...continue on its current path there will need to be a greater need for fossil fuel use. Fossil fuel, the main source of energy that runs the world’s economy. But the burning of fossil fuel is being said by scientists is responsible for rising CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere. This increase of anthropogenic CO2 concentration is responsible for global warming, which in turn influences the earth’ climate. There is evidence of a correlation between the rate at which the earth warms and the part per million of CO2 concentration in the atmosphere. This take place because CO2 is a natural greenhouse gas. This greenhouse gas work as a blanket in the earth’s atmosphere. It prevents infrared radiation from leaving the earth’s atmosphere which causes the earth to warm. This additional warming is believed by scientists will have an adverse effect on the world’s economy in many ways: 1. The increase in heat waves and temperature extremes. Scientific investigation has shown that within the last few decades there has been an increase in the number of extreme heat waves and temperature extremes. These phenomena has had dire impact on human health. There have been recorded evidences of numerous heat related deaths and also the events of forest fires. The recorded death toll due to heat waves in Europe in 2003 was estimated at 70’000 people. There is also record of heat waves in Russia in 2010 that had said to have claim the lives of an estimated 55’000 persons (Turn Down the Heat:...
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...Climate Change: Global Warming In April 9th of 2010, Marisa Marcavillaca—a farmer and indigenous women’s organizer from Peru— went to The Capitol Hill to tell her powerful story. Her words were quoted by Al Gore in one of his speeches. She said through a translator: “We are very concerned, in my community, [and] in my country, about global climate change. Nature is disrupted. We are seeing the impacts on a daily basis. We are losing our lands, water is disappearing, it rains when it shouldn’t rain, and we have freezing temperatures, when we shouldn’t have freezing temperatures. Also, warmer temperatures in our farming area have spurred plant diseases, and the quality of agricultural seeds has degenerated cutting into local women’s ability to earn a living. Because our yields are down, it is difficult to feed our children.” (Jaime Baily 14). Climate change has become a very contested and debated matter. Some scientists say that the earth is warming; skeptics contend that it is cooling. Glaciologists say that the polar ice on earth is melting, and skeptics say that Antarctic ice is growing. Skeptics-that have also concluded that the earth is warming-point out that the earth has gone through many such warming periods (interglacials or periods of desertification) in between cooling periods and that these are natural cycles. But the long-running debate over whether or not global warming is anthropogenic is arriving to its end. Not only it is caused by man,...
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...often have access only to marginal land. There is almost no agricultural management and as a result the soils are nutrient deprived at the best of times. Climate change in Africa has significantly disrupted weather patterns with dry spells now lasting longer and rains tending to be more intense. The increased aridity destabilises the soils such that they are easily washed or blown away. This has led to large areas of desertification and the abandonment of land. Disrupted precipitation patterns has led to a very significant increase in the number of flooding events. In the 1950’s there were 21 major floods in Africa, in the 2000’s there were 302. These floods are getting progressively larger and in recent years there have been a number of flood events that have each affected more than a million people. The floods destroy crops and contaminate ground water leading to both famine and drought. In some parts of Africa fighting is being fuelled by the effects of climate change. The Darfur conflict began over tribal rivalries but today it is more about gaining control of the remaining agricultural land as the surrounding area becomes desert. The bacteria that cause diseases thrive in warmer and damp conditions. Climate change leads to both increased temperatures and increased precipitation, thus providing perfect breeding grounds. Many disease vectors are temperature dependent and as the isotherms spread, so too are the diseases. Amongst the diseases known to have spread...
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...I grew up in West Virginia where mining was a way of life and the local economies still bend to whims of the coal mining industry. Today I live in South Dakota, home of the Homestake Mine, the longest running gold mine in the country which is almost 8,000 feet deep. (Homestake,2013) Coal mining is billion dollar industry here in the United States and the economic upside of it is hard to deny. Whole towns are still in existence due to the support that coal brings to their economies. Mining traditionally however brings many problems with it. Mining in general is associated with the following ecological problems: Saltiness, aridity and scarcity of water caused by the waste of enormous amounts of fresh water during the extraction process, heavy metals which are liberated and migrate into the ecosystem, the dislocation of thousands of tons of ore causes for sedimentation in rivers and susceptibility to both geologic and water erosion, migration of highly toxic cyanide into the subsoil and surface waters as well as the whole ecosystem, and acid drainage. (Shipirt, 2006) Finally, and most importantly all of these items lead to habitat loss which is perhaps the biggest threat in terms of conservation biology. Once a mountain top is removed, a stream full of acid, or a forest gone, the organisms that lived there usually can’t just find somewhere else to survive and they disappear. The coal mining industry has however started to see the flip side of the economic coin since...
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...Karakum Desert - Turkmenistan Location: The Karakum Desert is located in Turkmenistan in the Middle East and lies to the east of the Caspian Sea, between Uzbekistan to the north and the Iranian border to the south. The Karakum Desert has a latitude of 39⁰09’N and a longitude of 63⁰34’E which indicates that this desert is in the northern hemisphere. Source 1: World Atlas.com, http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/asia/meoutl.htm (28/02/10) Topography: Covering almost 90% of Turkmenistan today, the Karakum Desert is approximately 350,000 square km in area. The Karakum Desert is bordered by many varying natural landscapes such as valleys, mountains, plains, basins and salt marshes. This desert is divided into three parts: the elevated northern Trans-Unguz Karakum, the low-lying Central Karakum and the southeastern Karakum. Sand ridges are formed over time and so depending on the age, sand ridges in the Karakum Desert may range from 75 to 90 metres. More than 10% of the area consists of barchans which are crescent-shaped dunes which are often 9 meters or more in height. The inter dune depressions are covered by clay deposits up to 9 meters thick and act as catchment basins for the areas rainfall. The water collected in the basins allows fruits such as melons and grapes to be grown. Barchans Sand Ridges of the Karakum Desert Source 2: Turkmenistan: Deserts, http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://turkmenistan.gov.tm/_rus/uploads/posts/1215786990_3...
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...crops, and are different in the growing seasons in which they make this demands. In many cases the American crops do not compete with Old World crops, but complement them. The American plants enable the farmer to produce food from soils that prior to 1492, were rated as useless because of their sandiness, altitude, aridity and other factors” (Crosby 2003). The greater variety of staple crops, enabled people in the Old World to change their diets. For example, the potato, “the New World crop that arguably had the largest impact on the Old World” (The Columbian Exchange), became a huge part of their diet because of its ample amounts of calories and nutrients. As a matter of fact, nowadays most of the consumers of potato are Old World countries. Moreover, many of these countries have adopted it as a core staple...
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...Sacramento, California. They determined that the water outlook for the state was similar to the droughts in the 1970s. However, our water obligations have increased greatly in the following decades. Marty Hoering of the NOAA states, “The stress created by the current failed rains is more severe than for similar rainfall deficits 40 years earlier.” The central focus for this concern is the substantial agricultural business that California sustains, from avocados to almonds to pistachios, a number of crops are grown in California’s fertile central valleys. A recent report estimated that indirect and direct losses to agriculture would amount to $2.2 billion, and lead to the loss of over 17,000 seasonal and part time jobs. An even greater cause for concern is that the historical record shows that western North America went through a large scale drought...
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...Plant 4.2mL 6.1mL 7.6mL 3.2mL 2. Transpiration is the process of moisture carried through plants from roots to small pores on the bottom side of leaves, where it changes to vapor and is released to the atmosphere. In our experiment, transpiration is the passage of watery vapor from a living plant through a membrane or pores. 3. If the air flow is directed onto the upper surface, then the transpiration rate would be smaller compared to the original result. 4. Light and fan variables would lose the most mass through transpiration and the fan and mist variables would lose the least amount, with room condition in the middle. Light and fan variables lost the most amount of mass because sunlight promote photosynthesis to occur and wind causes the emission of water to occur due to a lower water potential outside the flower. The dark and mist variables lost the least amount of mass because transpiration was kept to a minimum due to lower water potential in the plant and no need to follow through with photosynthesis. The room condition remained in the middle of the mass loss because it was the constant variable and there were no influences for or against transpiration, allowing the natural rate of transpiration to take place. The room condition remained in the middle of the mass loss because it was the constant variable and there were no influences for or against transpiration, allowing the natural rate of...
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...Organic Foods With the development of agriculture, more environment issues appeared because of using too much chemical pesticides and fertilizers. So people are looking for other new agricultures to instead of the old model such as the organic agriculture or organic food. Natural farming is based on the observation of nature and allowing it to do what it naturally does best. (Fukuoka 284) What organic food means? According to the Organic.org website, organic produce and other ingredients are grown without the use of pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, sewage sludge, genetically modified organisms, or ionizing radiation. Animals that produce meat, poultry, eggs, and dairy products do not take antibiotics or growth hormones (Organic.org). The chemical pesticides are the most of direct elements for which do harm to the environment. So organic food without these negative factors is benefit for environment. Then what does organic food effect environment? The first of all is organic food can prevent soil pollution. “Organic farms protect the environment by building soil organic matter and by mimicking natural systems rather than relying on synthetic fertilizers and pesticides.” (Organic Food) The development of organic food is originated from the development of organic farming. It applies developed biotechnology to organic farming. Organic food is based on the relationship between land, animals, human, bio system and the healthy agricultural production system. The basis is maintaining...
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...EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON POULTRY PRODUCTION 1.0 INTRODUCTION Poultry are birds such as the domestic fowl, Turkey, Duck, Goose, Ostrich e. t. c which are of economic importance to man. Their production is one of the livestock production with significant contribution to human food (Demeke, 2004). It is the primary supplier of eggs and meat as a source of income and employment to people compared to other domestic animals (Avila, 1985). They are raised with relatively low capital investment and readily available household labour. For instance poultry egg contains 74% water, it is a good source of high protein and it is often used by nutritionist as a standard reference for evaluating other protein foods. Studies have shown that the level of performance of poultry does not depends on inherited capacity, but also to a great extent upon the environment (Campbell and Lasley, 1975). The environmental conditions affecting the performance, relative humidity, light, sunshine prevailing at a given time, housing system and ventilation. High temperature and humidity have some negative effects on poultry such as an increase on poultry body temperature: a decrease on feed consumption ( Cowan and Michie, 1978; Howlider and Rose, 1987) and feed efficiency. High temperature also results to a reduction in poultry live weight ( Mowbray and Sykes, 1971), growth speed and high mortality (Arjona et al., 1988) in addition to a decrease on productivity and quality of the eggs (Ozbey and Ozoelk, 2004)...
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...Summary of the project This project concentrates on the development of marketing software of a company that will deal with selling of bottled water. The software will create a website where water bottling companies can advertise and sell their products. One of the concerns for companies within the water packaging sector is that they are unable to carry out a robust marketing initiative that would bolster more sales. The proceeds from increased sales from the selling of this bottled water will be channeled to supporting communities in the developing nations that have water scarcity. There are certain areas within developing nations where water points are situated in distant areas. Most of these communities trek for several kilometers in order to obtain water for domestic purposes and for watering their animals. The highly vulnerable members in this society are the school going children who tend to supplement their parents in the search for water. Most of these students participate in the search for water to ensure that they fetch enough water that could meet the needs of the family. This project aims at using the money from the sales of the bottled water to drill watering points among these communities. As an aspiring computer engineer, this project is related to my profession since it concentrates on ensuring that there is a higher population of children within an education system among these societies. This initiative will be instrumental in the achievement of global change...
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...the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time. Exercise caution in your business affairs; for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals; and everywhere life is full of heroism. Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is as perennial as the grass. Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul. With all its sham, drudgery...
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...Humans in technology environment are not very free from natural selection. According to Charles Darwin, natural selection acts only for the good of each organism, so since our very first human ancestors had no natural defenses, they would die from what is considered today an insignificant disease. It was throughout millions of years, that the human body started to build an immunization to certain diseases and only the stronger humans were the ones to survive and carry on that trait. Likewise, having no fur on their bodies to survive in the cold weather, they learned how to use other animals’ skins and how to build some weapons, in order to chase wild animals. Nowadays, humans have made incredible discoveries; we have created a wonderful world of technology, which leads us to make some enormous progress in the field of medicine; especially in how to treat diseases which were, at some time, considered incurable. My point is, that since we have made such progress in technology, I am scared that we are keeping too many people alive, including some that might not fit the environment in which they live. In addition, we are allowing some infertile people to reproduce through in-vitro fertilization, when apparently they were not capable naturally. We are also letting babies survive by saving their lives at their birth even though they might not be perfectly healthy or other traits which could bedetrimental for the human species. But through science and the new technology, we have...
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...violence is different, in terms of its realisation, from the ones that are evident in American movies, where there is a strong emphasis on the confrontation between good and evil and a tendency to depict characters with supernatural capabilities. In Glauber Rocha’s film, violence is part of a social process; it is historically conditioned by the horror, the calamity and the crisis that pervades the north-eastern part of Brazil. The film is a sort of investigation or criticism of this area, and throughout its length Glauber captures the hardship of this area. He communicates, through images and dialogue, through the drought, the social inequalities, the misery, the hunger, the religiousness and the chain of power, the relationship between cause and effect. That is to say, the violence in ‘God and the Devil in the Land of the Sun’ is consequential of the peculiarities that trouble social life....
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...Climate Change and the IPCC o What is the IPCC? - Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change, created in 1988, first assessment report in 1990 launched global awareness of climate change issue. How the IPCC works - Thousands of scientists contribute to writing and reviewing reports. Does not carry out new research or monitor climate related data. There are 3 working groups and a special tasks force. Terminology – 99%-100% (Virtually Certain) 90%-100% (Very Likely) 66%-100 (Likely) 33%-60% (About as likely as not) 0%-33% (Unlikely) 0%-10% (Very Unlikely) 0%-1% (Exceptionally Unlikely) o Causes of climate change Relative forcing components – Long-live greenhouse gases (Global), Ozone (Continental to Global), Stratospheric water vapor from methane (Global), Surface albedo, Aerosol (Direct Affect, Cloud Albedo Affect, Surface to Continental), Linear Contrails (Continental) , Solar irradiance (Global) Earth’s energy budget & human use Quadrillion BTU 100% Incoming Solar Energy Wood 64% - Radiated to space Coal 51% - Absorbed by land and oceans Oil &Gas 23% - Carried to clouds Hydropower &Nuclear (1900-) 20% - Reflected by clouds 16% - Absorbed by atmosphere 15% - Radiation absorbed by atmosphere 7% - Conduction and rising air 6% - Reflected by atmosphere 6% - Radiated directly into space 4% - Reflected from Earth’s surface 3% - Absorbed by clouds Greenhouse gases (types and impact)...
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