Environmental Impacts Essay Example for Free

Environmental Impacts Essay There is a large gap between developed and developing countries in terms of the attention given to environmental concerns. As a general rule, developing nations place the environment low on their list of priorities. Managing the ecosystem takes a back seat to economic advancement and industrialization, which are seen as more pressing needs. On the other hand, developed nations generally take a more proactive role in environment management because they have the budget and the technology to do so. They have also recognized that further economic development can no longer do without sustainable environmental practices (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, 2001). Stemming from this basic difference of priorities is the great disparity between the environment’s impacts on the health of people living in the First World and those living in the Third World. However, it is simplistic to assume that the former are invariably healthier than the latter. While it is true that developing nations use less environmentally-friendly practices, the sheer level of industrialization and commercialization in developed countries sometimes means that these countries produce far more pollution and thus create more health problems for their citizens. A comprehensive assessment of the interaction between human health and the natural environment is not possible given the length of this paper. Nevertheless, this essay will explore some differences between First and Third World nations with regards to two selected major public health issues, namely, air pollution and water pollution. Air Pollution Palo and Solberg (1999) have identified carbon dioxide as the most abundant greenhouse gas produced today, and they cite it as the most critical contributor to global warming, a phenomenon that poses a grave threat to human health and security. Confalioneri et al. (2007) detailed the exact nature of this threat in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Fourth Assessment Report. Global warming first affects humanity by changing weather patterns. Extreme temperature swings, irregular precipitation, rising sea levels, more powerful storms, droughts and heatwaves have all become more common as a direct result of global warming. These phenomena in turn negatively affect the quality and quantity of food, water and air available to human populations. These phenomena inflict a great amount of damage on human settlements and infrastructure as well. The worldwide spikes in malnutrition, infectious diseases, and deaths from extreme weather events are all directly proportional to the increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The IPCC also warned that developing societies were at the greatest risk to these environmental pressures. Among these developing nations, Douglas et al. (2001) cited coral reef atolls and reef islands as the most prone because their rates of land loss are dramatically impacted on by incremental rises in sea level. They cited the rapidly disappearing land of the Maldives, the Marshall Islands, and some low-lying Japanese islands as some of the most alarming manifestations of global warming. They added that rise in sea levels has led not only to escalating land loss, but also to the contamination of underground water sources in nations such as Israel, Thailand and island states in the Pacific and the Caribbean. The combined loss of arable land and potable water caused by global warming does not only lead to malnutrition and disease but also to social pressures such as overcrowding in cities, which increase the strain on the human population’s health. In addition, developing countries lack the infrastructure to protect their populations from the increasingly negative repercussions of climate change. In nations such as India, Bangladesh and Burma, relief efforts for victims of increasingly destructive storms are routinely slowed down by the insufficient facilities, resources and personnel. However, it should be noted that developed countries are not immune to these calamities. The unprecedented destruction wrought by Hurricane Katrina on a major U. S. city serves as a grim reminder of the vulnerability of First World nations to extreme weather events. Cooper and Block (2007) are only two of many Americans who have accused the United States’ Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) of being prepared for natural disasters â€Å"on paper,† only to be caught flat-footed when Hurricane Katrina struck the city of New Orleans on August 29, 2005. Cooper and Block also blame FEMA’s ineptitude for the unsanitary living conditions thousands of survivors had to endure for several weeks after the disaster. To this day, New Orleans has not fully recovered from the hurricane. Carbon dioxide emissions are not the only major source of air pollution. Other chemicals such as sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) also pose significant health problems. As Tang (2004) has underlined, these primary pollutants are doubly hazardous because they can react photochemically to create secondary pollutants, and these secondary pollutants can also undergo further chemical reactions which result in even deadlier substances. This type of air pollution is one of the most critical problems in China today, especially in the capital of Beijing. As one of the most rapidly developing countries in the world, China has seen an enormous surge in demand for fossil fuels to feed its factories and the motorized transport of its citizens. In addition, China has much lower emissions standards for its automobiles compared to other countries, leading to more pollution produced per vehicle. Tang cited Song et al. (2003), who noted the sharp increase in respiratory diseases among Chinese living in urban areas, as well as many residents’ complaints about the chronic lack of visibility in Beijing. Once again, these health problems are not limited to developing countries. In fact, this type of air pollution is acutely felt in megacities such as Los Angeles and London, where air quality is severely compromised by the millions of automobiles and the factories located in and around the city limits. However, developed countries are taking definite steps to decrease the pollution, with one notable exception. As Al Gore observed in the documentary An Inconvenient Truth (2006), the United States lags far behind its European counterparts when it comes to enforcing more environmentally friendly emissions standards for its automobiles. The discrepancy has reached the point where some American vehicles can no longer be sold in European countries because they no longer meet government environment safety standards.

Chimpanzee Versus Humans: Similarities & Differences Essay -- essays r

Chimpanzee versus Humans: Similarities & Differences   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Since the first days of human thought into their beginnings, chimpanzees have played a vital role in showing who we were. The chimpanzee, one of the great apes, makes it home in the forests of Central and West Africa. Their long arms and legs adapt them for living in such regions as lowland jungles and mountainous regions. Humans are classified in the order Primates, and family Hominade. Within this family, human beings, our nearest living relatives, the African apes, are also placed. Though in some classification standards, apes are placed in the family Pongidae.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The defining characteristic of Hominids is their ability to walk bipedally, using two feet and walking upright. This form of movement lead to many adaptations within the Hominids skeleton. There are notable changes in the spinal cord, pelvis bone and legs. The chimpanzee does have the ability to walk upright and does, but it spends most of the time walking on four limbs. It uses it’s arms as it’s front legs and walks on it’s knuckles. Our brain capacity is about twice as large as that of the chimp. Humans have a brain capacity of 1300 to 1500 cc, while the chimps are about 600 - 800 cc. It is though by scientists that our brain size grew over time as were evolved into making complex tools and we became increasingly sophisticated. The human skull is slightly different from that of our primate ancest...

Dracula & gothic genre Essay

Novels of the Gothic genre, like ‘Dracula’, are often set in big old castles or ruins. In this novel there is the setting of Dracula’s castle. This is an old castle in the middle of ‘one of the wildest and least known portions of Europe’. It is on the edge of a precipice and seems to be very grand. Harker describes it in his journal, ‘The castle is on the very edge of a terrible precipice. A stone falling from the window would fall a thousand feet without touching anything! ‘ This description of the castle makes it seem very quiet, rural and frightening. The sheer height of the castle would scare people. Stoker chooses his adjectives very carefully in ‘Dracula’, here he uses the adjective ‘terrible’ which sums up the gothic nature of the setting. There is also part of the novel set in a Whitby. Here there is a big ruined abbey and an open coastline. It is a dramatic seaside town. Stoker obviously chose it carefully to stress the full force of the weather and uneasy feelings of Mina. The weather in itself creates a scene of a gothic genre. There is a big storm approaching in chapter six and at the end of the chapter we get the very beginning of the storm. The weather was not easily explained at the time when ‘Dracula’ was written so this would give the reader unease and increase the fear. The Count participates greatly as an element of the gothic genre. His appearance is revolting and makes Harker ‘shudder’. ‘His eyebrows were very massive, almost meeting over the nose, and with bushy hair that seemed to curl in its own profusion. The mouth, so far as I could see it under the heavy moustache, was fixed and rather cruel-looking, with peculiarly sharp white teeth; these protruded over the lips, whose remarkable ruddiness showed astonishing vitality in a man of his years. For the rest his ears were pale and at the tops extremely pointed. ‘ Dracula’s pointed ears remind us of wolves which are often used in gothic novels. His mouth is ‘cruel-looking’ and his teeth are odd. Dracula also wears a cloak which has monotones of bats which are often linked to the gothic genre. He is also capable of controlling the wolves that he calls ‘the children of the night’. Wolves are often seen to be very scary as they come out at night and are generally vicious animals.

`` Policing The Police `` By Randall Collins Essay

Can sociological theories be applied to everyday life? Well, Randall Collins discusses the four sociological traditions which are: The conflict tradition, The Rational/ Utilitarian Tradition, The Durkheimian Tradition and The Microinteractionist. Each of this traditions and it’s different perspectives can not only be applied to everyday life, but could also be applied to the documentary â€Å"policing the police† publish by PBS. The Conflict Tradition covers the theory of social classes. In this theory, Engels and Marx further explain their European ancestors’ terminology. In order to further explain The Social Class Theory, Collins book states â€Å"Every major type of society has not only its distinctive form of economic production, but also its distinctive form of property and, hence, of the social class† (Collins 62-63). The quote means that every within every society there’s a social class and within that social class there’s a society w hich has its own economy and a form of property. This aspect of The Conflict Traditions connects to the documentary â€Å"Policing the Police because in the film you see this lack of trust between the police and the civilians in the communities that have a lot of poverty. One of the reasons for this lack of trust is because the cops don t have the unique characteristics (race, social status etc.) of the people in their communities. This matters because the police officers will never fully understand the people they protect. Collins states â€Å"TheShow MoreRelatedThe Role Of Revenue And The Number Of Homicides1402 Words   |  6 Pagesmembers of a society on singular goals. With admiration to police work, this viewpoint maintains that LEOs are used to disorder and combat crime in accordance with societal preferences. According to Kane (2003) police aggression is not seen as a social control outcome determined by the interests of dominant groups, but the proportional answer of police to higher civilian aggression or other departmental-environmental factors that can make policing more dangerous and difficult. Therefore, conflict theoristsRead MoreBody Cams : Policing For Greater Good1308 Words   |  6 PagesBody Cams: Policing for the Greater Good In today’s society no one is safe from everyday peril. Situations arise daily that may present either a law enforcement official or just a civilian with a situation that could warrant the need for extra protection. In some cases it is a matter of he said she said. In just those instances it is important that there be some sort of documentation that provides corresponding evidence. Body cameras have been tested in a small group of police departmentsRead MoreTorpey 1998 State Monopolization Of Legitimate Means Of Movement12377 Words   |  50 Pagesspecific discussion of the means they adoptedto achieve that end. Foucault s (1979, 1980b, 1991) writings on governmentalityand the techniques of moderngovernancerepresentan importantcorrective to this tradition,but for all their preoccupationwith policing, population, and pastoral powerthey lack any precise discussion of the techniquesof identificationthathave played a crucialrole in the developmentof modern,territorialstatesrestingon distinctionsbetween citizens/nationals and aliens. Meanwhile