DISCUSS THE POSSIBLE IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON THE HEALTH OF THE UK Essay - 1

DISCUSS THE POSSIBLE IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON THE HEALTH OF THE UK POPULATION - Essay Example Continuous accumulation of the heat energy makes the atmosphere to have warmer temperatures. It is this blanket of greenhouse gases that leads to global warming. The continuous global warming has led to effects like climate change. The health of human beings is affected negatively by the climate change condition. It is because of the extremes in hot temperatures due to the global warming. UK is experiencing health problems in its population because its geographical location is the temperate regions (McMichael 2003, p. 57). Research has shown that the high temperatures are associated with an outbreak of diseases. Pest and vectors thrive well in regions with a hot climate, and this makes UK population vulnerable to diseases. Also they diseases are easily spread over the population affecting massive numbers of people. Most reports have shown a strong correlation between climate change and health of the UK population. Among many impacts that a country can face, the following are possible impacts of climate change on health of the UK population. Heat waves are harmful and can cause death. In 2003, UK temperatures recorded 38oC and this was the highest. During this year, more than 2000 people died as a result of the heat wave that was in the country (Kreis & Leornadi 2012, p. 223). The young and the old are more vulnerable to the impacts of the heat wave. They suffer from respiratory problems that may cause the heart to overwork and can lead to a heart failure. The human body needs optimum temperatures for the parts to operate well. Any extremes in the environmental temperatures poses risk on health. Heat is essential for supporting life on earth, but it can become a problem when it is at the extremes. In UK, 30oC during the day and 15oC at night will stimulate an alert in the country. These temperatures will affect human health if they heat the atmosphere for more than 48 hours. The

Outputs and Outcomes in Public Sector Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Outputs and Outcomes in Public Sector - Essay Example Such outcomes should be classified as outputs as they reflect what the institution has accomplished; they do not reflect what (or how much) students have learned. Nor do they answer the questions outlined above; in fact, they do not measure changes in the students as a result of their college experience. As opposed to outcomes that measure aggregated statistics on an institution-wide basis, student learning outcomes are concerned with attributes and abilities, both cognitive and affective, which reflect how the student experiences at the institution supported their development as individuals. Students are asked to demonstrate acquisition of specific knowledge and skills, generally: In a coordinated effort to answer these results-oriented questions, higher education governing and monitoring bodies have been working to address this need for accountability. They have (and are continuing to do so) reviewed and revised the standards that institutions use to demonstrate their efficiency and effectiveness. At the national level, both the American Association for Higher Education (AAHE) and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) have advocated the need to increase awareness, the value, and necessity for measuring and reporting student learning as outcomes. However, because of the decentralized structure of accreditation of higher education in the United States, it has become the responsibility of the regional higher education institutional accreditation associations to develop standards by which to hold institutions accountable through evaluation, including the imposition of student learning outcome measures. (McMurtrie 2000) In the past, prescriptive standards that regional accrediting bodies established to accredit individual higher education institutions have been inputs- and outputs-based, focused on measuring and reporting the processes and structures concerning the delivery and use of institutional services. To increase accountability practices, regional accrediting bodies are placing more pressure on institutions to measure what students learn by applying assessment processes, replacing traditional standards with less prescriptive standards seeking outcome measures--institutional outcomes and student learning outcomes. Furthermore, several of the regional accreditors are requesting their member institutions to prepare assessment plans that measure outcomes, especially student learning outcomes, within the institution. (Hernon 2002) Student learning outcomes might be envisioned as applying only to undergraduates, when, in fact, they could be appropriate to graduate students, be they master's or doctoral students. At the same time, such measures could be appropriate for other constituent groups that the library serves. Moving beyond student learning outcomes, research outcomes are appropriate for graduate students, especially doctoral students, and for the faculty. As we noted in An

What is a good tax Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

What is a good tax - Essay Example The people in the state do not see the need as to why the government should reduce its expenditure but expenditure should be sufficient to meet the needs of the people. Most of the former politicians in Illinois State have faced significant challenges in their effort to come up with a good tax. One of the former Governors of the state by the name Scott Walker worked hard to cut the rights of the public employees to participate in collective bargaining. Deputy Director of the local council of the American Federation State said that the governor had an obsession of destroying the unions belonging to the public employees. The same director said that Mr. Rauner was trying to stir up the bitterness of the public employees who include teachers, firefighters, and police officers. The unions in Illinois State are always against a leader who tries to change the tax system of the state. Mr. Rauner may have a good idea of increasing the tax income of the state and improve economy of the state in the end. Most unions do not understand that when the economy is stable, having low unemployment rates will increase the tax income and government expenditure too. There is need for the citizens in the state to give the politicians independence to come up with a good tax system that will benefit both the employed and unemployed. A good tax is one that will enable the unemployed to venture into small-scale businesses and earn a living out of it. Davy portrays a good tax as one that is sufficient enough to avoid cutting of the benefits of the retirees because they have saved enough to rely on and survive on during their retirement period. However, Mr. Rauner said that the only problem he had was with the union leaders in the public sector who donated to political leaders. He claims that the government union has power to influence politicians in contracts negotiations about pensions, scales of payments,

The Immediate Need to Implement Clean Renewable Energy Sources Essay Example for Free

The Immediate Need to Implement Clean Renewable Energy Sources Essay In the words of Nobel Peace Prize winner, Al Gore, we have a â€Å"planetary emergency† at our hands (Gore). For the last 30 years, earth has steadily been exposed to harmful greenhouse gases resulting in continuous degradation to our environment. The World Watch Institute has reported the earth’s ice layer is melting at its fastest rate ever (Mayhew, 62+). Fuel-based power plants, population increase and deforestation are the primary factors why our planet is dying. The main sources of energy we use to provide us with electricity are still fossil fuels. Coal and oil might be ample in supply but their smoke emissions are the primary sources of greenhouse gases which deplete our ozone layer. Our population has continued to increase in number and it goes without saying that energy consumption will increase in direct proportion. Basic science and biology has taught us that plants absorb carbon dioxide. Why we continue to deplete our forests that help dissolve the smoke emissions of diesel power plants borders on insanity.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Time and again, people like Al Gore have reminded us that we are accelerating our own doom from continued use of environmentally harmful sources of energy. Much has been said about global warming that people tend to forget that our planet has also experienced acid rains due the various environmental poisons we introduced 20 years ago (Ellis, 17). Yet people still go about their normal ways, refusing to take immediate action to such a global event with catastrophic consequences. Our passive reaction is always â€Å"As long as it doesn’t affect my daily way of life, I wouldn’t bother†. Well look at where such dismissive attitudes have brought us now? The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has come to the conclusion that the entire world would have to cut greenhouse emissions to as much as 80% just to slow down its effects on the environment (). Such a change would lead us to developing alternative sources of energy, ones that are clean and renewable for sustainable and lasting use. Sun and wind energy   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Although there are various sources of renewable energy: biomass, water, wind and solar energy, we need to focus our attention on the last two. Biomass, which is composed of plant matter and animal wastes still produce some amount of greenhouse emissions when burned for energy. Hydroelectric power plants sometimes destroy aquatic habitats. If we are to make drastic changes to our sources of energy, it might as well be the right ones with little or no compromises. Wind and solar energy are the cleanest sources we have. It has always been there from the moment we rise up till we retire for the night. We might as well use it to our full benefit. At 25% growth rate per year, wind energy is the fastest rising source of renewable energy (Mayhew, 62+). Wind farms can be built in areas with abundance of blowing air like mountains and shore lines. Solar energy technology has always been available since the conception of solar panels and solar cells. Calculators for example have benefited from the miniature solar panels that help reduce the reliance on batteries. Cost is the main obstacle   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Coal and fossil fuel technology have long been accepted as the norm. The cost in developing wind farms and solar panels while we already have energy sources does not make good business sense. Even the predicted yearly reduction of up to 8% in the cost of solar cells for the next 20 years still have not attracted businessmen to convert to renewable energy (Mayhew, 62+). Perhaps it is time for these businessmen and money makers to crunch the numbers and calculate the cost of buying a new planet. We hold the key to our own extinction by continuing to use our current energy sources. Although undeserved, humanity still has a chance to change its fate. By funding improvements to renewable energy technology and implementing infrastructure for its applications, we may yet improve our situation. China for example is ahead of the curve in investing in renewable energy sources. They use gadgets like solar water heaters to lessen their dependence on fossil fuels (Clay, 30+). As large as China is, efforts to reverse greenhouse effects cannot lie on one country. This isn’t about economics anymore, so we should just throw the expenses out the window. This time, the cheapest and the most commonly used sources of energy is no longer viable. This is now about survival. Costs can no longer be a consideration. Hundreds of billions of dollars are used for senseless wars that do nothing but destroy. How much are we willing to spend to save our planet? Successful examples There are already some areas which can provide us with the blueprints for successful implementation of renewable energy sources. The island of Tac in Chile was previously engulfed in darkness. Their government afforded them the resources to utilize their abundance of wind to power their remotely located island. Today, wind farms power their homes, schools and work areas with no harmful effects to the environment. On another part of the world, Sri Lanka through credit unions, has sold more than 4,000 units of solar energy dependent homes (Clay, 30+). This will allow them to reduce and perhaps totally remove their dependence on fuel based power plants. The two countries are not among the most powerful, one can even argue that they belong to the lower echelons of economic stability, yet they realize the importance of using alternative energy to not only cater to their present needs but also answer the clamor for cleaner and renewable sources of power. It starts with the United States   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The United States is the most powerful nation in the world. Everybody follows America’s lead. If there is any chance to save the world, it is imperative that the shift to renewable energy starts with them. In the words of French ruler, Jacques Chirac, It is in the Americans, in the first place, that we place our hopes of effectively limiting greenhouse gas emissions on a global scale (Mayhew, 62+). For all its power and greatness, America is also the largest contributor of environmental degradation. It is responsible for 25% of the earth’s greenhouse gas emissions (Mayhew, 62+). America must lead the cleanup of the mess it helped create. There is now a need to implement clean and renewable energy sources to reverse the years of abuse our world has endured. The task is daunting, but with government policies and strategies to force Americans to shift to solar and wind energy, there is a chance for every one else to follow. Perhaps this is the opportunity for America to shed its war mongering image and become the nation that saved the entire planet. Wouldn’t that be a more pleasant legacy to leave behind? Works Cited: Clay, Rebecca. Renewable Energy: Empowering the Developing World. Environmental Health Perspectives 110(2002): 30+. Ellis, Jane. Why Promote Renewable Energy? OECD Observer a.(1996): 17. Gore, Al. An Inconvenient Truth. 31 May 2006. National Public Radio. 6 Dec 2007 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5441976. Mayhew, Michael. Appetite for Destruction: Renewable Energy Sources Can Help America- And the Rest of the World-Reduce Environmental Impacts While Improving Quality of Life. Forum for Applied Research and Public Policy 16(2001): 62+.

Comparing the Train in The South and One Hundred Years of Solitude :: comparison compare contrast essays

  Ã‚   In One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcà ­a Mà ¡rquez and "The South" by Jorge Luis Borges, many similar devices are used by the authors. Their presentations and their uses are sometimes similar and at times dissimilar. There is one device that is used by both authors that is one of the most prominent devices in both works--the train. The presentation and use of the train in both texts is different, but in both it is a method of transportation and an evil entity that is an active symbol of change.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Juan Dahlmann, the protagonist in Borges' "The South", cuts his forehead on the edge of a recently painted door and is poisoned. He is taken to a sanitarium where he makes a gradual recovery. After his release, Dahlmann takes a train to his ranch in the South for further recuperation. In One Hundred Years of Solitude, the train is brought in by Aureliano Triste, a son of Colonel Aureliano Buendà ­a, when his ice business outgrows the local market. With the coming of the train, Macondo becomes verily linked to the outside world.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The train in "The South" is presented as a sleek, mystical, and evil entity. Before Dahlmann leaves for his ranch, he visits a cafà © where there is a black cat, sleeping. It is almost as if it is lying in waiting for something. The cat is described as "the magical animal"(1). Immediately following is a description of the train, which is described as being lying waiting. A connection between the mystical animal and the mechanical train has been established. The train has become a mystical beast. It begins to move when Dahlmann gets on, it stops to let him off, it takes him where it feels. The beast decides Dahlmann's fate. Cats are often seen as beasts of evil omen. The linking of cat and train brings an evil aspect to the train.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In One Hundred Years of Solitude, the train is presented as concrete and real, but terrifying and with a malevolent, living connection: the snake. There is no mystical imagery and sleekness surrounding it. Instead, it's plain and simple, just "the flower-bedecked train."(2) The first Macondian to see it describes it as "something frightful, like a kitchen dragging a village behind it."(3) The train has "a whistle with a fearful echo and a loud, panting toom-toom"(4) The train is very much like a snake, a symbol of evil.

Essay on Mathematics - The True Universal Language :: Graduate Admissions Essays

Mathematics - The True Universal Language The true universal human language is not punctuated by accents or vowel intonations; it does not spring from any particular continent; it rises above ink on paper, scratches on the earth or daubs of paint on the wall of a cave. No, I am a firm believer that the true universal human language is composed of numbers. For while numerical characters may vary across the globe, the logic they convey transcends borders, localities, and customs. The "language" of numbers flows from the inherent human capacity to reason. It is my love for the reach and power of numbers that started my career in Mathematics and Electrical Engineering and has inspired me to pursue graduate work in Database Management Systems. In my native Hungary, I was the winner of the national mathematics competition award before going on to study Mathematics at MIT. My academic career at MIT was immensely enriching, and my hard work landed me at the top of my classes. I was awarded the _____________ Scholarship and was on both the Computer Science National Dean's List and the MIT University Dean's List. But just as important as my awards and honors was the assistance and support I received from my professors, who not only taught but nurtured me. As an undergraduate Teaching Assistant under Dr. __________, I graded papers and worked with the students-an experience that encouraged me to think about a future teaching position. And in my independent research study project in Complex Systems Theory, completed under the direction of Dr._________________, I was able to learn in a creative, exploratory fashion. This project cemented my decision to venture into postgraduate studies. My past projects centered around analyzing, formulating and delivering solutions in every stage of providing Microsoft-format software for major Fortune500 companies. I have also designed a database system (implemented in SQL Server) and developed front end applications in Visual C++ and Visual Basic that used ODBC and DAO to access the server. This work piqued my interest in doing research in the field of database systems, and I started to think more analytically about the limitations of relational databases. I became interested in object-oriented databases, particularly their flexibility and their ability to meet the requirements of more complex structures. In my graduate studies, I plan to focus my research on optimizing queries and improving the performance of complex systems such as image, engineering, or scientific database systems. Essay on Mathematics - The True Universal Language :: Graduate Admissions Essays Mathematics - The True Universal Language The true universal human language is not punctuated by accents or vowel intonations; it does not spring from any particular continent; it rises above ink on paper, scratches on the earth or daubs of paint on the wall of a cave. No, I am a firm believer that the true universal human language is composed of numbers. For while numerical characters may vary across the globe, the logic they convey transcends borders, localities, and customs. The "language" of numbers flows from the inherent human capacity to reason. It is my love for the reach and power of numbers that started my career in Mathematics and Electrical Engineering and has inspired me to pursue graduate work in Database Management Systems. In my native Hungary, I was the winner of the national mathematics competition award before going on to study Mathematics at MIT. My academic career at MIT was immensely enriching, and my hard work landed me at the top of my classes. I was awarded the _____________ Scholarship and was on both the Computer Science National Dean's List and the MIT University Dean's List. But just as important as my awards and honors was the assistance and support I received from my professors, who not only taught but nurtured me. As an undergraduate Teaching Assistant under Dr. __________, I graded papers and worked with the students-an experience that encouraged me to think about a future teaching position. And in my independent research study project in Complex Systems Theory, completed under the direction of Dr._________________, I was able to learn in a creative, exploratory fashion. This project cemented my decision to venture into postgraduate studies. My past projects centered around analyzing, formulating and delivering solutions in every stage of providing Microsoft-format software for major Fortune500 companies. I have also designed a database system (implemented in SQL Server) and developed front end applications in Visual C++ and Visual Basic that used ODBC and DAO to access the server. This work piqued my interest in doing research in the field of database systems, and I started to think more analytically about the limitations of relational databases. I became interested in object-oriented databases, particularly their flexibility and their ability to meet the requirements of more complex structures. In my graduate studies, I plan to focus my research on optimizing queries and improving the performance of complex systems such as image, engineering, or scientific database systems.

Mid-Term Essay Essay

This essay will focus on the influence family background and childhood memories have on writers and the theme of their writings. In both the essays chosen for detailed study here, we see how the authors’ philosophy of life and things that they chose to explore and write about was set way back in their childhood as a result of the traumas they faced. This paper will present an analysis of how the families of Sanders and Maduro shaped the way these authors understand themselves and relate to others. Scott Russell Sanders was the winner of the Mark Twain Award in 2009 and his work A Private History of Awe was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. Born in Memphis, Tennessee, to a family of cotton farmers, Sanders taught Literature and worked as Professor of English at Indiana University. The main vision behind his writing is the shift in cultures from a consumerist to a care-giving society (Sanders). In his essay, â€Å"Under the Influence: Paying the Price for my Father’s Booze†, Sanders had chronicled the trauma he and his siblings had to endure because of his father’s alcoholism. In this memoir Sander’s recounts the feelings of guilt, shame and helpless that he felt as a child of ten when he saw his father’s unstable and ferocious outbursts after getting drunk. He blamed himself for it and that feeling of guilt hounded him throughout his life. â€Å"I tell myself he drinks to ease [†¦] an ache I must have caused by disappointing him somehow† (Sanders). To atone for his perceived inadequacies as a child Sanders tried to turn to working hard and trying to keep the family together and taking on his father’s responsibilities, â€Å"by vainly seeking to erase through my efforts whatever drove him to drink† (Sanders). Sanders observes that his own children wonder at what drives him to be a â€Å"workaholic† and tries to allay their fears and any sense of guilt or pressure they may feel by being candid about his own feelings of guilt, hurt and shame at his father’s alcoholism. On maturity he realized that he had castigated himself needlessly as a child and that his father’s alcoholism was a disease and he had no reason to feel responsible for it. However, his fear of drinks and bad conduct that he had witnessed as a child had left a deep scar in his soul. He is reticent about going to pubs with his friends and drinking as much as he is afraid of causing hurt or disappointment to anybody. He is constantly watchful of any adverse reactions from people around him and still carries the shame of his father’s â€Å"sins† deep down inside him and shies away from having that facet of his life exposed in public. The name E. S. Maduro is a pseudonym under which the author talks about her feminist beliefs and her convictions on freedom of choice and awareness for women. She records how her own youthful feelings of rebellion against the social norms of marriage and raising children altered upon maturity but how she clung to her belief that women should have the awareness to make decisions for themselves. They should be allowed to choose their career paths according to their wishes and not be forced into stereotypical roles due to societal pressures. In the essay â€Å"Excuse Me While I Explode: My Mother, Myself, My Anger† the writer describes her feelings of anger, guilt and frustrations when she narrates the story of how her mother and women of that generation had to sacrifice their careers and all their life’s desires to accommodate their families and their duties as home makers and mothers. â€Å"Excuse Me While I Explode: My Mother, Myself, My Anger† first appeared in print as an article in a book entitled The Bitch in the House. In this article Maduro has written about her frustration at the inequality women face in society. It primarily deals with her angst at how she being a post-modern woman who was educated and liberated fell back and did the same things that she has found so loathsome in her mother. She had felt defiant at the way her mother and most women had to give-up their own dreams of a good and successful life to slave at household chores and raising children. â€Å"Years ago† a woman did not have a choice to voice her opinions and the role of housekeeper and dutiful mother was thrust upon her without so much as a thought about how she felt about it. Her toil was taken for granted and the spouse did not even think it inappropriate to allow his wife to do all the housework when he could very easily have offered to help. â€Å"I believed myself to be a feminist, and I vowed never to fall into the same trap of domestic boredom and servitude that I saw my mother as being fully entrenched in; never to settle for a life that was, as I saw it, lacking independence, authority, and respect† (Maduro 5). However, as she grew older and had her own experience of loving and living with her partner she was amazed that she followed the same pattern almost unconsciously and managed both house and work despite her partner wanting to help her with the chores. She puzzles over why this is so because she believed herself to be aware of her rights unlike her mother and in full command over her vocation and what she wanted out of life, yet she slaved at household chores: â€Å"I feel an odd mixture of frustration and love. Together we have a wonderful, open, trusting relationship, but sometimes I wonder if the hostility already in me, and my need to be angry at someone or something, could eventually destroy our bond† (Maduro 12). The article is an introspection of why she chose to do this. She comes up with the hypothesis that women chose to take on domestic responsibilities even if it meant forgoing some of their own desires because it made a woman proud to be an accomplished home maker and mother. She identified this need in a woman to excel in housekeeping as a source of pleasure and fulfillment. She reflects on the dichotomy between love and frustration, career and home, raising children and vocation and finally finds comfort in the fact that unlike her mother she was not forced into servitude. She did what she did because she wanted to do it, she had the option of turning away and that made a big difference. She is able to resolve her conflict and also that of many other women by reiterating that choosing to be a good housekeeper and mother was an option and you could choose to be one even if you felt strongly for the cause of feminism. Works Cited Maduro, E. S. â€Å"Excuse Me While I Explode: My Mother, Myself, My Anger†. The Bitch in the House. Cathy Hanauer. New York: Harper Collins, 2002. Print. Sanders, Russell Scott. â€Å"Under the Influence: Paying the Price for my Father’s Booze† Harpers Magazine Nov 1989: n. pag. Web. 2 Jun 2010.