Green And Ready

The energy demands of Glen Jacobsen´s turtle and tortoise farm in Bird Island, Minn., sent him looking for alternative ways to power the special ultraviolet heating and lighting necessary to raise his 30-some threatened and endangered reptiles.

“Since the western plains of Minnesota are notoriously windy, I got my wind speed readings and realized that I had a viable wind resource on my property,” said Jacobsen, who invested about $60,000 in erecting a 20-kilowatt wind turbine. It started producing power in August 2007, and in its first year churned out close to 30,000 kilowatts, offsetting 29.8 tons of carbon dioxide.

“With wind power, all of the costs are basically upfront — to put in foundation, erect it, to put in the wiring, with the exception of annual maintenance and ongoing insurance,” Jacobsen said. “Once that´s done, you just wait for the wind to blow.”

Harnessing the power of small wind energy systems is something that is gaining momentum among businesses looking to make investments in clean and renewable energy sources, said Ron Stimmel, small wind advocate at the American Wind Energy Association, in Washington, D.C. Read more here at waste and recycling news.

2009 The American Wind Energy Association Conference in Chicago

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The Environment and Asthma
This article is written and owned by Ricky Hussey

Increased environmental controls over outdoor and indoor air pollution will also improve quality of life of the patient with bronchial asthma as well as the entire population. Federal guidelines for outdoor pollution have been established under the Clean Air Act amended in 1990.
It covers automobiles and industry and sets air quality standards. Regional compliance with these standards has yet to be achieved, although progress has been made recently. Some states have passed laws with stricter standards that continue to tighten controls over automobile exhaust and the industrial combustion of fuels. Gasoline-engine manufacturers have reduced harmful emissions in their new vehicles by nearly 90 percent over the past twenty-five years, but makers of diesel engines have reduced noxious exhaust fumes by only half that percentage. New EPA guidelines, drafted in 1995 aim to reduce diesel emissions by another 50 percent by 2004. Increased attention has also been directed at control of chlorofluorocarbon propellants that destroy the ozone layer. Although some progress has been made toward cleaner air, air pollution will continue to be a major source of lung disease well into the next century. Greater attention must also be paid to “indoor pollution.” This problem is now largely unregulated. Standards developed for outdoor pollution cannot be applied equally indoors. Fortunately, great strides have been made to restrict cigarette smoking. Further restrictions and ultimately a total ban on public smoking would be an important step toward reducing indoor and outdoor pollution as well as improving the general health of the entire population. Every patient can be an active voice for improving the environment. Forming a Partnership against Asthma with Your Physician Although medications are likely to be better in the future, patients must maintain an active role in preventing asthma attacks, particularly by avoiding and reducing irritants and allergens in their home and work environments. If you have asthma, it is vital to acknowledge that you have a problem, then to deal with it by working with your physician. Tho often, denying the problem only leads to unnecessary illness. This first step may be the most important in a series of measures you can take to avoid asthma attacks. Other measures include an “early warning system” that relies on home peak flow measurements and close communication between patients and their physicians to prevent serious and even potentially fatal attacks. Patient education should be given a high priority by physicians and their staffs. Self-education should always be encouraged. Through dialogue and education patients can recognize when they must call for assistance, thereby avoiding the life-threatening tendency to “push through” a serious asthma attack on their own. This partnership between patients and physicians, both working toward reducing the frequency and severity of attacksBusiness Management Articles, can succeed in improving the quality of life for those who have asthma. Cooperation can also reduce the number of fatal asthma attacks that often could have been prevented by earlier recognition and treatment of this largely reversible disease.

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This article is written by Rita Jenkins

Ischemic stroke, which results when a blood clot travels to the brain, is more likely to occur on days when the air contains a larger concentration of particulate matter. The air pollution
in question includes particles smaller than 10 micrometers in diameter from car and truck exhaust, power plants and refineries. The final analysis demonstrated a 1.03 percent rise in ischemic stroke on the days with the highest pollution measures.
The type of stroke that results when a blood clot travels to the brain — called an ischemic stroke — is more likely to occur on days when the air contains a larger concentration of particulate matter, according to a study published online in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association.

Researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) examined air quality on a total of 37,000 days in nine cities. Risk of hospitalization for ischemic stroke was 1 percent higher on days with relatively high levels of air pollution, compared with low-air pollution days, reports lead author Gregory Wellenius, ScD, postdoctoral fellow in cardiology at BIDMC.

Third Cause of Death in US”Although these effects sound relatively small,” says Wellenius, “given the large number of people exposed to air pollution and the large number of people at risk for stroke … the actual number of strokes could be significant.

“Stroke is the third leading cause of death in the US, affecting more than 700,000 individuals each year.

A “consistent increased risk” for cardiac health problems associated with exposure to ambient air particles was established in earlier research by Wellenius and coauthors Murray Mittleman, MD, DrPH, of BIDMC’s Cardiovascular Epidemiology Research Unit and Joel Schwartz, PhD, of HSPH.

“Air pollution has been shown to trigger heart attacks and to aggravate the conditions of patients with congestive heart failure,” says Mittleman, who is also an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.

“These new findings, demonstrating that incidence of clot-based strokes also increase, [are] in keeping with our earlier data showing a relationship between air pollution and heart and lung disorders,” he notes.

The researchers also looked at the incidence of hemorrhagic stroke, which is caused by bleeding in the brain, during the same “high pollution” days, notes Wellenius, but found no association between the two.

Reducing Exposure May Lower RiskThe air pollution in question — particulate matter smaller than 10 micrometers in diameter — includes particles from car and truck exhaust, power plants and refineries. The measurements were provided by the US Environmental Protection Agency from nine US cities: Birmingham, Ala., Chicago, New Haven, Conn., Cleveland, Detroit, Minneapolis, Pittsburgh, Salt Lake City and Seattle.

The authors analyzed hospital admissions among a group of Medicare patients with an average age of 79. Seventy-five percent of the patients were white, and 61 percent were female. Their findings showed that during the course of their study, there were 155,503 hospital admissions for ischemic stroke.

The final analysis demonstrated a 1.

03 percent rise in ischemic stroke on the days with the highest pollution measures.

“We don’t know exactly what mechanisms are involved that trigger these cardiac events,” says Wellenius. “However, we do know that particulates in the air promote inflammation, which is a significant risk factor for cardiac events; that exposure to particulates can lead to changes in heart rate and blood pressure; and that pollution can cause changes in coaguable states (related to blood clotting abilities).”

The authors say that future research will focus on finding out which pollutants are most toxic, as well as which patients are at greatest risk for health problems stemming from air pollution.”

Taken together with previous work, these latest results support the idea that reducing exposure to particulate matter may reduce the risk of strokes and heart attacksFind Article,” they conclude.

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Rita Jenkins is a health journalist for Daily News Central, an online publication that delivers breaking news and reliable health information to consumers, healthcare providers and industry professionals: http://www.dailynewscentral.com

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