The State of Ohio’s Aquatic Ecosystem
Posted by Virginia Graham in Entangled_Citizens on May 28th, 2009
On Exactitude in Science
Posted by Jeremy Cody in Entangled_Citizens on May 22nd, 2009
On Eaxctitude in Science
…In that Empire, the craft of Cartography attained such Perfection that the Map of a Single province covered the space of an entire City, and the Map of the Empire itself an entire Province. In the course of Time, these Extensive maps were found somehow wanting, and so the College of Cartographers evolved a Map of the Empire that was of the same Scale as the Empire and that coincided with it point for point. Less attentive to the Study of Cartography, succeeding Generations came to judge a map of such Magnitude cumbersome, and, not without Irreverence, they abandoned it to the Rigours of sun and Rain. In the western Deserts, tattered Fragments of the Map are still to be found, Sheltering an occasional Beast or beggar; in the whole Nation, no other relic is left of the Discipline of Geography.
-Jorge Luis Borges
Discussion of Mine Maps – Ohio Mining Journal, vol. 2, no. 3 (May 15, 1884), 120-121
Posted by Dominic Lippillo in Entangled_Citizens on May 22nd, 2009
https://kb.osu.edu/dspace/bitstream/1811/32380/1/OH_MIN_JNL_v02_i03_120.pdf
I2O THE OHIO MINING JOURNAL.
DISCUSSION OF MINE MAPS.
BY R. S. WEITZEL.
Owing to lack of* time I have failed to prepare an article on
mine surveying for this meeting, as I wrote the President, some
time since, I hoped or expected to do—a fact that I very much
regretted until I noticed your very excellent programme announced
in the Ohio State Journal, a day or two since, without
my name, which very much relieved me; but as you seem to
have me billed, I will, in liey of the article I expected to prepare,
exhibit a couple of maps of mines in the Hocking Valley region,
with a few remarks explaining them.
The maps are not exhibited because of the artistic skill displayed
in their execution, but for the purpose of showing what a map
properly constructed and the workings put on periodically, as
monthly, can be made to show, on the one hand, and what is too
generally the case with our maps on the other.
The mine of the Nelsonville Coal and Coke Co., the map of
which is here exhibited, has been measured up monthly since it
was opened in the summer of ‘82, and the map presents right on
its face the working for each particular month since it was begun;
and although much of it is now fallen in, so that it is utterly impossible
to get into it, yet we have here a faithful representation of
its exact workings, showing every entry, room, break-through,
and pillar, as well as the levels through the entries, all from
actual measurements taken when the mine was in safe condition,
and presenting at a glance just how much of the coal has been
mined out and just how much has been lost in pillars. In the
other mine we have just the opposite; here a little over a hundred
acres of territory has been mined over, or at least it so appears,
and is nearly all so badly fallen in as to be absolutely impossible to
get into it, and we were obliged to dot the map all over as you see
THE OHIO MINING JOURNAL. 121
with, ” Could not get in here, supposed to be all worked out,” and
there is no permanent record to show now how advantageously
and economically, or otherwise, it has been mined; and just at
this very time that information is very desirable, and some parties
interested in this mine would give, 1 am satisfied, for a correct map
of this mine, showing its actual condition, if it were possible to
produce it, all it would cost to have kept the workings measured
up monthly and put upon the map, as was done with the Nelsonville
Coal and Coke Co.’s mine.
The neighborhood farm is emerging… the Wine Punk taps our maple trees
Posted by Dawn Stechschulte in Entangled_Citizens on May 21st, 2009
The second tapped silver maple. Our neighbor and collaborator – working with a group of us to increase ultra-local food production in our hood – the Wine Punk (aka Sam Vandegrift), tapped the two silver maple trees in our front yard this week. He identified over 30 trees in a 3-block area to tap and collect the sap from. It is really amazing to see all the trees with gallon milk jugs hanging off of the antique taps Sam found. It has created a bit of a buzz among our neighbors, which is exactly what we wanted to happen. We will increase our activities in the next months, bringing greater visibility and discussion in order to slowly transform how we, and our neighbors, think about our living and shared spaces and how they function on a daily basis.
Once the sap has been collected, Sam will boil it down to make maple syrup. We are currently planning a pancake breakfast in Sam’s driveway once the weather permits.
An Interesting Mapping Strategy
Posted by Jeremy Cody in Entangled_Citizens on May 21st, 2009
A map that places you above the city and in it simultaneously looking down and looking forward.
Above and Below: Life Along the Northwest Appalachian Coal Belt
Posted by Carrie Lingscheit in Entangled_Citizens on May 21st, 2009
Health Hazards
Posted by Virginia Graham in Entangled_Citizens on May 21st, 2009
Study Links Chronic Illness To Coal Mining Pollution
Pollution from coal mining may have a negative impact on public health in mining communities, according to data analyzed in a West Virginia University research study.
“Residents of coal-mining communities have long complained of impaired health,” Michael Hendryx, Ph.D., associate director of the WVU Institute for Health Policy Research in WVU’s Community Medicine department, said. “This study substantiates their claims. Those residents are at an increased risk of developing chronic heart, lung and kidney diseases.”
The study, “Relations between Health Indicators and Residential Proximity to Coal Mining in West Virginia,” will appear in the April issue of the American Journal of Public Health.
Hendryx and co-author Melissa Ahern, Ph.D., of Washington State University, used data from a 2001 WVU Health Policy Research telephone survey of more than 16,400 West Virginians. That was correlated with data from the West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey, which shows volume of coal production from mining in each of the state’s 55 counties.
The goal was to determine whether there is a relationship between coal production and forms of cardiovascular, lung and kidney disease in the state.
According to Hendryx, as coal production increases, so does the incidence of chronic illness. Coal-processing chemicals, equipment powered by diesel engines, explosives, toxic impurities in coals, and even dust from uncovered coal trucks can cause environmental pollution that could have a negative affect on public health.
According to Hendryx, the data show that people in coal mining communities
- have a 70 percent increased risk for developing kidney disease.
- have a 64 percent increased risk for developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) such as emphysema.
- are 30 percent more likely to report high blood pressure (hypertension).
“We’ve considered that chronic illness might be prevalent in these areas because rural West Virginians have less access to health care, higher smoking rates and poorer economic conditions,” Hendryx said. “We’ve adjusted our data to include those factors, and still found disease rates higher in coal-mining communities.”
Hospitalization rates in these communities also were studied. Data show the risk of hospitalization stays for
- COPD increases 1 percent for every 1,462 tons of coal.
- hypertension increases 1 percent for every 1,873 tons of coal.
“Total mortality rates are higher in coal-mining areas compared to other areas of Appalachia and the nation,” Hendryx said. “The incidence of mortality has been consistently higher in coal-mining areas for as long as Centers for Disease Control rates are available, back to 1979.”
Total mortality data for West Virginia suggests there are 313 excess deaths every year from coal-mining pollution.
More detailed reports documenting the increases of mortality rates in coal-mining communities will be published in national journals this spring.
The researchers note that their study is an analysis of existing data, which limits the overall depth of the findings. Their next steps are to directly measure air and water quality in coal-mining communities.
“People in coal-mining communities need better access to healthcare, cleaner air, cleaner water, and stricter enforcement of environmental standards,” he said. “Our study helps open the door for further explorations of community health and coal mining. We owe it to people in those communities to start protecting and repairing their health.”
West Virginia University Health Sciences Center
PO Box 9083
Morgantown, WV 26506-9083
United States
http://www.hsc.wvu.edu
Carbon offsets/ Carbon credits
Posted by Alberto Torres in Entangled_Citizens on May 20th, 2009
Ohio University use of Carbon Offsets
http://www.ohio.edu/outlook/08-09/April/473v.cfm
A carbon offset is a financial instrument aimed at a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. Carbon offsets are measured in metric tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent (CO2e) and may represent six primary categories of greenhouse gases. [1] One carbon offset represents the reduction of one metric ton of carbon dioxide or its equivalent in other greenhouse gases.
There are two markets for carbon offsets. In the larger compliance market, companies, governments, or other entities buy carbon offsets in order to comply with caps on the total amount of carbon dioxide they are allowed to emit. In 2006, about $5.5 billion of carbon offsets were purchased in the compliance market, representing about 1.6 billion metric tons of CO2e reductions.[2]
In the much smaller voluntary market, individuals, companies, or governments purchase carbon offsets to mitigate their own greenhouse gas emissions from transportation, electricity use, and other sources. For example, an individual might purchase carbon offsets to compensate for the greenhouse gas emissions caused by personal air travel. In 2006, about $91 million of carbon offsets were purchased in the voluntary market, representing about 24 million metric tons of CO2e reductions.[3]
Offsets are typically achieved through financial support of projects that reduce the emission of greenhouse gases in the short- or long-term. The most common project type is renewable energy, such as wind farms, biomass energy, or hydroelectric dams. Others include energy efficiency projects, the destruction of industrial pollutants or agricultural byproducts, destruction of landfill methane, and forestry projects.[4] Some of the most popular carbon offset projects from a corporate perspective are energy efficiencey and wind turbine projects.[5]
Carbon offsetting has gained some appeal and momentum mainly among consumers in western countries who have become aware and concerned about the potentially negative environmental effects of energy-intensive lifestyles and economies. The Kyoto Protocol has sanctioned offsets as a way for governments and private companies to earn carbon credits which can be traded on a marketplace. The protocol established the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), which validates and measures projects to ensure they produce authentic benefits and are genuinely “additional” activities that would not otherwise have been undertaken. Organizations that are unable to meet their emissions quota can offset their emissions by buying CDM-approved Certified Emissions Reductions.
Offsets may be cheaper or more convenient alternatives to reducing one’s own fossil-fuel consumption. However, some critics object to carbon offsets, and question the benefits of certain types of offsets.[6]