The Role of Young Environmental Activists in Iceland and Furthering Youth Engagement with Environmental Issues

This paper looks at the role of youth environmental activism in Iceland and how these actors view their work in a country which has long held a reputation as one of the greenest in the world. Much of the credit for that distinction goes not to careful choices, sacrifice, or excellent stewardship but rather to its ideal geography providing massive geothermal energy which Iceland turns into electricity, a clean renewable source. So are there young environmental activists in Iceland, and if so what do they do? Short answer: yes, and they study and talk. The long answer is more complex. On a global scale, youth serve as necessary actors in the affairs of environmental issues, and Icelandic youth are no exception. Pulling from six interviews with youth identified as environmentalists by themselves and their peers, these key players were found to be engaged in multiple ways, considering themselves to hold an important and developing role in the country. This paper further looks at ways in which future generations of environmental activists can be encouraged to join the fight for planet Earth both in Iceland and internationally

Ambient Mercury Observations near a Coal-Fired Power Plant in a Western U.S. Urban Area

We report on the continuous ambient measurements of total gaseous mercury (TGM) and several ancillary air quality parameters that were collected in Colorado Springs, CO. This urban area, which is located adjacent to the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains, is the second largest metropolitan area in Colorado and has a centrally located coal-fired power plant that installed mercury (Hg) emission controls the year prior to our study. There are few other Hg point sources within the city. Our results, which were obtained from a measurement site < 1 km from the power plant, show a distinct diel pattern in TGM, with peak concentrations occurring during the night (1.7 ± 0.3 ng m−3) and minimum concentrations mid-day (1.5 ± 0.2 ng m−3). The TGM concentrations were not correlated with wind originating from the direction of the plant or with sulfur dioxide (SO2) mixing ratios, and they were not elevated when the atmospheric mixing height was above the effective stack height. These findings suggest that the current Hg emissions from the CFPP did not significantly influence local TGM, and they are consistent with the facility’s relatively low reported annual emissions of 0.20 kg Hg per year. Instead, variability in the regional signal, diurnal meteorological conditions, and/or near-surface emission sources appears to more greatly influence TGM at this urban site