Monday, May 4, 2009

The disaster at hand – Man Made Global Warming.

Bits and pieces of the city remain after hurricane Katrina swept through New Orleans destroying every thing that stood in its path. Katrina passed away, but left behind it a trail of melancholy. The media flooded the news channels with the cries of people of New Orleans who had suffered a great deal of sorrows. Despite this destruction the previous Bush administration did not get any were near of the bottom of this problem. The answer to this question lies in plain sight. It is not that nature suddenly decided to bring its fury upon man, but the consequences of man’s action were showing up. At beginning, Katrina was just a category one hurricane, but its devastation capability was amplified by global warming. Global warming is an anthropogenic creation and not a natural one.
According to NASA, global warming is the increase in the earth’s average surface and oceanic temperature caused by an increase in anthropogenic emission of heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere (Herring). Green house gases give birth to a natural phenomenon called greenhouse effect. It is responsible for regulating the Earth’s temperature allowing life to proliferate on the earth.Without natural green house effect; life on the earth would be unsustainable. Because of this effect, earth’s average temperature is 59°F (15°C) (Herring). If this process was not in existence, the earth temperature would be0°F (-18°C) (Herring). Therefore, the question is that, if human caused emission of green house gases is the leading reason towards the enhancement of the green house effect?
There has been an enormous ongoing speculation in the media as to whether global warming is a natural process. The scientists at NASA disagree with this point of view. Scientist believes that global warming is caused by human because in the latter half of the 20th century -- there has been no significant changes in the natural processes of maintaining the Earth’s temperature. Another reason that influence scientist’s outlook towards global warming are the natural records of temperature that have been preserved in the ice and coral reefs. The light this data shed suggests that at no time in the past millennium has the Earth’s average surface temperature been this warmer or has it climbed as rapidly as it has since 1950. (Herring)
There are only there things that can bring about big change in the earth’s temperature. They are: change in the sun energy, volcanic eruption and, anthropogenic emission of greenhouse gases. In the past few decades the sun ray intensity has been almost the same with some variation, but these variations can not explain this change. Moreover if, this change was caused because of the Sun’s activity we would expect to see the whole atmosphere heating up, instead there is only a reported increase in the surface of the Earth and lower layer of atmosphere (Herring).
The volcanic eruptions have a cooling effect on the temperature. Therefore eruption has nothing to do with global warming since the temperature is rising. After taking this into consideration the only one that remains to be examined is human emission of green house gases. Scientists are certain that global warming is a man-made disaster beyond any scope of doubt because simulation models cannot reproduce the changes that have been in the last 50 years unless human green house is include in the model. This proves that global warming is an anthropogenic creation (Herring).
CDAIC says that the Greenhouse gases namely- carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, methane, and CFCs are responsible for global warming (blasing).
Among these green house gases carbon dioxide has been received great deal of attention form the media, government, and public. The carbon cycle has been altered in the past few decades with increasing amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere mainly from the combustion of coal, oil, and natural gas. (Doyle)Trees are responsible for absorbing carbon dioxide and giving out oxygen, but with the increasing amount of deforestation less and less CO2 is absorbed. Currently 78 million acres per year of rainforest are being uprooted because of deforestation; an area large than Poland (ESSEA). There has been a significant increase in the amount of CO2 because of human activities and deforestation; before the mid 1700 level of CO2 was fairly good at 280 ppm (part per million of volume), but currently it has reached a new high of 383.9 ppm (Blasing). There is a 37 % increase in the amount of CO2 since 1750.The current concentrations are way beyond the natural range. In the last 650,000 years concentration of co2 have been between 180 to 300 ppm which are way below the current level (Global). IPCC projects the growth in CO2 concentration anywhere from 490 to 1260 ppm; an increase of 75-350% since the pre-industrial era (Global). Dr James Hansen of NASA commented that the current concentration of CO2 is good enough to bring a catastrophic change in the climate of the earth; the level of Co2 should be brought to 300–350 ppm in the next few decades if we want to stop radical climatic change (“Oceans”).
Another green house gas that is overlooked is Nitrous oxide. Professor David Richardson of University of East Anglia has issued a warning about the growing impact of nitrous oxide (N2O) or laughing gas. Even though it makes up a small proportion of the green house gasses it has 300 times the global warming potential ( the amount of infrared absorbed) of CO2 and can survive in the atmosphere for 150 years. Nitrous oxide emissions from waste-treatment plants, landfill and fertilizer pollution have increased as bacteria in oxygen depleted environments switch from oxygen to nitrates to respire, releasing nitrous oxide.”(“Oceans”)
The second last of the major green house gases is Methane .Even thought is a far smaller quantity than carbon dioxide, it is extremely capable of absorbing radiation ("Greenhouse”).In fact , its Global warming potential is 25 time that of carbon; its concentration as increased from 700 ppb in the mid 1700 to 1857/1735 ppb in current times.(Blasing)
The last green house gas responsible for man-made global warming is CFC. It is not directly responsible of global warming, but it helps break down the ozone layer allowing more infrared ray to enter the Earth.
If global warming goes on for the next century than the outcome will not be anywhere near our imagination, IPCC predicts an increase of 2.5°-10.4°F in Earth’s average temperature. The sea level will rise between 9 and 88 cm; this doesn’t include any major melting from Greenland and Antarctica if this ice glaciers were to melt than the sea level would rise more that 20 feet.( Herring)
The way we stand on this issue the future at this point looks pitch dark. The pace we are moving is not the path of progress but the path of destruction. The fate of the future generation rest in our hand, so it about time we wake up and what is right. Small changes can cut down emission of green house gases like driving less, using more fuel efficient car, insulating homes, planting trees etc. We as a society should urge the government to use more renewable energy sources, stop deforestation, and increase energy efficiency standards. It time that we make the world a better place.

Monday, April 27, 2009

Thesis statement

Thesis -Finally, the United States appears ready to be a leader rather than a sullen nonparticipant when it comes to global climate policies.
This thesis tends to convey the message that US is now ready to take a leading role in global warming. Currently, it is among one of the two nations who have not signed the Kyoto protocol.
A new leadership at hand will take this initiative.
This article does show the US is taking a step forward to lead the world. The thesis does a fine job. The writer aims the thesis to be broad and as he addresses the issue he narrows it down shrinking the outlook of the readers.
http://voices.kansascity.com/node/4387

Friday, April 24, 2009

Wal-Mart

Page 668, question 1.
We live in a free market economy. A capitalist market which encourages people to take risk in hopes of profits. Incentive is the motivating force which makes our economy outperforms the rest of the world, but what if this tendency to make a profit is taken away? Our standard of Living is decreased? The rich becomes richer, while the poor get poorer. Wal-Mart the retail giant is helping to propagate this ideology in order to maximize its profits.
Wal-Mart is largest retail store in the World and also one the biggest threat to the American Economy, Wal-Mart is exporting jobs to other countries to decreased the production cost, causes the local companies out of business, decrease employment, increases government welfare spending, and reduces standard of living by decreasing wages of its worker. Overall, Wal-Mart is one of many causes for poverty in this country.
Wal-Mart is a retail store that is aiming for customers, whose standard of living is well below normal. Less than 6% of people who shop at Wal-Mart have income higher than $100,000, and more than 23% of customers have income of less than $25,000, and around 20% of Wal-Mart’s customers don’t even have bank account. Wal-Mart is employing similar tactics as those used by Henry Ford in order to grow. Wal-Mart pays its employs minimum wages; therefore reducing its employs standard of living and making its employs shop at Wal-Mart. Most of the customers that shop at Wal-Mart are poor; therefore most of them depend on government welfare, as Wal-Mart is causing poverty by decreasing jobs and wages it is also increasing the cost of welfare for the American government. This leads to more taxes of American citizen. A congressional Study data shows that for every 200 people that Wal-Mart employs, the American taxpayers pay $400,000 dollars. Wal-Mart burdens public health care programs. Most jobs at Wal-Mart have little or no health benefits. Therefore, Wal-Mart encourages its workers to seek public assistance for their health care causing the taxpayers and the government to pay for Wal-Mart employs.
Wal-Mart has destroyed reliable jobs by exporting jobs to foreign countries for lower production cost and created fewer jobs with lower pay. It has also caused local business to close, decreased standard of living and forcing people to live in ghettos. No doubt that Wal-Mart’s prices are very low and it can help consumers, but the cost of low prices is very high.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Should the draft be reinstated?

Everyone has the right of “Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”-Declaration of Independence. But since, when has the government been able to overwrite this natural human rights, and since when is the government able to sanction us to slavery. Yes slavery; to put it mildly - “The Draft”. The draft system is not new to United States, it has been around for a while beginning with the American Revolutionary war. The draft system reached its pinnacle during the civil war, the world wars, and followed Vietnam War, Vietnam war made it this system unpopular. The draft system has been around long enough for us to understand the nuts and bolts of this system. This system is beacon of darkness, unrest, and ciaos.
The draft system is a double edge sword, this system has helped in the past by providing men for war, however, this reason is not enough. The draft system should not be reinstated because ordinary citizens are forced into servitude by their country, without concern for their qualification, suitability, or own will and there are enough number of volunteer based men who are want to fight for their country.
The effects of forced labor on military efficiency have been shown in the fighting spirit, efficiency, and professionalism of the military. When ordinary men are forced to work in military, these men serve the country by doing bare minimum. Due to there no prior experience and the lack dedication compared to the ones who has voluntary given them to a cause, this labor tend to cause more trouble to the volunteered soldiers instead of helping them out.
Finally, some people in the government thinks that young adults mature in the military, and are better equipped to face the world. This theory may be true because today's youth have grown up in a society that no longer knows hardship or even hard work, and this kind of event give young adults a much better view of their life and will force them to rethink their life. None the less, the benefits do not automatically mean that the government has the right to force these young adults in to service because there are many other ways to improve this peoples’ life, which will not include a chance to get killed in wars.
Today, there are enough volunteer based soldiers in army. There is no need to reinstate draft because this goes against all the moral that this country stand for and reinstating draft will just cause more trouble for the citizen of this country. Needless to say, the benefits of service do not justify reinstating the draft.

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Setting the Context

Writing about anger is a becoming more and more crucial with passage of time. In this technological age, we live in a world that has made our live more facilitated and at the same time more stressful. The topic I am dealing with applies to almost all part of the society. This emotion is a piece of the puzzle called life which most have to figure it out. Most of us don’t deal with this emotion; while other configure it instinctively, and as far as the remaining go which are only a few of us tend to consciously try to gain the command of this emotion.
Anger has been brought to major attention in the last two or three decades in US. There have been cases when stressed, frustrated husbands have bitten their wives; as a result the courts have ordered to send theses husbands for rehabilitation instead of sending them right of to jail. People have started becoming more and more impatient and are prey to anger. This emotion is made us see life from a different point of view. This new era has also emerged a new word associated with anger known as Anger management. Control of one's anger, esp. when the emotion is frequently felt and is likely to result in violent behavior; freq. attrib., esp. designating a course, support group, etc., which helps achieve this control.(OED)
The latest example of anger which has been lifted by the media is Chris Brown-Rihanna case. Chris beats her girlfriend to plum. Because of this his life is going to take an unexpected turn for the worse. This just shows that the true form of this emotion should not be undermined. The only solution is teaching children to deal with this emotion from their childhood and allow them to gain experience to control this fire. if one gain control it can result in a life changing experience.
This emotion is a positive thing but people rarely see that point .This emotion is good if it does not have any negative social economic outcome. When it makes your word get through, or make you get past your fear. It is a double edged sword if wisely it can protect otherwise it can also cut its wielder. Humanity has been dealing with this emotion since it existence , but right now we have the resource need to change our life for better.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Definetion essay

People usually tend to look at both the positive and negative side of a something while providing their thought on that thing, but as far as anger is concerned its negative my far outweighs it positive side.
On 3/15/09 I interviewed my father who is in early fifties rarely gets agitated. My father is a business man and because of the profession that he is in has a habit of very calmly analysis the situation without getting in the heat of battle and forgetting the goal. When asked what anger meant. He said that anger was caused due to the lack of understanding. People when are unable to comprehend the things going around them they get angry.
My next person I next person I interviewed was my aunt .When asked what anger was she responded in a serious unwavering tone that it is destruction. It arises when things don’t follow the predicted path they were met to. It is an emotion which gives them the illusion that they have the power to change. They are afraid of the reality and unable to accept the truth.
The active feeling provoked against the agent; passion, rage; wrath, ire, hot displeasure. (OED) Anger is a common human emotion that we have experienced in our live from childhood to adulthood to our death. It is a state of emotion that ranges form mild annoyance to serious aggression. When people get angry Effects of anger consist of the heart starts pumping blood faster as a result the pulse rate as well as the blood pressure increases. Anger external can be described by the body language. People in anger stare with rage in their eyes and tend to make loud noises. Other features include the forming of wrinkles on the forehead, the decreasing distance between the eyebrows, and the clinching of fist.
Emotion express in different ways .Some express happiness in which a bud blooms to flower in spring similarly a smile blossoms the face while others deliver it with, a tear from the eye rolling down the check - a tear of joy .Both ways express the underlying tone but the surface expression send a vivid comprehension to others. Anger is no different in any context. Anger is emotion which can be expressed three different ways namely direct anger, indirect anger and apathy.
In direct anger people tend to direct the anger to its original source for example if walking down the road and someone stomps your leg, you boil in anger you shout at that person. I was returning for grocery shopping; I saw walking on the footpath when I saw a black Toyota Camry Parked on the side of the road. The emergency lights were flashing. A loud, unpleasant voice made it to my ears. The source of that voice was the person who was talking on a cell phone who was leaning next to the car. He was angry because he was getting late as he had run out of gas. As I passed him, he kicked the tire of the car in order to vent his frustration.
In indirect anger is directed towards someone who has barely if anything to do with the situation. But indirectly is different. For example when some had a rough day scold by as superior or were in a traffic jam. People tend not to reply back to the superior or get angry at the person who caused the traffic jam instead they tend to take their frustration out by finding petty things when they reach home. The anger is not diverted to its origin; instead it is to others who have nothing to do with it. Thus innocent people who have nothing to do with the cause become the scapegoat.
Sometimes anger is never expressed to others instead it is either stored inside the person or the person express it on himself through the act incurring pain on himself to get rid of the anger. Anger is foe of human being it has very rarely good result. In the next interview with my uncle he said “Anger is a human weakness”. It is a common human emotion and it is natural to get angry. He also added the anger was a bad.

Monday, March 23, 2009

Cause and Effect

Anger if asked to people usually they shed light at it by saying it death at the same time providing life to it. Anger can be seen through two different telescope one that shows the positive side while the other shows the negative side. People get angry for a reason. When some one gets angry, their passion toward the object that got them angry increases. This increment in passion in turn Increases the person interest in that object. When this passion increases to the extent that the person can not see the path clearly to goal which is to defeat the object; his view is unclear, and in this unclearness of the conscious led him to take wrong decision. When this wrong decision is made it fires back at the person who made it and an unintended ruckus is created for something that is not worth it. Anger is usually a negative externality .Anger in the real world controls people. If the opposite were applicable it would turn out to be a good thing. Anger can be a positive only if the person in anger is in control of the situation. Anger can be good if it takes you out of apathy, or helps you communicate in a better way with the people you are working around.