Running Head: URBANIZATION ANALYSIS
Urbanization Analysis, Green Options & Global Warming Strategies Part 1
GEO 215
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URBANIZATION ANALYSIS
Urbanization Analysis, Green Options & Global Warming Strategies Part 1
Global Urbanization is a population inclination, which has been developing
significantly over the past ten decades. Residing a long distance from resources can cause
an millions of individuals to have daily struggles when they live throughout the rural
environment; instead, they choose to relocate closer to the cities where resources are easy
to come across. Global urbanization has led to the continuing development of thousands
of cities all across the world; however, with these types of trends the population growth
rate has been causing more issues with our atmosphere, such as Global Warning caused
by extreme population rates throughout the cities like Atlanta, Georgia. In recent times, I
was assigned an assignment that consisted of planning out how to control the climate
fluctuations the city may be encountering due to growing apprehensions about the high
pollution rates of the city, as well as the overall fatal result it has on the atmosphere and
environment. Transformations have to begin being completed to diminish pollution, and
it would be more idealistic to utilize more “green” energy substances.
Within the United States of America, Atlanta, Georgia is located within the
Southeastern corner. There are several states that surround the outskirts of the large state
of Georgia; the surrounding states consist of North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee,
Florida, and Alabama. The Atlantic Ocean is the border of the Southeast corner of
Georgia (McCrary, n.d.). The city of Atlanta is actually located more inland toward the
Northwest corner of Georgia, as it is just south of the Appalachian Mountain Range. As it
is near the Appalachian Mountain Range, the city itself has a greater altitude than most of
the other cities that are south of Atlanta. The location of the city, allows the residents to
have the opportunity to see all of the different seasons annually; they even receive severe
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weather conditions throughout the year as well. These severe weather conditions consist
of hurricanes, flooding, tornadoes, and at times even blizzards of snow; the residents of
the city must be prepared at all times for drastic weather conditions. Below is a map that
shows the city of Atlanta.
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URBANIZATION ANALYSIS
Even though the state of Georgia possesses a distinctive range of landscapes and
idyllic weather, one of the major challenges that emerge over the city of Atlanta is the fact
that Atlanta is considered to be one of the most toxic cities throughout the nation (Levy,
2015). This has caused millions of people to be concerned due to the toxic wastes that
are released throughout the air, because these toxics are able to travel into other locations
all throughout the city as the weather conditions continuously change. Once of the most
tragic challenges that the city experiences is due to all of the rain that it receives the city
has more extreme rates of acidity. This can be a tragic burden to many of the surrounding
farmlands because it can lead to the failing of many crops more often throughout the
future. As far as the large population of the city, this could actually mean that the
residents are consuming foods that are more toxic, and there can also be a potential
increase in the cost of the crops as the city must import the perishable produced goods
from a location that is further away that the city itself. All of these conditions can cause
the cost of living to increase more quickly than that of the current rate.
Millions of people reside in Atlanta due to the large amount of career
opportunities and the southern hospitality aspect. With many job opportunities continuing
to arise, there are many different people that are attracted to the city. This is where the
term global urbanization comes into effect and why the population will continue to
increase dramatically. To provide electricity to all of the residents, the energy companies
must use large amounts of fossil fuels. The pollution that is released into the air is full of
toxics and they remain in the atmosphere for years.
The quantity of green energy resources that Atlanta utilizes only equals twentyfour percent of the resources expended for energy production, which in this category are
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only two kinds of resources including nuclear and hydro energy (Georgia Power A
Southern Company, 2015). To transform Atlanta’s future environmental health, the city
must start utilizing fossil fuels in the production of energy, burning coal for energy
discharges black smog full of contaminants that are piousness to crops and animal life.
Atlanta does use wind energy that is transferred into kinetic energy by the use of wind
turbines. The geographical location of Atlanta allows the wind turbines to be used easily.
Atlanta gets a lot of wind from the Atlanta Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, as well as the
Appalachians. Due to the size of Atlanta it is cheaper to build wind turbines that it is to
build large plants that house a lot of technological devices and the people who have to
consistently work all the time to keep the coal burning. For a city as large as Atlanta, it
would take millions of pounds of coal in order to produce electricity for the city. The
wind turbines cost less overall; wind is a free natural resource and is not harmful.
The federal government provides incentives offered to cities that utilize wind
turbines for energy production, while building and maintaining the systems will create job
opportunities as well (Windustry, n.d.), Wind turbines are also cost effective; however, in
order to raise the money to begin, the city may have to raise certain funds without
significantly effecting the residents financially. With this being the case maybe a slight
raise in the property tax would be beneficial. Educating the residents on how important
the wind turbines will directly impact the city’s environment and overall health of all
residents. This is significant since Atlanta is one of the most toxic cities of the nation. If
the residents were educated and informed of their energy consumptions and the cause of
the pollution then it will help them understand the necessity for the wind-powered
turbines. This will let them understand why the property tax increase is significant. If the
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funds were not available from the new taxes then starting a new project like this could be
impossible; however, it is necessary in order to keep the eco-system from failing
disastrously. At the completion of this project, residents can experience lower health
expenses. There are other green options like constructing more power plants that do not
produce pollutants; however, these types of plants have to use tons of water, which could
negatively affect the natural eco-system. The costs can also be extensive which would be
an increase in the overall costs.
Even though several individuals may have to pay a minor increase in their taxes, it
would only happened for a short period of time. Positively, the city will have significant
results in the long run. Pollutants will remain in out atmosphere as toxic gases; however,
utilizing the green energy sources must continue as time passes. One day Atlanta can
convert completely to a large city that utilizes natural resources that do not produce
pollutants into the air.
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References
Atlanta City Image. (2015). Retrieved September 14, 2015, from
http://www.weatherwise.org/sebin/j/b/Atlanta-image-1.jpg
Georgia Power A Southern Company. (2015). Energy Sources Diversity for Reliability.
Retrieved from http://www.georgiapower.com/about-energy/energysources/home.cshtml
Levy, F. (2015). America's Most Toxic Cities. Retrieved from
http://www.forbes.com/2009/11/02/toxic-cities-pollution-lifestyle-real-estate-toxiccities.html
MCCrary, M. ((n.d.)). Effects of Topography on North Georgia (Atlanta, GA) Severe
Weather and Tornadoes. Retrieved from
http://www.theweatherprediction.com/weatherpapers/122/index.html
Windustry. ((n.d.)). PROS & CONS OF WIND ENERGY. Retrieved from
http://www.windustry.org/pros_cons_wind_energy