Category: Environment 1339

Introduction

Nowadays, more and more people grow to realize that the issue of protecting the environment can no longer be thought of as such stands second or third in importance, when compared to other socio-political issues of global concern. The validity of this idea became painfully clear ever since the time when the phenomenon of Global Warming has been recognized by UN as being the by-product of humanitys industrial and economic activity.

However, the realization of this fact, on the part of many worlds politicians, did not result in countries policies, regarding the protection of environment, to become adjusted to the realities of 21^st century living, due to the fact that todays international organizations, such as UN, simply lack the insight on what accounts for environmental pollution and also the executive powers to enforce environment-protection policies on the level of national governments.

In this paper, we will aim at exploring this thesis even further, while exposing the conceptual inconsistency of the idea that global environment can only be effectively protected by the mean of UN embracing the functions of world government, as this organizations officials would like us to believe. Also, we will show that one of the main reasons why most of environment-protection legislations passed by UN, are associated with their sheer ineffectiveness, is because of a lack of scientific understanding as to the technical aspects of how civilizational progress affects the environment, in the first place.

UN Environmental Initiatives  Historical and Analytical Retrospectives

The initial attempt, on the part of international community, to legitimize UNs competence in the field of protecting global environment dates back to 1949, when the first international conference on Conservation and Utilization of Resources had taken place. However, it was not up until 1972 that, for the first time in history, UN was able to attain support from its countries-members, within a context of outlining the guiding principles for international cooperation in the field of protecting the environment.

In their book The Global Environment, Norman Vig and Regina Axelrod refer to United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), adopted in 1972, as such that created objective preconditions for countries environmental cooperation to strengthen, as time would go by: The 1972 conference, convened by the General Assdembly, adopted three nonbinding instruments: a resolution on institutional and financial arrangements; the Declaration of Twenty-six Guiding Principles; and an Action Plan setting forth 109 recommendations for more specific international action (Vig & Axelrod, 1999, p.125).

However, as it usually happens with just about all UN initiatives, UNEP had failed to reach even a half of its objectives, not the least because of this organization functionaries inability to understand a fact that, without being provided with enforcement mechanisms, declarative legislations are doomed to fiasco.

In her article Assessing the United Nations Environment Programme, Maria Ivanova says: UNEP, despite a clear mandate to serve as the anchor institution for the global environment, has had only partial success& it has fallen short in managing coherent and coordinated policy processes. It has failed to establish itself as the institutional home for the many international environmental conventions.

Without a centre of gravity, international environmental governance has grown more complex and fragmented (Ivanova, 2006, p. 117). Despite the fact that UN officials explain the ineffectiveness of UNEP by countries-participants unwillingness to stick to its obligations, within legislations framework, the real reason why this UN initiative has failed to benefit worlds natural environment in any concrete manner, is because of its legally contradictory essence.

In the book from which we have already quoted, Norman Vig and Regina Axelrod state: The rules of international environmental law have developed in pursuit of two principles that pull in opposite directions: that states have sovereign rights over their natural resources and that states must not cause damage to the environment (Vig & Axelrod, 1999, p.125). Even though that countries exploitation of natural resources take place well within the boundaries of these countries governments legal authority, the effects of such practice affect environment on a global scale, and for as long as sovereign nations are not being deprived of their existential sovereignty, this situation can hardly be addressed.

The validity of this thesis is being illustrated by UN most recent environmental initiative, meant to combat Global Warming  the ratification of Kyoto Protocol, during the Third Conference of United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, on December 11, 1997. The ultimate goal of Kyoto Protocol is to reduce CO2 emissions worldwide by 10%-15%, before the year of 2012. Countries that have signed the Protocol agree to be subjected to UN monitoring, which is meant to insure that every particular participant stays committed to its obligation, within a context of Protocol.

These obligations vary greatly, in accordance to geopolitical status of every country. For example, 137 developing countries that have signed Protocol, including Brazil, China and India, have no responsibilities under the agreement, beyond monitoring and reporting emissions, despite the fact that their share in global CO2 emissions is substantial. However, the operational inefficiency of Kyoto Protocol does not solely correspond to its utter complexity alone  apparently, there is simply no conclusive evidence as to the fact that it is namely humanitys industrial activity alone, which accounts for Global Warming.

The article There is No Global Warming, which can be found on the site of American Policy Center, states: Scientific research through U.S. Government satellite and balloon measurements shows that the temperature is actually cooling  very slightly -.037 degrees Celsius. In 1936, the Midwest of the United States experienced 49 consecutive days of temperatures over 90 degrees. There were another 49 consecutive days in 1955.

But in 1992 there was only one day over 90 degrees and in 1997 only 5 days (APC, 2006). In other words, the premise for ratification of Kyoto Protocol is largely based on pseudo-scientific assumptions, not the hard facts. Therefore, it was not a surprise that United States, Australia and Japan were utterly reluctant to ratify this protocol, because there is simply too much uncertainty about it.

It cannot escape our attention that the dangers of Global warming are being popularized by the same people, who in eighties were trying to link the thinning of ozone layer over Antarctica to the industrial progress, associated with 20th century. In his article A Necessary Apocalypse, John Dunn says: Ozone depletion did serve a useful Green purpose in drawing public attention to the atmosphere, and confusing people as to exactly what the problem was all about (Dunn, 2007).

However, a few years after the beginning of this environmental craze, it was being proven that the usage of aerosol sprays cannot be related to the widening of ozone holes over Antarctica. As for today, there are no more talks about the dangers of aerosol sprays and about the wickedness of human race, which destroys its own environment. We cannot be absolutely sure that the same thing will not happen to Global Warming controversy.

Numerous signs point out to the fact that the effects of Global Warming are being artificially exaggerated:

1. It became a gesture of good taste, among politically correct politicians, to express concern about Global Warming
2. Scientists do not agree on Warmings exact causes
3. The immediate effects of Global Warming are going to remain negligible for at least another hundred years, even if this Warming proves to be the part of todays objective reality.

The Cases of Australia and Japan

As we have shown in the earlier part of this paper, the way todays international organizations, such as UN, handle the issue of protection of environment can hardly be referred to as very effective. And another ultimate reason for this to be the case, apart from the ones we have mentioned earlier, appears to be quite simple  the very premise that all representatives of humanity are being equality concerned about protection of environment is conceptually fallacious.

For example, despite being a heavily industrialized nation, todays Japan is considered to be one of the most environmentally friendly countries in the whole world; whereas, such country as Haiti is nothing short of being hell on Earth, in environmental sense of this word, despite the fact that most of this countrys citizens practice an utterly primitive way of living, which in its turn, implies that they should have been closer to nature, as opposed to Japanese. Yet, the objective reality points out to something diametrically different.

In his article Haiti on the Brink of Ecocide, Dwight Worker provides us with the insight on the sheer scale of environmental disaster in the country that prides itself on being the first fully independent Black nation: If you want an ecotour to see an environmental disaster, you need not go to Africa or India. Save your money and look in our back yard at Haiti. It is our local worst-possible-case of eco-catastrophy (Worker, 1994).

In Haiti, people literally live in their own filth, with the thought that there is something wrong about it never even occurring to them. As the result, Haiti is now being considered as one the most polluted places on Earth, even though that heavy industry in this country simply does not exist. As in her article What is Environmental Ethics?, Manali Oak had put it: Most of the human activities lead to environmental pollution.

The overly increasing human population is increasing the human demand for resources like food and shelter. As the population is exceeding the carrying capacity of our planet, natural environments are being used for human inhabitation (Oak, 2008). And what does the UN to try preventing the remains of natural environment in Haiti from being thoroughly destroyed? It continues to pump this country with humanitarian aid, which only adds to the problem of Haiti suffering from overpopulation.

At the same time, UN bureaucrats periodically threaten Japan with imposing sanctions, simply because they think that this country emits more CO2 into the air then they believe it should, while preferring to remain ignorant as to the fact that the majority of Japans citizens are simply incapable of polluting natural environment, as their most natural preoccupation, due to the very essence of Japanese culture being utterly pro-environmental.

In his book Zen Buddhism and Environmental Ethics, Simon P. James makes a perfectly good point, while relating the development of environmental ethics, as we know them, to religious and cultural particularities of Japanese mentality: Zen has proven an important source for inspiration for environmental thinkers, particularly for those towards the dark green pole of the environmental spectrum (James, 2004, p. 69). However, given the fact that UN officials are known for their tendency to strive to adjust an objective reality to the obscure set of their irrational beliefs, and not the vice versa, it comes as no surprise that considerations of reason rarely motivate the process of UNs decision making, especially when Japans stance on environmental issues is concerned.

The same can be said about UNs attitude towards Australia  UN officials simply cannot stand the fact that this country has proven itself as being absolutely capable of protecting its natural environment, without utilizing UN bureaucracys valuable advices on how Australians should run their country.

Moreover, it is exactly the fact that most Australians do not want to see their country to be reduced down to another Third World nation, where people dump garbage onto the street in front of their houses and where rivers are being used as sewers, by resisting the policy of multiculturalism being forcibly imposed upon them, which causes UN experts on tolerance to suggest that there is a link between what they perceive as this countrys lack of environmental and racial tolerance.

In his article Geneva versus Canberra, David Marr provides us with the insight onto the fact that Australia is being strongly disfavored by self-appointed worlds managers, simply because John Howard had suggested that newly arrived immigrants would be much better off celebrating diversity where they came from, instead of doing it on Australian soil: Australia was rebuked (by UN Committee on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination) for its treatment of migrants, Muslims, asylum seekers, refugees and Aborigines. In the eyes of the Geneva committee, the list of this countrys failures on the human rights front has only grown longer since the Howard Government came to office (Marr, 2005).

It is namely Australias apparent unwillingness to embrace diversity, which directly corresponds to the fact the majority of this countrys citizens continue to remain environmentally aware  in its turn, this causes Australia to be considered as one of Western cleanest countries. Ironically enough, this is also the reason why UN criticizes Australia. Therefore, only very naïve people can truly believe that UNs environmental initiatives may actually benefit the well-being of worlds natural environment.

This brings us to conclusion that a radical new ethic to underpin efforts to save the environment needs to be adopted; however, this effort has nothing to do with UN bureaucrats discussing the issue, during the course of participating in countless conferences, while being served champagne that cost $2.500 a bottle (elimination of worlds thirst), and while being served lobster dinners that cost $1000 a plate (elimination of worlds hunger). In the final part of this paper, we will outline what should account for people making a real difference, within a context of trying to protect natural environment.

Conclusion

Even though worlds managers have succeeded in convincing many people to believe that the protection of environment represents a global issue, there is nothing truly global about it  just about anyone can apply a personal effort to keep streets, forests, rivers and lakes free of pollution. The following is the list of basic measures private individuals and national governments should undertake, in order to make this world a better place to live, in social and environmental sense of this word:

1. By the time children begin attending elementary schools; their parents must have them instilled with the idea that loitering represents a punishable offence. In Western countries and in Japan, the garbage is being disposed of in orderly manner and if some people criticize such practice as euro-centric, while insisting on their right to dump garbage in front of their houses, as the ultimate mean of exploring their ethnic uniqueness, then they should be encouraged to immigrate to Haiti, because there they will be able to fit right in.
2. The commercial and industrial activities of transnational corporations, which account for the bulk of environmental pollution that occurs as we speak, must not be exempted from national laws and regulations, as promoters of Globalization insist.
3. Since, after having been liberated of white oppression, the so-called developing countries have ceased developing and began to rapidly descend into primeval savagery, thus greatly contributing to the rates of planets environmental pollution, they should be deprived of their illusionary independence, with Western countries and Japan being put in position of designing birth-control policies in the Third World.

Bibliography

Dunn, J. (2007). A Necessary Apocalypse. American Thinker. Web.

Fortune, M. (2007). Global Warming: Myth of Reality?. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, vol. 88, no.1, pp. 84-89.

Ivanova, M. (2006). Assessing the United Nations Environment Programme. International Task Force on Global Public Goods. Web.

James, S. (2004). Zen Buddhism and Environmental Ethics. Hampshire: Ashgate.

Marr, D. (2005). Geneva versus Canberra. The Sydney Morning Herald. Web.

Oak, M. (2008). What is Environmental Ethics? Buzzle. Web.

Singer, F. (2004). The Kyoto Protocol: A Post-Mortem. The New Atlantis. Web.

There is No Global Warming. 2006. American Policy Center. Web.

Vig, N. & and Axelrod, R. (1999). The Global Environment. London: Earthscan Publications.

Worker, D. (1994). Haiti on the Brink of Ecocide. Bnet. Web.

The park is a suitable setting that can stimulate reflection by its grandeur as well as complexity mixed with entertainment. The municipal departments can create enough revenues, if the parks provide untrammeled ecosystems to urban systems. From them, the municipal departments can increase their productivity in service-oriented sector with fewer revenues. However, in case of recreation by municipal departments one can expect a minimum from ecosystems and can find entertainment from aquatics, athletics and can even gain knowledge from seminars and webinars similar to the ones in CRPA. However, the parks and recreational facilities by municipal authorities can include YMCA, health, fitness centers, resorts as well as guide services. The authorities can engage in a partnership with private land trusts to ecosystems for urban people that entertain them with excitement in natural greenery combined with adventurous sports. The joint management of parks between municipal authorities and private managements can enhance productivity of municipal organizations and they can earn extra revenue, which is not possible by offering sanitary services and infrastructure. The productivity in parks and recreation of municipal authorities depend on the programs and timely modifications in them.

Public Recreation

The programs in parks and recreation sites of municipal departments include the area or the portions that belong to Federal, state or local agencies, which is meant for public recreational use. Hence, it can be termed that, it is necessary for outdoor recreational parks to have ecosystems as well as other programs. The activities and programs include sports, physical activities, and exposure to natural surroundings. All the above-mentioned activities enhance mental and physical health of the visitors. However, arts and culture also can find place in programs according to the visitor turnout. Moreover, it is important to have programs and activities designed according to necessities of urban population. Hence, public authorities while using public spaces and facilities like parks as well as nature preserves for recreational activities, the urban population find a place for recreation. The open space areas, greenways as well as trails can be used for sports programs. The recreation through public parks can be easily provided by local municipal departments as they use the local staff and can generate more revenues thus increasing their productivity.

Productivity

The productivity of municipal parks and recreation comes from prosperity in the society. According to Jack, A. Harper and Brian L. Johnston (1992), the organizational efficiency depends on focusing on bottom line as it contains the major chunk of the expenditure. The increase in spending of urban people on recreation parks results in productivity for the programs of recreation parks and offers a chance to establish ecosystems in urban areas. However, productivity decreases, when revenues decrease though there is increase in spending by people. This implies the lack of cost-consciousness in the managers as well as the municipal departments. Hence, it is necessary to attract more visitors to a park without increasing its fixed establishment. If the fixed establishment increases, new programs should be introduced to increase the income and thus productivity with the help of visitor turnout. Hence, it can be understood that the productivity of recreation parks is directly linked with visitor turnout and the programs and the income from them depend on the recreation expenditures of the visitors as well as broad trends in municipal spending at different intervals. The important aspect of productivity in recreational and municipal parks is income generation through user fees. Hence, diversity and number of programs decide the amount of revenue and visitor turnout. Before 1990, there are many differences in public recreation provided in various municipalities in Western Canada. However, it is important to consider the per capita increase in providing leisure services compared to consumer price index. The revenues may decrease and the productivity may decrease if the cost of providing leisure services is more than consumer price index. Hence, there is necessity of changing the nature of the programs when the per capita cost of providing leisure services increases. To increase revenue in the wake of increase in per capita costs increase is to hike the user charges. However, if there is no remarkable change in the income of the people, the increase of user charges may not yield good results. Hence, the change in nature of programs also helps in sustaining or increasing revenues thus maintaining the productivity.

Moreover, the participation is important for the revenue incurred by recreation parks by municipalities. NSRE is the latest in the united states continuing series of National Recreation Surveys, the first of which was done under the auspices of the outdoor recreation resources review commission in 1960. Design of the activity participation questions in the 1995 NSRE was kept consistent with previous National Recreation Surveys to enable us to describe trends in participation across a variety of outdoor recreation activities  (H. Ken, Cordell and Gregory, R. Super 155). Hence, according to above quotes, it is important to have knowledge of the trends of participation to design the programs in recreational parks as well as attracting visitors to them. It is important to take opinion of the visitors about the programs to know about the change in trends. In addition to that the authors mention the federal assessment of outdoor recreation wilderness, which is being done every 10 years by the US department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service that can help recreational park managements to design programs according to the change of trends in participants. However, H. Ken, Cordell and Gregory, R. Super (2000) quote that the history of Outdoor recreation in US has always been an important part of the American Lifestyle, thus indicating the chance of enhancing revenues if the programs are according to the latest trends to attract visitors. The productivity enhancement in government-provided recreation can be observed after World War II, as before that only affluent people used to have outdoor recreation from recreation parks. Following World War II, however, vastly improved transportation, the institution of time off for holidaying, indeed the growing popularity of taking family holidays, dramatic changes in work venues, spreading affluence and a host of other social changes, altered forever the role and significance of outdoor recreation in Americans lives (H. Ken, Cordell and Gregory, R. Super 155).

Hence, after the comprehensive assessment of outdoor recreation after 1958, the results indicated that the simple activities are the ones, which are most popular. The programs like driving for pleasure, walking, and swimming entertain the visitors in metropolitan areas as much space is not available for them regarding the above-mentioned activities. The significance of productivity of recreation parks is evident from the fact that the 90 percent of Americans participated in some form of outdoor recreation in 1960. After 60s and 70s, in mid-1980s Reagan Administrations task force on Outdoor Recreation found the continuous growth of demand due to fast-growing interest of American public to engage in outdoor activities. However, after year 2000, there is threefold increase in leisure time activity as the programs met the leisure as well as entertainment needs of urban population. The reason for the growth of turnout to recreation parks is the replacement of long-distance holidays by close-to-home recreation trips by American urban population as the recreation parks are nearer to areas they live. Hence, one should understand that the proximity of the parks to the urban population also acts as a factor for the increased visitor turnout. Urban population has shown interest in snow skiing, canoeing/kayaking, cycling in mountain terrain as well as camping in wilderness. Hence, long term trends indicate the fastpaced growth in technology-driven, adventure activities. Moreover, the participation trends indicate that 94.5 percent of Americans who are 16 years older or more than that, participated in some form of outdoor recreation during 1994/95. As the programs they attended are like walking for pleasure, sightseeing, picnicking, swimming in natural waters, fishing, cycling as well as bird watching, the recreational parks also included them in their programs and enhanced their revenues as well as productivity. ⁴

Programs and Productivity

In order to attract more visitors and to become more popular, the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) provides training for college graduates also by collaborating with different agencies. The host agency, which provides training in such a manner, enables the intern to have a successful career and NRPA gets more publicity for its activities thus attracting more visitors to the park. However, it is necessary for NRPA or the municipal authorities to link the recreational and entertainment activities with the above-mentioned training activities to increase productivity as well as social responsibility.

Best Practices and Motivation

The best practices in leisure and sports activities in recreational parks are a result of demand as economic analysis of the demand depends on the relationship between commodity and quality. In the present case, the leisure commodity needs the resources, which make the large number of consumers accessing them with their incomes. However, time as well as income also decide the success of programs in the recreation parks, the best practices should concentrate on the above two aspects. The income/leisure trade-off Neo-classical analysis assumes that rational utility-maximizing consumers are faced with a continuous choice over how to allocate their time between work and leisure (Grattan, Chris 42).

Hence, taking the above aspects into consideration, Government as well as private sector has considerable involvement in sport and leisure in a variety of ways. The involvement of government as well as private sector and their activities explain the economic rationale as well as problems and interventions. The identification of economic importance of sport and leisure as well as implementation of the programs accordingly can be termed as one of the best practices in recreation parks. Hence, the economic importance of sports and leisure comes to the fore regarding the afore-mentioned aspect. As both central and local governments estimated the economic importance of sports and leisure, the government as well as private expenditures resulted in substantial tax revenue from sport and leisure activities.

However, the purpose is not clear in the beginning when a national conference on state parks has been organized in 1921. Hence, misconceptions as well as diverse opinions resulted in conflicted motives and even confusion prevailed. Hence, after that the recreation parks resulted in city, state and country levels and the programs having recreational value as well as scientific uses. In this context, the management of recreation parks found it important to have different types of programs for various parks at city, state and country levels. Even the venues are two types; public and private. The programs in the parks concentrated on providing active recreation and as an extension to serve to expand automobile travel market. In the above context, the recreation parks are not as much popular as now. However, after that the programs are designed to advocate the preservation of national scenery and to provide aesthetic and spiritual gratification. Hence, the programs are a mix of auto camps, social safety valves and the places of restoring the soul of man as well as laboratories of natural science. The important aspect in the program evaluation is the proposal that the forest managers should stay out of the park and recreation business altogether. The park administrations followed and took cues from the ideas of NCSP to design programs, though it has no authority. Hence, the initial stages of design of programs in recreation parks did not have enough outputs from outside and were largely dependent on handful of professionals of NSCP. After airing the issues publicly, the public opinion about the programs in recreation parks came to the fore and thus resulted in incorporating public opinion to design the programs. From that moment, the public trends started to reflect in the programs of the recreation parks. Consequently, the initial contribution regarding opinions came from related professions. Notably the professionals regarding landscape architecture as well as academics gave their opinions for the design of programs. The opinions of academics can be seen reflected in programs of CRPA and NRPA in the form of seminars and workshops on crucial issues as well as the programs that result in personality development in youth. While designing the programs regarding the personality development of youth, the inherent aspect is to attract youngsters thus making them know about the activities of recreation parks. So that it may result in increase of young visitor turn-out in the future as well as increase in total visitor turnout, if the young people are capable of influencing their families regarding recreation. In addition to that the landscape architecture professionals opinions might have resulted in programs that preserve natural scenery as well as the sports activities that include outdoor auto as well as recreation regarding on the lines of horse riding and water sports.

The above discussion about the contemplations of programs in recreational parks in the initial stages indicates that the programs are designed according to the opinions of the professionals in the related sectors. After that, the visitor turnout has decided the way the recreational management thought about designing the programs. In addition to that the visitor turnout for different programs even decided the timing and placement of programs as well as their pricing. Hence, the programs in recreation parks took a diversified outlook to attract the visitors of all types and from all lifestyles.

History, Social Context and Productivity

From the above discussion, the importance of national as well as local and urban recreation parks comes to the fore and the reasons for the multiplication of parks since they first appeared in North America in early nineteenth century. As there is number of types of parks, they can be classified into; a landscape park, recreational beach parks and historical parks. The first urban parks in the United States were relatively unimproved commons, places originally set aside for grazing cattle and training militias. New Yorks original common is now the heavily gated City Hall Park (Setha 34). The above quote indicates the development of commons into parks and Boston common has maintained its 44 acres into straight paved paths lined with benches crisscrossing the territory in a practical fashion. Initially commons used to be the landscapes of grass-covered ground with no shrubs, ornamental trees, flower beds and other plant varieties thus exhibiting the diversity of nature. However, in the course of time, they even developed recreational facilities, like tennis courts, ball fields, childrens playgrounds as well a seasonal skating/wading pond. The next stage in landscape parks can be best explained by Central Park in New York, which is designed with aesthetic formula that simulates the idealized North American countryside. Hence, the above landscape can be best suitable for recreation of urban population to spend their leisure time in a different atmosphere. However, the Prospect Park can be termed as the one that has been designed according to philosophical, theological and nationalistic sources. The belief that nature and natural scenery can lift the human spirits is the foundation of the above types of parks. However, the crowded urban spaces also helped in making the people attract to the above-mentioned landscapes.

Legislations and Establishment of Parks

As the importance and following for recreational parks are ever growing and the managements are changing their shapes as well as programs, legislation also played an important role in establishing them and Voyageurs National Park in Northern Minnesota is best example for that. Signed into law by President Richard M. Nixon on January 8, 1971, the park has got a tract of land along the northern boundary of the state between mouth of Vermilion River on the east and Lake of Woods on the west. However, in the above context, preserving the natural resources for the future generation as well as creating a recreation for urban people can be satisfied simultaneously, as the park offers recreation programs in a forest scene. The area has pine forests, minerals and water as dominant resource assets and government decided to develop it as a park despite the regions entrepreneurs demand for a free hand in development as well as utilization. Hence, the development of parks resulted in productivity as well as preservation simultaneously. The development of expanding of urban regions around twin cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul is also a reason for the increase of visitor turnout if there is any park in the area. Hence, it can be developed as outdoor recreation area that can give substantial income for development as well as preservation. At this point in the states economic history, logging interests were engaged in a highly profitable enterprise removing timber from the pineries of North Eastern Minnesota- an activity restrained only by the status of marketplace at the moment (Fred T 20). Hence, the establishment of outdoor recreation parks even stopped the degeneration of natural resources and trees due to unrestrained logging down.

Leisure and Recreation

After discussing the history of recreation parks as well as their advantages, the human behavior that shapes the recreation also comes to the fore, which decides the programs of the recreation parks. Play is part of recreation, which is either physical or mental activity people choose to indulge in for their own sake. The intrinsic value and personal meaning for each individual about play is a reason for turnout at outdoor recreational parks and the programs in parks reflect the play moods of the people of all ages from children to elders. The major outcome of play is a feeling of regeneration. One is revived (Torkildsen 45). Hence, recreational management created situations and promoted factors that give the opportunity for play to occur and limit those factors militating against it. As spirit of play is in everybody, the management of leisure resulted in recreation management leading to urban recreation parks. To control and regulate the activities, the programs are designed according to the play spirit of people of all ages and walks of life. The provision and management of recreation in parks with natural environment have been extended to additional facilities like sports and the programs, which have play that is physical as well as mental. The physical sports can even be programmed in a natural environment like mountains and winter snow as well as seas and sky. However, the play programs in park took care that the visitors behold the beauty of surroundings and considered it as part of recreation. Hence, the man-made additional resources for leisure and recreation assumed greater importance and resulted in having new sources of income as well as the ways of protecting the environment.

Changes in Programs

From the above stage of making the recreation parks centers for environment protection as well as revenue sources, the parks like NRPA are offering aquatic facilities as well as operator course in water sports. Despite offering water sports, occasionally, the parks are offering in-depth instruction in all facets of aquatic facility operations as well as its management. The two-day course contains filtration, disinfection, water testing and treatment, design considerations, facility management and risk management. Moreover, troubleshooting and spa operations are also part of aquatic facility course. Hence, the programs had a continuous shift from natural parks to natural scenery areas via outdoor recreation activities to water sports. Then the programs are designed are in the form of coaching activities to enhance productivity. However, the aforementioned programs are more productive than the ones discussed previously as this earns revenue from the fees collected from the aspirants. The above program of training is designed specifically to attract the working public towards the parks. Moreover, the course attracts employees of aquatic facilities who want to elevation in their career. In addition to above activities, there is aquatic therapy program for children with special needs to control diseases. Hence, the recreation and entertainment turned into coaching as well as health provider thus making a revolution in program design. Due to increase in competition as well as the needs of the people programs of NRPA are targeting the designing shoreline parks for people, fish and wildlife. Hence, even the development of parks and facilities are part of the programs of NRPA and thus they integrate recreation with needs of fish and wildlife. As the fish and wildlife are rare scenes in urban life, the facilities regarding them can be the places of satisfying the needs of recreation users and developing them has resulted as a program for NRPA.

In addition to that CRPA is offering webinars at the desk of the enthusiasts, regarding different aspects. One such aspect is regarding communications, which enables a person to deal with different people. The course, which is being charged for $35 concentrates on behavioral styles that control aggressive nature as well as talkative and lacking direction natures in a person. Using DISC system, the course helps to develop skills of communication, cooperation and collaboration between employees and clients. The course identifies behavioral characteristics like dominant, interactive, supportive and cautious styles and exhibits the way to relate better with others in each style. The responses for different styles of management finds emphasis in the course and one can develop negotiation, collaboration as well as customer service objectives. One can develop and evaluate him/herself with this program. This program is a productive one and can even be termed as revolutionary as it enables to earn revenues without using the space at CPRA as it offers the program at the computer desk of the consumer.

Moreover, the CRPA conducts events like Youth Summits, to increase visitor turnout for recreation parks by making them the guest speakers and offering scholarships. The program concentrates on improving leadership styles and can strengthen their communication skills. One can even concentrate on organizational strategies. The ideas of youth and involvement of municipal organizations in them find exploration in this summit and the participants are provided overnight accommodations. The program concentrates on attracting more youth as well as elders in the form of chaperones towards the activities of CPRA.

Evaluation of Programs

From the above discussion it is clear that the nature of programs and the way the parks are being maintained changed from the period of their initialization to date. In the beginning, the common empty lands were used as recreation parks by developing natural sceneries, which are not available to urban population. Hence, people turned out in large numbers. However, when the entertainment opportunities increased, it has become inevitable for recreation parks managements to attract people with more facilities and innovative programs. Hence, they used the vast spaces in park for programs relating to outdoor recreation like horse riding and natural aquatic facilities as well as garden sports. The next stage is about recreation parks nearer to the living areas and that prompted the management of the parks to attract visitors with artificial facilities for water sports and other entertainment activities like rides and video games. In a short period after the above changes, the managements found it very competitive to attract the visitors due to myriad parks available to people and tried to attract them with innovative programs. They even tried to attract the visitors by arranging yearly once or twice exhibitions as well as seminars, training courses as well as webinars. The webinars conducted by NRPA helped the association to enable the tech-savvy employees to know about the programs of the recreation parks and thus wooed them to their programs and facilities. Moreover, youth summits are arranged to encourage the creative skills in children and youth and thus gaining popularity by offering them scholarships. The productive activities of parks associations even had some training programs, which charge fees for the course. However, the inherent aspect of the programs and the theme of recreation parks is to protect environment and getting revenues simultaneously. As protecting environment is a costly process, developing a recreation park with natural sceneries as well as facilities can give revenue and a forest like environment in between urban spaces, thus creating a cover to avoid environmental pollution. Hence, the municipal authorities and their parks and recreation (P&R) departments found new avenues for their services other than providing infrastructure and sanitary facilities for the people. When there is enough time and space after providing infrastructure and facilities, the municipal authorities started concentrating on outdoor recreation and development of parks. This resulted in new source of income and productivity as well as employment opportunities as the recreation parks need more employees other than the ones who look after the infrastructure as well as sanitary facilities. Hence, the recreation parks and their programs resulted in increase in productivity as well as entertainment for urban population.

Sustainability of Recreation Parks

In the above context the environmental management also comes to the fore in the wake of increase in number of recreation parks for outdoor recreation. Hence, the natural greenery developed in the parks included the concepts of ecosystem management, sustainability and adaptive management. As environmental management should integrate ecology and society, the recreation parks with green environments can make that aspect possible with reasonable income for the expenditure incurred. As the management of environmental benefits for the present generation cannot preclude the benefits of future generations, the recreation parks serve the dual purpose of entertainment and environment as the programs can be changed according to the time and entertainment needs of the people simultaneously preserving the forest landscapes of the parks. Hence, the recreation parks should consider the carrying capacity of parks, which relates to the green atmosphere in parks and visitor turnout. Hence, it is necessary to fix the charges to allow only the number of visitors, which is less than the carrying capacity of the park. If the management wants to increase the carrying capacity it is important to increase the greenery as well as carrying capacity of the park. The above aspect can preserve the ecological balance as well as the sustainability of satisfaction of entertainment needs of the people.

Bibliography

CPRA. Teen Team Youth Summit. CRPA. 2009. Web.

CPRA. Balancing Intelligent & Intuitive Time/Self Management Webinar. CRPA. 2009. Web.

Eagles, Paul F. J. Tourism in National Parks and Protected Areas: Planning and Management. Cambridge, MA, USA: CABI Publishing. 2003. Print.

Jack, A. Harper and Brian L. Johnston. Balancing the Scales in Public Parks and Recreation Departments. Lin.ca. 1992. Life Style Information Network. 2009. Web.

Jensen, Clayne. Opportunities in Recreation and Leisure Careers. Lincolnwood, IL, USA: N T C/Contemporary Publishing Company, 1999. Print.

Gratton, Chris. Economics of Sport and Recreation. London, GBR: Spon Press, 2000. Print.

H. Ken, Cordell and Gregory, R. Super. Trends in Americans Outdoor Recreation. Trends in Outdoor Recreation, Leisure and Tourism. Ed. Gartner, William, C. and Lime, David W. Cambridge, MA, USA: CABI Publishing, 2000.

Landrum, Ney C. State Park Movement in America: A Critical Review. Columbia, MO, USA: University of Missouri Press, 2003.

Low, Setha. Rethinking Urban Parks: Public Space and Cultural Diversity. Austin, TX, USA: University of Texas Press, 2005. Print. Pp. 34-37.

Manning, Robert E. Parks and Carrying Capacity: Commons without Tragedy. Washington, DC, USA: Island Press, 2007. Print. Pp. 246-249.

NRPA, What is Parks and Recreation?. National Recreation and Parks Association. 2009, Web.

NRPA. Featured Sessions. Salt Lake City. 2009, Web.

Torkildsen, G. Leisure and Recreation Management. London, GBR: Spon Press, 1999. Pp 20-23.

Witzig, Fred T. Voyageurs National Park : The Battle to Create Minnesotas National Park. Minneapolis, MN, USA: University of Minnesota Press, 2004. Pp. 18-20.

Introduction

A society, such as our own, which produces excessive amounts of disposable products and is in the grip of consumerism, is commonly referred to as a throw-away society. Although there have been several attempts to move towards Green Consumption (Hardliner and Rice 89), the average person in a Throw-Away Society has little regard for the garbage he produces, the raw materials and energy he wastes, and the environment that he harms as part of his daily routine. A study relating to the concern shown by consumers about solid waste issues showed that respondents have a selfish attitude when it comes to consuming; they care most about how toxic the product is and least about product packaging (Ebreo et al. 107).

Saving resources and money

As compared to a hard-copy based work environment where most documentation was in print form, today, with the advancement of technology and connectivity, we can reduce the amount of paper usage to a minimum by resorting to virtual backups and sharing of information; thus reducing the paperwork involved in updating files. In addition, consumers who are aware of the wastages involved in small-sized, individually packed items, go for the wise choice of economy packs and bulk purchasing options which not only save resources (in terms of packaging materials) but also save money. Lastly, the increasing value of antiques makes one think twice about whether our society is a throw-away society; if indeed we had no value for ancient artifacts, would auction houses still be around? Would people be willing to pay exorbitant amounts for an item that has little or no utility in todays world?

We do live in a throw-away society

Despite the strong refuting arguments stated above, I believe we do indeed live in a throw-away society. Technological advancements, an array of disposable items available on the market, and planned or built-in obsolescence (Guiltinan 19) by many a brand have appealed to the tech-savvy who dispose of their gadgets at the drop of a hat in favor of one that has simple cosmetic or soft-ware changes made to it. The driving force behind such consumer purchase decisions is the media and advertising scene. Advertisements promote a shameless consumerist society and appeal to the emotions of gullible consumers, thus trapping them into throwing away useful items and purchasing new ones to fit into the crowd. Another supply-side contributor to such a society is the vertical integration that has taken place in many an industry; it allows firms to retain control over products and services provided by therepair is only possible from the original manufacturer and would cost a lot of the product has passed its warranty period. Thus consumers prefer junking a faulty appliance or cell phone instead of repairing it. Looking at this issue from the demand-side, we can notice that the values of society have changed; a person is recognized by the material possessions he has and success is often measured by the car we drive, the cell phone we carry, or the jewels we wear, rather than our humility, sensitivity, and regard for the underprivileged.

Conclusion

While this is not an option for most of those who occupy the lower rungs of society, they too aspire to such a shameless disregard for the environment; however, circumstances prevent them from acting similarly to the affluent. If such trends continue in society, it will be near to impossible to sustain the limited resources we have left as a result of our plundering through the natural resources; the very resources that sustain life on earth.

Works Cited

Ebreo, A., Hershey, J., Vining, J. Reducing Solid Waste: Linking Recycling to Environmental Responsible Consumerism. Environment and Behaviour, 31 (1999): 107135.

Guiltinan, Joseph. Creative Destruction and Destructive Creations: Environmental Ethics and Planned Obsolescence. Journal of Business Ethics 89, (2008): 19-28

Hardner, Jared and Rice, Richard. Rethinking Green Consumerism. Scientific American, (2002): 89-95.

Short report

This case study takes up the matter of commercial fishing in the once flourishing fishing zones of Georges Bank in New England, Massachusetts. Over some time, cut-throat competition, gross commercialization of fishing rights, unethical fishing practices and , most critically overfishing in these waters caused a virtual extinction of the major species of fish population and over time, rendered large-scale fishing, unproductive and commercially unviable. In simple terms there were too many fishers chasing too few fish. (Skunked: Crisis in the New England fisheries, p.39).

At one time, codfishes could be scooped up in baskets, but now they are even difficult to spot in the lucid waters. Lack of proper fishing plans, controls over its breeding and disease management, the crying need for proper fish farming and an overall lackadaisical approach by the stakeholders ensured that fishes did not last for long. All these need to be considered against the backdrop of major challenges and risks to lives and boats during stormy weather. Many boats and men ventured out at sea, never to return. The region, teeming with a plethora of marine life and excited fishermen now resembled a ghost town. In their greed for money and a good life, little did the naïve fishermen realize that new breeding and fishing grounds needed to be explored, natural resources needed to be protected and finally the fish population also needed to be nurtured in order that long-term benefits could accrue.

This is a tragic situation because fishing is not a business for most people but a way of living and in more senses than one, the fishermen are presiding over their own extermination and destruction. Large scale and unethical practices while fishing, using heavy-duty trawlers that caused damages to marine life and also caused environmental hazards ensured that fishing population dwindled until a state was reached when it became uneconomic for fishing to be conducted. All these were all the more painful since Georges Bank was considered one of the best fishing resources in the locality.

However, despite the threats of over-fishing in these zones, the plankton food needed for fish larvae was abundant, and the Georges Bank was fertile and productive due to presence of rich nutrients in water, and abundant sunlight that nourished the tiny plants that provided food for marine life. Codfish business was a major business during this time and contributed significantly to European business, prior to the Industrial Revolution. But unfortunately overfishing on a massive scale brought down many fish populations.

The fisherfolk today are a dispirited lot. They view themselves as the last leaders of a heroic life, the last independents in a corporate country, the last real entrepreneurs, mustering intelligence, tradition, and courage to wrest a living from the merciless sea. (Skunked: Crisis in the New England fisheries, p.52). It could be seen that modern technology could be enforced for saving Georges Bank. Fish farming could be taken up, licenses could be issued for controlled fishing in their regions and controls over the quantum and demarcation of fishing areas could be instituted. Moreover, it should be ensured that there is harmony between the fishermen, the sentient fish population and underwater living organisms, and the non-sentient natural environment. Only when these three aspects are in total harmony and unison could it be possible for humans to derive long-term benefits from Georges Bank.

Reference

Skunked: Crisis in the New England fisheries: Too many boats chasing too few fish. (n.d.).

Skunked: Crisis in the New England fisheries: The sadness of it all. (n.d.).

Working on possible explanations of how the freeze-thaw Earth era ended, Martin Kennedy of the University of California, Riverside, and Nicholas Christie-Blick and Sohl of Columbia University published an exciting new hypothesis this year in Geology. They questioned the hypothesis that the cap carbonates deposited over the tillites resulted from the reaction of atmospheric carbon dioxide released from volcanoes with calcium and magnesium washed into the seas by weathering of the continents.

The rapid continental weathering required by this model should have rapidly increased the concentration in seawater of the isotope strontium 87, a signature isotope in continental rocks. But no evidence of elevated strontium 87 levels has been found in the cap carbonates, even though several studies have been conducted.

The Kennedy team has proposed instead that the cap carbonates are the result of destabilization of gas hydrates. Composed primarily of methane and water, gas hydrates are suspended in sediments as an icelike substance. These deposits are apparently so extensive that they are being seriously considered as a potential hydrocarbon energy source. Methane is produced from the breakdown of organic material buried in sediments and becomes concentrated near the sediment surface wherever temperature and pressure conditions are appropriate [see The Ice That Burns, The World & I , June 1999, p. 162]. Permafrost regions make some of the best reservoirs.

There must have been extensive permafrost regions toward the end of the Neoproterozoic: more abundant than at any other time due to the colder conditions. The Kennedy team has proposed that gas hydrates seeped to the surface during the later part of the Neoproterozoic, gradually releasing extensive amounts of methane into the atmosphere.

They contend that methane (a greenhouse gas that is more than 2030 times as effective as carbon dioxide) warmed the planet as it increased in the atmosphere and brought on the melting of glaciers. The team believes that the carbon contained in methane is the ultimate source of carbon in the cap carbonates. (Marc J. Defant 2001)

The problem of greenhouse effect is global nowadays. The needs in industrial enterprises are constantly growing but the solution lies in the scientific approach to the problem. It is considered that cap carbonates resulted in the mutual reaction with atmospheric carbon dioxide got into World Ocean when the change of the climate happened many thousands years ago. The group of scientists of the Kennedy team, on the other hand, tends to think that this is the result of gas hydrates destabilization.

These substances infiltrate to the upside at the end of Neoproterozoic which in turn provoked emissions of methane into the atmosphere. It is exactly methane, as they think, caused the warmth of planet in spite of generally accepted theory that carbon dioxide caused it.

Egypt is an ancient country territory of which saw many changes in physical, social, and cultural as well as religious aspects of its development. The calling card and also one of the World Wonders are the pyramids which amaze with their geometrically, architecturally and mechanically rational forms.

One of the most popular pyramids is Great Pyramid at Giza. With regards to the geologic consistence of this masterpiece of architecture it is known that the main types of rocks used fall into limestone of gray, hard, dense kind; gray, soft limestone; gray, shaley limestone; and yellow, limy, shaly sandstone (in order of decreasing resistance to weathering). (Farouk El-Baz 306) This pyramid like everything on the planet is decayable and loses almost 0.01 per cent of its volume because of the materials it is made with. Therefore, Great Pyramid at Giza is supposed to retain its present shape for about 100,000 years more. (Farouk El-Baz 306)

Works Cited

Defant, Marc J. Ice over Earth. World and I. 200.

El-Baz, Farouk The geology of Egypt: an annotated bibliography Brill Archive, 1984.

Desautels, Paul E. Treasures in the Smithsonian: the gem collection, Smithsonian Institution Press, 1979.

Introduction

This study talks about how to manage harmful waste. The impact it has in terms of cost to individual firms and the society at large. This can be achieved by reducing the quantity of wastes that a producer releases. The three ways of reducing include source reduction, treatment as well as resource recovery.

Background information

New set of laws limiting land disposal of dangerous waste and increasing costs of managing waste gives real incentives for polluters to reduce the amount of harmful waste they generate. One approach of reducing the cost of Waste management is waste reduction. It can decrease the expenditure of risky waste management at the same time reducing the amount of waste obtained from land disposal. Most of the wastes which are hazardous are as a result of economic activities and they have a social cost to the society as well as to the individuals in the society.

In California there is a broad explanation of waste reduction. One of the classifications is Source reduction and this is the chief approach. It involves employing methods that get rid of or cut the quantity of hazardous waste resulting from a particular process of production either by means of process or method modifications or substitutions of raw materials. For the residual that remains after all feasible source- reduction methods have been used, the additional approaches comprise recycling as well as treatment methods which are not part of the production process. Particularly, these treatment methods make the waste not hazardous. These practices are referred to as waste reduction because they get rid of or reduce the quantity of untreated hazardous waste that has to be ultimately disposed (Fayad, Edora, El-Mubarak, Polancos, 1992).

Whereas many real waste cutback practices are precise not only to specific industries but to specific manufacturing processes inside a plant, the methods of waste reduction as well as the ways of implementing the cutback practices are alike and are capable of being generalized among plants and industries. Equally, many of the merits and demerits of waste decrease may be universal to numerous industrial applications. For instance, many manufacturing plants facing rising offsite management and dumping costs are realizing that waste cutback practices are capable of saving the costs of waste disposal management. Source decrease practices are also capable of limiting the costs of potential liabilities gotten from managing the waste.

State as well as federal laws and laws of many countries need producers of hazardous wastes to use existing waste cutback techniques ahead of using other waste management techniques. All polluters must declare on their legal documents that they are having a waste- reduction agenda primed and it is a must that they submit a Biannual Generators report. Furthermore, state as well as federal restrictions on land disposal techniques gives incentives for the generators to minimize the rate of hazardous waste discharge in the environment. They prohibit discharge of certain dangerous waste and banned disposal of any untreated wastes by the year 1990. Only those waste that meet a certain treatment standard can be allowed in to the environment (Bragg, Prince, Harner & Atlas, 1994)

Literature review

The methods of reducing the quantity of waste are regularly classified into three divisions namely; source reduction, treatment of the wastes as well as resource recovery.

Source Reduction

It includes the use of technologies which are being used to reduce the volume of wastes discharged in the environment before they reach their point of generation. It might be installation of an additional machine or premises specially planned to minimize the quantity of waste produced in a production process. They involve extra costs and many firms tend to evade them hence the need for laws as well as regulation to ensure that all polluters comply with the laws (Athman, 1999).

Resource Recovery

This refers to the ability of the firm to use the waste products of a production process as an input or primary resources of another production process; a good example is the use of the remains of sugar cane in sugar production to make manure or as an input of generating electricity. Recycling is taken as a resource recovery since it can get back a usable matter from a waste stream. It can either take place within the firm or outside the firm, that is, in a different firm (Burtler, 2005).

Treatment

This is where the wastes generated passes through another process where they are mixed with chemicals or other components like biological organisms which minimize the volume of harmful substances in the wastes or even the final volume of the wastes discharged. It may be viewed by manufacturers as increasing their costs instead of reducing the costs because it carries with it a private cost. But viewed from the societal point of view it reduces the social costs of those wastes to the society. Such costs include the expenses of curing the diseases caused by the harmful wastes. Even though the individuals may not incur the costs directly because they are being incurred by the government, they will incur it through the increase in tax burden.

Findings

Studies have shown that there is a higher chance of the society incurring more costs in dealing with the effects of disposal of harmful products in the environment than preventing or reducing the amount of harmful wastes into the environment (Atlas, 1995). Other studies have shown that the environment has mechanisms of neutralizing these harmful discharges. Ecological economists have also found that it is impossible to have zero pollution as long as there is economic activity in the environment.

Summary

The paper examines the various methods of dealing with reducing the costs of managing waste and in particular the use of reducing the amount of waste discharged as a way of reducing the costs. It also states some of the findings that were found by some famous researchers in the field of environmental management.

Work cited

Athman, K. (1999) Waste disposal management.2^nd Ed, London: Rayal educational publisher.

Atlas, Ronald M. (1995). Petroleum Biodegradation and Oil Spill Bioremediation. Marine Pollution Bulletin 31, 178-182.

Bragg, James R. Prince, Roger C. Harner, E. James, Atlas, Ronald M. (1994). Effectiveness of bioremediation for the Exxon Valdez oil spill. Nature 368, 413-418.

Burtler, G. (2005) Introduction to environmental management. New York: fayul & sons Inc.

Fayad, Nabil M., Edora, Ruben L., El-Mubarak, Aarif H., Polancos Jr., Anastacio B. (1992). Effectiveness of a Bioremediation Product in Degrading the Oil Spilled in the 1991 Arabian Gulf War. Bull. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. 49, 787-796.

Introduction

To begin with it is necessary to mention that the solution of this situation fully depends on Joelles personal situation: whether she really needs this job, whether there is an opportunity to find another job, and what the reputation of the company is. The further events may be different and depend on these factors.

Discussion

On the one hand, the corporative secrets should be kept: otherwise, there is no chance to survive on the market among other competitors. Keeping of corporative secrets is often additionally paid, and highly appreciated among workers, however if these secrets touch upon the issues of the environmental protection, safety of life and health of the people who are not connected with the activity of the organization, it may be regarded as a crime against humanity. Mr. Espinal is a real criminal, and he does not clearly realize the danger to the environment which he imposes by dumping those leaking barrels into the lake. (Hafemik, 2002)

Originally, the saved money will be paid for further medical curing of the workers, who could have poisoned with the vapors of those dangerous liquids, or for curing Mr. Espinals children (if he has children) who could also ride their bikes near the rocky quarry.

Taking into account the Joelles mother is the editor in the local newspaper, this fact may become the matter of serious blackmail: Joelle may press him for further career advancement, salary increase etc; as such dumping is the serious crime. She may also claim for hiring specialists and utilize the chemical wastes, otherwise this information will be disclosed in the mass media. The only thing which is important to perform is to persuade Mr. Espinal that all the trump cards are in Joelles hands.

Ethical Issues

It has been emphasized, that dumping chemical wastes in the lake is the serious crime, and the whole response is on Mr. Espinal. The fact is that not only ethical issues are touched, but also the issues of health and safety, consequently Joelle will not perform unethical actions if she discloses these facts. (Lind, 2002)

Ethical principles which may be applied here is the mutual agreement. Unfortunately it will not be possible without blackmail, if Mr. Espinal had selected such a firm position. The matter of agreement may be not disclosure of the facts from Joelles side, and stop of dumping wastes in such a way from Mr. Espinals side. This compromise will solve numerous problems, however some students will lose their part time jobs. Another ethical issue is the destination of saved finances: it is hardly believable that every cent was spent for the development of the company, and personal benefits can not be denied.

Conclusion

The ethical issues in business may sometimes be violated; however, the frames of these violations may be strictly defined and observed. As for the regarded case, it is necessary to mention that there is no ethics in the actions by the boss of the company, as such negligence is not the wish to save money, but it is the pure crime. Consequently, Joelle may not be ethical towards the company and claim for justice.

References

Hafemik, J. J., Messerschmitt, D. S., & Vandrick, S. (2002). Ethical Issues for ESL Faculty: Social Justice in Practice. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Jensen, J. V. (1997). Ethical Issues in the Communication Process. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Lind, R. A., & Rarick, D. L. (2002). Public Attitudes Toward Ethical Issues in Tv Programming: Multiple Viewer Orientations. Journal of Mass Media Ethics, 7(3), 133-150.

Vesper, J. F., Vesper, K. H., Cho, B., & ORourke, J. S. (1995). Teaching Ethical Issues. Business Communication Quarterly, 58(1), 52

Introduction

The world as it is today is in peril. All are in quick transition causing people to be irresponsible in conserving their moral and political duties. Production and resource use is on a downward trend. Devastation and depletion of resources have led to the total destruction of species that support life in one way or the other. There is a high growth in population which has led to high poverty levels. This brings insecurity and terror among nations. Ecological and social systems are overburdened. An initiative dubbed Earth Initiative Charter was formulated to help address the challenges faced globally.

The earth was originally designed to sustain life and it has done so over the years. The initiative of the earth charter is to promote realization towards a renewable and sustainable way of living in a world that shares in its responsibilities. This encompasses the care of life, environment, human rights, and respect for all races, equal opportunities, democracy, and ultimate peace. This global network of people in institutions and organizations promotes and implements the values of the earth charter. It is broad-based in its membership. We have a choice to care for and protect the earth lest we are left to suffer. An overhaul is needed in the way we do things. Social, economical, and political pressure is on each individual to correct the errors of the past and have a better world. This can not be done as individuals or as a nation, a global approach is best. We need a shared vision for our earth to survive and leave the next generation with something they can be proud of. (The Earth Charter in Action 2000)

Body

There are ideas in the earth charter that reflect its initiative purpose. These are respect and care for the community. This idea recognizes that everybody is equal and dependent on each other. Every form of life has value and should be respected. Love and understanding with respect to ownership and use of resources. People should have access to knowledge. A free society should be encouraged to allow for full potential growth in people. Social and economic freedom and fairness should also be upheld. This must be done with the environment in mind. Sustainable use of resources is a value the initiative holds dear. (Ferrero & Holland 2002)

Care for the environment. Conservation policy and use with a mind for the next generations. Protect ecology in fauna and flora to avoid the disruption of the ecosystem that holds the environment together. Genetically modified organisms should not be introduced into the environment. Renewable resources should be sustained by minimal extraction and ensuring the benefit can be used by future generations. Protect the surroundings as the best option when little is known of the resource capacity. Reversing damage is almost impossible to its original natural state. This can be implemented at the decision-making stage in policy formulation. Conservation is the best policy when it comes to environmental resources. Information on best practices should be made known to all stakeholders. (Ferrero & Holland 2002)

Social and economical freedom. Poverty is a real factor that robs the environment of its resource. When people are poor they tend to use any available resource without taking into account that soon it will be constrained. They lack alternatives as they know nothing outside their immediate surroundings. Awareness is required. If everybody is equipped with resources and knowledge to have a sustainable livelihood, the pressure will be lifted off the environment and other people. A person who cannot feed themselves is a danger to the community as they develop antisocial traits. Economic activities should be directed at empowering the citizens of a nation. The equal global association can be achieved when people are living to their satisfaction. Gender equality is part of the interaction, especially in decision-making. This is tested when gender-sensitive issues are not addressed properly. Belief should be cultivated at the family level. The young citizens are called the leaders of tomorrow, if not checked, the society risks losing its culture and identity. (Ferrero & Holland 2002)

Democracy. Most nations have adopted democracy but it is not uniform. The type of governance you will find in the third world is different from that of developed countries. This can be attributed to the disparity in income among the nations. Institutions at all levels should be made strong, transparent, and accountable. Decision-making is a vital bonding part in the democratic culture. Information is used in decision making, ignorance is said to be no defense, but if you lack the information you are bound to act as if ignorant. Participation cements democracy. Freedom and decisiveness should be allowed to all people. (Ferrero & Holland 2002)

Peace and nonviolent society. All would be of no use if the society can not stand each other. A community at war can never develop. A culture of peace with each other and animals will promote a better understanding and conserving of the resources. Moral and spiritual education promotes sustainable living. A love and care culture is powerful in society. Tolerance of one another creates peace and love. Animals are part of the environment and should be cared for. The destruction of habitat and abuse of animals has led to animal rights. (Ferrero & Holland 2002)

Conclusion

In a world that is fast becoming one, a lot of emphases should be put into uniting the world community. Bodies such as the United Nations have a platform where ideas can be channeled. We are living in a century where the world is faced with numerous challenges. Civil unrest, wars, broken institutions, and an environment that is ailing. Countries should be encouraged to adopt the earth charter alongside other networks that promote well-being. Environmental care and development of the human species can be enhanced once ideas such as those of the earth charter are adopted by all nations. We will be remembered and judged for having made the right or never making any decisions regarding saving our earth.

Nations have tried to implement domestic policies regarding conservation, only to realize there are some resources that do not respect boundaries. An example is in the climate. Changes in climate has resulted in poor rainfall patterns hence food insecurity. This has led to social unrest and political and economic instability. These problems follow each other as there is no separating one from the other. We could talk of these challenges for centuries and centuries but until we find a forum to address them, they will remain just that, challenges this is why we need a global approach to curb the problem and the Earth Initiative Charter is a good beginning to lay foundation for policy formulation.

Work cited

Ferrero E. & Holland J. The Earth Charter A Study Book of Reflection for Action. Miami: Redwoods Press, 2002.

The Earth Charter in Action. The Earth Charter. 2000. Web.

If I was to base this as my case point of interest, I would try to understand what a disaster is. A disaster is defined as a sudden event that occurs causing damage. Damage may mean loss of life or property and other related hardships. It may be a natural occurrence or man-induced. (Quarantellie 5). We have seen that disasters mostly occur suddenly which means that there were no prior prevention measures put in place and if there are, it could be that the disaster may or might have occurred again. For example, if there was an earthquake before, it is most likely that buildings or other structures put up would be reinforced to prevent such an occurrence though with no due cause as to when it hit again. (Stallings 2).

We are most likely to see routine training of a given populace on how to act in case an earthquake was to strikes again. This gives us a notion that when a disaster strikes, it signifies a change in the perspective of a given society. It should be noted here that disaster and society have a connected existence. Different patterns of approach towards a given disaster vary with the time and place. (Dynes 4). This puts in light the existing social systems and ideals in a given place. It has always been told that natural disasters such as storms, earthquakes, tsunamis have been Gods way of disclosing his displeasure towards a given place.

This perception may make us view disaster as a signal to bring a certain people towards the ways of God. There is then a general agreement that if the society were to retrace their footsteps, the chances of a repeat of such a phenomenon will be vague. If disaster here has to be recounted as just an ephemeral significance then we would relate this in terms of responsiveness of the society towards a disaster. (Drabek 9).

If we would base this remark on ephemeral significance on the term disaster it would be of prime importance for us to gauge the weight of the term itself. Usually, there is always a general objective related to the events before, amidst, and after an occurrence of a disaster. (Slovic 1). They are bent mostly on the shock and aftershocks of a disaster. For example, after numerous earthquake-related disasters, the United States opened up a National Centre to deal with issues related to such occurrences and invented Geographic information systems. (Sorokin 47).

The invention of Meteorological Stations was most likely driven by untold disasters in the shape of Floods and Storms. We have also witnessed the global formation of Disaster Response Research Centers in various countries all with the objective of researching on. In other scenarios where natural happenings are not a cause for a disaster, we find mans inventions as agents of disasters. (Barrett 29).

A case study is the Chernobyl accident, man learned how to prevent such leaks in one of his energy inventions; nuclear energy. (Burton 18). Another case is the Challenger incident where a United States space ship exploded into flames after takeoff in full view of the world. (Hood 54).There were lessons learned from these accidents that have marked an improvement in the way things are conducted. (Turner 7). Man has learned ways of coping with disasters. In cases where there has been flooding, there has been the construction of dykes and dams. Governments have learned that disasters, both natural and man-made, can hamper drastic improvement and development, hence the advance of policies and guidelines in case they were or are to occur. (Toft 65).

If this is the case then, Wolf Dombrowskys perception of the term disaster as one of ephemeral significance can only be supported in policies after a disaster occurrence. When hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, the United States emergency response units were tested. There was a large outcry from the public and the government promised to come up with policies on efficient response. (Moore 60). To date there has been little talk on the projected policies; after all, it was a hurricane that is long gone. These policies though not fully operational serve as signals or pointers or a meaning; a stimulus of specification.

Works Cited

Barrett, Feldman. The wisdom in feeling: Psychological processes in emotional Intelligence. New York: Guilford Press, 2002:25-30.

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Introduction

For many years, wildfire has been a major threat to the United States. Many fatalities and injuries have resulted from this problem. In the last decade, about seventy-seven firefighters and twenty-three civilians perished with over half a million citizens being left homeless as a result of wildfire. Some of the issues that have been blamed to cause these adverse effects are lack of adequate fire fighting skills from the public and firefighters and lack of adequate firefighting equipment. The fire fighting agency must provide the public and firefighters with the necessary skills to help them overcome problems caused by wildfire. The purpose of this report is to explore some of the firefighting skills provided by firefighting agencies, look at their current trends, challenges and provide solutions to improve them.

Background information

Wildfire is a natural happening in most parts of North America. The ecology of most parts of western America comprises fire adaptive species of plants making them vulnerable to fire outbreaks during dry seasons. Even as topography, vegetation, and climatic conditions vary in various regions, incidences of wildfire are inevitable. One of the main reasons for the eruption of these fires is the encroachment by human beings into areas reserved for forests. During the last few decades, people have established themselves in natural fire environments, erecting buildings and other structures. This has led to great losses in terms of property and life in case of a fire outbreak. Occurrences of a major wildfire in America have made many civilians and firefighters lose their life, tens of thousands of homes destroyed and the economy suffering from loss of billions of dollars (Bibby, 2003, para. 2). The case of a fire eruption in Southern California where twenty-four people lost their lives and three thousand, seven hundred and ten others left homeless, implies that despite there being advanced fire fighting equipment, a lot still needs to be done to overcome the problem. Experience has proven that with the current trend of wildfire outbreaks, there will never be enough suppression forces to overcome the fire. With the escalation in loss resulting from this fire outbreak, there is a need for fire agencies to reconsider improving some of their current fire fighting techniques.

Current methods of fighting wildfire

In the United States, fire fighting agency has trained the public as well as firefighters on various methods of fighting wildfire. The effort to offer training to the firefighters and the public occurred after the National Fire Protection agency learned of the devastating problems caused on the nation as well as civilians by wildfires. In 2001, Congress ordered for establishment of a ten years program to educate the public on various methods of controlling wildfires referred to as the National Fire Plan (NFP). The main aim of the plan was to educate the public on various ways to minimize the occurrence of fire outbreaks, methods of fire suppression, reduce hazardous fuels, develop a fire-adapted environment, and foster community assistance in case of a fire outbreak. To facilitate fire suppression, the community is educated through electronic media, programs, and publications from the fire agency on ways to suppress fire in case of an outbreak. The program paves room for collaboration between the public and fire-fighting agencies in developing wildfire mitigation plans. The public is educated on how to construct their homes for those who live around forests. As most of the fire outbreaks result from ignorance by the public when handling fire at home, the public is advised on the need to leave a defensible space between their homes and the forest (Bibby, 2003, para. 3-5). This helps in ensuring that fire from home does not get its way to the forest. In case of a fire outbreak, it can not be able to destroy public property. There had been an assumption that most of the homes are destroyed as a result of the flame attack. This is not the case; research has proved that great destruction results from ember attacks. This calls for the public to be educated on ways of erecting ignition-resistant structures to prevent damages caused by wildfire.

The federal Healthy Forests Initiative and Restoration Act has made the fire agency look for ways of helping the public in developing hazardous fuel mitigation schemes. Fund has been provided to improve the condition of forests and reduce the accumulation of perilous fuel on public lands. People living in risky areas have been taught how to treat their lands to reduce the accumulation of dangerous fuel which can trigger fire (Boura, 1998, p. 62). The public is also taught how to construct their structures in a way that would not hamper efforts by firefighters during fire suppression. These include ensuring that there is enough space around their buildings where firefighters can stand or walk around as they fight the fire. For residents to take ownership of firefighting, they need to understand the numerous threats posed to them and their property by wildfire. They also require understanding that there are several measures available to them that they can use to overcome these threats. American fire agency has gone to great lengths of understanding the publics general knowledge in wildfire and then come up with informative programs to cater for the deficiencies in knowledge. As many people move from urban to rural areas, they are becoming vulnerable to wildfire. This underlines the reasons why fire agency has to establish fire education programs even in secondary schools to cater for these people who have minimum knowledge on wildfire suppression and prevention techniques. Despite there being a lot of books and journals educating the public on wildfire protection mechanisms, the agency has taken little effort to ensure that the public is aware of these materials. Regular evaluations are not done to ascertain the effectiveness of the materials in adding knowledge to the public. As a result, most of the people have not been aware of the materials thus having little knowledge about fire prevention and suppression methods. This has greatly led to cases of death and property destruction in case of wildfire outbreaks ((Boura, 1998, p. 64).

Conclusion

It is the responsibility of the fire agency to furnish the public with the necessary knowledge on wildfire protection. The nature of the ecosystem in western America makes it more vulnerable to an outbreak of wildfire. As more people move from urban to rural areas, they have little knowledge on how to react in case of fire outbreaks. This has made fire agencies in America opt to provide programs on wildfire protection methods in secondary schools. People are also trained on how to erect their homes and the need to leave defensible space when building their homes. Numerous resources have been provided by fire agencies to help the public gain knowledge on the dangers of wildfires and how to overcome them. The public has been educated on methods of reducing fuels that may trigger wildfire in their lands. Despite this effort by the agency, the public still lacks adequate knowledge of firefighting techniques. Fatalities and property destruction are still reported in case of wildfire outbreaks. This underlines the need for fire agencies to put more effort into devising new techniques and passing them to the public.

Recommendations

Having looked at the various approaches used by fire agency in America to educate the public on methods of wildfire protection, still, there are various techniques that the agency needs to adapt for it to provide effective training to equip the public with adequate skills on fire prevention. This process will take years to be accomplished and requires concerted efforts from all departments within the fire fighting agency and also the public living in risky areas. Some of the steps that the agency should take are to ensure that all the efforts directed towards managing wildfire are based on sound and realistic research. There are numerous and viable methods of fire control used by other countries such as Australia. The agency should be willing to adapt these techniques and stop depending on its old paradigms. This includes educating the public on new methods of fire fighting and their effectiveness. The efforts need to be made bearing in mind that wildfire is an ordinary occurrence and not a disaster. As such, the agency should come up with methods of managing fuels at various intervals on public lands to help in restoring a fire ecology that will help in reduction of fatalities and property destruction that results from wild fire (California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection [CDF], 2005, para. 3).

As more people move to rural areas, there is a high probability that these people have little knowledge on methods of preventing or suppressing wildfire. In case of fire outbreak, these people are likely to suffer a lot of damage due to their poor knowledge on fire fighting techniques. Fire agency need to conduct regular survey of residents living in risk prone areas to gain insight into their present understanding level of wildfire and how to control its occurrence. This will help in ensuring that the agency comes up with education programs that will meet all the knowledge deficiencies that these people suffer from (Cohen, 2000, pp. 15-21). Fire protection programs offered in secondary schools need to focus on changing the attitude among the people that wildfire control methods need only to be taught to people living in areas vulnerable to fire outbreaks. The education needs also to focus on firewise issues to reduce fire intensity and successive radiant heat. It should also ensure that it has reduced chances of home ignitability by educating the public on various ignition resistant concepts to follow when erecting their homes.

The community lacks knowledge and capacity to evaluate the effectiveness of wildfire protection policies. This leads to their efforts not being effective despite them being trained by fire agency. The fire agency should support the community in evaluating the effectiveness of their fire protection policies by providing them with the necessary staffs or training. They should help in ascertain the outcomes of the policies and in aligning them with community goals and objectives. This will help the community in developing collaborative projects that will facilitate in reducing fatalities caused by wildfire (McLeod, 2003, para. 2).

Reference

Bibby, A. (2003). Working Towards Community Safety. International Fire ProtectionMagazine. Web.

Boura, J. (1998). Community Fireguard: Creating Partnerships with the Community to Minimize the Impact of Bushfire. Australian Journal of Emergency Management, 13, pp.59-64.

California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection [CDF]. (2005). 20 Largest California Wildland Fires (by structures destroyed). Web.

Cohen, J. (2000). Preventing Disaster: Home Ignitability in the Wildland-Urban Interface. Journal of Forestry, 98 (3), pp.15-21.

McLeod, R. (2003). The Inquiry into the Operational Response Bushfires. Web.