Monday, June 1, 2009

Task #7 Problem & solution

Everyone around the planet is talking about Global Warming but not everyone knows how it is caused and how it can be prevented from happening in later time.“Global warming refers to an increase in the Earth’s average surface air temperature.” (About Global Warming, 2009). Global Warming is a major problem in our world nowadays. In a long term time Global Warming will have much more effect than today. Things will change; population will increase around us causing the atmosphere to warm up in time.

The movie "An Inconvenient Truth", talks about the problems of the global warming in the planet earth. Al Gore mentioned that scientists realised that this warming of the climate will lead to more extreme weather problems such as storms drought and hurricanes. Secondly, greenhouse gases are gases such as carbon dioxide , watavapor, methane etc. which affect the atmosphere which absorbs the sun's radiation when it hits the earth which causes the earth to warm up slowly. In time the North and South poles, ice will melt slowly which will raise the water levels around the world and making the average temperature everywhere increase.I have measured my carbon footprint and it turned out 3.05; some students had less than me and some had more than me. The average carbon footprint for our class CRB is 3.778.

Turning to the Solutions, in "Global Warming Solutions, 2009" there were quite a few solutions for the problems. Firstly, is trying to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions. Everyone should take part in doing this. Using buses to transport from place to place, go walking rather than taking our own cars for close range places. Globally, all countries must try and reduce emissions from industries. Secondly, using renewable energy such as using wind, biofuels, nuclear power and solar power. Last but not least, seeding plants and trees to take up CO2 and give oxygen to the earth.

In my opinion, the choice is within our hands to save the earth from the problem of global warming. The solution is within the governments' hands and within the people, so people should go easy when they transport from place to place and use busses and go easy on their consumption habits to help with this problem



Bibliography:

About Global Warming." World View of Global Warming. 18 May 2009 http://www.worldviewofglobalwarming.org/pages/aboutwarm.html.

An Inconvenient Truth. Dir. Davis Guggenheim. Perf. Al Gore. DVD. Paramount Classics, 2006

" Global Warming Solutions." National Geographic. 18 May 2009 http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/gw-solutions.html.

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Task #6 Cool Cities

According to the video about the Cool Cities we have watched:


Some problems have been associated with the economic development since the start of the industiral revolution and the video I watched has mentioned three of them:
a) Population growth.

b) Traffic congestion.

c) Carbon emissions.

We humans would need another earth if we do not solve these problems and another earth is something impossible.

The amount we need to decrease the carbon dioxide emitted into the air to live within the capacity of a single earth is by 1 half.

During the last 30 years GDP ( Gross Domestic Product ) has gone up 100 % in Japan while the energy efficiency has increased 37 % and the oil consumption has decreased 8%.

90 percent of carbon dioxide emitted into the air comes from
1-Buildings
2-Transportation

Cool City is an environmental green city that is built by SDCJ, a group of Japanese companies. This Cool City has minimal CO2 emissions.

The three types of transportation that will be used in Cool City are light transit rail/monorail; solar water taxis; hybrid cars.

The three various zones in the city are
1)Business
2)Commercial /Cultural
3)Residential

There are also some techniques that will reduce heat: Waterways; Rooftop membranes; Tree-planting.
The expected CO2 reductions for the two types of buildings Eco towers – 50 %; eco-residences-30%

The overall percentage of reduction of CO2 emissions claimed in the video is 60 %.

How practical/ realistic is the video?

In my opinion living in cool cities is important and UAE should be a part of it since it is hot from the CO2 emmisions and let's not forget that the UAE has the highest carboon footprint in the world. This will require a lot of change in the lifestyle and cultural attitudes.




Monday, May 4, 2009

Reading Summary 3

Summary

China is the only country where more women commit suicide than men. Around 1.5 million women every year attempt to take their lives and 150 thousand succeed in doing it. In rural areas the suicide rate is higher by three times than cities.
The big issues is marriage, where traditional attitudes still prevail. In many marriages, the marriage is operated like a business deal where the groom’s parents buy the bride and where she is part of the family. In some marriages, like arranged ones, the husband can sense that his wife does not want to stay with him and this leads to arguments and violence.
Many women that attempt suicide each year are attempting to gain dignity so others in the home sense their anger and frustration. Traditional attitudes are hard to change in spite of marriage laws that made arranged marriages and bride-buying illegal.
In rural areas where social security is weak, the sons are always preferred to daughters. Many female foetuses are aborted. According to the official figures 117 boys are born for every 100 baby girls. By 2020, China will be short of women and it will be hard for men to find themselves wives.
An organisation attempts to prevent suicides and provide women with basic support. These groups are limited to a few villages and it’s been a success. There are schools to teach women the skills to build lives themselves.
Advantages; relationships are formed away from parents and young women experience life in a wider way. They are discovering their own potential and own individuality.

World count : 259




4 Main Ideas.

1) 1.5 million Women attempt to take their own lives, and 150,000 succeed in doing so.
2) Many marriages are arranged and operate like business deals in which the groom's parents buy the bride, and she becomes part of their family.
3) Some women attempt suicide as a way of asking for better treatment from their husbands.
4) Social security is weak; sons are preferred to daughters, as only sons will stay in the village to look after elderly parents.

What do you think? What’s your opinion? What do you want to know more?

I think the article was very interesting because it mentioned various things about how women commit suicide and why they are doing it.
In my opinion the writer pretty much talked about all the problems and how they affected the women in China.
What I do want to know more about this article is what are the other countries around this world that are affected by this problem and can it be fixed or not? They pretty much talked about solving it in China but can it be solved in other countries around the world.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

My Carbon FootPrint Task 5

I have measured my carbon footprint and it turned out 3.05; some students had less than me and some had more than me. The average carbon footprint for our class CRB is 3.778.

The main factors for my carbon footprint are :

First comes the *Stuff*

Second comes the *Travel*

Third comes the *Home*

What can I do to reduce my carbon footprint?

I should stop spending lots of money buying stuff that release carbon into the world, which is immposible because everyone needs stuff that makes them smell nice.

Next comes the traveling part. I travel from place to place each year but the problem is that there aren't direct flights for all the countries. Abu Dhabi is a hot country. I cant move from place to place using buses and waiting for one on a sunny day where it is 40 degrees out. Most of the times I transpot using a taxi from home to the college and I guess it's the same as taking a bus.

After that comes my home; there is lots of carbon footprint because mostly we use air conditioners at home with the hot weather so most likely there is no other way that we can reduce this footprint.
At the end comes my food; well I have been on a diet lately and I mostly eat everything that can be eaten, I'm not a vegetarian. I go to the gym 6 times a week to train and stay healthy.

245 Words

Monday, April 20, 2009

An Inconvenient Truth Task 4

Brandon Fibbs,
http://brandonfibbs.com/2006/05/24/an-inconvenient-truth/

According to the movie that Brandon Fibbs talked about the global warming, no doubt it is no longer a theory and it will be happening in future. Showing us important charts about how the earth is being affected by the humans and how we need to fix and try and solve this problem. Al Gore proved and showed a lot of evidence how humans are destroying the planet earth and at the same time he listed many possible ways of stopping it.

Scott Nash,
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/inconvenient_truth/articles/156/
Scott Nash says that Al Gore should be blamed for the CO2 emissions and telling the people to stop. He forgot he is a part of it, he is traveling from place to place and contributing the CO2. Scott Nash also mentioned that Al Gore talked about Bush which makes it clear that Al Gore is trying to focus on the political side rather than the subject of preventing the global warming. At the end he talked about his family loss.

In my opinion, as Brandon Fibbs mentioned that global warming is coming, it doesn't matter when, but it is, and people should know about it and try to prevent it. Same goes for Scott Nash; he was right about Al Gore but let's keep in mind if he didn't deliver this message to the world no one else will; it doesnt matter if he is trying to do it using his family or political ways. I believe that people should follow Al Gore's message and try to help the planet .

Tuesday, March 24, 2009