Offshore Oi Drilling Causes Environmental Damage Essay -- Environmenta

Oil drilling is the process of perforating oil from the earth’s surface. This process can be dangerous. The drilling process can be harmful to nearby animal life. The process used to locate oil waves can be harmful to animal life. When the oil ascends, it brings with it a number of deadly chemicals. The chemicals released can consist of mercury and arsenic. Other substances such as lead have been known to ascend with the oil (Horton, Jennifer, 1). An oil spill is the process by which oil is mistakenly dispensed. The danger and damage an oil spill can cause is exponential. An oil spill can cause millions of dollars in damages. Oil spills are one of the worst catastrophes that happen, and they happen frequently. It has been predicted by the Mineral Management Service, that a spill of one thousand oil drums will occur in the Gulf of Mexico every year (Horton, Jennifer, 1). It is expected that there will be a spill of more than ten thousand oil drums every three or more years (Horton, Jennifer, 1). Oil spills have been defined as inevitable (Climate & Energy, 1). As of now, there exists no truly safe way of cleaning a spill (Climate & Energy, 1). The oil spill that occurred in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 was one of the worst oil spills that has ever occurred (Clean & Energy, 1). The Gulf of Mexico oil spill by British Petroleum is the largest environmental catastrophe in the history of the United States (Clean & Energy, 1). Over two hundred million gallons of oil was released into the Gulf of Mexico (Clean & Energy, 1). The oil flowed for approximately three months (Clean & Energy, 1). Within that time period, the spill was responsible for eleven human deaths (Clean & Energy, 1). Extensive damage was done to the environme... ...e 1-2. 14 Nov. 2014. http://www.thefreelibrary.com/BP%2c+firms+made+risky+decisions+before+spill%3a+re... â€Å"BP shares hit 6-month high after Shell takeover report.† Oil & Gas News. Jan 10, 2011: Page 1-2. 14 Nov. 2014. http://www.thefreelibrary.com/BP+hit+6-month+high+after=Shell+takeover+report Chelette, Tim â€Å"Options for Dealing with a Spill.† Climate & Energy. Copyright 2010 Oceana: page 1 14 Nov. 2014. http://na.org/en/our-work/climate-energy/offshore-drilling/learn-act/options-for-dea â€Å"The Spill- By the Numbers.† Climate & Energy. Copyright 2010 Oceana: page 1. 14 Nov. 2014. http://na.oceana.org/en/our-work/climate-energy/offshore-drilling/gulf-oil-spill-response-c Why is offshore drilling so controversial? How Stuff Works.com page 1-2. 14 Nov. 2014. http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/energy/offshore-drilling-contoversy2.htm

Nuclear Disarmament

Nuclear technology has been widely used in the past, especially among nations seeking to dominate or to at least secure their positions as a country able to defend itself against its enemies or launch a military offensive. It is no hidden fact that nuclear weapons pose a great amount of threat to the security of human and animal lives in many ways. There may be other purposes for nuclear technology other than harnessing a sizeable amount of military weaponry, such as for generating power which will be distributed to households and infrastructures.   Yet the apparent threat to the lives of humanity remains an utmost concern in the international community. More recently, many nations have already acquired nuclear facilities in creating nuclear weapons such as India, the United States of America, Russia and North Korea just to name a few. The availability of these weapons of mass destruction has prompted many concerned individuals and groups to raise their opposition and seek a nuclear disarmament internationally, regardless of national status. There are also those who barely limit their calls for nuclear disarmament to nations which they perceive as threat to the international community such as North Korea. One of the many arguments behind the call for nuclear disarmament is the idea that the very presence of nuclear weapons creates not only tension among nations which have them like USSR and America in the past. It also creates fear among nations and citizens, especially those which do not have the capability to produce nuclear weapons and make their presence felt as a nation capable of defending itself. Moreover, there is also the fear towards the health risks posed by nuclear weapons. Among the risks, perhaps the most known is that of nuclear fallout caused by the testing of nuclear weapons. Nuclear explosions during these tests create residual radiation hazards or radioactive dust which can largely affect the health of people in many ways. On the other hand, the manufacture of nuclear weapons can also pose dangers when accidents occur. For the most part, the Chernobyl nuclear reactor accident gives us a rough impression on the drastic consequences which can be brought about by nuclear accidents. In essence, there should be nuclear disarmament precisely because the availability of nuclear weapons is enough reason to believe that sooner or later these weapons will be used. The very fact that there are nations creating nuclear weapons is enough to presume that there is a purpose or motive behind the manufacture of these weapons. It would be irrational to presume that these nations will manufacture nuclear weapons—weapons that cost huge financing and environmental and health risks—without having the thought of using the weapons at some point in time. Indeed, if there is at least one essential reason why these weapons are being built, it would have to be the reason that these weapons are most likely to be used. In the first place, one can pose the question as to whether there is an apparent and high need for nuclear weapons. Given the contemporary global situation, there are parts in the world where there are unrest like Tibet and there are regions in the world where there is a tension among nations like that of Israel and its neighboring countries just to name a few. These events in the world indeed require efforts of mitigation and resolution. To say that the amassing of nuclear weapons is one key to putting a stop to these global concerns is to say that efforts to propagate weapons of destruction can curb destruction altogether. Yet there is strong reason to believe that the opposite is more likely to be true. Significant historical events from around the world teaches us quite a number of things, one of which is that nuclear disarmament should be met in order to halt further damage from being done. Tensions across the world should be basically addressed not with another move which will further cause tension but with a real solution that will limit and eventually dissolve these tensions. The past two world wars literally obliterated the lives of thousands, and the further proliferation of nuclear weapons will create a similar scenario in the years to come if more and more nations will make use of nuclear weapons to further strengthen their military capabilities and if several nations will continue to harness nuclear weapons as we speak. Another point that deserves attention is that if we have many nations manufacturing and keeping nuclear weapons, there may come a time when these nations engage themselves in a nuclear warfare. The most likely result will be that of a mutually assured destruction where even the non-participating nations will be greatly affected especially the nations which are incapable of defending themselves against nuclear weaponries. It should be noted that even when there is no actual nuclear warfare, there remains the impending threat of its actual use, causing nations to panic to a certain extent and resort to measures to thwart off these threats temporarily. Although not exactly a crisis which involves nuclear weapons, the case of the Cuban missile crisis spawned fear from the United States of America. This was during the time of the Cold War between the former USSR and America, a time when both nations were stockpiling nuclear weapons, racing against one another in the desire to outnumber the quantities of nuclear weapons of one over the other. As Samuel Walker puts it, â€Å"the first two decades of the Cold War era, most scholars, like most Americans, regarded postwar tensions as a result of Soviet expansion and aggression (Walker, 1995, p. 1653).† The Cuban missile crisis was a crisis which did not strictly involve nuclear weapons. Then again, the fear and tension it created was overwhelming, which makes us think what more if the crisis had involved nuclear weapons. Apparently, the case of North Korea in more recent times reminds us of how the world has reacted against a nation harnessing nuclear weapons and testing these weapons right at their backyard. The presence of nuclear weapons does not essentially nor significantly assure peace. Nor does it promote peace in one way or another. Rather, what it does is to heighten the political and military tension among countries, pushing these nations to increase the pressure on the nation wielding nuclear weapons or engaging such nation into military intervention some time in the future. The cases of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are perhaps the most suitable and compelling examples to illustrate the point that nuclear weapons can indeed wipe-out an entire civilization and event the entire humanity. The bombing of both Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan is claimed to be the last nail during the Second World War. Apart from being the last nail, the bombings were also destructive in nature, destroying two key cities in less than a minute with destructive effects lasting even up to this very day. These only show that the dangers posed by nuclear weapons are very real and can bring havoc to an entire nation. Nuclear disarmament requires nations with nuclear weapons to dismantle such weapons, such as the case of the several treaties that paved the way for the United States, the Soviet Union and many other countries to make certain prohibitions. Some of these treaties include but is not limited to: the Partial Test Ban Treaty in 1963 which sought to prohibit all forms of nuclear testing except when done underground, the Interim Agreement on Offensive Arms or SALT 1 which was agreed into by America and the Soviet Union way back in 1972 in order to freeze the actual units of intercontinental ballistic missiles as well as submarine-launched ballistic missiles that may be released or deployed by either of the two nations, and the Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty or SORT which was signed in 2002 and enforced a year later which aimed to reduce the strategic nuclear warheads of the United States and Russia. However, even though there have already been numerous treaties designed to control the proliferation of nuclear weapons among nations, the achievement of the goal of a total nuclear disarmament remains to be seen. Ken Rigby, Jacques Metzer and Biruta Dietz (1990) point out that â€Å"the attitude of world-mindedness has emerged as†¦related to both attitudinal and action tendencies to promote nuclear disarmament (p. 328).† Thus, it can be asserted that the efforts to finally achieve a total nuclear disarmament may rest on a world-minded attitude. That it, the concerns of each individual aiming at a total nuclear disarmament should be parallel to a mental framework which is global. There should be no exclusions as to who can still be permitted to keep nuclear weapons even after treaties of nuclear disarmament have taken shape. On a larger sense, history tells us that the proliferation of nuclear weapons in the past and even more so to this very day has resulted to the further realization of the dangers largely attributed to nuclear weapons either resorting from accidents or deliberate use of these weapons. Nevertheless even if these dangers have already been realized, several nations still seem cannot find an easy way out of the complexity of the nuclear issues which beset them. It appears that while there are treaties being engaged into by nations with nuclear capabilities they, too, have remained unable to fully submit themselves to a total nuclear disarmament. One can argue that perhaps one of the reasons why there is the failure for several nations to engage in a full nuclear disarmament is the idea that there are persisting threats to the sovereignty of these nations and that one way to curb these dangers is by wielding nuclear weaponry. Despite the underlying drawbacks that go along with the possession of nuclear weapons, it appears that the United States, Russia, North Korea and many others remain oblivious to the call for full nuclear disarmament perhaps because the purposes of having nuclear weapons outweigh the odds of falling on their drawbacks. One indubitable purpose of the possession of nuclear weapons is the attribution of power and respect that goes with it. However, even if these nations can be able to project an image of power and hegemonic dominance, history teaches us that â€Å"public concern over the dangers of nuclear war has increased dramatically in both Western Europe and the United States (Boutwell, 2002, p. 12).† Ironically, these increases in public concerns come from the citizens who live in the nations who have the capabilities to launch nuclear warheads. This goes to show that, to a certain extent, nations with nuclear warheads also have a corresponding concerned body of the public sector well-aware of the dangers of nuclear weapons at the least and a nuclear war at the most. There is a strong reason to presume that the public sector raises its concern over the issue of nuclear weapons precisely because that sector is able to see and understand the harsh implications it brings with it. Further, the concerned public sector has strong basis for their claims, substantiating their claims on the experiences of the nation in terms of history. Nuclear disarmament requires more than just disarming nuclear weapons for the moment. The crucial part is that such measures of disarmament should be sustained and should be kept as a lasting solution. It is admitted that there have been previous efforts from various nations and the international community to lessen nuclear arms and eventually entirely abolish these weapons of mass destruction. But up to this day, it remains a fact that several nations are still harboring nuclear weapons and that some are even continuing production of these weapons. A contemporary example to such a situation is North Korea which has recently gained much criticism from the international community in its recent testing of nuclear weapons, one of which is the Taepodong-2 ballistic missile. It is also a fact that at some point in time certain nuclear missile tests would have to be made in testing the feasibility of the weapon. It has been the case that the United States has tested some of its nuclear weapons in its own soil while North Korea and India have tested their missiles at sea. These tests may only last for a few minutes or so, yet the impact it leaves behind to the marine life in the cases of India and North Korea are long lasting. As with the case of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings years ago, physical deformities were not only felt by those who were directly exposed to the radioactive substances present after the nuclear explosions. These physical deformities caused by alterations in the body’s genes persisted down to the third generation from those who were directly affected by the nuclear bombings. Nuclear disarmament is one big step in realizing the goal of dissolving the current tensions created in the past and should not be taken as a long-term goal, for the longer it takes for nations to disarm themselves with nuclear weapons, it may be the case that more and more nations may resort to the creation of nuclear weapons for themselves. Indeed, if nations are truly serious with their desire to preempt a nuclear war and bring mutually assured destruction to these ‘nuclear’ states and the rest of the world, it should be the case that efforts of nuclear disarmament should be realized as soon as possible. The world cannot afford a third world war from happening and destroying the welfare of the nations and the development of a larger part of the world. Indeed, nuclear disarmament should be the only option and that such an option should be taken and enacted the soonest possible time, if not now. The dangers of nuclear weapons are real and that history has taught us of the insurmountable destruction it brings with more than anything else in the world. References Boutwell, J. (2002). The Many-Sided Nuclear Arms Debate. Bulletin of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 36(1), 12. Rigby, K., Metzer, J., & Dietz, B. (1990). Factors Predisposing Individuals to Support Nuclear Disarmament: An International Perspective Journal of Peace Research, 27(3), 328. Walker, S. (1995). The Origins of the Cold War in United States History Textbooks. The Journal of American History, 81(4), 1653.         

Persuasive Speech Outline and Annotated Bibliography Essay

Organizational Pattern: I.Introduction a.Attention Getter: When I was about seven years old, I made one of the best decisions of my young life, and I didn’t even realize it at the time b.Reason to Listen: Sports are a big part of most of our lives. You don’t want to be stuck being a fan of the wrong team c.Thesis Statement: If you live in Grand Rapids, the Chicago Bears are obviously the best football team to be a fan of d.Credibility Statements: I’ve been a Chicago Bears fan for most of my life and I’ve also read a bunch of different books, magazine articles and news stories about the Bears e.Preview of Main Points: I’m going to talk with you today about the history of the Bears, about some of the great football players that have played in Chicago and I’ll end with my final, irrefutable arguments as to why you should be a Bears fan II.Body a.History i.Founded in 1920 (Taylor 2005) ii.Helped create NFL (Taylor 2004) iii.Many championships b.Players i.George Halas ii.Walter Payton (ESPN 2005) iii.Dick Butkus (NFL.com 2010) iv.26 Hall of fame players (Creamer 2001) c.Irrefutable arguments i.Do you really want to remain a Lions fan? ii.Better stadium iii.Better city iv.Lions are just bad III.Conclusion a.Review of Main Points: I’ve talked to you about the history of the Bears, the great players they’ve had and the fact that the Lions are just bad b.Restate Thesis: If you live in Grand Rapids, the Chicago Bears are obviously the best football team to be a fan of c.Closure: This past weekend was just another example of why I’m right. The Lions were ahead of the Bears at one point in the game. All of my friends who are Lions fans were texting me and laughing. In the end though, the Lions lost yet again. Let’s spread the word and stop the madness. No more Go Lions. It’s time for Go Bears! Annotated Bibliography Creamer, C. (2001, November). Chicago bears. In Sportsecyclopedia.com. Retrieved December 5, 2010, from http://www.sportsecyclopedia.com/nfl/chicago/bears.html This webpage is a quick summary of each of the Chicago Bears seasons since the year they were founded in 1920. It also lists interesting information such as hall of fame players, number of championships and retired numbers. ESPN. (2005, September 5). Top 10 NFL players. In ESPN.com. Retrieved December 5, 2010, from http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2152421 This article shows the results of a compilation of top ten lists from ESPN NFL experts. The experts made lists of who they thought were the top ten players of all time. The article goes on to give a brief description of each of the players and what made them great. NFL.com. (2010). The top 100: NFL’s greatest players. In NFL.com. Retrieved December 5, 2010, from http://top100.nfl.com/ This article shows the results of the top 100 NFL players as voted on by a blue-ribbon panel of experts according to NFL.com. It shows the rank of the panel as well as the rank of the fans. Many of the players have an  accompanying video highlighting their great careers. Taylor, R. (2004). Chicago Bears History (pp. 7-86). Chicago: Arcadia Publishing. Retrieved December 5, 2010 This book is a history of the Chicago Bears from when they were founded in 1920 by George Halas. The author, Roy Taylor, is a journalist and lifelong Bears fan and he recounts some of the legends of the NFL through his love of the Bears. From the Bears humble beginnings that helped create the NFL as we know it today to the current Bears teams. The author talks about some of the great players that have spent their careers in Chicago. Taylor, R. (2005). Chicago Bears Lore. In Chicago Bears History. Retrieved December 5, 2010, from http://www.bearshistory.com/lore/index.aspx This webpage gathers together some information about the Bears and their great players and has links to stories written specifically about the some of the most notable. It also provides a brief history of the Bears, where and when they were founded and some of the teams through the years.

The Computer Revolution Essay Example

The Computer Revolution Essay Example The Computer Revolution Essay The Computer Revolution Essay Internet communications are a wonderful tool, however there are some disadvantages in using cyber-communication. One would be hackers, they simply make viruses, these viruses can cause a number of different problems within your computer from putting a constant beep in your computer speakers or it can be disastrous and ruin your hard-drive. Hackers can also go into chat rooms, which is where people from all over the world go into and talk. Hackers go into these rooms and take over, making the computers on the other side overload with commands which in end, makes their computer collapse. Hackers can be very malicious and will destroy any information found when breaking into a system, plant viruses and steal information from your computer. Even with an anti-virus protection on your computer, a hacker can still break in. Many people have had their identity stolen from their personal computer, limited your personal information that you place on your computer. There are some advantages with cyber-communication as well. Those computer communications can be seen as a way to limit social activities with other people, it is also a good way to contact people globally. Not only can you use a computer for communications, but also they are helpful uses for business and educational tools. The internet computer technology has made our lives easier and more efficient. Just look as all of the opportunities we can now do anything from traveling, shopping or keeping in touch with friends and family through e-mails, Facebook, twitter and MySpace. The Internet is a worldwide connection of thousands of computer networks. The Internet allows people with access to these networks to share information and knowledge. Resources available on the Internet are chat groups, e-mail, newsgroups, file transfers, and the World Wide Web. The Internet has no centralized authority and it is uncensored. The Internet belongs to everyone and to on one. The Web’s development was based on the transmission of web pages over the Internet, called Hyper Text Transmission Protocol or HTTP. It is an interactive system for the Dissemination and retrieval of information through web pages. The pages may consist of text, pictures, sound , music , voice, animations, and video. With this I am able to receive and send home video to my mother in Virginia, and she is able to receive and send back to me. This way much easier and faster way of communicating. To call my mother long distance daily would create a huge phone bill. Using the internet, I am able to stay in touch daily; we play games together and send different things through instant messenger and e- mail. In conclusion, the Internet has dramatically changed from its original purpose. It Was formed by the United States Government for exclusive use of government officials and the military to communicate after a nuclear war. Today, the Internet is used globally for a variety of purposes. People can send their friends an electronic â€Å"hello† they can download a recipe for a new type of lasagna. They can argue about politics on-line, and even shop and bank electronically in their homes. The number of people signing on-line is still increasing and the end is not in sight. In conclusion there will always be advantages and disadvantages, cyber connection is a great way and inexpensive way to communicate with all types of people from anywhere in the world. With that comes the risk of a hacker getting into your computer and stealing your personal information. Be internet responsible and smart, make sure that you do have security protection on your computer, and never give out personal information should you enter into a chat room. We as humans are social creatures by nature, don’t lose that personal interaction with others, we need that skill to obtain employment, and much other uses. Have fun with the internet, but don’t allow the internet to control or keep you from the personal touch of the outside world.

Selection and Role of Canadas Official Opposition

Selection and Role of Canada's Official Opposition In Canada, the official opposition is the political party with the second-highest number of seats in the House of Commons or a legislative assembly. Also known as  Her Majestys Loyal Opposition, representatives from the second-place political party serve the public by critiquing the majority partys proposals and actions. How a Party Becomes the Official Opposition Canada has numerous political parties. After an election, the leader of the political party with the most seats in the federal House of Commons is invited by the  governor-general  to form the government. After being appointed by the governor-general, the leader of this party becomes the prime minister. The prime minister chooses the ministers and forms the Cabinet.   The other parties that are not in power are known as opposition parties. The opposition party with the most members of the House of Commons is the official opposition. For example, under this system, if the majority party in the most recent election was the Liberal Party, then the prime minister and the majority of representatives in the House of Commons would be members of the Liberal Party. If the Conservative Party received the second-highest number of votes in the most recent election, then the Conservatives would constitute the official opposition. Other parties receiving lesser percentages of the votes, such as the New Democratic Party, would comprise the rest of the opposition. The Official Oppositions Role in the Government Under Canada’s parliamentary system, the basic function of the opposition is to oppose the government on a day-to-day basis. In this context, the opposition takes on an adversarial role,  criticizing government legislation and actions, as well as providing the public with alternative policies and proposals. In some cases, the opposition may even try to bring down the government by voting against government proposals, such as the annual budget.   The official opposition also maintains a shadow  Cabinet to critique the actions of the Cabinet ministers.   Value of the Official Opposition to Canadas Democracy The existence of the opposition is critical to the functioning of a parliamentary political system, such as Canadas.  In theory, the official opposition serves as a check on the majority governments power and control. This system of political opposition supports a healthy, vibrant democracy and creates trust in the ability of citizens to resolve differences by peaceful means. The presence of the opposition is based on the idea  that the minority accepts the right of the majority to make decisions, as long as there is also respect for the minoritys right to disagree with the majority and propose its own solutions. Benefits of Being the Official Opposition The official opposition party usually receives better financial benefits, such as research funds, and procedural advantages over other opposition parties. The government provides the leader of the official opposition party with a residence, which is called Stornoway and is located in Ottawa.

Assignment 1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 3

Assignment 1 - Essay Example For instance, since 2004, the company has been aggressive in pursuing strategies that could help address problems of climate change. In addition, the company has helped farmers come up with measures that would keep them off from farming activities that endangers the environment. Packaging wastes have been reduced by a way of introducing recyclability cups. In fact, recycling has been one of the primary principles of reducing waste generated by company’s stores. The company’s goal is to implement front-of-store recycling by 2015. By 2012, the company had managed to have 153 front-of stores recycling. Nevertheless, the company has been cited calling for all parties’ responsibility to take care of the environment citing that some customers do not take personal responsibility to dispose used materials in a responsible manner. However, the company has also focused on building environmentally sound stores as well as conserving energy. In summary, Starbucks has emphasized on the need to take care of the environment and continued support to all stakeholders to take part in environmentally friendly activities. In fact, the company has argued that instilling environmentally measures such as recycling reduces its operating

Environmental problems report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Environmental problems report - Essay Example Due to the very nature of the tropical rainforests, these places not only experience higher level of temperature but also witness higher level of rain. What is more important about tropical rainforests is the biodiversity which they encourage and possess. Over 10% of the earth’s surface is covered by the tropical rainforests therefore they play an important role in balancing the overall environment of the earth. However, deforestation of tropical forests and its persistent occurrence has created stronger consequences for the biodiversity as well as environment of the earth. The systematic removal of the forest area so that they can be used for other purposes is what is called tropical deforestation. This report will discuss the ecological reasons for tropical deforestation and will also discuss some of the possible solutions which can be implemented to reduce the occurrence. Ecological Reasons of Tropical Deforestation One of the key and most documented reasons for the tropica l deforestation is the agriculture. It has been suggested that subsistence farming has been one of the real cause as to why tropical rainforests are being destroyed. ... s therefore in order to sustain higher level of population growth and to accommodate humans within the overall eco-system, tropical deforestation quickened during last 100 years. (Simon, Dickey , & Reece, 163) It has been argued that though tropical deforestation may provide advantage to human life however, it can have also devastating effects on other species and the environment as a whole. What is also critical to understand that overall devastation caused by tropical deforestation is not just limited to the local environment but to the global environment too. The interaction of humans with the environment and how they actually use the environment to fulfill their needs however many species actually are microhabitats in these forests. Due to this dependence of other biological species on the survival of forests, it becomes critically important the overall pace of deforestation is slowed down. The overall changes in the trees as well as the insects and other biological organisms red uce the ability of the forests to actually sustain the environment over the longer period of time. (Lindsey, 2007) Ecological reasons also indicate that in certain areas, especially in Asia, the overall intensity of the climate is on the rise. This intense climate changes create droughts and precipitation. This increase in precipitation and intensity in the temperature is also seen as one of the key reasons as to why tropical forests are decreasing in their overall size. Another important ecological reason for tropical deforestation is the increasing demand from developed countries of the material found in the tropical forests. Tropical forests are rich in producing rubbers, lumber and other active ingredients which are used by the pharmaceutical companies. The higher and sustained rise in