Towards A Sustainable Community Essays - Environmentalism

Towards A Sustainable Community Not until the spread of the Industrial Revolution in the late nineteenth century, has man possessed the ability to adversely alter, on a global scale, the geologic and climatic cycles that have existed for millennia. Planet earth, which man calls home, is approximately 5 billion years old. The science of paleontology tells us that man is a relative new comer to the planet. Modern man did not arrive on the scene until approximately 10,000 to 15,000 years ago. Developments in hunting, agriculture, literacy, and the sciences, have allowed man to thrive and inhabit nearly every corner of the planet. However, this success has not been good for the earth. The world's population has recently surpassed 6 billion and the developed countries community models and lifestyles are not sustainable. Due to rapid, unrestrained growth, housing, shopping, and entertainment construction has spread across the surface of the planet like an oil slick. We are depleting resources and altering ecosystems at an alarming rate. Only now are we beginning to comprehend the long-term effects of more than a century of environmental ignorance, neglect, and apathy. Historically, city and community planners lacked the vision and understanding that would lead to environmentally friendly and sustainable conditions, allowing us to live in harmony with nature. This, coupled with irresponsible consumerism and poor individual choices, has led us to a crossroad. It is now clear we cannot continue to build communities that are unsustainable and we must change our lifestyles. We have arrived at the threshold of the 21st century where nothing less than a global call to action is necessary. We can continue on our current path, which will ultimately lead to severe health problems, loss of valuable resources, extinctions, and a wholesale denial of contaminated areas, or we can take positive, radical steps to break with the past. Regarding unsustainable communities and lifestyles, the blame lies mainly with two specific phenomena, American's love affair with the automobile, and the American Dream of owning a home and land outside of the city. A car-dependent lifestyle introduces numerous problems and exacerbates the dilemma of exurb migration. With so many cars on the road, they become congested, leading to the need for new, longer, and wider roads that encroach on existing ecosystems and animal habitats. With roads and highways stretching farther and farther from the city, suburbanites can now live at greater distances from the cities requiring a need for increased fossil fuel production. This increased consumption and burning of fossil fuels increases air and water pollution and contributes to the greenhouse effect. It is estimated that out of the millions of underground storage tanks of gasoline and diesel fuel across the U.S., over 300,000 have failed, contaminating the surrounding ground water tables (Ne bel, Wright 490). In the case of the fuel additive, Methyl Tertiary-Butyl Ether (MTBE), contaminated wells have to be shut down entirely. Many cities fail to meet air-quality standards even with improved pollution controls. Vehicles are responsible for an estimated 80% of the air pollution in metropolitan regions (Nebel, Wright 581). Vehicle traffic congestion increases year after year, accounting for billions of dollars worth of lost time and productivity. From 1945 to 1980, U.S. oil consumption nearly quadrupled while the population grew by just 60 percent (Nebel, Wright 581). According to the Washington Post, the world's oil reserves will be exhausted in approximately 40 to 50 years. The American Dream of owning a home and land is something almost all Americans aspire to. However, this lifestyle is also responsible for a unique set of associated problems that contribute to a wasteful and unwise depletion of energy sources. Single family homes or detached dwellings, cost much more to heat than apartments. The paved area around all homes reduces rainfall percolation back to ground water tables. The increased run off due to the paving over of existing soil, causes erosion, and carries away surface pollutants such as lawn and garden chemicals. The unplanned communities that extend out from the cities eat up existing rich farmland, requiring food to be transported in from greater distances. The only way we are going to be able to move away from unsustainable practices and behavior is through education, inclusion, planning, and regulation. By

Biological patents and biopiracy.

Biological patents and biopiracy. Until several hundred years ago, ownership and protection has only been granted to objects of a physical or concrete nature, such as a piece of land or a building. However, people began to feel the need to protect and receive credit for their inventions and other products of their intellectual capacity. This desire is the driving force for the creation of intellectual property rights. Traditionally, intellectual property rights protected the creations of the mind such as literary or artistic works, designs and symbols (WIPO). In the past 20 years, another item has been selected to be protected under intellectual property rights: genes and other biological materials.The most prominent type of intellectual property used in protection of biological material is patents. In order to be eligible for a patent, the invention must satisfy the three criteria of novelty, utility and non-obviousness (WIPO). The requirement of novelty means that the invention has not been available to the public, through printed publications or commercial sales, or has not applied for a previous patent (Patent Basics).PatentAnything that indicates the previous existence of the invention, or anything similar to it, is termed prior art (Patent Basics). The condition of utility indicates that the invention must have a use (WIPO). The final prerequisite of non-obviousness specifies "that a person with ordinary skill in the art would not be likely to develop the same invention, even knowing all there was to know in the prior art." (Patent Basic).Modern genetic engineering practices and research requires large amounts of genetic material and organisms, especially in the field of agricultural development. Corporations and other private entities began to scout for "new" organisms and genetic material to sustain their practices and as well as profits. The term biodiversity prospecting, or bioprospecting, is used to describe this activity. According...

English Language in London School Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

English Language in London School - Essay Example So children who learn more than one language get confused and make mistakes with their second language - English in this case. They speak English using the tone of their first language. Most affected is their pronunciation as they get confused which way to pronounce the words. Their teachers pronounce in one way (usually the correct one) and their parents pronounce the other way (usually with their native language accent). Blake and Moorhead (1993, p. 93) excellently observes " This situation exists in England among the children of immigrants, particularly those immigrants who have a strong sense of community and want to maintain their culture even though they live in a 'foreign' environment." Research has shown that students who know two languages are more competent in acquiring the third language in comparison to students who know only one. This attribute affects their performance in school too. In fact bilingual children are better in studies. Mercer and Swann (1996, p.254) state, " mother tongue and second language teaching came closer together, influencing each others' practice in interesting ways, especially in a new emphasis on literacy and wider educational outcomes for bilingual learners of English." It has been proved by studies that those who can speak a second language have a deeper understanding of the cultures of others and they have a greater control, grasp and sense of their own identity. Remarkable results have been achieved by the research devoted to the effects of early second language acquisition. According to the website of 'Secrets d' enfance' - a bilingual school, " the learning of a second language turns the child's mind to the world and other cult ures which will enrich him throughout his life." It has been proved that those who have knowledge of second language, experience a positive development in all the activities related to studies. Students, who know more than one language score statistically higher on standardized tests, have stronger problem solving capabilities and have better overall academic performance than those who are monolingual. So benefits of speaking a second language outnumber the benefits of speaking a single language in all spheres of a student's life. c) How do parents and teachers contribute to the early language development of multilingual children The teachers play a major role in language acquisition. Besides the use of words the teachers have the option of using non-verbal communication in sending the message across - like facial expression, gestures, proximity to the listener and eye contact. They make use of accent, volume, stress and intonation patterns. Being in close proximity with pupils help in getting the feedback instantaneously. If needed they repeat instructions again and again or rephrase the words for better understanding. In the beginning the pupils might feel very conscious to speak in front of the class but the teacher creates a very warm and friendly atmosphere and make pupils know that most of their classmates are going through the same phase. The instructions directed