Writting paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Writting paper - Essay Example Struggling financially is a burden for them both, yet the husband is placing his career in danger by taking time off due to hangovers. The wife is willing to go out to work so that extra money is brought into the house but the husband believes that his wife should stay at home and raise the children; conventionally this is ideal, however the husband can not afford to be as proud or stubborn as he is being so far. The husband is placing extra pressure on his wife by drinking. Not only is this using the finances they are struggling to earn, but he is not providing the physical and mental support she needs. The husband has a family history of drinking, this is an added concern as alcoholism can be a genetic issue. The husband is repentant when sober and knows he is wrong, yet when his wife attempts to confront him regarding this, he leaves the house to go and drink. With regards to the rest of the family, there are older children present who are equally concerned with their father’s behaviour, they have asked questions regarding his drinking and are worried that as their grandfather died of a drinking related illness, their father is at risk. Social issues are apparent as the older children are concerned with regards to bringing friends home. The husband is clearly fraught with worry as to how the family are going to cope financially. Medical bills are bleeding them dry and he is finding it hard to keep his head above water. Clearly a very proud man, he feels that he has to cope with this on his own. Having considered all these facts, it is unmistakably clear that this family needs support and assistance. It is proposed that for a temporary period, or until the family are able to cope again, some intervention is necessary. Firstly, the husband’s drinking needs to be assessed and dealt with; once this has been managed, the husband will feel in a better frame of mind to cope and will discontinue this negative pattern of

Business Plan Proposal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Business Plan Proposal - Essay Example Two passionate entrepreneurs who are on a mission to revolutionize service delivery in the food and beverage sector founded the company in the year 2009. The main objective of the corporation is to facilitate the provision of affordable food items to the locals in the area. It was set to bridge the gap created by large corporations that are neglecting certain carders of personalities especially the less fortunate. Its target market is the low-income earners who also have a right to enjoy decent meals in hotels (Costello 21). Since its founding, the joint has been recording good performance in terms of revenue and capacity. The performance is attributable to its exemplary management, effective and functional business plan, qualified support staff, and quality services. The food joint has also developed viable operating strategy and competitive plan purposely to foster its sustainability in the dynamic field. In its menu, the company serves its customers with fresh meals that include local/traditional and modern dishes. The dishes include local vegetables, fish, beef, chicken and various snacks. Tea, coffee, soft drinks, and cocktail drinks also form part of the beverages provided to customers. The corporation has remained steadfast since it has a good financial plan, resource mobilization strategy, marketing plan, management and food processing procedure. These aspects elevate its standards to higher levels of competitiveness. The restaurant has a vibrant management team that comprise of the general manager, marketing and product managers. The managers’ role in the institution is to formulate operating guidelines and coordinate affairs at all levels of operation in ensuring that target objectives are met. They are the custodian of the business plan as they work towards ensuring its holistic implementation. They set strategies both operational and non-operational; formulate goals,

Piagets Theory Of Cognitive Development

Piagets Theory Of Cognitive Development Jean Piaget was a Swiss development psychologist who was known for his work on epistemological studies. He is known for his major theory in the area of cognitive development. Cognitive development is a field of studies that emphasised on the neuroscience and psychology aspects of an individual. Development can be seen as process that takes part in every living human starting from bodily level up to cognitive level. The Websters Dictionary defines development as the series of changes which an organism undergoes in passing from an embryonic state to maturity. It is continuous process of expanding or becoming more advance in pursuit of new purposes. Cognitive best can be described as a process involved thinking, acquisition and storage of knowledge at the mental level of a brain. According to Piaget theory, our thinking process changes radically, because we constantly strive to make sense of the world through our senses, perception and experiences in life. (Woolfolk, 2011) According to Khanna (20l0), development in wider context is a progressive change to a greater maturity supported by physiological capacities and psychological capabilities. These changes can be further subcategorised into physical, emotional and intellectual. There are few general principles of development that occurs in all normal individuals. Development occurs at different rates in different individuals. This can be seen quite clearly during the infancy stage. There are cases where some babies start walking later that the expected age of 12 months. This normally can be seen in male babies and I personally can vouch for this statement as my own son; Pratham started walking only when he was 14 months old. Development is a continuous process. Development is continuous process as a child acquired new skills, these skills are added to the pre existence skills in a child and there is no stopping for further acquisition of skills as the child grows. This finding is best describes by the developmental stages theory of Piagets. During sensorimotor stage, a child learns by touching, association and imitation. This phenomenon can be seen clearly when a child repeats patterns in his play such as putting or taking an objects inside or outside a containers. This finding is further supported from a research that was done by Arnold Cath (2003) on a child named Harry. Development occurs in sequence of predictable and orderly stages. It is a known fact that human life is divided into few predicable and orderly stages which is expected of every normal individual in social settings. Robert Havighurst, an American educationalist introduced developmental tasks that characterise six development life stages from infancy and early childhood to later maturity. Another interesting theory of development was coined by Erik Erikson, popularly knows as Psychosocial Development. The main element of his theory emphasis psychosocial process, that development is subject to internal psychological factors and external social factors. This theory looks at eight stages of human life also knows as eight ages of man. According to Sugarman (2004), Erikson theory centre specific issues to resolve by an individual at given stage before moving to the higher stages per below table. Approximate age Issues centre around Important Event in Life 0 1 year Trust Feeding 1 6 years Autonomy Toilet training 6 10 years Purpose Independence 10 14 years Competence School 14 20 years Identity Peer relationship 20 35 years Intimacy Love relationship 35 65 years Generativity Parenting/Mentoring 65 years above Integrity Reflection and acceptance of ones life Development is influenced by heredity Each of us begin life at the moment of conception and hereditary traits are passed from parent to offspring through strings of microscopically small particles knows as genes. Therefore we are different from each other and development of individual is contributed largely by hereditary. According to Blackburn (2000), hereditary traits are transmitted by dominant genes over the weaker ones; an example of a disease that can be transmitted through hereditary is Diabetes. Development is influence by environment There is no denying; environment plays a very big role in human development process. Environment in this context covers social setting, cultural setting and language setting. Vygotskys believed that human activities take place in cultural settings and has a great influence on cognitive development. Vytosky assumed that cultural development appears twice, first on social level (interpsychological) and later on individual level (intrapsychological). For example an Indian child who is born in United States will have different perspective of things compare to an Indian child born in India due to differences in culture and social settings. Indeed, Piagets theory of cognitive development to certain extent has helped teachers to design or tailor made teaching materials to suit learners level of cognitive development but there are others factors too determine effectiveness of learning such as students readiness or motivation level. Piaget proposed theory can be divided into four stages: Sensorimotor, Preoperational, Concrete operational and Formal operational. Piaget emphasised more of the biological maturation of cognitive abilities for each stages. In order for us to understand better, Piaget stage development theory, we need to look closely at changes that happen in various stages proposed by Piaget. Sensorimotor stage The earliest period is called the sensorimotor and begins from birth to two years old. According to Richardson K (2010), infants enter the world with set of simple coordination which we called reflexes. One example of this is the sucking reflex when a child nurses from the mother. Later, when the infant is growing up, his reflex actions will be translated to goal-directed actions through several repetition activities. At this stage, a child develops object permanence, the understanding that objects exist whether they perceive them or not. During this time also, a child learns through imitation from his pre-exist surrounding. Preoperational stage This second stage of the theory is known as the preoperational stage spanning from the period of two to seven years old. According to Axelrod (1999), children are able to manipulate environment symbolically through inner representation by using word, gestures, images and signs. There is drastic development in language and thinking skills. Piaget believed at this stage a child is moving toward mastery but has not fully mastered the mental operations. Another unique characteristics developed during this stage is Egocentrism. The concept of egocentrism means children see the world from their viewpoint and not able to consider other peoples viewpoint. Concrete Operational stage This stage spans from the age of seven to eleven years old. At this age, a child has developed mental operations that allowed them to see and treat the physical world in logical and systematic order. A child at this age is able to provide justification by mastering conservation. According to Mitchell (2004), Piaget had indentified three important operations in conservation process: i) Compensation: Changes in one direction can be compensated by changes in another direction. ii) Identity: If nothing is taken away or added, the material remains the same. iii) Inversion: If the entire process is reversed, the quantity of the materials remains the same. At this point, a child is able making an orderly and sequential arrangement of an object based on size, weight or volume. This process is known as seriation which enable a child to construct logical series such as arranging object from small to large or vice-versa. Formal Operation stage This is the last stage of Piagets developmental theory. This stage ranges from eleven years to adulthood. According to Mitchell (2004) formal as used by Piaget mean well-mannered etiquette. Children at this stage, capable of systematic reasoning about things which take hypothetical form without having to see concrete objects. Students at this level are able to solve science experiments such as the pendulum problems. They are also able to solve algebra problems by using deduction method to derive at certain value. Adolescent at this age, exhibit a phenomena known as adolescent egocentrism. According to Stuart-Hamilton (2006), study conducted by Piaget examined, egocentrism does not refer to selfishness, rather a childs immaturity that whatever he or she can see is the viewpoint of everyone else as well. This is the feeling that they are the centre of attraction and leads to false sense of security, eventually increasing risk taking behaviour like participating in illegal racing, exper imenting with drugs and having unprotected sex. For teachers to fully understand and incorporate Piaget theory into teaching methodology, a teacher need to accept cognition is a process of adaption. According to Meadows (1986) based on Piaget theory, a child actively trying to make sense of the world by adapting to its environment. It proceeds via twin functional invariants of assimilation and accommodation. Before discussing further on assimilation and accommodation, ones need to understand schema first. Schema is a Greek word which means frame. Piagets believes schemas are the basic building blocks of thinking. It is representation of perception and experience of organized systems translates through action. Schemas can be very small or specific, for example cooking pasta. According to Roeckelein (2010), assimilation from Piagets theoretical viewpoint means incorporating new or modified ideas and concepts into a childs existing cognitive structure. Accommodation refer to the childs modification of ideas or concepts of the world in response to new experience that are inconsistent with previous knows idea or concepts. In another word, a person must change existing schema to respond to new situation. Every child in learning process strives to achieve state of equilibration. According to Woolfolk (2010) based on Piaget work, assimilation and accommodation can be viewed as a balancing act. Once the child is able to understand and registered new information in his schema, he achieved the equilibrium stage. Disequilibrium happen when current ways of thinking not working in solving a particular problem, thus the act out of balance occurred. In order for me, to plan an activity that promotes assimilation and accommodation, first I need to do some homework regarding the student Im going to teach. I need to find out their age and prior learning knowledge. For this activity, Im going to device an activity targeted for form one student (13 years old) conducting a lesson on compass direction (geography). It is easier for me to access their prior knowledge, as I have taught them at primary six during Kajian Tempatan period. The students already have basis knowledge of main compass direction (East, West, North and South)- Cardinal direction. Keeping in mind that my students are at formal operational stage which requires plenty usage of visual aids. Therefore in my lesson planning, I will have illustration of slides, diagram and video clipping when presenting new material. I will normally start my lesson by showing a short video clip about a sailor lost at deep sea. This is my normal practice for breaking the ice with students and gauges their interest in the lesson. Randomly I will pick up few students to analyze the video clipping. At this point, many of the students will be able to give the answer Im looking as students at this level are able to think hypothetically. Then I will ask them about their previous learning on this matter, which is compass direction. I will call a student to draw basic direction diagram on the board. In this way Im refreshing their memory to what they have learned during the primary years. Then I will show them a new power point slide on additional compass direction. (North East, South East, South West, North West) Ordinal direction. Compass direction is the schema already exists in student mind. Here, assimilation happen when students fit new information into existing information. Existing information is prior knowledge, which is cardinal direction and new information is ordinal direction (red colour). If you look at the below model, the students did not change their existing schema, rather incorporated new learning to prior learning experiences. Assimilation model NEW KNOWLEDGE PRIOR KNOWLEDGE SCHEMA W S N E NW NE N W Compass Direction E SW SE S ASSIMILATION ORDINAL DIRECTION CARDINAL DIRECTION Teaching the same students, from understanding basic compass direction, the next higher level of learning will be measuring degrees using protractor. Based on their prior learning, protractor was used in their mathematic subjects to find certain angels values. Here the student will faced certain degree of disequilibrium as current way of thinking, using protractor the mathematical ways will not solved problems in geography lesson. This required student to change existing schemas to respond to new situation, thus accommodation is taking place in students learning. In Mathematic, students are required to place the protractor horizontal ways to find value of angel, but in Geography students are required to place protractor the vertical ways to find degrees value. If you look at below model, the students have to change existing schemas to accommodate new learning. Accommodation model EXISTING SCHEMA Mathematical way NEW SCHEMA Geographical way Piagets development theory to certain extent can assist teachers to design teaching in delivering lesson but how effective the learning took parts would be another major concern for teachers. Piaget theory only proposed that learning occurs after development, but in certain cases, children are able to learn at earlier developmental stages. Piaget theory also fails to look at learner motivation which I personally believe is a very big factor in effective learning. Teachers as an educator plays the role of facilitator in imparting information, students on the other hand need to be more accountable of their own learning. There need to be a paradigm shift from teacher centric learning to student learning centric at school level in order to produce world class student.

The House on Mango Street - Fantasy vs. Reality :: House Mango Street

The House on Mango Street - Fantasy vs. Reality Sometime in our lives, we have wished for things we don't have. No matter how hard we wished on the star or a candle, our wishes never seemed to be answered. We have all felt that bitter disappointment on Christmas morning when we finally realized that we were never going to be able to have what we want. This is the same exact feelings that the characters in Cisneros' The House on Mango Street. Unlike us, the disappointment for these characters last throughout their childhood. Esperanza, Rachel, Nenny, Sally, and Lucy are among the kids growing up on Mango Street. They all long for friendship, love, and a better life, but all these kids face are the harsh reality of the "real world." In the society that Esperanza and her friends live in, love takes a back seat when it comes to relationships. "Someday, I will have a best friend all my own. One I can tell my secrets to. One who will understand my jokes without my having to explain them." These are the longing words of Esperanza. While growing up on Mango Street, Esperanza finds herself in a community that she feels she doesn't belong to. With all her heart, she longs for a true friend that she can tell her dreams to and will understand her for it. These wishes seem easy enough to grant, but Esperanza soon finds out that there is more to friendship. "If you give me five dollars, I will be your friend forever." Esperanza discovers that she can not have anything for nothing. Rachel and Lucy sure enough become her friends, but only after she helped them pay for the bike. Esperanza never does truly find a real friend who shares the same goal as she does because all the friends she has have more problems than her. For instance, Sally was a friend for whom Esperanza cared for. When Esperanza was raped, Sally was not there to help her and when Esperanza tried to prevent Sally from making a mistake, Sally told her to leave. All Esperanza wanted was a friendship that would help her escape her life, but all she ended up with were friendships that reminded her of her broken dreams because in her society nothing was given for free and the people she was associated with didn't have the same goals as she did. Another one of those broken dreams was the concept of love. Esperanza was not the only one who longed for a man's endless love.

Methods of Presenting Arts

Certain methods of presenting arts are employed in order for it to be effective. In presenting his subject, the artists uses different methods to express the idea he wants to make clear. The following are the commonly used methods in presenting the subjects of arts: Realism Abstraction Symbolism Fauvism Dadaism Futurism Surrealism Expressionism REALISM It is the attempt to portray the subject as is. The artist selects, changes, and arranges details to express the idea he wants to make clear. The artist main function is to describe accurately what is observed through the senses. Examples of realism ARTS Giora Eshkol (Daydreaming) Willem ClaeszHeda (Banquet Piece with Mince Pie) ABSTRACT It means to move away or separate. Abstract art moves away from showing things as they really are. The art work is not realistic. Types of abstract art Distortion. The subject is in misshaped condition. Elongation. The subject is lengthened for protraction or extension. Mangling, Subjects are either cut, lacerated, mutilated or hacked. Cubism. Subjects are shown in basic geometrical shapes. Samples of abstract art Mary Capan (Title Unknown) Vincent van Gogh (Starry Night) SYMBOLISM The presentation of an invisible sign such as an idea or a quality into something visible. Sample of Symbolism Author Unknown (Memento Mori) FAUVISM Themes are either ethical, philosophical or psychological. Subjects express comfort, joy or happiness. Sample of Fauvist Art work Japanese Propaganda poster during ww II DADAISM A protest movement formed in 1916 by a group of artist in Zurich, Switzerland. They try to provoke the public with outrageous forms of arts. Came from the French word â€Å"dada† meaning â€Å"hobby horse†. FUTURISM Its’ works aims to capture the speed and force of modern industrial society and to glorify the mechanical energy of modern life. SURREALISM Founded in Paris in 1924 by French poet Andre Breton. It tries to reveal a new and higher reality than that of daily life. They claim to create a magical world more beautiful than the real one through art. It came from the slang of super realism. Sample of Surrealism Gennady Privedentsev (Bird`s Cocktail) EXPRESSIONISM The Expressionist emphasis on individual perspective has been characterized as a reaction to positivism and other artistic styles such as naturalism and impressionism.

How Humans Have Contributed to Climate Change

CLIMATE CHANGE: HOW THE HOMO SAPIENS HAVE CONTRIBUTED By Ernest Ebo Jackson TERM PAPER Climate change refers to change in average weather patterns and can be caused by both natural processes and human activities. In the past, the earth's climate has been affected by natural factors such as changes in solar output and the discharge of volcanic ash. In fact, the planet has been through many periods of cooling and warming. The last period of major cooling ended about 10,000 years ago. The physical evidence that suggests that the earth’s climate is changing is truly overwhelming. The world’s glaciers are retreating and disappearing, extreme weather is occurring more often now than in the past, the sea’s level and temperature is on the rise and it’s becoming more acidic, increased evaporation is drying out the earth’s supply of fresh water found in lakes and rivers, heat waves kill thousands in Europe, uncontrollable forests fires are destroying forests reserves in places like Australia and Africa, and increasing atmospheric temperature is raising the budget of many families in tropical countries use in cooling their homes. Need I say more? The sun's warmth heats the surface of the earth, which in turn radiates energy back to space. Some of this radiation, which is nearly all in the infrared spectrum, is trapped in the atmosphere by greenhouse gases. For instance, water vapor strongly absorbs radiation with wavelengths between 4 and 7 micrometers, and carbon dioxide (CO2) absorbs radiation with wavelengths between 13 and 19 micrometers. The trapped radiation warms the lower atmosphere, or troposphere. Some heat then finds its way back down to the Earth's surface, making it hotter than it would otherwise be. This is the greenhouse effect. Carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere over the last 400,000 years show a rise since the industrial revolution. Analysis of ice in a core drilled from an ice sheet such as the Antarctic ice sheet enables scientist to arrive at this conclusion. But since when did humans becoming aware of the potentially adverse effects of Carbon dioxide emissions on the climate? As early as 1827, French polymath Jean-Baptiste Fourier predicts an atmospheric effect eeping the earth warmer than it would otherwise be. He is the first to use a greenhouse analogy. Also in 1957, US oceanographer Roger Revelle warns that humanity is conducting a â€Å"large-scale geophysical experiment† on the planet by releasing greenhouse gases. Colleague David Keeling sets up first continuous monitoring of CO2 levels in the atmosphere. Keeling soon finds a regular year-on-year rise. Over the years, there have been many conferences aimed at finding solutions to climate change or global warming. In 1985 for instance, there was a major international conference on the greenhouse effect at Villach, Austria, which warned that greenhouse gases will â€Å"in the first half of the next century, cause a rise of global mean temperature which is greater than any in man's history. † This could cause sea levels to rise by up to one meter, researchers say. The conference also reports that gases other than carbon dioxide, such as methane, ozone, CFCs and nitrous oxide, also contribute to warming. The world’s nations however have not been united in their quest to curb global warming or climate change. Many nations have been selfish, especially developed ones, seeking first to achieve or maintain economic growth and thus world dominance rather than make the sacrifices needed to reverse the negative trend of climate change. . A revisit to some historical event will help buttress this point. 1995 proved to be the hottest year recorded to date. In March, the Berlin Mandate is agreed by signatories at the first full meeting of the Climate Change Convention in Berlin. Industrialized nations agree on the need to negotiate real cuts in their emissions, to be concluded by the end of 1997. In 1996, at the second meeting of the Climate Change Convention, the US agrees for the first time to legally binding emissions targets and sides with the IPCC against influential skeptical scientists. After a four-year pause, global emissions of CO2 resume their steep climb, and scientists warn that most industrialized countries will not meet Rio agreement to stabilize emissions at 1990 levels by the year 2000. Furthermore, in 1997, Kyoto Protocol agrees legally binding emissions cuts for industrialized nations, averaging 5. 4%, to be met by 2010. The meeting also adopts a series of flexibility measures, allowing countries to meet their targets partly by trading emissions permits, establishing carbon sinks such as forests to soak up emissions, and by investing in other countries. The precise rules are left for further negotiations. Meanwhile, the US government says it will not ratify the agreement unless it sees evidence of â€Å"meaningful participation† in reducing emissions from developing countries. In 2001, the new US president, George W Bush, renounces the Kyoto Protocol because he believes it will damage the US economy. After some hesitation, other nations agree to go ahead without him. Talks in Bonn in July and Marrakech in November finally conclude the fine print of the protocol. Analysts say that loopholes have pegged agreed cuts in emissions from rich-nation signatories to less than a third of the original Kyoto promise. Signatory nations urged to ratify the protocol in their national legislatures in time for it to come into force before the end of 2002. Now let’s talk about a second human behavior that is negatively impacting the climate – deforestation. Deforestation is the permanent destruction of indigenous forests and woodlands by the processes of humans such as logging and/or burning of trees in a forested area. Deforestation occurs because of many reasons: trees or derived charcoal are used as or sold for fuel or a commodity to be used by humans, while cleared land is used by humans as pasture for livestock, plantations of commodities, and settlements. People's removal of trees without sufficient reforestation has resulted in damage to habitat, biodiversity loss and aridity. It has adverse impacts on biosequestration (the capture and storage of the atmospheric greenhouse gas carbon dioxide by biological processes) of atmospheric carbon dioxide. Deforested regions typically incur significant adverse soil erosion and frequently degrade into wasteland. Forests (an area with a high density of trees. ) are the most natural biological formation. They serve many functions. Firstly, forests protect and form other natural resources. Thanks to the processes of photosynthesis, they renew the oxygen stock in the atmosphere by fixing atmospheric carbon dioxide and moderating the greenhouse effect. Forests also allow for the existence of many species of plants and animals, thus protecting diversity of nature and its gene stock. Forests clean the environment by muffling noises, lowering the wind strength as well as stopping dust and gases. They have a regulatory influence on surface water runoff; they moderate high and low temperatures and prevent soil erosion. By performing all of the above listed functions forests stabilize the climate and shape the landscape. Forests create conditions for relaxation, recreation and improvement of health. Only when actively growing can trees or forest remove carbon over an annual or longer timeframe. The decay and burning of wood releases much of this stored carbon back to the atmosphere. In order for forests to take up carbon, the wood must be harvested and turned into long-lived products and trees must be re-planted. Sadly consumer trends indicate the humans like to discard products such as furniture after only a few years of usage and buy new ones, increasing the need for wood and thus deforestation. Reducing emissions from the tropical deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries has emerged as new potential solution to complement ongoing climate policies. The idea consists in providing financial compensations for the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from deforestation and forest degradation†. The earlier these ideas are implemented, the better for us. The hydrological effects on climate as a result of deforestation are even more alarming. The water cycle is probably the most affected by deforestation. Trees extract groundwater through their roots and release it into the atmosphere. When part of a forest is removed, the trees no longer evaporate away this water, resulting in a much drier climate. Already, acute water shortages in countries like Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Palestine and Iraq has resulted in armed conflicts with factions fighting to control the scanty water resources available. Water prices increase too is an indication of global water shortage. In Britain, water and sewage bills increased 67 percent between 1989 and 1995. The rate at which people's services were disconnected rose by 177 percent. Deforestation also contributes to decreased evapotranspiration (the sum of evaporation and plant transpiration from the Earth's land surface to atmosphere), which lessens atmospheric moisture which in some cases affects precipitation levels downwind from the deforested area, as water is not recycled to downwind forests, but is lost in runoff and returns directly to the oceans. According to one preliminary study in deforested north and northwest China, the average annual precipitation decreased by one third between the 1950s and the 1980s. Trees, and plants in general, affect the water cycle significantly: their canopies intercept a proportion of precipitation, which is then evaporated back to the atmosphere (canopy interception); their litter, stems and trunks slow down surface runoff; their roots create macropores – large conduits – in the soil that increase infiltration of ater; they contribute to terrestrial evaporation and reduce soil moisture via transpiration; their litter and other organic residue change soil properties that affect the capacity of soil to store water. Their leaves control the humidity of the atmosphere by transpiration. 99% of the water pulled up by the roots move up to the leaves for transpiration. As a result, the presence or absence of trees can change the quantity of water on the surface, in the soil or groundwater , or in the atmosphere. This in turn changes erosion rates and the availability of water for either ecosystem functions or human services. Tropical rainforests produce about 30% of our planet's fresh water. So what are we waiting for? When will human start acting to reverse these trends? I wish I knew. The third human activity that has contributed to global warming is the use of chlorofluorocarbon. A chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) is an organic compound that contains carbon, chlorine, and fluorine. Many CFCs have been widely used as refrigerants, propellants (in aerosol applications), and solvents. Applications exploit the low toxicity, low reactivity, and low flammability of the CFCs. During World War II, various chloroalkanes were in standard use in military aircraft. After the war they slowly became more common in civil aviation as well. In the 1960s, fluoroalkanes and bromofluoroalkanes became available and were quickly recognized as being highly effective fire-fighting materials. By the late 1960s they were standard in many applications where water and dry-powder extinguishers posed a threat of damage to the protected property, including computer rooms, telecommunications switches, laboratories, museums and art collections. Beginning with warships, in the 1970s, bromofluoroalkanes also progressively came to be associated with rapid knockdown of severe fires in confined spaces with minimal risk to personnel. By the early 1980s, bromofluoroalkanes were in common use on aircraft, ships, and large vehicles as well as in computer facilities and galleries. A planet's climate is decided by its mass, its distance from the sun and the composition of its atmosphere. Earth's atmosphere is 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, and 1% other gases. Carbon dioxide makes up just 0. 03 – 0. 04% with water vapour varying in amount from 0 to 2%. Without the greenhouse gases, Earth's average temperature would be roughly -20 °C. The use of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in machinery and other purposes have resulted in the release of CFCs into the atmosphere which intensifies the heat-trapping properties of the atmosphere as a whole. There is no natural process that release CFCs. In addition, CFCs rise into the upper layer of the atmosphere, the stratosphere, where they destroy the protective layer of ozone, a gas that forms a shield against ultraviolet rays that can harm many forms of life. About l million tons (over 900,000 metric tons) per year of CFCs have been released worldwide since the mid l970s. Demand for refrigeration (which has cooling systems that use CFCs) in developing countries is projected to increase greatly, especially in China and India. Ozone losses in the upper atmosphere are occurring at all latitudes in both hemispheres. The most striking example of ozone loss occurs over the South Pole during September and October. As ozone is lost, the amount of biologically harmful UV-B radiation will increase. Skin cancer rates are expected to increase. Other health effects will likely include an increase in cataracts and suppression of the immune system. Increased UV-B radiation may also harm plants and animals. These CFCs have a global warming potential of up to 11,000 times as strong as carbon dioxide by weight. Unfortunately, millions of products such as refrigerators, air conditioners, fire extinguishers and aerosol cans that contain CFCs are still in use around the world and are nearing the end of their usable lives. The next 10-20 years present a unique one-time opportunity to prevent emissions from these products as they are retired and therefore mitigate ozone damage and global climate change. The damage caused by CFCs was discovered by Sherry Rowland and Mario Molina who, after hearing a lecture on the subject of James Lovelock's work, embarked on research resulting in the first publication suggesting the connection in 1974. It turns out that one of CFCs' most attractive features—their low reactivity— is the key to their most destructive effects. CFCs' lack of reactivity gives them a lifespan that can exceed 100 years, giving them time to diffuse into the upper stratosphere. Once in the stratosphere, the sun's ultraviolet radiation is strong enough to cause the homolytic cleavage of the C-Cl bond. Since the late 1970s, the use of CFCs has been heavily regulated. By 1987, in response to a dramatic seasonal depletion of the ozone layer over Antarctica, diplomats in Montreal forged a treaty, the Montreal Protocol, which called for drastic reductions in the production of CFCs. On March 2, 1989, 12 European Community nations agreed to ban the production of all CFCs by the end of the century. In 1990, diplomats met in London and voted to significantly strengthen the Montreal Protocol by calling for a complete elimination of CFCs by the year 2000. On October 2 2009, the Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) held a briefing about the stockpile of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in old equipment and building infrastructure, and the enormous potential for these potent greenhouse gases to accelerate climate change. These CFC â€Å"banks† store the equivalent of 18 billion tons of carbon dioxide, approximately one-third of which will be emitted over the next decade under business as usual. EESI estimates that the destruction of CFCs could cost $62 -$180 billion globally. No wonder institutions are reluctant to destroy them though they are very much conscious of the effects CFCs are having on our climate. As the evidence shows, we have ourselves to blame for the unfavorable climate in recent history. Our practices are changing the climate and we are conscious of it but still keep on living life as if nothing is at stake. The billions of dollars that we gain from over-exploiting the earth are the same billion we spent on relief for victims of extreme weather. What then do we gain? The U. S. has sustained 96 weather-related disasters over the past 30 years in which overall damages/costs reached or exceeded $1 billion. The total normalized losses for the 96 events exceed $700 billion. Read an instance in the paragraph below. Southwest/Great Plains Drought persists for an entire year in 2009. Drought conditions occurred during much of the year across parts of the Southwest, Great Plains, and southern Texas causing agricultural losses in numerous states (TX, OK, KS, CA, NM, and AZ). The largest agriculture losses occurred in TX and CA. Estimate of over $5. 0 billion in damages/costs. I believe the arguments presented herein are very conclusive. Humans have contributed immensely to climate change and they are paying for it.