Debate on the causes of global warming Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Debate on the causes of global warming - Essay Example While a dialectic method is used, it is used poorly, and there are almost no attempts at synthesis. The main topoi used by all sides are scientific data, but they are used poorly. There are three separate arguments made in the debate. One group of scientists claims that global warming is not occurring, another group claims that global warming is occurring because of natural changes in the earth's climate such as an increase in the level of solar radiation reaching the earth or changes in the patterns of winds, ocean currents, or volcanic activity, and another group claims that global warming is occurring because of an increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere due to the large scale combustion of fossil fuels by humans that started during the time of the first industrial revolution and continues up to the present day. There are several different types of arguments used by scientists that deny the existence of global warming. The three main scientific arguments used by that side of the debate are claims that temperatures in the upper atmosphere have fallen in the last few decades, an argument that meteorological data from the last century is inaccurate because of the heat island effect, and a claim that differences in the way that average temperature is measured today cause average temperatures today to appear higher than they were in earlier decades. The claim that the temperatures in the upper atmosphere have fallen in the last few decades is the weakest of the three because there is no scientific proof that temperatures in the upper atmosphere have any correlation with ground temperatures. The temperature data was also slightly modified for scientific reasons in the survey, and scientists who claim that global warming is happening say that it was modified incorrectly. The argument that the heat island effect; or the effect of thermometers in weather stations being in highly developed areas where there are many heat-retaining ground coverings, such as buildings, concrete, and asphalt; is the cause of the observed rise in temperatures is a better argument, but there have been no attempts to analyze the effects of increasing urbanization quantitatively or show the exact levels of new development around each weather station. The claim that average temperatures appear higher because temperatures are now taken four times each day instead of twice is an even better argument, because the temperatures taken at the two other times are usually closer to the daily high than the daily low, and that causes the average daily temperature for each day to appear higher. However, it has been claimed that average highs and average lows have both risen in the past few decades, making this argument seem less convincing. Nonscientific arguments made by scientists and others that claim that glob al warming is not occurring include an argument that there is a global conspiracy against capitalism or the United States by socialists or internationalists using environmental junk science and the argument that most environmentalist scientists thought that there was a pattern of global cooling and the risk of a new ice age in the 1970s. Both arguments are ad hominem attacks. While many of the scientists that support the theory of human-caused Global Warming are extreme environmentalists, there is

Social Impact Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Social Impact Paper - Essay Example Many such technologies may lay claim to having been the key milestones in this path of human development. These claims are validated by the impact they have had on human beings and the changes in societal patterns that have resulted from such technological inventions and discoveries. The invention of the wheel is often considered as that which has had the greatest impact on human progress (1). In the same line of thought then the invention of the internal combustion engine has a strong impact on the sped and direction of human progress since its invention, not so long ago in the history of human progress. The impact of the internal combustion engine on human progress has been on a broad. Within the limits of this paper it is not possible to deal with every aspect of social impact that the invention of the internal combustion has. Therefore, this paper limits itself to evaluating the social impact of the gas powered internal combustion engine from the limited perspective of contribution to human progress in overland transportation, with particular emphasis on automobiles and the manner in which it has impacted on society. History The basic technology involved in the internal combustion engine can be truly said to be derived from the gunpowder engine developed in the seventeenth century. Two centuries were to elapse before the technology involved in the gunpowder engine could be harnessed into the internal combustion engine. ... Though passenger cars were developed using steam engine, the best use of steam engines was seen in the engines developed for hauling the locomotives of the train. The deficiencies of large engine size and lower efficiency made the steam engines unsuitable for widespread use in passenger vehicles. By the second half of the nineteenth century the search was on for a more efficient engine (2) Technological advances occur in what appears to be a predetermined sequence, one setting the ground for the other, and when the right idea is seeded into this advance of technology, further advances are made (3). The fundamental idea of the internal combustion engine gas was conceived through the principles contained in the gunpowder engine and the steam engine. The reason for the idea progressing to reality was finding the ideal fuel for the internal combustion engine. In the nineteenth century the availability of coal gas and petroleum removed this barrier to progress in the development of the ga s powered internal combustion engine (2). The high energy fuel of petroleum in a mixture with air on ignition produces a rapid and powerful explosion. From 1860 to1880 the means for harnessing the energy of these explosions to power an internal combustion was under active experimentation and the results were soon forthcoming. Most of these experiments were in Germany and not surprisingly the early results sprang from Germany. Two sets of pioneers of the internal combustion engine using petroleum products emerged in the form of Daimler and Maybach on one side and Karl Benz on the other side. While Daimler and Maybach delivered early initial results of an internal combustion engine that could be used on two-wheelers, Karl

Banking system Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Banking system - Essay Example These activities include selling various insurance products, forming societies, and investment platforms for their customers. This is called ‘buy and sell’ in banking. Banks are literally buying and selling products to consumers as a vender would do. Profit maximization is one of the major core objectives of shareholders for establishing businesses. Therefore, as businesses, banks are out to make profits. Leverage refers to a process by which banks acquire assets using borrowed money and uses these assets to make more money hence enabling them to buy more assets than they previously had. This money is a profit to the bank and shareholders who have invested their funds in form capital in the bank. However, this process involves many risks and in some cases the assets acquired fail to generate more money than the initially anticipated hence resulting into the bank making losses. Either shareholders invest in banks expecting to get returns on their on their investment. However, banks also need this money to keep growing in order to increase their profits margins. Because of this, they are force to acquire more assets from other sources to enable them maximize shareholder profits. This process of leverage is therefore only effective if profits are made. Banks request for securities when they are making loan advancements to their borrowers. The bank then holds this asset during the period covered by the loan for the purpose of security in case the borrower defaults in payment. If a customer defaults in paying back the loan and the accumulated interest, then it can dispose the security to recover the loan and interest. Therefore, securitization is the mechanism through which banks and other financial institutions pool together different types of debts owed to them, then repackage them, and finally sell them as securities like bonds and CMOs to different investors maximize their gains These institutions engage in these

E-mail spams Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

E-mail spams - Essay Example nsensus on a policy framework to tackle spam issues† (OECD., 2006, p.2) The task force on Spam was approved by the OECD and resulted in the OECD Anti-Spam Toolkit. The OECD’s drive against spam resulted in the New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs implementing the Unsolicited Electronic Messages Act 2007 (the Act), which came into effect on the 5th September 2007. The focus of this analysis is to review how far the Act has gone to implement the recommendations in Element 1 of the OECD Anti-Spam toolkit. Element 1 of the OECD toolkit on spam addressed regulatory approaches to tackle spam. Element 1 extrapolates that â€Å"the development of anti-spam legislation which tackles spam and related problems is fundamental† (OECD, 2006, p8). Moreover, Element 1 observed: â€Å"as the legal, political and cultural environments of different countries vary, there is not a global uniform approach to spam or a common definition of spam accepted at the international level. For this reason the Toolkit, rather than advocate a single approach, aims to underline decision points that need to be discussed while elaborating anti-spam legislation and examine the related policy questions† (OECD, 2006, p. 24). In order to achieve these goals, Element 1 of the toolkit proscribed that legislation should conform to four general principles, namely policy direction, regulatory simplicity, enforcement effectiveness and international linkages (OECD, 2006, p. 25). 2) Require commercial electronic messages to include accurate information about the person who authorised the sending of the message and a functional unsubscribe facility to enable the recipient to instruct the sender that no further messages are sent to the recipient; The Act further aims to encourage consistent direct marketing practices by requiring electronic messages to include an unsubscribe facility and ensure that electronic messages are only sent to customers who have consented to receiving it (New Zealand

Concepts and Problems in Macroeconomics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Concepts and Problems in Macroeconomics - Essay Example Japan is a consumer society where consumer spending fuels the economy. Analyzing the relationship between consumer confidence, GDP, and unemployment can give some insight into how closely perceptions are aligned with reality. Figure 1 indicates the relationship between the GDP and confidence levels. Both employment confidence and consumer confidence are closely related. However, the Figure 1 (Data from Worsley 2007) confidence levels trail the change in GDP by 12 months. The GDP bottomed out in 2002, but confidence did not hit a minimum until 2003. Likewise, the decline in 2005 did not impact confidence levels until the middle of 2006 when employment confidence fell and consumer confidence flattened out. Figure 2 shows the relationship between relationship between GDP and real unemployment. The steep rise in GDP between 2002- 2004 precipitated a Figure 2 (Data from Japan: Unemployment rate 2007) steady decline in the real unemployment rate beginning in 2003 and continuing through 2006. The Japanese public is keenly aware of the unemployment rate and is reflected in their spending confidence. The public's real measure of economic health is employment and trails the change in GDP by 12-24 months. Predicting consumer confid... By monitoring the GDP, Japan can expect the unemployment rate to follow the same trend in a period of 12-24 months later. Confidence levels, both consumer and employment, will track the unemployment rate directly. Investors can take advantage of this situation by preparing for an upturn in spending 12-24 months after the GDP begins to move upward. GDP 1. 1. Calculate real GDP for 2005 and 2006 using 2005 prices. By what percent did real GDP grow 2005 GDP = (90*18) + (180*100) = 1620 + 18000 = $19,620 2006 GDP @ 2005 prices = (100 *18) + (190*100) = 1800+19000 = $20,800 GDP Growth = (20,800 - 19620) / 19620 = .0601 = 6.01% 2. Calculate the value of the price index for GDP for 2006 using 2005 as the base year. By what percent did prices increase (90*20) + (180*110) = 1800 + 19800 = $21,600 PI = (21600 - 19620) / 19620 = 1980 / 19620 = .1009 = 10.09% 3. Now calculate real GDP for 2005 and 2006 using 2006 prices. By what percent did real GDP grow GDP 2005 @ 2006 prices = $21,600 GDP 2006 = (100*20)+(190*110) = 2000+20900= 22,900 Growth = (22900 - 21600) / 21600 = 1300/21600 = .0601 = 6.01% 4. Review the GDP information for the past few years from the Bureau of Economic Analysis's Website. Provide a brief summary of the GDP trends over that timeframe and discuss two or three events which may have caused these trends. GDP has generally steadily risen in recent history. It stagnated in the early 70s due the oil embargo. Since Q2 in 2001, the GDP has risen every quarter except Q3 in 2001. This was probably a result of 9/11. The GDP had recovered by Q1 of 2002 and has had steady growth through this period of deficit spending. Hong Kong and

A College Football Playoff System Research Paper

A College Football Playoff System - Research Paper Example There are a number of criticisms to be leveled at the Bowl Championship Series. Although the system’s original intent was to provide an objective, logical, mathematical solution for deciding a team’s rankings, it often makes counterintuitive and downright wrong selections. In December 2010, for instance, the president of Boise State University criticized the BCS system for a computer error that likely dropped the team to number 10 in the national rankings. Frequently, these wrong rankings reflect the BCS’s attitude toward smaller schools from less well-respected conferences on the basis that those teams will not produce the same level of revenue as a larger school with more supporters. In December 2010, for instance, the president of Boise State University criticized the BCS system for a computer error that likely dropped the team to number 10 in the national rankings. Although the incident did not deprive Boise State of a bowl berth, under different circumstance s (given Boise State’s place in the WAC, a less respected conference) it very likely could have left the college without a bowl. Another criticism deals with the four major Bowl games played at the end of the college football season, into which only eight teams are admitted. Because some conferences have automatic bids to one of these games, these eight teams may not be the best (or even close to the best) teams in the nation. Some schools that are unfavorably regarded in the BCS system may be relegated to a less prestigious bowl simply on the basis of the BCS’s opinion of them. Lastly, since the BCS is largely comprised of computer algorithms to decide rankings of college teams for the bowl games, it is criticized for being easily manipulated by those who control the methods of determining bowl berths. Because the BCS system leads to tremendous cash payoffs to larger schools, there is a lack of momentum in changing it, which makes a financial argument for introducing a playoff system necessary. Financially, a playoff system could benefit boosters, schools, and advertisers by removing any element of the BCS.

Organ Donation Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Organ Donation - Research Paper Example First and most of all, one the most important implications that organ donation has is saving life. Indeed, if one takes a brief look at the statistics, one will be able see that the good which can be done is tremendous. For example, a single organ that is extracted from the body of a person who is dead is able to safe eight people (â€Å"All About Donation†). This is quite an astonishing statistics since given the number of organs that a person is able to donate after death, one single person may save up to fifty people. It is rather obvious that a death of a single person is a tragedy, but if it is able to result the continuation of lives of numerous people, the former gains a new sound to it. That is why a person who donates one’s organs as basically a hero who saves many lives. Another point which should be noted is that the issues of organ donation and saving lives might be viewed from a rather surprising point of view. Thus, one can hardly disagree that life is the best gift that a person can receive. However, in the course of out daily routine people tend to forget about it and that being alive for granted. Moreover, the ability to give life is largely thought to be mystical and is often attributed to deities. In addition to that, if a person could chose what one would like to receive as the ultimate gift, one would definitely choose being immortal.