Author Archives: collettebudd

The glittering lights of the Las Vegas strip are no doubt a spectacle to anyone who visits the city. But the lights hold a dark secret – that they’re causing an absurd amount of light pollution! Light pollution is defined as the ‘wasted light cast in to the atmosphere’ (Ploetz, 2002). Las Vegas certainly castsContinue reading “Bright lights!”

10cm is the average amount of rainfall experienced in Las Vegas annually, making it highly vulnerable to water shortages (Lasserre, 2015). In the early 1990s it was thought that with the current rate of population growth that Las Vegas only had 6 years before it became a water deficient city (Gerlak & Soden, 1992). ThankfullyContinue reading “Impeding water doom: Over-allocation of the Colorado River”

It has been apparent that in recent years a new problem of increased waste has emerged. Coupled with economic growth and urbanisation there has been a rise in consumerism hence creating larger amounts of rubbish – the majority of which is being either sent to landfill or ending up in oceans. There is now aContinue reading “Las Vegas’ waste recycling… and pig farms?”

The concept of the ‘urban’ implies a metropolitan area with an economy centred around the secondary or tertiary sector (Pelling, 2003). Risk implies the likelihood or harm and severity at which this happens (UNLV, n/d). Urban risk is therefore thought of as the challenges faced by metropolitan areas in the wake of disasters. With theContinue reading “Urban Risk: Earthquakes in Las Vegas”

Improving air quality is an issue that many urban cities are faced with. Las Vegas is certainly no exception. Ozone and particulate pollution (PM2.5) are the pollutants that are causing the most problems within the city (Martinez, 2019). Ozone (O3) is formed by a reaction between molecules of NOx from car exhaust fumes or VOCsContinue reading “Ozone pollution…is it inevitable?”

In the late 1950s an area of land in the Nevada desert was allocated for nuclear testing, located roughly 60 miles away from the city of Las Vegas. Nuclear tests were carried out at the Nevada Test Site (NTS) up until 1992. The tests were carried out to ensure that US military power was maintained.Continue reading “The Nevada Test Site and its radioactive legacy in Vegas!”

Thanks to its positioning in the desert, Las Vegas can top temperatures of 40*C during the summer months. Heat islands are created above Las Vegas. These happen when building materials that hold heat, transfer the stored heat energy to the surrounding air (via radiation and conduction) (Black, et al. (2013). This creates higher night-time temperaturesContinue reading “Heat Islands and the Production of Urban Air- Las Vegas!”

Welcome to my blog! In the next series of posts I will be critically examining the urban environmental struggles being faced in Las Vegas, whilst playing close attention to the political and social repercussions that these have. Located in the state of Nevada, Las Vegas is the most populated city within the state.(US Census Bureau,Continue reading “Las Vegas – environmental issues faced by Sin City!”