Global Warming Essay Example for Free

Global Warming Essay It’s happening everyday and right now. It is becoming a worldwide problem. This is global warming. Global warming is a serious problem that affects our planet. Is it a natural cause or man-made? It may be natural. Many people point to the melting ice caps as proof that humans are the ones that are causing global warming, but what they may not know is that the polar ice caps on Mars are melting too. Humans may not be the main cause of global warming but they do affect it greatly causing it to accelerate. Global warming was most likely sped up by human causes.  One major human cause is pollution. People are creating more and more of it. One type of pollutant is greenhouse gases. These gases trap solar energy, increasing Earth’s temperature, rather than letting the heat back into space. Another cause is the burning of fossil fuels. Some fossil fuels are oil, gas, and coal. These produce carbon dioxide. We are producing too much of it into our atmosphere too quickly and plants can’t absorb all of that carbon dioxide. We even cause global warming to be sped up by being alive. We exhale carbon dioxide with every breath we take. If we want to reduce global warming, to a state we can deal with and not worry about it, we need to start by reducing all of the pollution we create. Global warming may be a natural cause but â€Å"humans can be a powerful influence on the climate as well. † It increases the evaporation of water into the atmosphere. Since water vapour itself is a greenhouse gas, this causes still more warming. The warming causes more water vapour to be evaporated. The C02 level is expected to rise in future due to ongoing burning of fossil fuels and landuse change. The rate of rise will depend largely on uncertain economic, sociological, technological and natural developments. Other gases such as methane, CFCs, nitrous oxide, tropospheric ozone are also responsible for global warming. Increases in all these gases are due to explosive population growth, increased industrial expansion, technological advancement, deforestation and growing urbanisation, etc. Trees play a significant role in the global carbon cycle. They are the largest land-based mechanism for removing carbon dioxide from the air. Deforestation is checking these positive processes. It is the second principle cause of atmospheric carbon dioxide. Deforestation is responsible for 25 per cent of all carbon emissions entering the atmosphere, by the burning and cutting of 34 million acres of trees each year. Everyday over 5500 acres of rainforest are destroyed. As a consequence of massive loss of forests, global CO, levels rise approximately 0. 4 per cent each year, the levels not experienced on this planet for millions of years. As we know the forests are the great absorbers of CO,,. There is a close relation between global warming and population growth. Today the large population on earth is using the technologies which are destructive for the earth. Approximately, 80 per cent of atmospheric C02 increases are due to man’s use of fossil fuels either in the form of coal, gas or oil. A large portion of carbon emission is attributed to the burning of gasoline in internal-combustion engine of vehicles. Vehicles with poor gas mileage contribute the most to global warming. Besides, the sulphur group gas is the most harmful for this. Its contribution is 30 per cent in global warming. This gas is also emitted from the burning of fossil fuels. Increase in global temperatures will cause rise in sea level. It will lead to melting of glaciers, changes in rainfall patterns, increased intensity and frequency of extreme weather. As per the latest survey report the rate of melting of glaciers has seen sharp increase in recent times. Even those glaciers are affected from global warming which have been considered permanent. The shrinking of glaciers is going to pose a major problem of drinking water. The sea levels as a result of melting of glaciers have risen from 0. 35 mm to 0. 4 mm. Scientists have warned in their reports that most of the glaciers will disappear within a period of 15 to 25 years. It will create problems of drinking water and food grains in most of the North American countries. India is not unaffected from it. The Himalayan glaciers have shrunk about 30 per cent after 1970. The rise in sea levels is a major cause of concern. A large number of cities located in coastal areas will submerge in the sea. Besides, many island countries will ultimately â€Å"lose their existence and will be washed away from the surface of the earth. The damage of rising sea levels is diverse. Buildings and roads close to the water could be flooded and they could suffer damage from hurricanes and tropical storms. Experts believe that global warming could increase the intensity of hurricanes by over 50 per cent. In addition, as the sea rises, beach erosion takes place, particularly on steep banks. Wetlands are lost as the level rises. Rise in atmospheric temperature will lead to the outbreak of air ¬borne and water-borne diseases. It would also contribute to the rise in death caused by heat. The problem of drought would be frequent. Consequently, malnutrition and starvation will pose serious challenge before humanity. Global warming is a great threat to the flora and fauna of the earth. A large number of species of them may become extinct. The expanse of desert would increase. Low rainfall and rising temperature could add to the intensity and frequency of dusty storm. This in turn will immensely affect the quality of agricultural land, ultimately causing adverse effect on agricultural produce. It would have far-reaching socio-economic impact. In Indian context, the impact of global warming is a matter of grave concern. As is well known, India is mainly an agricultural country and agriculture here is gamble of the monsoon, e. . largely depending on rainfall. Though it is to affect the whole country, the worst likely impact would be on central and northern India which is high-yielding parts of the country. These are the regions which produce the largest agricultural yield. The rise in atmospheric temperature and fall in rain would naturally result in decline in crop production. Moreover, it would have great effect on biodiversity as well. The growing concerns over global temperatures have led to the nations, states, corporations and individuals to draw out a plan of action to avert the situation. As a result the world’s primary international agreement on combating global warming was reached in Kyoto in 1997 which came to be known as Kyoto Protocol. However, ten years have passed; the situation does not appear to be very changed. It seems that the member countries are not very serious about its devastating effects. In addition, forestation can be of great help in this regard. Planting more trees and reducing timber cuts worldwide will help restore the imbalance. Secondly, we must follow on environmental policy of ‘reduce, reuse, recycle’, i. e. romoting the reuse of anything. Thirdly, the use of fuel-efficient vehicles should be promoted as these vehicles have lower emissions of harmful gases. Fourthly, every individual should be aware of the importance of the protecting environment. Besides, eco- friendly technologies must be promoted, and must be substituted with the technologies which cause great emission of global warming gases. Public awareness campaign can be of great help in this regard because unless each and every individual is aware only governments’ effect cannot bring desired difference.

The Effect of Divorce on Childrens Learning and Behavior Essay

The Effect of Divorce on Children's Learning and Behavior The effect of divorce on children?s learning and behavior is a major problem in today's society. Everyday, children everywhere deal with this issue. Nowhere is this displayed more prevalently than in our schools. Divorce hurts children more than parents realize. By the time they turn 18, approximately fifty to sixty percent of all children in the United States have been affected by divorce (Miller, 1). Divorce-related problems (e.g., visitation, child support, parental custody) can be ongoing sources of stress to children, even up to eight years after the initial separation. Children can be robbed of a special experience and protection called 'Family'. They move on in their lives as individuals without the understanding of what familial security and bond is. Children look out into the world and wonder why it has dealt them a cruel card in life. 'Why me' Why can?t it be Tim, the big bully. Surely he deserves it more than I do?!? (Ng, 1) There is a world of a difference between what one experiences in a healthy family versus one that is broken. The children of a broken family often feel rejected and or responsible for his or her parent?s breakdown in their marriage. When in reality, they are not, the parents are! Even if the child was a source of stress, it is the parents responsibility to find a way to deal with it. Besides rejection and guilt, children often feel abandoned by the two closest people in their world. It generally leaves scars that are difficult to heal. The child is left trying to understand why these two people cannot stay together and may even personalize the blame because they feel that they are not good enough to bring them back togeth... ...and self-regulation. Possibly the most important thing we can do is act as resources for the children. We have to try to ensure the success of the child and thus shape the future of mankind. References Leo, John (2000). The Sleepers Effect. U.S. News & World Report v29, no.13. Miller, Paul A. and Ryan, Patti (1999). Practical Strategies for Helping Children of Divorce in Today?s Classroom. Childhood Education v75, no. 5, 285-289. Newman, Gary. ?How Divorce Affects Children.? Family.com: Childsplay. n.d. 8 October 2000. . Ng, Danny. ?Broken-When Parents Split.? n.d. 8 October 2000. . Thornburg, Hershel D. (2000). Family Boundary Ambiguity. The Journal of Early Adolescents v20, no.3, 283-286.

How Life Gets Better While People Feel the Same

I’m pretty sure all of us are familiar with the cliche, â€Å"money can’t buy happiness. † In Gregg Easterbrook book The Progress Paradox he tries to understand why a small variances of this cliche is so. The paradox that underlies Easterbrook’s venture is that through out the last fifty years, things have improved in the United States and Europe, by all objective standards. All though during same time, surveys of happiness and satisfaction have not changed since the fifties.Easterbrook’s main question through out the book asking has the objective measures of the well being of man kind increased while overall satisfaction of people and happiness have remained constant? In the three beginning chapters of this book Easterbrook spends a lot of time looking at surveys depicting the various objective measures that show a pretty much steady increase of progress. I found these chapters entertaining to read because it brings to light a huge range of facts a nd statistics that add support to his idea that things are constantly improving.Easterbrook goes on about how the crime rate is falling, the state of the environment is improving, we are gaining intelligence, equality is increasing and economic situations have improved. Crime, both violent and property have been in decline for 20 years. Current crime rates are probably the lowest in the history of the country. The environment has been improving in every area except green house gases. We have the cleanest air since the beginning of the industrial revolution and the cleanest water since Man was a hunter and gatherer. n the statistics discussed, Easterbrook references a 1996 poll that resulted in 52% of the respondents saying the United States was worse now than when their parents were growing up and 60% said they expected their children to live in an even worse country. Only 15% of the respondents believed that overall national conditions were improving (Easterbrook, 2004). In 1997, 6 6% of Americans reported that they believed â€Å"the lot of the average person is getting worse† (Easterbrook, 2004). Easterbrook raises the question â€Å"How is this possible† with the dramatic increase in overall general progress.Along with discussing the statistics of the many surveys, Easterbrook also gives the reader possible reasons for the so-called paradox. One of the possible reasons he gives is â€Å"choice anxiety. † When looking back on the past a lot of people had very few options due to limited income and limited availability of goods and services. But Easterbrook fights that there is flip side to the stress that comes from having to many options, just like not having enough options can be stressful as well.With the constant increase in the range of goods and services available even the easiest choices can become stressful. Easterbrook states this because a consumer can never really be sure if they are making the correct decision causing stress a nd unhappiness. Another possible reason Easterbrook gives is â€Å"Abundance denial. † This means that no matter how much individuals actually have materially, they will never view them as being â€Å"well-off†, which is constantly making people unhappy and stress out. Easterbrook states that a most Americans think of only the rich as being â€Å"well-off. This brings me to my favorite statistic my favorite statistic: there have been around sixty billion people who ever lived, the 600 million who live in western democracies such as Europe, North America, Japan and Australia live better than anyone else in history (better housing, medical care, nutrition etc. )(Easterbrook, 2004). Since my standard of living is considered about average that means that I live better than 99. 5% of people who have ever lived. We are the one percenters, as far as the history of the world goes. Our current one percenters live better than 99. 9% of people, ever. One more possible reason is â€Å"collapse anxiety,† the widespread fear that the prosperity of the United States and Europe may come to an end due to an economic crash, environmental problems, terrorism or some other catastrophe. Even though individuals are better off that constant notion that it is unmanageable leads to people being unhappy and unsatisfied. It’s hard for people to sit back and really appreciate things when they are in constant fear that it could someday end. Lastly he considers â€Å"the revolution of satisfied expectations† as a possible explanation.He refers this to as the uneasiness that follows items that an individual once dreamed of having. Easterbrook states that during the last century western life has been categorized by ever increasing expectations, with each generation expecting to have more than the previous generation. In today’s day and age we have reached a point where people have most of what they need. What Easterbrook is trying to say with this e xplanation is that it is hard to imagine things getting any better than they already are kind of giving individuals nothing to look forward to.After reading this book I had some general issues. First off is the issue of happiness. The beginning of the book deals with objective measures over time that forms a steady increase in progress. To form the paradox the objective facts were compared to the subjective measures of happiness. Of course Easterbrook states that the surveys are not exactly perfect he claims that they â€Å"illuminating nonetheless† (Easterbrook, 2004). However I think this is questionable. The perception of happiness is not constant among individuals at one point in time, let alone over several decades.Each person could have a completely different outlook on happiness. What can be happiness for one person could be sadness or another feeling for someone else. With each person entitled to their own subjective view on what they consider to be happiness, they ar e also entitled to have a subjective perception of what others experienced in the past and what others will experience in the future. So when surveyors asked respondents if they thought their parents would better off or if their children will be better off, it’s not an objective measure but a subjective perception of the past and future.It doesn’t seem clear why we In short, it is not clear why we would assume the level of subjective satisfaction to increase with objective well-being. I feel like Easterbrook was trying to say that in the past it seemed like things were always getting better but now in the future since things are improving so quickly it doesn’t seem like we could continue to progress in the future. It is unclear why people should think that progress couldn’t continue and, therefore, have lower expectations for the future. This question is left unanswered.If you asked, most people would agree that money and material things are not the meani ng of happiness. With this, why would we expect to see a connection between an increase in progress and an increase in happiness? It isn’t clear that the claim has ever been that prosperity and progress will lead to the end of all stress and uneasiness. In the end there are two traits that correlate closely with happiness: forgiveness and gratitude. Forgive those that have done you wrong and be grateful for what you have. †¢Easterbrook, Greg. The Progress Paradox: How Life Gets Better While People Feels Worse. Random House Publishing Group, 2004. eBook.

Essay on Hamlet Madness Analyzed - 630 Words

Gabrielle Donofrio February 16, 2012 AP Literature Free Response 2001. One definition of madness is â€Å"mental delusion or the eccentric behavior arising from it.† But Emily Dickinson wrote â€Å"Much madness is divinest sense to a discerning eye.† Novelists and playwrights have often seen madness with a â€Å"discerning eye†. Select a novel or play in which as character’s apparent madness or irrational behavior plays an important role. Then write a well-organized essay in which you explain what this delusion or eccentric behavior consists of and how it might be judged reasonable. Explain the significance of the â€Å"madness† to the work as a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot. It is safe to say that many of Shakespeare’s plays have some sort of†¦show more content†¦It was no longer an act. Ophelia was warned by her father, Polonius and her brother, Laertes to stay away from Hamlet, however, she denied their warnings. There were many attempts for Ophelia to get away from Hamlet, yet none o f them worked and Ophelia wound up dying, most likely as a suicide. Hamlet’s madness drove Ophelia mad as well and it became the downfall of her as well as many other characters in the play. While it is true that Hamlet was merely playing the role of someone who had gone mad, many people may say that Hamlet’s madness was brought upon himself simply by the fact that he was trying to fulfill the orders from his dead father yet couldn’t because of his lack of acting upon a plan. It is strongly possible that Hamlet became extremely frustrated because every chance he got to expose Claudius and capture him in this enormous secret, he failed to do so. Therefore, Hamlet’s madness could be judged as reasonable but most likely for different reasons than one may think. Rather than going mad over the concrete facts that his father died and his mother remarried his uncle less than two months afterwards, he drove himself mad over his own flaws. Hamlet’s tragic f law absolutely led to his tragic downfall as aShow MoreRelatedThe Symbolism Of Ophelia s Hamlet 1500 Words   |  6 Pagesthe text be read and interpreted differently by two different readers? Text Analyzed: Shakespeare’s Hamlet Part of the Course to Which the Text Corresponds to: Part 4 Thesis: In Shakespeare’s tragedy, Hamlet, Ophelia’s role would be interpreted as a plot device by a modern English woman and as a victim by an Elizabethan woman. This would occur because of their understanding of the symbolism of Ophelia’s actions in madness, the context surrounding Hamlet’s view of her, and their characterization ofRead MoreInsanity Is The Worst Human Trait939 Words   |  4 Pagesconsidered the worst human trait. 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