Houston is affected greatly, influenced by, and is shaped by the 5 crucial themes of geography. Not only that, Houston thrives by and grows by the major themes of geography. All the important themes of geography; Location, Places, Human/Environment Interactions, Movement, and Regions, effect and make Houston as a city of it is today. It is because of these themes that make Houston one of the most positive locations to live in.…
Exxon/Mobil, one of the nation's leading oil producers, has its main refinery located in Beaumont, Texas. Each year, the residents of Beaumont/Port Arthur have to contend with the 39,000 pounds of pollution spewed each year by the Exxon refinery. Exxon's emissions are 385% above the state refinery average. In 1999, the Texas Natural Resources Conservation Committee (TNRCC) allowed the plant to increase their emissions, without allowing the public to have a say in the matter. Interestingly, 95% of the people living near the plant are of African American descent and are in the poverty range. Some believe that this, along with the lack of education in the area, allows Exxon to get away with such high emissions. Residents in nearby neighborhoods have been complaining of headaches, nausea, eye, and throat irritation for years. Since 1997, Mobil has repeatedly violated health standards in its emissions of two key air pollutants: sulfur dioxide and hydrogen sulfide, These "rotten egg" smells are so strong, one can smell it through a car driving past the refinery. After numerous complaints and one record of a refinery worker becoming unconscious because of the fumes, the EPA awarded Exxon with a $100,000 environmental justice grant in October of 1998. Hopefully, Exxon has put the money to good use and cleaned up their emissions.…
The purpose of this letter is to inform you of the amount of air particulate matter in our lovely town of Edenton, NC. Air particulate matter is a type of pollution that comes from farms, cars and industries. It occurs when dangerous chemicals are released into the air. This type of pollutant is invisible, but can be harmful to our health if present in the air. For my biology class, we had to conduct an experiment to find out if and how much particulate air pollution we had in our individual communities. To start my experiment, I took a coffee filter and applied Vaseline to it. This coffee filter was hung up outside to trap any particulate matter that was present in the air. Over the next four weeks, I observed the changes that took place. The first few weeks there was little change, but in the third and fourth week, I noticed some small black spots on the filter. This filter showed that Edenton had some Inhalable coarse particles. These types of particles can be inhaled in the lungs and can cause breathing problems. Even though there was some very small evidence of particulate air pollution in our town, we do not have the major industries that contribute to the higher levels of particulate pollution. Most of Edenton’s air particulate pollution comes from the farming and cars emitting gas. What does concern me, is the amount of gas stations Edenton has. I counted six gas stations in a two mile radius. This cannot be good for our community’s environment. The gases that are given off by these gas stations can eventually become a major problem for our lovely town. Are all of these gas stations necessary? As a community, we need to look toward our town’s future and providing a healthy environment for our children to grow up in. Besides the amount of gas stations in our town, over all, I would have to say that we, as Edentonians, can breathe a little easier knowing our town is not contaminated with harsh harmful air particulate pollutants.…
As pollutants in Dallas increase and attention looms what will be done about the team is pressed in gather information that will help in educating the public on what can be done about the top five pollutants. The top five are Formaldehyde, Benzene, Acetaldehyde, Carbon Tetrachloride and Butadiene. The team is addressing the issue of mitigating the pollution of the number polluter in Dallas, Formaldehyde. Coordinating the effort in study, impact on the local economy, and local business will be the hardest hit elements that will require some hard decisions form its management and firms. The team is solely concerned for the health of the community not profit margins and other financial gains that have absolutely nothing to do with the physical and mental health of the people of Dallas.…
As I began to look at the environmental issues in the area in which I live I was amazed to find only one real issue exists. The air quality is the Knoxville Tennessee area is at a moderate level around 57% of the time. It is at an unhealthy level around 12.9 % of the time. This has an effect on all living organisms because of the air quality in which they breathe. With that said, it is important to note that the area is majority agricultural and has an abundance of water due to being connected to so many national park sites.…
American cities provide great potential for their occupants. Jobs, security, and community are some of the commodities that citizens find attractive in an urban environment. In ideal circumstances, everyone in the city would be financially provided for and well settled. Sadly, this utopic ideology is not the reality. While many families do enjoy the luxury of a steady income and sufficient housing, other families are left often unsure of what the next day may bring. Impoverished homes are often more plentiful than most city inhabitants realize. Lowering the amount of people living in poverty is a goal that is often aimed for. The capital city of Texas, Houston, struggles with balancing this poverty level.…
There is a huge difference between a city in the Mid-West, such as Columbus in the state of Ohio, and east coast landmark, such as New York City. Each city has its stereotype, something everyone can say. For instance, New York equals skyscrapers and lots of people. Whereas when you say Columbus, people tend to think of average size city, rather quiet for it?s size. Lets take a closer look.…
For some, air pollution can cause immediate health problems, for others they may not notice problems until later. Just because the air pollution goes away, doesn’t mean there aren’t people suffering from after effects. Salt Lake Valley’s air pollution problem is past the point of being “OK.” It needs to be made a top priority among Utah’s lawmakers. Just waiting for the wind to blow it away doesn’t seem like a good idea anymore. A better idea would be to figure out ways to not create it in the first place.…
If you recently moved to the Houston area or if you are considering moving to the area, you may not yet realize just how lucky you are. Those of us in the “Houston Know” can promise you that you’ll eventually find yourself surprised that so many people never even consider visiting what you’ll someday realize is an amazingly cosmopolitan city. If you’ve got a look of distaste on your face right now, and you think I’m trying to sell you something just keep reading long enough for me to throw a few unarguable facts your way. First, Houston is the fourth largest city in the United States. Second, Forbes has been known to announce Houston to be “the coolest city to live in the United States” – in writing, no less. And third, Texas Monthly once argued that the state…
I live in Jersey City, New Jersey which is a part of Hudson County. In Jersey City, we have a small number of environmental health problems such as individuals having asthma, and cancer due to unhealthy polluted air, individuals getting sick because of climate change due to global warming, and people being exposure to unknown hazards. However, there are a lot of changes going on in my community that causes these environmental health problems. For example, throughout Jersey City you will notice a lot of construction going on and unknown chemical being release in the air at these construction sites. On the other hand, Jersey City has come along way when it comes to environmental health. In the 1980s, people was exposure to chromium contaminated…
Houston, Texas holds around two million people, carrying hundreds of thousands of cars daily on these busy freeways. On top of the pollutants coming from vehicles we also have the industrial refineries that are located only 45 minutes from the heart of Houston. Most the smog comes from the Houston Ship channel With the combination of these two things we can see how polluted our city and waters are.…
Many large cities in the United States experience high levels of air pollution year round, in additional to seasonal allergens in the spring. After the American Lung Association's annual “state of the air report” was released in 2016, the U.S city with the worst air pollution was the Hanford-Visalia area of California’s central valley1. According to MRI, men and women are equally likely to purchase air purifiers for themselves or their families. Postgraduates are 46% more likely to invest in air cleansers such as the Breathe-EZ. Viewers of the Home Shopping Network have also been found to be 32% more likely to purchase an air purifier for their home2.…
The people of New York have the right to enjoy an environment that is conducive to the full development of individuals as human beings. This is an environment that is not only free from obvious threats of physical harm such as crimes but also from concealed threats that have long term effects on human health and functioning such as air pollution. Unfortunately, despite the efforts of the New York City government to improve ambient air quality in New York through pollutant level monitoring, air pollution clearly remains a major threat to the people’s health. (NYSDEC, 2008) Industrial and vehicle emissions continue to be the main source of air pollution in the city, which in turn exposes the people to greater risks of contracting diseases from air-borne pollutants and carcinogens. (Routledge, et. al. 1383) Thus, there is a need not only for strengthening existing air pollution-control methods and legislation but in making them more effective by encouraging public participation to solve the problem.…
I’m from a city where it's best known for being the headquarters of NASA or being the 4th largest city in the United States. But too most people who actually live there would agree that it's also one of the most boring cities. However, Houston is still a city that I very much appreciate and proud to be from because there's no place like home. My parents having me and such a young age I’ve lived in an apartment near Stafford for at least two years, till I moved to Meadows Place which is right outside of Alief. Most people think my neighborhood is a quiet peaceful environment, which is for the most part but there's been so many crazy homicides recently that my parents have decided that we should move to Spring during the summer. But Meadows Place…
Claude Fischer, professor of sociology (6/15/2011) The Berkley Blog, Country Crime and City Crime Retrieved from: http://blogs.berkeley.edu/2011/06/15/city-crime-country-crime/…