Essay exam Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Exam - Essay Example There has been a subsequent increase in radioactive waste following the increase in the production of nuclear power. When inhaled, radioactive elements are lethal and can kill within a short time. Nuclear waste build up can be prevented by recycling and storing it geologically. Nuclear waste differs with radioactivity level from high, through intermediate to low level. High level nuclear waste is mostly liquid, and although it is small in terms of volume, it is the most dangerous. It results when radioactive spent fuel is reprocessed to separate useful fuel that can be recycled from waste. High-level nuclear waste could be disposed of in deep geological mines. Meanwhile, before a geological mine or a suitable disposal site can be found, high-level nuclear waste can be vitrified and stored in stainless steel canisters. Spent fuel should be dissolved in nitric acid and to give off uranium and plutonium (Hill 30). Intermediate waste is mixed with cement and stored awaiting disposal. Glo bal Climate Change Scientists have found that there is a gradual global climate change as seen in the increase, in world temperatures, shrinking of glaciers, early plant flowering, early breaking up of ice and shifts in plant and animal ranges. Severe droughts, increased tropical storms and rampant wildfires are among other projected effects of global climate change. There has been undisputed evidence that the global sea level rose to seventeen centimeters in the 20th century. It is particularly discomforting to learn that this could have doubled in the last decade. Since around 1880, global temperatures have been rising gradually. The period between 1981 and 2001 was marked as warmer than the previous decades. The past twelve years have recorded the highest temperatures as compared to previous years. Although there has been a significant decline in the solar output in the early 2000s, surface temperatures have not ceased to increase. Scientists have established that oceans have war med up to 0.302 degrees Fahrenheit from 1969. There has been a loss in mass in the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets. Between 2002 and 2005, Antarctic lost about one-hundred and fifty-two cubic kilometers of ice while Greenland lost up to two hundred and fifty cubic kilometers of ice between 2002 and 2006. The ice on Arctic sea has greatly declined in the past few decades. Glaciers in Alps and Rockies among other places in the world have been noted to have retreated significantly. Places like the United States have witnessed increased temperatures instances and relatively low temperature instances since 1950. Unusually heavy rainfall instances have been recorded in different parts of the world. Studies have revealed that acidity of surface ocean water has gone up to about 30% since the Industrial Revolution. Carbon dioxide that has been released by people in their increased population has been absorbed into water bodies. Global climate change can be arrested by adopting behaviors t hat promote a healthy