An Eminent Threat to the Planet Essay Example for Free

An Eminent Threat to the Planet Essay Global warming is certainly a danger that threatens our society. While it may not drastically affect this generation, if things keep going as they are, future generations will have to deal with the problems that people are presently causing. Global Warming and Greenhouse Gases Global warming refers to an overall increase in the temperature of the earth. This is due emissions of greenhouse gases, which are essentially pollutants which damage the earth’s ability to maintain itself when they are released into the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide is a particularly common greenhouse gas that is emitted by the activities people all of the time. An overload of these gases prevents the ability of the atmosphere to absorb some of the rays from the sun, as the ozone layer is damaged. Fossil fuels, such as gasoline, diesel, and kerosene release fumes into the atmosphere that damage the atmosphere’s ability to regulate the earth’s temperature by allowing and preventing solar rays from reaching the surface. Climate Change and seal Level Rise Although current climate change is best represented by more extreme temperatures (higher high temperatures in the summer, and lower lows in the winter), ultimately the earth is expected to warm up. Many scientists have hypothesized that within the next century, the earth may warm by up to two degrees Fahrenheit. Although this does not seem like a lot, it could cause the melting of the outer layers of Antarctic ice, which would cause a rise in sea level by up to a few feet over the course of the next century. But the rate of global warming is expected to increase, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. If this occurs, and due to the expansion of Antarctic ice and the melting of some ice caps, sea level could rise by several feet, which would have devastating consequences. Life as we know it would be completely altered by any significant rise in sea level. Because water allows for trade and transportation, most major communities are built close to the coast of continents, rather than the interiors. That being said, if sea level was to rise so much as ten feet, many cities would be completely destroyed. Miami, Florida would have to be evacuated, as would most of the towns within fifty miles of the United States Gulf Coast. Much of the land in the Caribbean would be submerged, as would many islands in the South Pacific, and even some areas in Europe, such as the Netherlands. How Our Current Activities are Causing Global Warming Although exact measurements of the rate of the rise in temperature and thus, sea level are presently immeasurable, the way human beings are living today will certainly ensure that they will be significant. People are causing more emissions of environmentally and atmospherically dangerous gases than ever before, and we do not seem like we are going to stop any time soon. More cars are on the road, more airplanes are in the air, and more boats, including large freighters and barges are in the water than ever before, and as the planet’s population increases, so will the amount and volume of our emissions of dangerous gases. If we intend to hinder global warming in any way, we have to realize that our present course is not environmentally friendly, and it will lead to a rise in temperature (and a greater abundance of pollutants). We need to invest in clean fuels, and even though researching alternatives to our current fuels will be costly, it is well worth it in the long run, because global warming is a fast way to destroy our planet. References U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Climate Change: Greenhouse Gas Emissions. 2009. http://www. epa. gov/climatechange/emissions/index. html U. S. Department of State. Climate Change and Overview. 2009. http://www. state. gov/g/oes/rls/rpts/car/90312. htm

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Iowa State University has a record breaking number of students enrolled for the 2013 school year. With such a boom in new students, ISU has to find a place to house these students. Housing development companies like Breckenridge Land Acquisition of Texas have taken on the daunting task of building new student housing in Ames. Breckenridge has run into several roadblocks that have delayed building. These delays mean that prospective students like George Johnson of Sioux City, IA are still being turned away due to housing constraints. â€Å"I was ecstatic when I was accepted into Iowa State, but when they said they couldn’t get my housing in order for the school year I had to find somewhere else to go,† Johnson said. ISU reached its fifth consecutive year of growth with 33,241 students attending. That’s a 2,201 student increase just from last year. A problem arises with this booming population of students. Iowa State University has too many students that it can’t house. ISU has utilized other housing developments around Ames, such as Legacy apartments in Campustown, and Maricopa apartments in West Ames, to help with the overflow. Even with all of the new acquired properties added in to ISU’s housing, there is still a need for student housing on and off campus. Companies like Breckenridge offer a solution to this problem. Breckenridge is a subdivision of Aspen Heights, a developer of duplex and Craftsmen style townhomes. Breckenridge representatives purchased 48 acres of property on what used to be the old Ames Middle School. The property sold at auction for $2.3 million last December. Their proposed plan for building on the land could house up to 900 students. Their plan has caused a great deal of controversy in the area... ...as steadily decreased since 2000. According to the Ames Chamber of Commerce, Ames High School enrollment has dropped from 1695 students in 2000 to 1495 in 2012. Former member of Ames School Board Patricia Brown said, â€Å"We want families to get kids into the school system so that we can support our Ames schools.† So what does this mean for Iowa State students? No new development can begin on the property until the lawsuit comes to a close. Also, without the proper zoning regulations amended, Breckenridge cannot develop any new land on the property. This means no new student housing on the land for the foreseeable future. This means that students like George Johnson may find that they have nowhere to go. â€Å"It was a major setback. I’m taking classes at DMACC at the moment, but hopefully I can get my housing situation figured out by next year,† said George Johnson.

Ray Bradbury’s Predictions in Fahrenheit 451 Essay

As we all know, Ray Bradbury, Author of Fahrenheit 451, made many predictions as to what this day and age would be like. He was right in many cases including speed, entertainment, and the mindlessness of people. He predicted that nobody would speak more than a couple of words at a time to a certain person. That makes the people seem mindless because they don’t talk or ask questions. Ray also predicted that people would drive by places so fast that the y don’t even know what they passed. That has not quite happened in out tome yet, but I believe it is coming. One of the final things that Bradbury talks about in his book is entertainment, slowly but surely, people are starting to stay indoors and do such activities so they don’t have to go outside. Being obsessed with entertainment, which is probably the most obvious aspect of this book, is very important in our world and Montag’s made up society. The characters rarely have friends, and if they do, they just go over each other’s houses to watch television. Bradbury makes this clear when Mildred says to Montag, â€Å"I went to Helen’s last night† (50). He replies by saying, â€Å"Couldn’t you get the shows in your own parlor† (50). She says, â€Å"Sure, but it’s nice visiting† (50). In that statement she clarifies that the only reason she goes over friend’s houses is to watch television, not to talk, eat, or go outside and have a good time. An example of someone who is not obsessed with entertainment is Clarisse, the 17 year old girl who is â€Å"different† from everyone else because she enjoyed life. She enjoyed smelling flowers, walking in the rain, and getting into deep conversations with people. Clarisse thinks that all people ever do is watch the â€Å"Parlor Walls,† go to the races, and amusement parks. Our society is turning out to be like that, we have to stop it before it’s too late. A couple of years ago, family used to go to amusement parks as a treat every once in a while, now a days we have people that go almost every other day. Speed plays a very large role in the book Fahrenheit 451. People in their society were completely obsessed with speed; they increased the size of billboards to two hundred feet long so that the advertisement would last as the people rushed by it. Clarisse says, â€Å"My uncle drove slowly on a highway once; He drove forty miles an hour and they jailed him for two days† (9).  Clarisse also says that if you showed a truck driver a green blur, he will tell you that it’s grass. Second, if you show a truck driver and pink blur, he will tell you that it is a rose garden. Third, if you show a truck driver a white blur, he will say that it is a house. Finally, if you show a truck driver a brown blur, he will tell you that it is a cow. Towards the end of the book, Clarisse was suspected to have been hit by a speeding car and killed. That proves that people don’t slow down for anything and speed is a major part in Montag’s world. In our society, people are starting to get more and more speeding tickets. The police are really cracking down on people going over the speed limit. People are constantly on the move, going fast to get more done. People are now making microwavable dinners, eating on the run, and many are resorting to eating fast food. They know that it is not good for you but they eat it anyway because it is fast, and it keeps them going at the pace, they want to keep their lives going at. Cars these days are getting faster and faster, you pay a little bit more and get a BMW or a Porsche, just to keep up the speed that all of us think we have to stay at. People in both Montag’s society and our society today are very mindless. In Montag’s society, all people do is watching the â€Å"parlor walls.† You are considered odd or weird if you enjoy talking, asking questions, or enjoying things in nature. Clarisse if one of those people that Montag’s society considers to be odd. She loves to ask questions and get into deep conversations with people; in fact her whole family is like that. Even when Montag first meets her, he is very amazed by how â€Å"weird† she is. Guy looks at Clarisse and laughs when she tells him that fireman actually used to stop fires that started by accident. She asks him if he ever reads any of the books that he is told to burn. He turns to her and yells, â€Å"That’s against the law! (8)† That is the point at which Guy really starts to wonder about books and why they are burning them. Mildred is one of the people in the made up world that is very mindless. She  always watches her parlor walls and has friends over to just watch with her, they never talk or anything which proves to me that she is very mindless. In our world, technology is getting to the point where we don’t have to leave our houses very much. That is scary because I am afraid that we are going to turn out just like Bradbury predicted. This story is coming true and there is very few things that we can do about it. Speed, entertainment, and mindlessness of people are starting to come true in our world today. It is surprising that Bradbury could make so many predictions so many years ago and have them be so accurate. Overall Ray Bradbury is a very good author that catches the attention of his readers by telling them what things will be like in the future. I certainly hope that all of these negative things that Bradbury predicted will not become any truer as time progresses.

The Great Awakening Events were the Stages of Religious...

The great awakening events were several stages of the religious life of the United States. We identify four stages which are characterized by a Protestant claim plus interest in the religion, higher members of the evangelical churches as well as religious movements. Notably, the great awakening to refer to different periods of great religious expansion in Protestant Christianity in the United States. One of the forerunners of the great awakening was his pioneering Edwards, but like all religious revival is no doubt that this originated in both the social and emotional events of his time and place as the reaction progress of materialism in the colonial culture . The great awakening was like a revolution for change and profess religious revival in which the sanctity of religion is defended and transmitting a religious revival across the population. The First Great Awakening began in the 1730s. Edwards was involved in revivals and the ministers of various evangelical Protestant denominations choose to support this cause. The first awakening was a role played an important role in the democratic thought of the same way of believing freedom of information should be shared fully and without control. So this awakening that represent first African-American to accept Christianity which was desire of Anglican missionaries. This cause sought greater emotional response congregations and his saving grace. The First Great Awakening American spiritual movement would lead to nationalShow MoreRelatedThe Equitable Change Of The Voting And Race Laws1599 Words   |  7 Pageschange of the voting and race laws, widening the suffrage and equivalent rights for every single white male, were consistent augmentations of the belief system of the American Revolution. These rights, be that as it may, were not stretched out to ladies or free dark individ uals. 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