Environmental issues

Environmental Issues; this issues are situations that affect us not only in the present but , rather they are situations and behaviors that if continue to occur will only bring negative and devastating consequences; that is why we must be aware and make others take awareness of them!

Nowadays there are a high number of environmental issues that affect our entire planet, among these global issues, there is overfishing and ecological disruption; and as far as my local community there is the issue of drought.

The issue that interests me most would be the one in my local community; but what is drought?

First of all Drought is an extended period of months or years when a region notes a deficiency in its water supply. Generally, this occurs when a region receives consistently below average precipitation. It can have a substantial impact on the ecosystem and agriculture of the affected region. Drought is a normal, recurring feature of the climate in most parts of the world.

Some of its causes are, the fact that generally, rainfall is related to the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere, combined with the upward forcing of the air mass containing that water vapor. If either of these is reduced, the result is a drought. Also oceanic and atmospheric weather cycles such as the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) make drought a regular recurring feature of the Americas along the Pacific coast and Australia, which explains why my country and local community goes through longs periods of time with an insufficient water supply that will satisfy the needs of the resident population.

As a result of this environmental issue we can see there can be agricultural, health, economic and social consequences; this result can vary according to the communities' vulnerability. Drought is rarely if ever the sole cause of famine; socio-political factors such as extreme widespread poverty play a major role. Drought can also reduce water quality, because lower water flows reduce dilution of pollutants and increase contamination of remaining water sources. A few common consequences of drought include:

ü --*Diminished crop growth

ü --*Famine due to lack of water for irrigation;

ü --*Habitat damage, affecting both terrestrial and aquatic wildlife.

ü --*Malnutrition, dehydration and related diseases;

ü --*Mass migration, resulting in internal displacement and international refugees;

ü -*Reduced electricity production due to insufficient available coolant for power stations; and reduced water flow through hydroelectric dams.

ü -- *Shortages of water for industrial users

ü --*Social unrest

The reason why the local issue interests me more than the global one, is because the consequences affect me directly so I would like to know more about the causes and have a deeper knowledge and information on the subject, in order to take part in an initiative that can help find a solution to this problem which affects us all as a living community.

Visit the following link to find some incredible statistics regarding the planet WE all live in!

--> EARTH CLOCK! <--

Research Activity/ Natural Disaster

Date of disaster:
December 26, 2004

Type of Disaster:
Undersea megathrust earthquake

Description of Disaster:

On december 26, 2004 an undersea megathrust earthquake occurred at 00:58:53 UTC , with an epicentre off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. The quake itself is known by the scientific community as the Sumatra-Andaman earthquake. This earthquake resulted in a tsunami wich is usually refered to as the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, Asian Tsunami, Indonesian Tsunami, and Boxing Day Tsunami.

Visuals of the Disaster:

According to the U.S. Geological Survey a total of 227,898 people died . Measured in lives lost, this is one of the ten worst earthquakes in recorded history, as well as the single worst tsunami in history.

The tsunami caused serious damage and deaths as far as the east coast of Africa, with the furthest recorded death due to the tsunami occurring at Rooi Els in South Africa, 8,000 km away from the epicentre. In total, eight people in South Africa died due to abnormally high sea levels and waves.

Relief agencies report that one-third of the dead appear to be children. This is a result of the high proportion of children in the populations of many of the affected regions and because children were the least able to resist being overcome by the surging waters. Oxfam went on to report that as many as four times more women than men were killed in some regions because they were waiting on the beach for the fishermen to return and looking after their children in the houses.

In addition to the large number of local residents, up to 9,000 foreign tourists enjoying the peak holiday travel season were among the dead or missing, especially people from the Nordic countries.

States of emergency were declared in Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and the Maldives. The United Nations estimated at the outset that the relief operation would be the costliest in human history. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has stated that reconstruction would probably take between five and ten years.

About the advantages and disadvantages of certain technologies

Technology, it's impossible to not be under the influence of technology if you live in the 21st century! It's very useful and convenient, as long as it's used wisely of course; but we can't look at everything through rose-colored glasses, there are not only advantages but also disadvantages to its use.

In this post I'll be writing a paragraph based on a tree diagram about the advantages and disadvantages of something related to technology, in my case I chose social networking.

Social Networking is very popular nowadays as it brings many people together in one place and allows them to interact, based on similar preferences, tastes and other common criteria. Of course it's not perfect, after all nothing in this world is; it has its pros and cons.

Some of the advantages to social networking are its low cost, the fact that they provide social contact, and how they supply the user with quick and updated information exchange.

Social networks provide social contact as it makes it very easy to meet new people who share the same interests and likes, not only that, but you can also stay in touch with a group of friends or regain contact with a person you had lost touch with; furthermore it supplies quick and updated information exchange, this can be seen trough networks such as twitter who in their short 140 character publications, spread just about everything! From peoples personal thoughts, to entertainment updates and news coverage. Last of all, it has a very low cost and saves time, rather than calling your old friend, or new group of people to set up a meeting you can just leave them a message on their page; and regarding the news you can even save money from having to buy the morning paper.

As they are useful and resourceful there can also be certain disadvantages to social networking ; to mention a few there is a lack of anonymity; after all you are putting out information about your name, location, age, gender, and many other types of information that you may not want to let others know. Another downside to using social networks is that they can be used for scams and harassment; while many sites apply certain measures to keep any of these cases of harassment, cyber-stalking, online scams, and identity theft to a minimum, you still may never know. That is why you should choose your contacts wisely and make sure that you maintain confidentiality as much as possible. Unfortunately, the internet has made it easy for individuals to claim to be someone they are not, this will not only lead to disappointment when you find out, but it could also put you in a dangerous situation. Finally there’s the disadvantage that social networking can be quite time consuming, specially for kids and teenagers who instead of going out and interact with other people while enjoying the physical activity and contact prefer to sit at home in front of their computer all day.

Here's the tree diagram I made in order to organize my ideas related to the paragraphs above :

Advantages and Disvantages of E-mail

E-mail is one of today's most utilized forms of communication; it has many advantages ; first of all it's very convenient, in addition it saves time and finally it makes it very easy to stay in touch.

It's convenient; specially, because e-mails may be sent any time of day or night , likewise you don't have to worry about interrupting someone when you send email. It helps you save time because it arrives inmediately and you can distribute information quickly to many people for the time it takes to email one person. Also it makes it easy to stay in touch, since you can write to your friends easily and it's the cheapest way to communicate.

On the other hand, despite being very helpful and full of advantages , e-mails also have some disadvantages; for one thing it's less personal, another reason is that it's easy to make a mistake and last of all you need equipment in order to send an e-mail.
It's less personal because you can't see the person's face or reaction when reading the e-mail, you have to be careful with humor or sarcasm, since it's easy for someone to take your message the wrong way. Another disadvantage is the fact that it's very easy to make a mistake like sending messages to the wrong person or sending private/ confidential information, another disadvantage is the need for equipment in order to send the e-mail you need either a fast computer or a smartphone and both of these can be quite expensive; there's also a need for an internet connection, nowadays it's very common o have wi-fi signal in most places but sometimes when you need it the most an internet connection is not available.

About "Segunda Mitad del Noveno" by Ruben Blades

So, the idea was to write our opinion about the song " Segunda Mitad del Noveno" by Ruben Blades. I listened to the song and read along with the lyrics; I ended up really liking this song!

This song by Ruben Blades, in my opinion , is made to express and tell the world of a situation that is very common in latin american countries , representing it with an analogy of something as dear to the latin culture as it is baseball, it's the sport that represents us and is very close to our hearts.

He speaks about a very sad yet true reality; when things come to their most important moment, when everything is to be decided people find themselves doing nothing, he refers to it as the bottom of the ninth inning at a baseball game when everyone is filled with expectation and hope even though they know that the game is basically decided ; also about how there is a lot of noise and excitement but no actions take place, this is something we can easily relate to our day to day life in Venezuela ; regarding the ongoing revolution there are lots of people who say they want to stop it and how we shouldn't be forced to live under the ruling of someone who fails at satisfying the countries' needs , but when push comes to shove no one does anything against it, we are left at the mercy of only one man who has taken all of the power to himself and people are just too afraid to go against it or they do it purely out of their own interest, not considering the future of the nation as a whole.

He speaks of how in times when there is need for people to wake up and stand up for what they believe in and what they want there is no one to follow, there are no leaders since anyone who had any real potential has left, and the youth nowadays are not strong in terms of will or mentality , and are not willing to take any actions in order to defend their ideals

He speaks about the feelings of the general population by dividing them into the bases of a baseball field, and how there is fear in first base, hunger in second, and rage in the third; these are all feelings experienced by the people here in Venezuela, there is fear in living everyday life , based on the high levels of insecurity and uncertainty, there's also fear in such simple things as making a living, no one knows where the economy is going or what can happen to any businesses or the company you work at from one moment to the next; we also experience hunger, with the economy getting worse everyday and poverty levels reaching new heights, added to the fact that even if you do have the acquisitive power it takes to feed you and your family there is no certain way of knowing you will be able to find everything you want or need ; last but not least when describing the feelings around the baseball field he speaks of anger ; anger wich we feel when we see how such a beautiful country with so much to give has become such a disaster; rage that is felt by the sense of impotence that there is nothing to be done in order to save something you love.

He later refers to the term "play ball" the phrase used by the umpire to signal the beginning of the game , in order to point the fact that it's all just getting started and we should take our stance and not leave our ideals aside, since " things are starting to get good" ; but then again he calls out for those heroes who are long gone , and knows they won't be coming back.

To summarize even though it's not my favorite type or genre of music I really grew to like the song , it made realize and think about the place I'm living in, and even though the lyrics might make you sad, somehow the simple yet honest vocals and background music do give a feeling of hope, humor and joy ; very representative of the latin culture.

Overcoming hardship / The 3 part paragraph

This post is about identifying the parts of a paragraph and composing one of our own, the subject is related to overcoming hardship, difficulties and obstacles in general.

First we have a paragraph given by the teacher to identify the 3 parts of a paragraph, the topic sentence, the supporting sentences and the closing sentence.

Hellen Keller said; “Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of overcoming it.” This can be seen all around us. Many people have faced great obstacles in their lives but have found ways to overcome and actually benefit from these obstacles. For example, Greg Barton, the 1984, 1988, and 1992 U.S Olympic medalist in kayaking, was born with a serious disability. He had club feet, his toes pointed inward, and as a result, he could not walk easily. Even after a series of operations, he still had limited mobility. Even so, Greg was never defeated. First, he taught himself to walk, and even to run .Then, he competed on his high school running team. He knew, though, he would never become an Olympic runner, so he looked for other sports that he could play. Happily, he discovered kayaking, a perfect sport for him because it required minimal leg and foot muscles. Using his upper body strength, he was able to master the sport. Finally, after many years of training and perseverance, Greg made the 1984 Olympic team. He says of his accomplishments, “Each step of the road has been made easier by looking just as far as necessary – yet not beyond that.” In short, even though that road was paved with obstacles, he was able to overcome them and achieve the impossible

TOPIC SENTENCE

“Hellen Keller said; “Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of overcoming it.” This can be seen all around us. Many people have faced great obstacles in their lives but have found ways to overcome and actually benefit from these obstacles.”

SUPPORTING SENTENCES

Developing details

What is (was) the person famous for?

He had limited mobility. But even so, he taught himself to walk, and even to run and finally, after many years of training and perseverance he made the Olympic team and became an Olympic medalist in kayaking.

What did this person achieve?

He was an Olympic athlete and medalist despite having a physical disability

What did this person have to overcome? How did he or she overcome them?

He had club feet, his toes pointed inward, and as a result, he could not walk easily. Even after a series of operations, he still had limited mobility. And as a result could never be an Olympic runner

To overcome it he discovered kayaking, a perfect sport for him because it required minimal leg and foot muscles. Using his upper body strength, he was able to master the sport. And after many years of training and perseverance he became an Olympic athlete.

What personal characteristics helped this person overcome his or her obstacles?

His perseverance and willpower

CONCLUDING SENTENCE

“In short, even though that road was paved with obstacles, he was able to overcome them and achieve the impossible”

Also here's a biographical paragraph I composed on my own

Matthew Stepanek , suffered from a hereditary disease called dysautonomic mitochondrial myopathy, a rare form of muscular dystrophy. He was an American poet and advocate, who had six books of poetry and one book of essays all reach The New York Times bestsellers list. He became a well-respected peace advocate and motivational speaker. First of all, Stepanek started writing poems at the age of 3, and published 5 books in his short lifetime .In addition before he passed away in June 2004, he had written thousands of poems, dozens of essays and short stories, and presented a bound anthology of his writing to the Library of Congress. He received many awards for his writing, including the Melinda A. Lawrence International Book Award in 1999 for “Most Inspirational Work.” Furthermore, despite his muscular dystrophy he was a bestselling author before the age of 14. Last of all, he also became the Muscular Dystrophy Association National Goodwill Ambassador, due to his national high profile because of his poetry and related appearances on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Larry King Live, and Good Morning America. He was a very optimistic, intelligent and outgoing person who wanted to share with the world his vision of life as a gift and how it should always be celebrated.

“. . .we must remember to play after every storm and to celebrate the gift of life as we have it, or else life becomes a task, rather than a gift. We must always listen to the song in our heart, and share that song with others.”- Matthew Stepanek