Ecology and Technology essays

Ecology and Technology essays Indeed, in my opinion, technology does owe ecology an apology. This is because ecological imbalances were as a result of the Industrial revolution, which could be said to be the beginning of the non-ending technological advancement cycle. During Industrial revolution, we began altering or climate and environment through changing agricultural and industrial practices. Before the industrial revolution, human activity released very few gases into the atmosphere, but now through population growth fossil fuel burning and deforestation, we are affecting the mixture of gases in the air, which in turn affects all other species in the world. The water bodies have been major victims to, and have experienced the whims of technology. They have been used as dumping grounds for all toxic waste waste that is as a result of technological advancement. This has brought about the extinction of some species and has killed many types of marine species. In addition to this, the once beautiful beaches of the world have been scarred with waste. The natural water rivers no longer hold rich ecosystems as before as many of them cannot be able to survive in the harsh conditions. What do anthropogenic greenhouse gases mean? Discuss the anthropogenic greenhouse gases in terms of their potential to cause global warming. Anthropogenic greenhouse gases are those gases that are emitted into the atmosphere and have an adverse effect on the climate. These are gases that are as a result of human activities. Greenhouse gases are the gases trapped inside our atmosphere, which tend to keep the planet earth warm. These gases are carbon dioxide (CO2), water vapor (H2O), nitrous oxide (N2O), methane (CH4), and many chlorofluorocarbons (which will be explained in better detail later). These gases are what warm our planet to livable conditions, and are responsible for life, as we know it on earth. Then one might ask, "What is the problem with these e...

Civil War Essays - Causes Of War, Peace And Conflict Studies

Civil War Essays - Causes Of War, Peace And Conflict Studies Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same nation state or republic, or, less commonly, between two countries created from a formerly united nation state. The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies. Civil wars since the end of World War II have lasted on average just over four years, a dramatic rise from the one-and-a-half year average of the 1900-1944 period. While the rate of emergence of new civil wars has been relatively steady since the mid-19th century, the increasing length of those wars resulted in increasing numbers of wars ongoing at any one time. For example, there were no more than five civil wars underway simultaneously in the first half of the 20th century, while over 20 concurrent civil wars were occurring at the end of the Cold War, before a significant decrease as conflicts strongly associated with the superpower rivalry came to an end. Since 1945, civil wars have resulted in the deaths of over 25 million people, as well as the forced displacement of millions more. Civil wars have further resulted in economic collapse; Burma, Uganda and Angola are examples of nations that were considered to have promising futures before being engulfed in civil wars. Formal classification James Fearon, a scholar of civil wars at Stanford University, defines a civil war as "a violent conflict within a country fought by organized groups that aim to take power at the center or in a region, or to change government policies". The Correlates of War, a dataset widely used by scholars of conflict, classifies civil wars as having over 1000 war-related casualties per year of conflict. This rate is a small fraction of the millions killed in the Second Sudanese Civil War and Cambodian Civil War, for example, but excludes several highly publicized conflicts, such as The Troubles of Northern Ireland and the struggle of the African National Congress in Apartheid-era South Africa. That the Party in revolt against the de jure Government possesses an organized military force, an authority responsible for its acts, acting within a determinate territory and having the means of respecting and ensuring respect for the Convention. That the legal Government is obliged to have recourse to the regular military forces against insurgents organized as military and in possession of a part of the national territory. That the de jure Government has recognized the insurgents as belligerents; or That it has claimed for itself the rights of a belligerent; or That it has accorded the insurgents recognition as belligerents for the purposes only of the present Convention; or That the dispute has been admitted to the agenda of the Security Council or the General Assembly of the United Nations as being a threat to international peace, a breach of the peace, or an act of aggression. That the insurgents have an organization purporting to have the characteristics of a State. That the insurgent civil authority exercises de facto authority over the population within a determinate portion of the national territory. That the armed forces act under the direction of an organized authority and are prepared to observe the ordinary laws of war. That the insurgent civil authority agrees to be bound by the provisions of the Convention. Causes of civil war in the Collier-Hoeffler Model Scholars investigating the cause of civil war are attracted by two opposing theories, greed versus grievance. Roughly stated: are conflicts caused by who people are, whether that be defined in terms of ethnicity, religion or other social affiliation, or do conflicts begin because it is in the economic best interests of individuals and groups to start them? Scholarly analysis supports the conclusion that economic and structural factors are more important than those of identity in predicting occurrences of civil war. A comprehensive studies of civil war was carried out by a team from the World Bank in the early 21st century. The study framework, which came to be called the Collier-Hoeffler Model, examined 78 five-year increments when civil war occurred from 1960 to 1999, as well as 1,167 five-year increments of "no civil war" for comparison, and subjected the data set to regression analysis to see the effect of various factors. The factors that were shown to have

A year of decision for Germany Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

A year of decision for Germany - Essay Example Savage fighting on the eastern front had nearly bled the Wehrmacht white. The Germans’ lightning advance had brought them to the gates of Moscow, where the Red Army delivered a blow that began to turn the tide. The hubris that came in the wake of Germany’s startling early successes now served to delude Hitler and the German High Command at a time when they could least afford to ignore facts. Severe losses, badly stretched supply lines and the Russian winter were proving a deadly combination. â€Å"The opposing armies were exhausted. Yet both continued to overestimate their own strength while underestimating that of their opponents. In the short run, the Soviets paid for the miscalculation; in the long run the Germans paid even more.†Ã‚ ¹ The Resurgent British In the west, after three beleaguered years in which the British were brought to the brink of disaster, 1942 saw the completion of a reorganization that finally had the British Empire’s (Name) 2 militaryforces posed to wage war effectively. The transformation had started from the top, where â€Å"under Churchill’s inspiring leadership, as both prime minister and minister of defense, a carefully articulated hierarchy of committees produced coherent and intelligent policy that translated into effective strategy.†2 The change from Chamberlain’s style of leadership to that of Churchill was remarkable, according to one observer. â€Å"The days of mere ‘coordination’ were over for good and all†¦We were going to get direction, leadership, action with a snap to it.†3 ... direction, leadership, action with a snap to it.†3 One of Churchill’s greatest contributions to the war effort was his wartime diplomacy, which facilitated a vital coordination of military planning among the three new allies: Britain, America and the Soviet Union. Though the tide was beginning to turn in 1942, a collective assessment of the situation among Churchill and his partners led to the realization that the Allies’ land forces were not quite ready to take the field on a broad scale. â€Å"In 1942, even as the skies over Britain brightened immeasurably with the accession of the United States and Russia as allies, the combined Chiefs of Staff agreed that bombing remained vital†¦Ã¢â‚¬ 4 In addition to overwhelming numbers, the alliance produced an unprecedented level of concentration and coordination of power. The Noose Begins to Tighten With the U.S. now officially committed to the war in Europe, the strategic moves (or blunders) that led to Germanyâ⠂¬â„¢s â€Å"year of decision† had come full circle – literally so, because the Third Reich was ringed round by powerful enemies. â€Å"At the beginning of the war’s third year, (Name) 3 the Germans confronted a great worldwide coalition, formidably strengthened by Hitler’s declaration of war on the United States on 11 December 1941.† 5 To make matters worse, the American military leadership decided that Germany would be their first objective, and so the Reich would be the first to bear the full brunt of the Allies’ collective power. â€Å"Despite the fact that war had formally begun for the United States with a devastating Japanese surprise attack in the Pacific, Roosevelt and his allies quickly reaffirmed their commitment to the Germany-first strategy†¦Ã¢â‚¬ 6 This â€Å"Germany First† strategy frustrated whatever