Thursday, 14 November 2013

Critical Reflection (Final)

Essay writing has always been a part of my academic journey. In an essay, ideas presented are based on a main topic and are supported by evidence. In the process of essay writing, I learnt to improve on my English and ways to develop my points. The skills of writing a good essay are especially important in my faculty, the Faculty of Arts and Social Science, as I am often required to write essays.

At the start of the course, I was unfamiliar with the structure of an academic essay and how to develop a point sufficiently; my usage of tenses was also weak. With the help provided in the course, I was exposed to the correct usage of English, and I learnt to avoid mistakes in my writing by reading repeatedly to check for errors and approaching my friends for peer review. Although my writing is still not perfect, I am making fewer mistakes now as compared to at the start of the course. The course has allowed me to learn the correct usage of tenses, such as summarizing and paraphrasing sentences, and these skills have helped me in the process of essay writing. I can further improve on my writing skills by familiarizing myself with the notes in the course through memorizing, and remembering it. This can allow me to reduce my errors in essay writing. I can also read more widely to be exposed to writings of others, and learnt through analyzing their ways of writing and usage of English.

In conclusion, this course has allowed me to improve on my writing skills through lessons such as learning of tenses, summarizing and paraphrasing. I can further improve by memorizing the usage of English and reading more academic writings in the future.

Critical Reflection (2)

At the start of the course, I was unfamiliar with the structure of an academic essay and how to develop a point sufficiently; my usage of tenses was also weak. With the help provided in the course, I was exposed to the correct usage of English, and I learnt to avoid mistakes in my writing by reading repeatedly to check for errors and approaching my friends for peer review. Although my writing is still not perfect, I am making fewer mistakes now as compared to at the start of the course. The course has allowed me to learn the correct usage of tenses, such as summarizing and paraphrasing sentences, and these skills have helped me in the process of essay writing. I can further improve on my essay writing skills by familiarizing myself with the notes in the course through memorizing the correct usage, and remembering it. This can allow me to reduce my errors in essay writing. I can also read more widely to be exposed to writings of others, and learnt through analyzing their ways of writing and usage of English.

In conclusion, this course has allowed me to improve on English and my writing skills through lessons such as learning of tenses, summarizing and paraphrasing. I can further improve by memorizing the usage of English and reading more academic writings in the future.

Thursday, 7 November 2013

Critical Reflection (Draft 1)

Essay writing has always been a part of my academic journey. In an essay, ideas presented are based on a main topic and are supported by evidence. In the process of essay writing, I learnt of the ways to improve on my English and ways to develop my points. The skills of writing a good essay are especially important in my faculty, the Faculty of Arts and Social Science, as I am often required to write essays for the modules that I am taking.

At the start of the course, I was unfamiliar with the structure of an academic essay and how to develop a point sufficiently. At the same time, my usage of tenses was weak. With the help provided in the course, I was exposed to the correct usage of English, and I learnt to avoid mistakes in my writing by reading repeatedly to check for errors and approaching my friends for peer review. Although my writing is still not perfect, I am making lesser mistakes now as compared to at the start of the course. This course has allowed me to learn the correct usage of tenses, such as summarizing and paraphrasing sentences, and these skills have helped me in the process of essay writing. I can further improve on my essay writing skills by familiarizing myself with the notes in the course, and remember the correct usage of English. This can allow me to reduce my errors in essay writings. I can also read more widely to be exposed to writings of others, and learn from others.

In conclusion, this course has allowed me to improve on English and my writing skills through lessons such as learning of tenses, summarizing and paraphrasing. I can further improve by familiarizing myself with the skills and reading more widely in the future.

Sunday, 3 November 2013

Globalization Essay (Final)

Globalization refers to the free flow of goods, services and capital across countries. It has increased the accessibility of goods from all around the world, encouraging consumption, but has also led to environmental problems such as worsening global warming which refers to an increase in the average global temperatures, due to a rise in the emission of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide. It is crucial for solutions such as signing of international agreements and participation in carbon reduction programs to be implemented to alleviate the problems caused by global warming to contain the situation.

With globalization, there has been a rise in the demand of goods, leading to an increase in the resources needed to meet the needs of the consumers, increasing the amount of carbon emissions due to human activities. The increased logging activities to meet the demand leads to climate change, worsening global warming as fewer trees are available to absorb greenhouse gases (Szalay, 2013). Another aspect that worsens the situation is due to the transportation of goods. It is thought to considerably contribute to global warming via emissions from planes, ships and other vehicles. Shipping is responsible for 3.5% to 4% of all climate change emissions (Vidal, 2009). Thus, globalization helps to attribute to global warming through deforestation and the transportation of goods.

The signing of agreements between nations is one way to alleviate the problem of worsening global warming. One example is the Kyoto Protocol. It was the first agreement between nations to mandate country-by-country reductions in greenhouse gases emission, and it went into force in February 2005 (Kyoto Protocol, 2013). Under Kyoto, industrialized nations pledged to cut their yearly emissions of carbon by an average of 5.2% by 2012. However, the effectiveness was limited. For instance, the United States did not agree to the treaty as China and other developing nations did not agree to limit their emissions (Schiermeier, 2012). However, the treaty does not include the developing countries (Huwart, 2013), even though it has been proven that developing countries can also contribute to a high amount of emissions. For instance, China has resulted in an increase in global carbon emissions to a record high in 2012 (Chestney, 2013). The world’s biggest emitters, the United States and China have emitted enough greenhouse gases to erase all the reductions made by other countries. This shows the importance for developed and developing countries to understand that all has a part to play in reducing carbon emission and to weigh the importance between economic development and protection of the environment to ameliorate the problem of global warming. As long as nations continue to value profits over the environment, the effectiveness of international agreements is limited. It may be more effective if countries are given incentives for following the agreements to encourage nations to sign the agreements.

Another possible solution is through participating in programs to reduce carbon emissions such as the United Nation’s Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (UN-REDD) program. It aims to reduce emissions by providing incentives to people who maintain rather than reduce forest cover (Clark, 2012). Once deforestation has been proven to be lowered, nations that participate in the program can claim and sell carbon pollution credits. After adopting UN-REDD, there has been a significant slowing in deforestation by 40% in Brazil which aims to achieve reduction of 80% by 2020 (Vale, 2012). However, effectiveness is limited. The problem of corruption hinders the protection plan due to signs of massive fraud, bribery and informal deals around the world (Vidal, 2010). Often, developing countries traded land for funds with rich countries, so that they can have more funds for development, while multinational corporations move to developing countries to avoid strict environment rules (Vidal, 2010). Another problem faced is the refusal of developing countries to adopt the program. Some indigenous groups have rejected the plan as they view it as an attempt to colonize them, such as the indigenous people in Panama (Tuckman, 2013). In response to the problems, laws can be designed to tackle with the corruption and informal deals while the indigenous group can be educated to be aware of the benefits of the program to maximize the effectiveness of the solution.

In conclusion, globalization has brought about many benefits such as the increase in the variety of goods and services and improvements in technology. However, it has also caused problems such as the worsening of global warming. Some solutions to alleviate the problem are international agreements and carbon reduction programs. Who should be responsible for this problem? Is it the developed nations or the developing nations; the government or the people? The roles for different parties in ameliorating this problem are different, and it is important for everyone to be responsible for the environment so that the solutions can be effective.

References

Kyoto Protocol. (2013). Retrieved from United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change: http://unfccc.int/kyoto_protocol/items/2830.php

Chestney, N. (2013, June 10). Global carbon emission hit record high in 2012. Retrieved from Reuters: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/10/us-iea-emissions-idUSBRE95908S20130610

Duncan Clark, G. R. (2012, December 19). What's Redd and will it help tackle climate change? Retrieved from The Guardian: http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2012/dec/19/what-is-redd-climate-change-deforestation

Huwart, J.-Y. a. (2013). What is the impact of Globalisation on the Environment. Retrieved from Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development: http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/economics/economic-globalisation/what-is-the-impact-of-globalisation-on-the-environment_9789264111905-8-en

Mitchell Vale, H. (2012, November 13). Deforestation and Its Extreme Effect on Global Warming. Retrieved from Scientific American: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=deforestation-and-global-warming

Schiermeier, Q. (2012, November 28). The Kyoto Protol: Hot Air. Retrieved from Nature: http://www.nature.com/news/the-kyoto-protocol-hot-air-1.11882

Szalay, J. (2013, March 6). Deforestation: Fatcs, Causes & Effects. Retrieved from Live Science: http://www.livescience.com/27692-deforestation.html

Tuckman, J. (2013, May 24). Panama's indigenous people see Redd over UN forest conservation scheme. Retrieved from The Guardian: http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2013/may/24/panama-indigenous-people-un-forest-conservation

Vidal, J. (2009, April 9). Health risks of shipping pollution have been 'underestimated'. Retrieved from The Guardian: http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2009/apr/09/shipping-pollution

Vidal, J. (2010, October 27). Massive corruption undermines forest protection plan. Retrieved from The Guardian: http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/poverty-matters/2010/oct/27/corruption-undermines-forest-protection-plan

Thursday, 17 October 2013

Globlization Essay (Draft 1)(2nd)

Globalization refers to the free flow of goods, services and capital across countries. It has increased the accessibility of goods from all around the world, encouraging consumption, but has also leads to problems on the environment such as worsening global warming. It refers to an increase in the average global temperatures, primarily due to a rise in the emission of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide. It is crucial for solutions to be implemented to alleviate the problems caused by global warming to contain the situation. Some solutions that have been implemented to tackle this problem are the signing of international agreement and participation in carbon reduction program.

With globalization, there has been a rise in the demand of goods, leading to an increase in the resources needed to meet the demands of the consumers, increasing the carbon footprints of human activities on the environment. The increased logging activities to meet the demand leads to climate change, worsening global warming as fewer trees are available to absorb greenhouse gases (Szalay, 2013). Another aspect of globalization that worsens global warming is the transportation of goods. It is thought to considerably contribute to global warming via emission from planes, ships and other transportation vehicles. Shipping is responsible for 3.5% to 4% of all climate change emissions (Vidal, 2009). Thus, globalization attribute to global warming through deforestation and transportation of goods.

The signing of agreements between nations is one way to alleviate the problem of worsening global warming. One example is the Kyoto Protocol. It was the first agreement between nations to mandate country-by-country reductions in greenhouse gases emission, and it went into force in February 2005 (Kyoto Protocol, 2013). Under Kyoto, industrialized nations pledged to cut their yearly emissions of carbon by an average of 5.2% by 2012. However, the effectiveness is limited. The United States did not agree to the treaty as China and other developing nations did not agree to limit their emissions (Schiermeier, 2012). Furthermore, the treaty does not require the developing countries to reduce their emission (Huwart, 2013). However, it has been proven that developing countries can also contribute to a high amount of emissions. For instance, China has led to a rise in global carbon emissions to a record high in 2012 (Chestney, 2013). The world’s biggest emitters, the United States and China have emitted enough greenhouse gases to erase all the reductions made by other countries. This shows the importance of differentiating the roles of developed and developing nations in reducing carbon emissions, and to weigh the importance between economic development and protection of the environment to ameliorate the problem of global warming. As long as nations continue to value profits over environment, the effectiveness of international agreement is limited. It will be more effective for nations to realize the seriousness of the situation and voluntarily commit to change.

Another possible solution is through the participation of program to reduce carbon emissions such as United Nation’s Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (UN-REDD) program. It aims to reduce emissions by providing incentives to people who maintain rather than reduce forest cover (Duncan Clark, 2012). Once deforestation has been proven to be lowered, nations that participate in the program can claim and sell carbon pollution credits. There has been a significant slowing in deforestation by 40% in Brazil after adopting UN-REDD, and Brazil aims to achieve reduction of 80% by 2020 (Mitchell Vale, 2012). However, the effectiveness is limited. The problem of corruption hinders the protection plan of forest due to signs of massive fraud, bribery and informal deals around the world (Vidal, 2010). Developing countries traded land for funds with rich countries, so that they can have more funds for development, while multinational corporations move to developing countries to avoid strict environment rules. Another problem faced is the refusal of developing countries to adopt the program. Some indigenous groups have rejected the plan as they view it as an attempt to colonize them, such as the indigenous people in Panama (Tuckman, 2013). Political regulations and education can work together to alleviate the problems, so as to maximize the effectiveness of the problem.

Globalization has brought about many benefits such as the increase in variety of goods and services and improvement in technology. However, it has also caused problems such as worsening of global warming. Some solutions to alleviate the problem include international agreement and carbon reduction program. Who should be responsible for this problem? Is it the developed nations or the developing nations; the government or the people? The roles for different parties to ameliorate this problem are different, and it is important for everyone to feel responsible for the environment for the solutions to be effective.

References

Kyoto Protocol. (2013). Retrieved from United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change: http://unfccc.int/kyoto_protocol/items/2830.php

Chestney, N. (2013, June 10). Global carbon emission hit record high in 2012. Retrieved from Reuters: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/10/us-iea-emissions-idUSBRE95908S20130610

Schiermeier, Q. (2012, November 28). The Kyoto Protol: Hot Air. Retrieved from Nature: http://www.nature.com/news/the-kyoto-protocol-hot-air-1.11882

Szalay, J. (2013, March 6). Deforestation: Fatcs, Causes & Effects. Retrieved from Live Science: http://www.livescience.com/27692-deforestation.html

Vidal, J. (2009, April 9). Health risks of shipping pollution have been 'underestimated'. Retrieved from The Guardian: http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2009/apr/09/shipping-pollution

Tuesday, 15 October 2013

Globalization Essay (Draft 1)

Globalization refers to the free flow of goods, services and capital across countries. It has increased the accessibility of goods from all around the world, encouraging consumption, but has also leads to problems on the environment such as worsening global warming. It refers to an increase in the average global temperatures, primarily due to a rise in the emission of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide. It is crucial for solutions to be implemented to alleviate the problems caused by global warming in order for the situation to be contained. Some solutions that have been implemented to tackle the problem of global warming are the signing of international agreement and participation in carbon reduction program.

With globalization, there has been a rise in the demand of goods, leading to an increase in the resources needed to meet the demands of the consumers, increasing the carbon footprints of human activities on the environment. The increased logging activities to meet the demand leads to climate change, worsening global warming as fewer trees are available to absorb greenhouse gases (Szalay, 2013). Another aspect of globalization that worsens global warming is the transportation of goods. It is thought to considerably contribute to global warming via emission from planes, ships and other transportation vehicles. Shipping is also responsible for 3.5% to 4% of all climate change emissions (Vidal, Health risks of shipping pollution have been 'underestimated', 2009). Thus, globalization attribute to global warming through deforestation and transportation of goods.

The signing of agreements between nations is one way to alleviate the problem of worsening global warming. One example is the Kyoto Protocol. It was the first agreement between nations to mandate country-by-country reductions in greenhouse gases emission, and it went into force in February 2005 (Kyoto Protocol, 2013). Under Kyoto, industrialized nations pledged to cut their yearly emissions of carbon by an average of 5.2% by 2012. However, the effectiveness of Kyoto is limited. The United States did not agree to the treaty as China and other developing nations did not agree to limit their emissions (Schiermeier, 2012). Furthermore, the treaty does not require the developing countries to reduce their emission (Huwart, 2013). However, it has been proven that developing countries can also contribute to a high amount of emissions. For instance, China has led to a rise in global carbon emissions to a record high in 2012 (Chestney, 2013). The world’s biggest emitters, the United States and China have emitted enough greenhouse gases to erase all the reductions made by other countries. It is important to differentiate the roles of developed and developing nations in reducing carbon emissions, and to weigh the importance between economic development and protection of the environment to ameliorate the problem of global warming. As long as nations continue to value profits over environment, the effectiveness of international agreement is limited. It will be more effective for nations to realize the seriousness of the situation and voluntarily commit to change.

Another possible solution is through the participation of program to reduce carbon emissions such as United Nation’s Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (UN-REDD) program. It aims to reduce emissions by providing incentives to people who maintain rather than reduce forest cover (Duncan Clark, 2012). Once deforestation has been proven to be lowered, nations that participate in the program can claim and sell carbon pollution credits. There has been a significant slowing in deforestation by 40% in Brazil after adopting UN-REDD, and Brazil aimed to achieve reduction of 80% by 2020 (Mitchell Vale, 2012). However, the effectiveness is limited. The problem of corruption hinders the protection plan of forest due to signs of massive fraud, bribery and informal deals around the world (Vidal, 2010). Developing countries traded land for funds with rich countries, so that they can have more funds for development, while multinational corporations move to developing countries to avoid strict environment rules. Another problem faced is the refusal of developing countries to adopt the program. Some indigenous groups have rejected the plan as they view it as an attempt to colonize them, such as the indigenous people in Panama (Tuckman, 2013). Political regulations and education can work together to alleviate the problems, so as to maximize the effectiveness of the problem.

Globalization has brought about many benefits such as the increase in variety of goods and services and improvement in technology. However, it has also caused many problems such as worsening of global warming. Some solutions to alleviate the problem include international agreement and participating in programs that reduce carbon emissions. Who should be responsible for this problem? Is it the developed nations or the developing nations; the government or the people? The roles for different parties to ameliorate this problem are different, and it is important for everyone to feel responsible for the environment for the solutions to be effective.

References

Kyoto Protocol. (2013). Retrieved from United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change: http://unfccc.int/kyoto_protocol/items/2830.php

Chestney, N. (2013, June 10). Global carbon emission hit record high in 2012. Retrieved from Reuters: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/10/us-iea-emissions-idUSBRE95908S20130610

Schiermeier, Q. (2012, November 28). The Kyoto Protol: Hot Air. Retrieved from Nature: http://www.nature.com/news/the-kyoto-protocol-hot-air-1.11882

Szalay, J. (2013, March 6). Deforestation: Fatcs, Causes & Effects. Retrieved from Live Science: http://www.livescience.com/27692-deforestation.html

Vidal, J. (2009, April 9). Health risks of shipping pollution have been 'underestimated'. Retrieved from The Guardian: http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2009/apr/09/shipping-pollution

Saturday, 21 September 2013

Reader Response

In The Double Edge of Globalization written by Chanda (2007), he discussed how globalization has led to both positive and negative impacts on the environment. Globalization has brought about economic growth, but has also resulted in environmental issues such as global warming at the same time. According to Chanda, the actions taken to resolve the problem of global warming are inefficient due to the unwillingness of key actors in the world to solve the problem.

I think that globalization is just one of the factors that contribute to the problem of global warming. The most important factor for the worsening problem of global warming is due to the countries viewing profit over environment.

Through globalization, there is a transfer of goods and services, increasing the variety of goods available to the consumers. This has led to a rise in the demand of good, increasing the resources needed to cater to the demands. As a result, there is a rise in logging activities, and this contributes to the problem of global warming. This shows that globalization is one of the factors that lead to global warming. However, the root cause is the unwillingness of key actors on the global scene (Chanda, 2007). The United States being one of the top emitters of greenhouse gases, is unwilling to sign the Kyoto Protocol. At the same time, other countries that have signed the Kyoto Protocol are inconsistent in their efforts to follow the agreement. Many chose profit over the environment, and little has been done to control the situation.

In conclusion, globalization is a factor that helps to accelerate the problem of global warming. Even though solutions are implemented to solve the problem, the effectiveness is limited as countries are more concerned with the economic profits brought by globalization.