fuels is to make the world a far better place. We are morally obligated to use more fossil fuels for the sake of our economy and our environment. Drawing on original insights and cutting-edge research, Epstein argues that most of what we hear about fossil fuels is a myth. For instance . . . Myth: Fossil fuels are dirty. Truth: The environmental benefits of using fossil fuels far outweigh the risks. Fossil fuels don’t take a naturally clean environment and make it dirty; they take a naturally dirty environment and make it clean. They don’t take a naturally safe climate and make it dangerous; they take a naturally dangerous climate and make it ever safer. Myth: Fossil fuels are unsustainable, so we should strive to use “renewable” solar and wind. Truth: The sun and wind are intermittent, unreliable fuels that always need backup from a reliable source of energy—usually fossil fuels. There are huge amounts of fossil fuels left, and we have plenty of time to find something cheaper. Myth: Fossil fuels are hurting the developing world. Truth: Fossil fuels are the key to improving the quality of life for billions of people in the developing world. If we withhold them, access to clean water plummets, critical medical machines like incubators become impossible to operate, and life expectancy drops significantly. Calls to “get off fossil fuels” are calls to degrade the lives of innocent people who merely want the same opportunities we enjoy in the West. Taking everything into account, including the facts about climate change, Epstein argues that “fossil fuels are easy to misunderstand and demonize, but they are absolutely good to use. And they absolutely need to be championed. . . . Mankind’s use of fossil fuels is supremely virtuous—because human life is the standard of value and because using fossil fuels transforms our environment to make it wonderful for human life.”

Download or read book The Climate Swerve written by Robert Jay Lifton and published by The New Press. This book was released on 2017-10-10 with total page 144 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Longlisted for the PEN America/E.O. Wilson Prize for Literary Science Writing "Well worth the read. . . . [A] prescient handoff to the next generation of scholars." —The Washington Post From "one of the world’s foremost thinkers" (Bill Moyers), a profound, hopeful, and timely call for an emerging new collective consciousness to combat climate change Over his long career as witness to an extreme twentieth century, National Book Award-winning psychiatrist, historian, and public intellectual Robert Jay Lifton has grappled with the profound effects of nuclear war, terrorism, and genocide. Now he shifts to climate change, which, Lifton writes, "presents us with what may be the most demanding and unique psychological task ever required of humankind," what he describes as the task of mobilizing our imaginative resources toward climate sanity. Thanks to the power of corporate-funded climate denialists and the fact that "with its slower, incremental sequence, [climate change] lends itself less to the apocalyptic drama," a large swathe of humanity has numbed themselves to the reality of climate change. Yet Lifton draws a message of hope from the Paris climate meeting of 2015 where representatives of virtually all nations joined in the recognition that we are a single species in deep trouble. Here, Lifton suggests in this lucid and moving book that recalls Rachel Carson and Jonathan Schell, was evidence of how we might call upon the human mind—"our greatest evolutionary asset"—to translate a growing species awareness—or "climate swerve"—into action to sustain our habitat and civilization.

Download or read book A Bright Future written by Joshua S. Goldstein and published by PublicAffairs. This book was released on 2019-01-08 with total page 199 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The inspiration for Nuclear Now, the new Oliver Stone film, co-written by Joshua Goldstein As climate change quickly approaches a series of turning points that guarantee disastrous outcomes, a solution is hiding in plain sight. Several countries have already replaced fossil fuels with low-carbon energy sources, and done so rapidly, in one to two decades. By following their methods, we could decarbonize the global economy by midcentury, replacing fossil fuels even while world energy use continues to rise. But so far we have lacked the courage to really try. In this clear-sighted and compelling book, Joshua Goldstein and Staffan Qvist explain how clean energy quickly replaced fossil fuels in such places as Sweden, France, South Korea, and Ontario. Their people enjoyed prosperity and growing energy use in harmony with the natural environment. They didn't do this through personal sacrifice, nor through 100 percent renewables, but by using them in combination with an energy source the Swedes call käkraft, hundreds of times safer and cleaner than coal. Clearly written and beautifully illustrated, yet footnoted with extensive technical references, Goldstein and Qvist's book will provide a new touchstone in discussions of climate change. It could spark a shift in world energy policy that, in the words of Steven Pinker's foreword, literally saves the world.

Download or read book The Price of Nuclear Power written by Stephanie A. Malin and published by Rutgers University Press. This book was released on 2015-05-21 with total page 239 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rising fossil fuel prices and concerns about greenhouse gas emissions are fostering a nuclear power renaissance and a revitalized uranium mining industry across the American West. In The Price of Nuclear Power, environmental sociologist Stephanie Malin offers an on-the-ground portrait of several uranium communities caught between the harmful legacy of previous mining booms and the potential promise of new economic development. Using this context, she examines how shifting notions of environmental justice inspire divergent views about nuclear power’s sustainability and equally divisive forms of social activism. Drawing on extensive fieldwork conducted in rural isolated towns such as Monticello, Utah, and Nucla and Naturita, Colorado, as well as in upscale communities like Telluride, Colorado, and incorporating interviews with community leaders, environmental activists, radiation regulators, and mining executives, Malin uncovers a fundamental paradox of the nuclear renaissance: the communities most hurt by uranium’s legacy—such as high rates of cancers, respiratory ailments, and reproductive disorders—were actually quick to support industry renewal. She shows that many impoverished communities support mining not only because of the employment opportunities, but also out of a personal identification with uranium, a sense of patriotism, and new notions of environmentalism. But other communities, such as Telluride, have become sites of resistance, skeptical of industry and government promises of safe mining, fearing that regulatory enforcement won’t be strong enough. Indeed, Malin shows that the nuclear renaissance has exacerbated social divisions across the Colorado Plateau, threatening social cohesion. Malin further illustrates ways in which renewed uranium production is not a socially sustainable form of energy development for rural communities, as it is utterly dependent on unstable global markets. The Price of Nuclear Power is an insightful portrait of the local impact of the nuclear renaissance and the social and environmental tensions inherent in the rebirth of uranium mining.

Download or read book Learning from Fukushima written by Peter Van Ness and published by ANU Press. This book was released on 2017-09-29 with total page 387 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Learning from Fukushima began as a project to respond in a helpful way to the March 2011 triple disaster (earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear meltdown) in north-eastern Japan. It evolved into a collaborative and comprehensive investigation of whether nuclear power was a realistic energy option for East Asia, especially for the 10 member-countries of ASEAN, none of which currently has an operational nuclear power plant. We address all the questions that a country must ask in considering the possibility of nuclear power, including cost of construction, staffing, regulation and liability, decommissioning, disposal of nuclear waste, and the impact on climate change. The authors are physicists, engineers, biologists, a public health physician, and international relations specialists. Each author presents the results of their work.