Dammed if you do Dammed if you don't (LINK)
September 13th 2007 08:57
Picturesque Corin Dam
According to a US environmental agency the world's dams are contributing millions of tonnes of harm¬ful greenhouse gases and spur¬ring on global warming, according to a US environmental agency.
He said when water flow stopped, vegetation and soil in flooded areas and from upstream was left to rot, as well as fish and other animals which died in the dam. They release carbon dioxide, meth¬ane and nitrous oxide into the air The spokesperson went on to say that ” Basically, they're factories for converting carbon into methane and methane is a very powerful greenhouse gas it's actually about 25 times stronger than carbon dioxide in terms of trapping heat in the atmosphere, Global estimates blamed dams for about a third of all methane emissions worldwide, he said.
The only Australian research done was on Tasmanian dams, which found emissions were around 30 per cent of a natural gas plant a much higher reading than US dam emissions, he said.
I guess the next thing is for 6 billion humans to invest in is corks to stem the flow of methane?….. Lets get real here, all living matter produce gasses it is called living and is part of a natural process. We are lucky that we don’t live on the planet Venus where you would have a real problem with greenhouse gasses and loads of sulphuric acid for rain and swelter in the 900 degree (F) heat.
source:AAP
Image: D Mackay
| 54 |
| Vote |
Add To: 
Subscribe to this blog
Comment by Lilla
Enviro Warrior
An Extra Ordinary Life
Dream Herald
Esoteric Bookshop
interesting point... and sadly we don't live on Venus and this planet is really all we have for now.
A great post, which highlights the problem with Methane really well. Methane is very real (it's only 12 times more deadly than CO2)... but we are not producing 12 times less... but almost as much as CO2.
So much of it comes from intensifying animal farming and the methane from all of these animals alone, is devasting on a global scale... but with all the focus on CO2... *chuckle* that's the bit no one wants to talk about, isn't it?
Really enjoyed this post, so sad only a few readers for the really important ones.
Lilla ...