«This report explores the recent issue of climate change. It will outline the key elements that make climate change an important issue politically. It will focus on how the issue of climate change is being addressed by both the Australian Labor and...» Document abstract
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Language : english
ecology & environment
presentation
date published
29/04/2008
review : not yet assessed
level : General public
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SummaryThis report explores the recent issue of climate change. It will outline the key elements that make climate change an important issue politically. It will focus on how the issue of climate change is being addressed by both the Australian Labor and Liberal Parties.Climate Change has recently become an important issue for the Australian community. For many years, scientists have gone to great lengths to express the impending threat of climate change. These attempts have mostly been unnoticed by the population but recently the real dangers of climate change have become a serious issue for the community
«In the late days of August 2005, forecasters and meteorologists closely watched a storm soon to be named Katrina brewing in the Gulf of Mexico. Like many other infamous hurricanes of similar magnitude, the tropical storm began rather quietly and...» Document abstract
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5 word format
Language : english
ecology & environment
case study
date published
28/04/2008
review : not yet assessed
level : Advanced
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SummaryIn the late days of August 2005, forecasters and meteorologists closely watched a storm soon to be named Katrina brewing in the Gulf of Mexico. Like many other infamous hurricanes of similar magnitude, the tropical storm began rather quietly and only caused initial high winds and some tangential storms off the Florida coast. But after coming ashore in Florida on August 27, the National Weather Service advised that the Gulf coast along Louisiana and Mississippi should prepare for the worst, fearing that the storm, after returning to the Gulf, would again pick up speed and head for more vulnerable areas (Knabb 2). They were right. Mere days later, a storm surge ravaged the coast of Mississippi and Louisiana unlike any in recent history. New Orleans, protected from the Gulf by doomed-to-fail levees in many lower income parts of the historic city, was violently attacked by gusting winds and heavy rain, and areas near the levees were completely destroyed by the hurricane’s floodwaters when the weak barricades collapsed. Wiping out entire neighborhoods and city boroughs, Katrina’s wrath left New Orleans under several feet of water and made damage incalculable for days and weeks after the terror had begun. Countless city residents were left homeless and without temporary shelter less despite the mandatory and volunteer evacuation efforts that had begun before the storm came ashore. Disease spread through the area as mold and rodents soon took to the damp environment (Cooper 54). Further exploiting the tragedy, scenes of helpless people clinging to trees and living on their rooftops for days became regular B-roll footage for cable news stations, as did disturbing reports and imagery of accumulating dead bodies floating through the flooded city (Roig-Franzia).
«Facing increasing concerns about protecting the environment, the government has enacted the Healthy Forests Restoration Act in 2003 to help control wildfires. However, there has been some speculation that "thinning" forests is actually a ruse for...» Document abstract
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4 pages word
Language : english
ecology & environment
presentation
date published
11/02/2008
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level : Advanced
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SummaryFacing increasing concerns about protecting the environment, the government has enacted the Healthy Forests Restoration Act in 2003 to help control wildfires. However, there has been some speculation that "thinning" forests is actually a ruse for timber companies to cut down more trees. In order to answer these questions, one must look to the origins and aftermath of this act.
When President Bush signed the restoration act on December 3, 2003, the White House asserted its pledge to reduce the dangers of wildfires while simultaneously maintaining important environmental standards and allowing for open public commentary and inclusion during the planning process. (Whitehouse.gov) The administration pointed out the need for common sense forest legislation, because of the increasing number of catastrophic fires occurring in states like California, Arizona, Colorado, Montana and Oregon. These fires are burning hotter and faster than before in addition to reducing the air quality and visibility in the environment. Not only is peoples’ health being threatened, but the natural habitats and homes for wildlife have been utterly decimated.
When President Bush signed the restoration act on December 3, 2003, the White House asserted its pledge to reduce the dangers of wildfires while simultaneously maintaining important environmental standards and allowing for open public commentary and inclusion during the planning process. (Whitehouse.gov) The administration pointed out the need for common sense forest legislation, because of the increasing number of catastrophic fires occurring in states like California, Arizona, Colorado, Montana and Oregon. These fires are burning hotter and faster than before in addition to reducing the air quality and visibility in the environment. Not only is peoples’ health being threatened, but the natural habitats and homes for wildlife have been utterly decimated.
«The emphasis placed on environmental protection has steadily dwindled throughout history; today we find ourselves surrounded by cancer-causing products, gas-guzzling SUVs, dramatically shrunken forests and the impending doom of global warming....» Document abstract
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3 word format
Language : english
ecology & environment
school essay
date published
19/12/2007
review : not yet assessed
level : General public
requested 1 times
SummaryThe emphasis placed on environmental protection has steadily dwindled throughout history; today we find ourselves surrounded by cancer-causing products, gas-guzzling SUVs, dramatically shrunken forests and the impending doom of global warming. Citizens everywhere are playing the ignorance card, saying they never heard of these problems before and now it is too late for them to contribute in any way. However, if we consult women like Marge Piercy, Rachel Carson, and Octavia Butler, this threat is older than we may allow ourselves to believe. Their respective works, “The Common Living Dirt,” “The Obligation to Endure,” and “Imago,” all contain themes or warnings about the potential cataclysmic destruction that will occur if we as a people, a society, and a planet continue to disregard the flagrant warning signs Mother Nature is sending. However, humans, Americans in particular, are already too cemented in their gluttonous ways, hinging on selfishness, to save the planet, and consequently, themselves.
«Ever since modern humans have formed a cohesive society, they have slowly removed themselves from being manipulated by their surroundings, to being in direct control of the surrounding environment. One form of this control is the use of pesticides...» Document abstract
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3 word format
Language : english
ecology & environment
school essay
date published
18/12/2007
review : not yet assessed
level : General public
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SummaryEver since modern humans have formed a cohesive society, they have slowly removed themselves from being manipulated by their surroundings, to being in direct control of the surrounding environment. One form of this control is the use of pesticides to keep crops, and various locations free of insects, some of which are carriers of disease. While humans are rampantly using these pesticides and insecticides, many remain blissfully unaware of the longterm effects and harm which said pesticides can wreak upon the environment. While many believe that these effects are irrevocable, there are those who do believe that change can be made. Only through education can humanity eventually repair the damage caused to earth.
«The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the Endangered Species Act (ESA) are two important environmental statutes passed by Congress to help preserve the earth and its resources for future generations. Under these statutes, governmental...» Document abstract
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8 word format
Language : english
ecology & environment
presentation
date published
07/12/2007
review : not yet assessed
level : Advanced
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SummaryThe National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the Endangered Species Act (ESA) are two important environmental statutes passed by Congress to help preserve the earth and its resources for future generations. Under these statutes, governmental agencies are required to determine how their actions will affect the environment and take steps to mitigate any harm they may cause. In Heartwood, the Eighth Circuit considered whether the United States Forest Service had met its obligation to the environment and the endangered Indiana bat. This note discusses the court’s analysis of that obligation and what that discussion means for federal agencies in the future.
«In March 2005, the UN released its Millennium Ecosystem Assessment , the first comprehensive scientific audit of the state of the planet. Completed over four years by 2,000 experts, the survey demonstrates that economic activity has destroyed 60%...» Document abstract
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29 word format
Language : english
ecology & environment
term papers
date published
12/02/2007
review : not yet assessed
level : Advanced
requested 87 times
SummaryIn March 2005, the UN released its Millennium Ecosystem Assessment , the first comprehensive scientific audit of the state of the planet. Completed over four years by 2,000 experts, the survey demonstrates that economic activity has destroyed 60% of the Earth’s life-supporting ecosystems, threatening humanity’s ability to sustain its standards of living. Thus, even though the Industrial Revolution has brought about a tremendous rise in the standards of living of most in the Western World, and although globalization is spreading this wealth to an increasing number of people in the developing world, a growing number of worrisome environmental trends suggest that our current economic model is not sustainable in the medium- to short- run.
Faced with this diagnostic, environmentalists have traditionally argued that we need to put a halt on economic growth. This did not prove very popular in developed countries, where as Mr. Bush Sr. once put it “the American way of life is not on the table”, nor in developing countries, where economic growth is badly needed to lift billions out of poverty. For these reasons, the concept of eco-efficiency emerged as a way to reduce the environmental footprint of economic development. The idea was that by generating more production from smaller quantities of raw materials and energy, all the while generating less waste, an eco-efficient business model would inflict a lesser strain on the planet. While more politically acceptable, this view does not make our current model sustainable. It merely pushes back the time when mankind will run into serious environmental, and hence economic and societal, problems.
Fortunately, a new way of thinking about the relationship between the economy and the environment has emerged. With the Cradle-to-Cradle design protocol, architect Bill McDonough and chemist Michael Braungart are crafting an economic model that, by mimicking natural ecosystems, will allow us to thrive while restoring, not destroying, the planet.
Faced with this diagnostic, environmentalists have traditionally argued that we need to put a halt on economic growth. This did not prove very popular in developed countries, where as Mr. Bush Sr. once put it “the American way of life is not on the table”, nor in developing countries, where economic growth is badly needed to lift billions out of poverty. For these reasons, the concept of eco-efficiency emerged as a way to reduce the environmental footprint of economic development. The idea was that by generating more production from smaller quantities of raw materials and energy, all the while generating less waste, an eco-efficient business model would inflict a lesser strain on the planet. While more politically acceptable, this view does not make our current model sustainable. It merely pushes back the time when mankind will run into serious environmental, and hence economic and societal, problems.
Fortunately, a new way of thinking about the relationship between the economy and the environment has emerged. With the Cradle-to-Cradle design protocol, architect Bill McDonough and chemist Michael Braungart are crafting an economic model that, by mimicking natural ecosystems, will allow us to thrive while restoring, not destroying, the planet.
Table of Contents- Why our current economic model is unsustainable
- Why eco-efficiency alone is not the solution
- How C2C draws on nature to fix our model
- How to apply C2C to product design
- C2C in action: Herman Miller and the Mirra' Chair
- C2C: the next industrial revolution?
- Exhibits
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