Category: Environment

Introduction

The fact that human activity and industrial development negatively affect the environment is not debated because the sad reality shows that oceans, soil, and air are polluted, and many species are endangered. Unfortunately, our consumerist culture has always believed that everything produced in nature belonged to us as long as we paid money to purchase the land. For example, The Gift of Strawberries in Robin Kimmerers book Braiding Sweetgrass presents her childhood memories and understanding of the gift economy between people and the earth. The author claims that human beings impatience and greed cause environmental destruction.

Human Activity and Environment

This story is about gifts that people receive in the form of fruit, vegetables, and berries; however, these presents from nature are taken for granted and misused. Kimmerer states that gifts from the earth or from each other establish a particular relationship, an obligation of sorts to give, to receive, and to reciprocate (25). However, as the author herself admits, people are often greedy and restless. It may result in overusing land to obtain a more significant amount of product and earn more money. Furthermore, it causes people not to wait for fruit or berries to be ripe, which is unhealthy for people and damaging for plants since it halts the normal cycle in their development. The author argues that everything in the environment belongs to itself, not people; thus, humans do not have the moral right to abuse and destroy natural gifts.

Conclusion

In summary, the dangers of humans activity to the environment cannot be overstated because people have become accustomed to considering natural gifts as their property. Kimmerers story about the strawberries is, in a sense, a wake-up call for humanity that everything we receive from the earth should be valued, appreciated, and shared. Overall, the main dangers to the environment that the author recognizes in this story are peoples greed and impatience.

Work Cited

Kimmerer, Robin Wall. Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants. Milkweed Editions, 2013.

Weather is a snapshot description of earths atmospheric conditions at a particular location and time that is characterized by temperature, humidity, cloud cover, precipitation, barometric pressure, and wind speed.

Objective

To complete several scientific inquires of changing weather conditions at various locations.

Explorations

Graphical analysis of yesterdays weather

Todays weather is quite distinguished from yesterdays weather in several aspects. The day is hotter than yesterday as can be seen from the table. This is supported by high minimum and maximum temperatures. In addition, the day is highly humid as compared to yesterday. The wind speed shows variation in magnitude and direction. The day also has higher precipitation value compared to previous day. These variations give the day different description despite having same barometric pressure as yesterday.

Evidence unfolding from the above table does not match conclusion that temperature today is the same as it was at this same location on this same date, but back in the year I were born. The appalling revelations from the table lucidly explain how two successive days can have totally different weather patterns. Comparing today and one year ago today evince this claim that these two days exhibit two distinct weather patterns ranging from temperature to wind speed. Today is hotter, lowly humid, and has less precipitation compared to one year ago today. Moreover, the wind speed not only varies in magnitude but also direction. Thus, two decades ago had a totally different temperature as that of today.

Wind is a mass of moving air. It occurs when air rapidly moves from one place to another. The table below gives wind pattern for Laramie, Wyoming.

From the table, Wyoming is quite windy due to its high altitude and the windiest time of the year is usually in winter mainly April. This is supported by extreme wind speed witnessed in the month.

In determining which place is the windiest in my state, the first step would be to determine which places are in the highest altitude in the state or are in the proximity of the shoreline. These places are known to be windy due to their exposure to wind. The speed of wind of these places is then measured using anemometer. The next step is to determine which among those places is in the open, free from obstructions arising from tall building or trees. This ensures that the speed of wind is not decelerated. If the speed of the wind is decelerated below 11mph the windmills would not be able to generate electricity.

How does the temperature vary across the cities of China throughout the year?

The first step would be to identify the states of study. The next step would be to record the temperatures of the cities throughout the year. The table below shows the temperature across five cities in China throughout the year. The temperatures are in Fahrenheit and it gives both the minimum and maximum temperatures.

Due to Chinas vast expansion, it experiences more than one climatic zone. It lies in temperate and torrid zones. The temperate zones are characterized by cool, mild, or warm temperatures while torrid zones are characterized by long, hot summers and short, mild winters. This is supported by the table above. Haikou, which is in the south of China, doesnt experience much of winter climate as Beijing.

Conclusively, each place experience different weather patterns depending on season. Moreover, different places can experience difference weather patterns at the same time of the year. This is due to different climatic zones. The weather pattern of a place is described using temperature, precipitation, wind speed, barometric pressure, cloud cover, humidity, and visibility.

Dystopian societies are often the subject of study in the works of many science fiction writers because, through the texts, the authors can explore more deeply potential scenarios for the development of the world and how human actions can harm everything around them. Works of this genre, as a rule, are characterized by hyperbolization of reality, in which the current trends of the present are transformed into absolute and sinister forces of the future. Moreover, any changes in ecosystems under the law of dystopia are usually initiated by the harmful influence of humanity on the environment. In addition, there are other kinds of literature that support the opinion about harmful influence of mankind on the environment. In other words, it is men who is responsible for the deterioration of life on Earth, which is expressed in the literature in the strengthening of control over neighboring biological species. This essay aims to justify the above thesis about the harmful influence of human on nature through a discussion of three texts read in the framework of an academic course.

The first work that supports the idea of the harmful influence of human on the surrounding species is Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood. In the novel, the author describes the distant future of the United States of America, in which a strict totalitarian regime is established. The power belongs to large financial corporations engaged in genetic experiments on animals and people. They destroy nature for the sake of huge profits and distribute food and medicines that are harmful to people. In such a society, pills are created that cause sterilization, genetically modified animals; pigs are raised for organs, and chickens without beaks and brains. Atwood (2017) writes that the organs could be customized, using cells from individual human donors, and the organs were frozen until needed (p. 3). The future presented in the novel is also characterized by the destruction of books and art in general. All this is the terrible result of human actions. Through dystopian stories, the author shows his idea of what decisions made in modern society can lead to. The influence of humans on animals at the moment, despite the presence of various environmental movements, is mainly negative. Animals are exterminated, used for food, and skins and bones are used to create clothing and homes. Many representatives of the fauna disappeared from the face of the planet, becoming victims of humans. When writing dystopian novels, despite their exaggeration, the authors primary goal is to show what can happen if they adhere to such a policy of action. Therefore, the main task of the dystopian work is to identify problems from social life and draw attention to them.

The second book on the subject of the relationship between humankind and nature is The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History by Elizabeth Kolbert. The book is mainly devoted to the issues of global climate change, flora and fauna of the Earth, as well as the direct impact of humans on this. In modern society, technological progress is developing very rapidly. Kolbert writes that no creature has ever altered life on the planet in this way before (p. 9). Humans live in almost perfect conditions for our species: we have all the necessary things. However, our comfortable existence has its price: the development of society mercilessly and unreasonably exploits the planet, animal, and plant species. In the work, Kolbert cites several proofs to prove that humanity is on the verge of total extinction, mentioning the harmful influence on increasingly fragmented Amazon rainforest, on a fast-warming slope in the Andes and the outer reaches of the Great Barrier Reef. According to the author, people themselves bear the blame for creating such a situation. Human domination of the planet has given rise to an increase in the number of endangered and extinct species of flora and fauna, and species are dying out much faster than the natural background rates of extinction. The Earths temperature rises, the amount of carbon dioxide and methane in the atmosphere increases, all of which leads to the destruction of entire ecosystems and the acidification of the oceans (Kolbert, 2014). The book also provides a description of previous mass extinction events and a comparison of them with the extinctions in modern society.

One of the books that can help humanity realize the consequences of their choices is Henry David Thoreaus work Walden: Where I Lived and What I Lived For. When reading it, readers are given the opportunity to realize that they have built everything around themselves; they have chosen this way of life themselves and suffer from their unreasonableness. The book tells how the author decided to leave the noisy society and civilization and lived in a hut in the forest for more than two years, independently providing himself with everything necessary for existence. Thoreau (2019) observes that any man, will go considerably out of his way to pick up a silver dollar; but here are golden words, which the wisest men of antiquity have uttered, and whose worth the wise of every succeeding age have assured us of (p. 82). The author talks about how people have wrong values in life because they treasure materialistic things and makes an attempt to raise peoples confidence that everyone can change their lives. However, this can happen as soon as the human mind is strong enough to overcome the passions and fears of modernity. Thoreaus works are devoted to anti-capitalist and utopian ideas. Walden: Where I Lived, and What I Lived For seems to protest against the brutality of bourgeois industrial progress and the social disasters that accompanied it. According to the author, the life of his contemporaries is the life of madmen who do not know how to distinguish good from bad and disastrous from useful (Thoreau, 2019). Thoreau thinks that evil can still be corrected if society voluntarily renounces the unnecessary worries with which it burdens itself. First of all, people should give themselves a strict account of what they need and superfluous.

The analysis of the three works mentioned earlier showed that humanity has a detrimental effect on its environment. People are an integral and essential part of the nature around them. It gives them food, air, water, fills them with life-giving power, provides everything necessary for a comfortable life. Its oppression and destruction can lead to the immediate destruction of humans as a species. Dystopia can be one of the effective ways to show people the consequences of their actions. In each dystopia, readers can find a node of contradictions that it draws attention to and that it tries to resolve. The authors f examined literary works try to convey to readers how important it is to take care of nature and give a complete and reasonable account of their actions. It should be noted that humanity has such a strong influence on the planet that even the future looks pretty uncertain. Only time will tell whether the human species will be able to adapt to the new conditions or not.

References

Atwood, M. (2017). Oryx and Crake. Piper Verlag GmbH.

Kolbert, E. (2014). The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History. Picador.

Thoreau, H. D. (2019). Walden: Modern English Translation. Independently Published.

The issue of environmental injustice among communities of color has become starker since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Cities like Detroit, composed of 71 % Blacks, have been disproportionately affected by environmental risks compared to White communities. These environmental injustices have sequentially increased COVID-related deaths of Black people in the area.

Research

My first source will be a news article published by the Guardian. This journalistic piece profoundly describes the environmental injustices experienced by people of color living in Detroit (Costley). This article is beneficial because it offers specificity regarding the target population and environmental risks affecting this community. Challenges such as lead poisoning, air pollution, and water shutoffs are described in relation to health and increased risk of death from coronavirus. The article also offers a clear correlation between pollution, environmental racism, and coronavirus-related deaths (Costley). The article provides significant statistical data concerning environmental injustices and documents how racial and economic inequalities adversely affect the lives of African Americans.

The other source is an NGO article that discusses the disproportionate deaths of Black people from coronavirus due to environmental racism and overrepresentation of African Americans in frontline workforces (Berkovitz). The author illustrates how the majority of Blacks have been allocated jobs that are impossible to complete from home or have been assigned positions that expose them to several health risk factors. This article is relevant to my research as it explicates how the concentration of pollution among black communities impacts their health and overall well-being. The author contrasts Black and White neighborhoods and highlights glaring differences that suggest a prevalence of racial injustice in the United States.

The third source elucidates the differential impacts of COVID-19 on communities of color. It is a scholarly source that documents how environmental justice is interlinked with discrepancies in coronavirus outcomes (Wilson). Research findings denote that coronavirus has disproportionately taken the lives of African Americans, a phenomenon that has been partly perpetuated by environmental injustice (Wilson). The authors describe why communities of color are at a disadvantage in terms of health and economy owing to their geographical location, race, and employment standards (Wilson). This source is pertinent to my research as it adequately describes the impacts of environmental injustice on social determinants of health for Black people. It also provides a detailed description of the background of the problem and offers valuable insight into the formulation of curative interventions (Wilson).

Inspiration

To address issues of environmental injustice, I will create a media object, a zine that highlights the racial inequalities experienced by people of color. I reckon that a zine will be more appealing to the communities of color as it would directly address their needs in the most convenient way. I will include relevant statistical data on recent environmental and social research. Most importantly, I plan to compare environmental injustices among Black communities to those of White populations. This comparison data will be instrumental in forming the basis of my argument. I also intend to incorporate real-life examples of how environmental racism has adversely affected the health and economic status of African Americans. Including the life experiences of the target population will back up facts and add value to my writing. The zine will be based on facts and evidence; thus, this media object will increase the credibility of my research. A zine will help sculpt my creativity. This is because I will work with different sources of information to create a single article that makes a compelling case. This type of media object also requires one to employ creativity in order to express objectivity and boldness in writing.

Works Cited

Berkovitz, Casey. Environmental Racism Has Left Black Communities Especially Vulnerable to COVID-19. The Century Foundation, Web.

Costley, Drew. The Blackest City in the US Is Facing an Environmental Justice Nightmare. The Guardian, The Guardian, Web.

Wilson, Sacoby M. Roundtable on the Pandemics of Racism, Environmental Injustice, and COVID-19 in America. Environmental Justice, vol. 13, no. 3, 2020, pp. 5664.

Currently, there is evidence of extreme weather changes and global catastrophes due to global warming, environmental pollution, erosion, depletion of natural resources, and diminution of the ozone layer. As a result, the planet earth is dying little by little because studies show that the plants, animals, rain forests, and water sources that were once the definitive characteristic of different ecosystems are no more (Greenberg 86). Therefore, there is the paramount need for man to take bold steps in terms of conserving the environment, and guaranteeing the survival of the present and future generations. Thus, the spirit of going green entails getting different people in the world to become aware of their decisions and activities that hurt the environment and the world at large (Greenberg 87). This essay presents a discussion on the various steps individuals can take to go green, and the importance of Go-Green programs in conserving the limited natural resources for future generations.

Therefore, relative to the current global climatic and economic changes, there are several simple steps that each individual should take to enhance environmental conservation. Here, environmental conservation begins with an individuals initiative to conserve the immediate environment such as at home. These individual initiatives can then extend to the workplace, the national level and finally to the global arena (Greenberg 88). As a result, going green at home entails saving energy through compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs), switching-off all lights before leaving home, using power bars to switch-off idle electronics, and purchasing energy-efficient appliances. These activities are beneficial to nature in terms of lowering energy consumption rates per household, and as a result, the total energy savings in different homes can contribute to low rates of energy consumption at the national level (Greenberg 89).

Another bold step in going green entails saving water at home and at the workplace. Here, it is advisable for one to take shorter showers, use low-flow showerheads and toilets, use delay-timers on the dishwashers, and planting drought-resistant flowers and plants in the garden. Subsequently, individual initiatives in conserving water play a major role in contributing to conservation of natural water resources at the national and global levels. Furthermore, individuals can play a central role in controlling environmental pollution through walking more than using motor vehicles, and using renewable energy resources such as biogas instead of fossil fuels. Overall, these two initiatives are imperative to environmental conservation because they reduce the carbon footprint in the environment (Greenberg 90).

Conversely, many critics of Go-Green programs have raised concern over the overall implications of going green on the environment and the economy in general. Here critics argue that individual initiatives in conserving the environment may not have any significant impact in the global arena. Furthermore, these groups of people posit that some initiatives proposed by Go-Green programs may hurt the global economy through reducing profitability because most of these initiatives entail advising people to refrain from buying and using certain commodities such as fossil fuels and plastic bags (Greenberg 95).

However, looking at the idea of going green from a wider perspective, it is obvious that the overall positive implications of Go-Green programs outweigh the negative implications. For instance, apart from these initiatives rallying for conservation of natural resources such as water, forests, oil, and other energy resources, they also contribute to environmental conservation indirectly. Furthermore, through clean and more sustainable environments, which provide unlimited natural resources to all inhabitants, it is probable that the world population will increase due to low mortality rates, and increased rates of life expectancy. As a result, there will be additional workforce, which translates into economic growth.

This essay presents a discussion on various ways of going green and the overall importance of Go-Green programs. Therefore, the discussions above show that going green entails being aware of ones activities and decisions that can hurt the environment and the world at large. In addition, the essay provides various initiatives, which can be undertaken by individuals at home and the workplace to mitigate environmental pollution and wastage of natural resources. Therefore, it is obvious that taking small steps at a time in terms of changing from different wasteful habits into less wasteful and more sustainable ones enable individuals to set an example that produces various changes at the national and global levels. Furthermore, environmental conservation is no longer a choice but a responsibility that the current generations must fulfill to guarantee the survival of future generations.

Reference

Greenberg, Nadivah. Shop right: American conservatisms, consumption, and the environment. Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press Journals 6.2 (2006): 85-111. Print.

Case

It must be recognized that humanity cannot live without industry; whether it is peoples lives or the economic development of some areas, the sector is in the dominant position. Moreover, developed industries can solve the employment and financial problems of local residents. However, people have ignored the harm to local communities and residents behind the pursuit of accelerated development, and racial discrimination has become one of the factors. The place with the shocking name Cancer Alley is located in the southern part of the state of Louisiana in the United States. Compared to people living in other parts of the United States, residents of this community are 50 times more likely to get cancer (Colarossi). Cancer Alley is the code name for St. James Parish in Louis Ann. The community whose residents are mainly African Americans is located in the center of local industry. There are about 150 polluting factories nearby, such as chemical plants, oil refineries, and plastic factories. The factories near the community are still expanding, and they defile the surrounding water and the air. Due to the peculiarities of this community, experts believe that this is not a simple environmental pollution case, it is environmental racism. The polluting factories gathered around this community are violating the human rights of local African American residents. These factories are also threatening black peoples right to equality and non-discrimination, the right to life, the right to health, the right to an adequate standard of living, and cultural rights (Environmental Racism in Louisianas Cancer Alley Must End)

Media Object

The presented interactive media object would visualize the release of harmful substances from the plant into the atmosphere. The reader would be able to rotate space and observe the movement of substantial poisonous clouds. In addition, schemes would be presented with the connection between the harmful substance and its damaging effects on peoples health. Moreover, visitors of the site would be invited to watch several short videos with a total duration of 20 minutes. Heroes of the videos would tell the stories of 20 black residents of Cancer Alley  affected by toxic emissions. It would also be possible to attract the reader to help solve this problem by greening the space of this community. They would be asked to purchase a tree and watch it being planted in real-time. Thus, the media object would convey to the site visitor that environmental pollution adversely affects communities of color.

Justification

Environmental network media projects are one of the most modern ecological education methods, bringing it to a new level of accessibility for the audience. Such projects are unique media products of an ecological orientation obtained from the joint work of scientists-naturalists, editors, programmers, and marketers (Choksey 7). Project materials can be of research, creative, game, or educational nature and are placed on various online platforms which are used by their target audience (Stormydhae and Cabral 82). This media project has an informational, educational, socio-cultural, and entertainment orientation; the social exposure raises such topical issues as racism.

This project is designed for a broad audience, is necessarily presented in an accessible language, is based mainly on spectacular visual content, and, along with other purposes, is entertaining. It involves a wide range of bright content of different types that will be well perceived by the mass consumer  videos, graphic materials (visualizations, diagrams). This media object would destroy the popular stereotype that saving the environment and responsible human behavior in nature is attractive only to a narrow circle of limited people (Choksey 7). With its help, it would be possible to demonstrate how to talk about ecology in a non-boring and diverse way. It is easier to awaken the viewers awareness and attract them to the problem through interactive and game animation form because traditional social advertising rarely motivates a modern person (Antal 39). An interactive format and video interviews with real people will resonate with the audience and encourage them to change their environmental habits.

Works Cited

Antal, Attila. Environmental Justice and Autocracy in Eastern Europe. The Case of Hungary, edited by Stacia Ryder et al., 2021, pp. 31-42.

Choksey, Lara. Environmental Racialisation and Poetics of Influence in The Postgenomic Era: Fire, Soil, Spirit. 2021, Web.

Colarossi, Natalie.10 Egregious Examples of Environmental Racism in the US. Insider, 2020, Web.

Environmental Racism in Louisianas Cancer Alley Must End, Say UN Human Rights Experts. UN News, Web.

Stormydhae, Kelsey, and Nuala Cabral. Presenting Our Perspective on Philly Youth News. Engaging Youth in Critical Arts Pedagogies and Creative Research for Social Justice, edited by Kristen P. Goessling et al., 2021, pp. 81  83.

The term proactivity is commonly used to describe individual efforts to initiate positive change in a community, a specific setting, or society as a whole (Strauss, Griffin, Parker, & Mason, 2015, p. 63). Self-initiated changes do not imply mere passive adaptation to uncertain environments but mean that a person attempts to identify and forecast potential future demands and try to achieve improvements. When speaking of proactivity in the organizational context, it may refer to innovation endeavors or an organizational change in any area of performance. At the workplace, an employee can show proactive behavior by offering new ideas and actualizing them in projects.

As mentioned by Strauss et al. (2015), initially, an employees suggestions for change can be underestimated and met with significant suspicion. Therefore, one of the important qualities of any proactive person is persistence. In my opinion, perseverance and long-term thinking are two of my strengths which can positively impact my efforts to achieve favorable changes either at the workplace or in the community. When judging my ideas critically, I also prefer to stay enthusiastic and refine them until I am sure they can be interesting and topical to many people. It is important because it is almost impossible to explain the importance of any idea in a rational manner and inspire others to implement it without both self-criticism and enthusiasm.

It is possible to say that there are a few basic phases on the way from the generation of ideas to their implementation. First of all, to become a proactive and productive member of society or any organization, it is important to conduct a preliminary analysis of situations which concern you most and identify the environmental factors impeding the desired improvements. It is also important to explore evidence that may prompt excellent solutions and serve as the basis for generating new ideas. After this, the problems, methods, and formulated objectives should be communicated via different means, e.g. social media, presentations, public discussions, etc. To achieve better success in promoting ideas, it is useful to communicate them directly to those stakeholders and social actors who can be especially interested in the project realization and its positive outcomes. It may be difficult to achieve successful implementation of ideas alone, but when you consider the interests of diverse social members, you have a chance to gain their support and assistance which may largely facilitate the accomplishment of any aim.

One of the current and topical goals for change in the UAE society is the increase of awareness of the need for environmental protection. Environmental incentives contribute to the sound social development and creation of welfare. Therefore, it is important to involve as many people in the achievement of greater ecological efficiency and safety as possible. The ecological principles can be followed by individuals and organizations as well. For example, time after time I participate in the community clean-up programs which aim to remove waste in different city areas. I also intend to promote environmental initiatives at my workplace by sharing ideas regarding various methods for bettering organizational energy and waste efficiency. In my opinion, since environment pollution is larger in scope at the corporate level than at the personal one, the integration of green policies into organizations of different size can contribute to the enhancement of the situation in the country. However, it is important to remember that profitability and positive financial outcomes are similarly important for every company in any sector of performance. Thus, as a proactive member of society, I conduct research on the methods which can reduce the organizational negative influence on the environment and, at the same time, can be associated with cost efficiency. Later, I plan to communicate my findings and achieve the implementation of potentially effective solutions in business.

References

Strauss, K., Griffin, M., Parker, S., & Mason, C. (2015). Building and sustaining proactive behaviors: The role of adaptivity and job satisfaction. Journal Of Business & Psychology, 30(1), 63-72. Web.

Biofuels are a type of renewable energy resource produced from modern biological processes, through the employment of agriculture as well as anaerobic digestion. Research and development of biofuels are extremely useful because they, along with other renewable sources of energy, such as geothermal, solar, wind, tidal, wave and the others, can be used instead of fossil fuels and other exhaustible energy sources. Not only have biofuels proved themselves as a functioning alternative to the latter, but their creation process creates opportunities for industrial waste recycling and conversion.

The focus of this report is the nature and qualities of biofuels. It will study how it is produced, where and how it is used and in what quantities. The efficiency of this type of fuel will be looked at in detail, and compared to other energy sources, both fossil fuels and alternative.

Finally, this report will evaluate the pros and cons of biofuel application in the society, what benefits it provides and what difficulties are faced by industries and individuals who employ it.

Description of Biofuels

It is important to understand that biofuel is not a novel concept, and have been considered for use since the beginning of the 20th century and the development of the first cars. For example, Henry Ford considered using ethanol to power some of his early car models. In the similar vein, diesel engines were originally designed to run on fuel obtained from peanut oil and was seen by its inventor Rudolf Diesel as a way boost the development of agriculture and economies in the countries that would use it (The History of Biodiesel, n.d.). Diesels ideas were ahead of his time, as when he first introduced them the market was reliant on much cheaper petroleum. But nowadays, with the prices on oil and gas steadily rising, biofuel is becoming a much more appealing endeavor.

One of the main selling points of biofuel is its seeming near-zero emission lifecycle. Crops like sugarcane, corn, palm oil, or similar, are converted into fuel. The fuel can be used in internal combustion engines, either in a mix with gas or on its own, and the produced carbon dioxide would eventually be absorbed by the same purpose-grown crops.

Countries around the world are already using biofuel of different kinds as vehicle and transportation fuel. For example, biodiesel made from palm oil is available on demand in countries around Europe, and Brazil, a major sugarcane exporter, makes ethanol out of it and uses it as fuel for modified cars. This is not new since traditional gas often has ethanol added into it (Biofuels: The Original Car Fuel, n.d.).

The type of biofuel produced and used in the country is dependent on the kind of crops grown by its agriculture, as well as the government policies and support. America and Europe focus on biofuel produced from Corn and Soybean; South America  Corn and Sugar Cant; Australia and Asia convert palm oil; and Africa and the Middle East majorly use animal excrement and jatropha (Major Biofuel Producers by Region, 2010).

The image above shows the billions of liters of biofuel different world regions produce per year as of 2010. At the moment, Europe is the biggest biodiesel developer, accounting for more than 53 percent of worldwide biofuel production, while the United States and Brazil produce more than 90 percent of total ethanol volume (Biofuels Make a Comeback Despite Tough Economy, 2011).

Overall, biofuels seem to be like a great solution to the increasing oil and gas prices. They are a renewable resource, which produces between 25 to 90 percent less carbon dioxide, depending on the type of feedstock used, and seemingly cost less per liter compared to fossil fuel. However, a gallon of gasoline can provide up to 124,800 British thermal units (1 BTU equivalent to 1055 joules) compared with 80,000 BTU for the same amount of ethanol. While the energy output is impressive, an ethanol-run car would have to be refueled more often, leading to higher expenses. Also, a lot of energy is spent growing the crops and running the production process, which begs the question of biofuels redeem the amount spent on them (Roos, 2012)?

Discussion

Application of biofuels yields both benefits and problems for the energy industry. To create an accurate, objective understanding of biofuel and its value for our modern society, it is important to discuss its pros and cons in detail.

The main marketing points of biofuels are their supposed environmental friendliness compared to fossil fuels, and their availability as a renewable resource. This makes biofuels a highly researched topic in countries reliant on oil and other finite energy resources, for example in the United Arab Emirates and the United States of America.

Also, while first generation biofuels such as ethanol are produced from the sugars and vegetable oils, the second-generation biofuels can be made from agricultural and some types of industrial waste, as well as woody crops, which is very helpful for the recycling industry.

Finally, biofuel farmlands create job opportunities in developing countries, creating a potential to reduce poverty, if the appropriate local government and global support are provided.

On the other hand, there are numerous social, economic, political, logistical and efficiency factors which keep biofuels from becoming the universal solution of the modern fuel industry problems. These fuels are very reliant on crop harvests, and this is not good for business.

Also, the argument about ethanol, for example, being a cleaner, safer fuel than gas does not take into account the amount of pollution produced and energy spent during the crop growth and reaping, which makes the numbers harder to evaluate and raises the question of the final product covers its costs. First generation biofuel also needs wide stretches of land to be devoted to producing the original biomass, land that can no longer be used for food crops. The increased demand for gas alternatives can threaten both the existing food farmlands and natural habitats, with consequences such as soil erosion and deforestation.

And finally, all kinds of biofuel production are heavily reliant on water resources in many phases of development. This can create a lot of controversy, considering heavy water deficiency in some of the regions of the world (Roos, 2012).

While these negatives may stall the development of biofuels, it is an undeniable fact that world governments are in search of gas and oil alternatives and will continue to fund research into the improvement of the biofuel production process and energy output. Studies are being done on sustainable biofuel, which will not be detrimental on food and fiber industries, and will not create environmental problems.

Conclusions

Various studies which evaluate the downsides of biofuel and its production ultimately fail to mention the similar downsides to fossil fuel, its extraction, and production. The current principal value of biofuel is its role as an alternative to gas. While researchers are hopeful that, in the future, these fuels will be self-sustaining and completely environmentally safe, the demand for them will keep increasing as the oil deposits dwindle.

References

Biofuels Make a Comeback Despite Tough Economy. (2011). Web.

Biofuels: The Original Car Fuel. (n.d.) Web.

Carbon Cycle as a Closed Loop [Digital Image]. (n.d.) Web.

Major Biofuel Producers by Region. (2010) Web.

Major Biodiesel Producers by Region [Digital image]. (2010) Web.

Roos, D. (2012). Biofuels vs. Fossil Fuels. Web.

The History of Biodiesel. (n.d.) Web.

Millennials Values Connected to the Environment

Nowadays, most people think about the environmental situation in the world since it began to directly affect people. Environmental issues start to make the world around highly important for people. In my opinion, millennial college students tend to operate with the value of every lifehuman and inhumane. Moreover, they have seen the negative consequences of the anthropogenic impact on nature and started to value health and well-being with dependence on the environment. Thus, the conceptions of any life and health importance affect the millennials thinking.

Eco-feminism

The discrimination and oppression of women have a direct relationship to environmental damage. As such, ecofeminists argue that women are subjugated and oppressed in nature. It became famous as a result of the second wave of feminism and the green movement. Consequently, eco-feminism combines aspects of both feminist and environmental movements while simultaneously criticizing both of them. Furthermore, it relies on the green movements concerns about human activities impact on the nonhuman environment, as well as feminisms concept of distinction by gender that oppresses, exploits, and abuses women. Realizing that people are all connected is essential to sustainability (Mason, 2011). This movement must exist because it has a supporting role for the environment. In brief, eco-feminism is based on the green movements concern about the impact of human activities on the nonhuman environment in connection with the gender concept.

Deep Ecology

Deep ecology attempts to reflect a broad theological and philosophical viewpoint rather than providing a limited, fragmented, superficial solution to environmental issues. Deep ecology is based on the underlying intuitions and experiences humans have with their essence and with the environment, which constitute ecological consciousness. These ideas on politics and public affairs are a natural byproduct of such a consciousness. In contrast to the dominant paradigm of technocratic-industrial civilizations, which views humans as separate and distinct from nature, superior to and in charge of the rest of creation, ecological consciousness and deep ecology are the opposite. Nevertheless, the idea that humans are superior to the rest of the natural world is part of a broader cultural tendency.

All-inclusive self-realization and biocentric egalitarianism go hand in hand because when individuals hurt the rest of nature, they are also injuring themselves. According to deep ecology, there are no differences, and everything is intertwined. However, since people perceive things as different creatures or entities, this knowledge leads to respect for both animal and human beings as vital components of the whole, without the need to establish species hierarchies with humans at the top. The practical implication follows that people should live in a way that has a minor influence on other species and the Earth in general. (Devall, 1985). This position has a right to exist since the entire human environment is related to the environment, while the supremacy of mankind is in question. Thus, deep ecologys main concept is that to enhance the environment, people must maintain order.

The Gaia Theory

In the Gaia idea, life on Earth is maintained by organisms interacting with their inorganic surroundings. Namely, the biosphere and the development of living forms have an impact on global temperature stability, ocean acidity, and oxygen gas, among other environmental variables. In the 1970s, these views were unified into a hypothesis called after the Greek goddess Gaia by James Lovelock and Lynn Margulis (Lovelock, 2014). Scientists from a variety of fields have used principles outlined by the Gaia hypothesis as a consequence of the latest advancements. However, some scholars feel that the Gaia hypothesis is weakly supported by facts or at odds with it. Therefore, the hypothesis is not well grounded and could not be seriously viewed.

References

Devall, B. (1985). Deep ecology. Gibbs Smith Publisher.

Lovelock, J. [Naked Science]. (2014). Gaia hypothesis  James Lovelock [Video]. YouTube. Web.

Mason, J. [TEDx Talks]. (2011). TEDxGrandValley  an ecofeminist perspective [Video]. YouTube. Web.

The environment in New York has been subjected to high pollution from various emissions. The politicization of asthma as an environmental justice issue in New York City contributes partly to demonstrating the racial discrepancy of the disease.

Julie Szes chapter revolves around the activities of the Environmental Justice movement and their activist role in politicizing asthma as a major disease in New York City that is brought majorly by environmental pollution. Childhood asthma is mainly used as a powerful tool in the campaigns to demonstrate the prejudice of race and gender of the malady. Julie shows how the campaigns were used to prove that the communities were exposed to unproportioned outdoor pollution levels and relationally racial prejudice. This chapter scrutinizes why and how power, race, and gender issues interact in modern asthma politics. For example, the chapter reveals that childhood asthma affects the low-income children of African Americans at a higher level than the other races, which is discriminatory. This is significant in explaining how economically disadvantaged neighbors are affected by the pollutants and consequently asthma. Sze optimizes the precautionary principle to explain how and why asthma affects a specific group of people. The principle seems to counter the norm of personalizing a disease and goes ahead to politicize it, arguing that the problem results from collective issues. I think this is a better approach since the genetic makeup that determines race and gender is not used to show disease prevalence that could be discriminative.

Julie analyzes the unfairness brought about by asthma and centers her discussion on childhood asthma within New York City. I agree with Julie that the problem of pollution brings about adverse effects to the poor urban blacks compared to the elite group in society. Conversely, the discrepancy on a gender basis in cases seems veiled to me. Unless scientifically, one gender is superiorly resistant to pollutants that cause asthma, his argument is not convincing. The campaigns by activists against the setting up of new pollution facilities are celebratory. This is because it is always better to prevent than to cure. The effects of asthma range from high management costs, emotional and mental trauma, and social stigmatization. For example, the costs of treatment of asthma are high, which negatively impacts the general well-being of the families and, therefore, contributes to poverty. This is a characteristic feature of many low-income earners in society.

However, I find it traumatizing when the images of poor children of color are used in campaigns in the communities. When their pictures are portrayed, and the same children look at them, who knows what conclusions can be drawn in the minds of the young ones concerning their weaknesses, financial levels, and so on? The other children of the other races would be encouraged to despise and prejudice the poor children of color in terms of race and superiority, which has adverse effects. Family-wise and community-wise, depression can easily stem from these activities and make them live in insecurity, which hinders their overall productivity. I suggest that they could have used different portraits with words that do not show a direct reflection of poor children of color if the message is not explicitly targeted in any way. Therefore, it is paramount that firms, government entities, establishments, communities, researchers, and other relevant bodies must espouse a precautionary approach to all human actions to have a definitive solution.