...all of these deadly and destructive anomalies. Some claim an apocalypse is coming, some say we are heading toward an ice age, some believe we have accelerated a change in the Earth’s climate cycles by our own actions. Any view taken, is one of fear and trepidation. As a factual and unbiased paper, we will not take the Apocalypse theory into account for the fact that there are concrete facts or evidence. Regardless of why we believe something is wrong or changing, it is undeniably fact that the world is changing on many levels. The purpose of this paper is explore and attempt to find the reasons why this is happening, and what we, as mankind, can do to be prepared, and to attempt to mitigate any effect we may have on the acceleration of these changes Pollution and human consumption of fossil fuels, trees and other natural resources have been the scapegoat for “global warming” for several years now. How is it that, specifically, carbon emissions from vehicles allegedly has caused or sped the rate of global warming? Carbon emissions have been in existence since fossil fueled engines have been around, which is roughly between 150 and 200 years at this point. How could something happening in such a very short part of a climate cycle possibly have an effect on how rapidly or slowly the cycle may be changing? 3 “...a sign of global warming -- which most readers presumably took to mean "anthropogenic," or human-caused, global warming. But is that the...
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...Option 1: Ecosystem Components Paper Option 2: Ecosystem Components Video and Summary Option 1: Ecosystem Components Paper Select a representative natural ecosystem in your area or one that you are interested in—such as a lake, preserve, or park—that is managed for native species. • Write a 700- to 1,050-word paper explaining the following: o The major structural and functional dynamics (processes) of that ecosystem including change over time o How humans may have affected biogeochemical cycles in that ecosystem, including impacts to the nitrogen, phosphorus, or carbon cycle o How knowledge about that ecosystem’s structure and function can help or has helped to develop plans for its management and restoration o The implication of species interactions in ecosystem management and restoration • Include two outside references. • Format your paper consistent with APA guidelines. Option 2: Ecosystem Components Video and Summary Select a representative natural ecosystem in your area or one that you are interested in—such as a lake, preserve, or park—that is managed for native species. • Shoot a 7- to 10-minute video chronicling the following: o The major structural and functional dynamics (processes) of that ecosystem including change over time o How humans may have affected biogeochemical cycles in that ecosystem, including impacts to the nitrogen, phosphorus, or carbon cycle o How knowledge about...
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...dissertation examines the Australian ‘Emissions Trading Scheme’ (ETS) and why it is such a fiercely debated topic in politics, industry, community groups and the general public alike. It explores the ways in which the topic of global warming and climate change has significantly altered Australia in numerous aspects and particularly investigates the Rudd Governments’ decision to introduce an emissions trading scheme. The emissions trading scheme came on the back of The Garnaut Climate Change Review which presented its draft report on 4 July 2008 (with the final report submitted in September 2008). Upon receiving the draft report, Climate Change Minister, Penny Wong, issued the Government discussion paper on emissions trading, titled Carbon Pollution Reduction Green Paper. Since this paper was released, and the recommendations stated, turbulent times for all involved has ensued. With the ETS to be made effective sometime in 2010, the government has had to fight tooth and nail in the Senate to get it (the ETS) passed in time for the scheduled deployment. In this piece, both sides of the case will be looked at and a decision on whether the proposed ETS is an effective measure to combat global warming and climate change will be presented. Is an emission trading scheme the right path to alleviate global warming for Australia? Global warming and climate change. Two terms that are constantly thrown around in the Australian media but what do they actually mean? Simply put; global warming...
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...Andrew Mosolovich Week 9 Assignment Professor Pavlov 06/07/2013 Is our environment being compromised from excessive use of different chemicals? This is the question that has been the ground for major debate for many years, is our advancements causing global warming? When debating global warming the first thing to consider is what the cause of global warming is, and the answer to this basic question is greenhouse gases. Greenhouse gases are natural gases such as CO2, Nitrous Oxide or Methane and are created in one of two ways. The first way is, through natural cycles, for instance, CO2 is released through animal respiration or plant photosynthesis. The alternative greenhouse gas production comes from man’s use of different fuels and products; this can lead to anthropogenic climate changes. Anthropogenic Climate Changes are changes in the atmosphere brought on by human activity, and there is evidence of these kinds of changes all over. By studying the size of the polar ice caps we can see that they are shrinking and this may be due to a warmer atmosphere temperature brought on by none other than an anthropogenic climate change. An IPCC report from 2007 showing levels of some of the greenhouse gases also shows that the levels of greenhouse gases in the earth’s atmosphere has skyrocketed since the post-industrial era, this can only be attributed to man-made machines that have come to rise. So how does human activity attribute to the climate rise? Greenhouse gases are natural...
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...EDSST 1 RESEARCH AND ACTION PLAN SUBMITTED BY: ABIGAIL A. DELA SALDE SST 1 STUDENT CHRISTINE MAE SALAS SST 1 STUDENT LAVIÑA ALCOSIBA SST 1 STUDENT SUBMITTED TO: PROF. JACKSON SISON ED SST 1 PROFESSOR INTRODUCTION This research enhances the idea of every student on how to deal different economic and nature problem of the society or of the world. The research paper refers to the surveys and observation of every individual in a group. It is one way of showing the outputs of every member in order to create great research with a knowledgeable content. The possible outcome of a research reflects the ability of every student on how to observe particular problem. The topic that we have chosen is burning of fossil fuels (effects, causes and prevention). It opens our hearts and minds on the possible effects or outcomes that may happen in our environment if these thing will continuously arise. The damaged has been done in several parts of the world. The only thing we must do is to initiate other ideas that may convert the effects of burning of fossil fuel into a suitable one. The next pages of this research will explain other alternative ways to get energy or electricity without using or burning fossil fuels. As we continue to understand these things in this world, let’s put in our mind first that the imbalance of our nature can affects great percentage of our life not just here in the present but also to the next generation to come. OBJECTIVES:...
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...chip (die). APU-based platforms can deliver a prodigious amount of computational horsepower, and can present enormous opportunities in developing an application ecosystem beyond today’s mainstream computer systems. While APUs seek to deliver a superior, immersive PC experience, they also can provide tangible environmental benefits. By eliminating a chip to chip link and by introducing new holistic power management techniques, the APUs are designed to be more power efficient than current generation platforms that have both computational and graphical capabilities. This paper compares the environmental impact of one of AMD’s first APU products against an equivalent computer platform powered by the current generation of AMD processors (CPUs and GPUs). By conducting a business to consumer (B2C) lifecycle assessment, this study compares the total lifecycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (also known as a “carbon footprint”) of an APU system (based on the 18W dual-core processor codenamed “Zacate” and the M1 chipset codenamed “Hudson”) with the latest AMD system codenamed “Nile” (which is based on an AMD Athlon™ Neo II Dual Core processor, SB820 Southbridge, RS880M Northbridge with an ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 5430 discrete graphics card). This study concludes that the APU system offers significant GHG benefits (up to a 40% emissions reduction) when compared with the Nile platform. Introduction Climate change has become perhaps the most important environmental issue of our time...
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...Phase 1 Individual Project SCI201-1403A-12 Environmental Science and Sustainability July 10, 2014 Trena Woolridge Just to keep the theme going from the discussion board 2 assignment I decided to research and write about the Tropical Rainforest. I have always found the world’s rainforests to be very interesting with all of their secrets they hold inside of them. By doing this paper it will allow me to discover more in-depth information on the Tropical Rainforests. I wonder what all I will discover? There are many rainforests in the world but can be found only in three major geographical areas around the world. The one that stands out the most to me is the Tropical Rainforest in Central America in the Amazon Basin from the previous assignment I researched. Others are located in Africa, Australia, and Assam to name a few. Tropical Rainforests are made up of large trees, exotic wildlife, and thousands of species of plants. The structure of the Tropical Rainforest is very complex but can be simple to understand when broken down into sections. The rainforest can be divided into layers from top to bottom and can get a better understanding of the Tropical Rainforest as a whole. The different layers are: emergent, the canopy, the understory, and the leaf litter or cryptoshere or also known as the ground. Emergent are the larger, taller trees that stick out above the canopy. They can be 20-100 feet above the canopy and endures strong winds, temperature fluctuations, and damaging...
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...POSITION PAPER: COMMERCIAL NUCLEAR POWER Authors Thomas B. Cochran Christopher E. Paine Geoffrey Fettus Robert S. Norris Matthew G. McKinzie Natural Resources Defense Council issue paper: october 2005 Natural Resources Defense Council issue paper Commercial Nuclear Power ABOUT NRDC NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) is a national, nonprofit organization of scientists, lawyers and environmental specialists dedicated to protecting public health and the environment. Founded in 1970, NRDC has more than 1 million members and e-activists nationwide, served from offices in New York, Washington, Los Angeles and San Francisco. For more information, visit www.nrdc.org. Copyright 2005 by the Natural Resources Defense Council. Natural Resources Defense Council issue paper Commercial Nuclear Power EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Because of the sheer magnitude and urgency of the global climate challenge, the United States must consider all forms of energy—as long as they do not otherwise undermine international and environmental security. Unfortunately, the nuclear power industry in its present state suffers from too many security, safety, and environmental exposure problems and excessive costs to qualify as a leading means to combat global warming pollution. Large-scale nuclear plants remain uneconomic to build. And while the nuclear fuel cycle emits little global warming pollution, nuclear power still poses globally significant risks that need to be further reduced, including:...
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...(2012) 75–79 Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Resources, Conservation and Recycling journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/resconrec Full length article A carbon footprint based reverse logistics network design model Devika Kannan a,∗ , Ali Diabat b , Mahmoud Alrefaei c , Kannan Govindan d , Geng Yong e,∗ a Indian Institute of Industrial Engineering, Navi Mumbai, India Engineering Systems and Management, Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates c Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Jordan University of Science and technology, Irbid 22110, Jordan d Department of Business and Economics, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark e Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Science, Shenyang, Liaoning Province 110016, PR China b a r t i c l e i n f o Article history: Received 2 March 2011 Received in revised form 12 March 2012 Accepted 12 March 2012 Keywords: Carbon footprint Reverse logistics Greenhouse emissions Case study a b s t r a c t Due to the environmental legislation and regulations, manufacturing firms have realized the importance of adopting environmental friendly supply chain management (SCM) practices. In this paper, a mixed integer linear model is developed for a carbon footprint based reverse logistics network design. The proposed model aims at minimizing climate change (specifically, the CO2 footprint), and it employs reverse logistics activities to...
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...1. Ecosystems and How They Work - Sustainable Development In this assignment, you will investigate the biotic and abiotic structure and function of an ecosystem. Choose one of the following ecosystems: * Tropical rainforest * Grassland * Coral Reef * Estuary * Desert You will write a two to three page APA-style research paper about your choice of ecosystem including: * Where might this type of ecosystem be located? Give one specific example. * Describe the structure of the ecosystem: List both the abiotic components and biotic components * Describe the function of the ecosystem: How do the abiotic and biotic components interact in biogeochemical cycles? Describe both the carbon and nitrogen cycles * Describe disturbance and recovery: Describe one natural and one human caused disturbance to the ecosystem. Explain the damage to the ecosystem, including how the abiotic and biotic characteristics of the ecosystem changed. * Explain how ecosystems recover naturally ... (More) Ecosystem Definition noun, plural: ecosystems A system that includes all living organisms (biotic factors) in an area as well as its physical environment (abiotic factors) functioning together as a unit. Supplement An ecosystem is made up of plants, animals, microorganisms, soil, rocks, minerals, water sources and the local atmosphere interacting with one another. Word origin: coined in 1930 by Roy Clapham, to denote the physical and biological components...
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...21 October 2014 Review of: Linkages of plant traits to soil properties and the functioning of temperate grassland The researchers and authors of this paper looked at the idea of plant-soil interactions and how their traits can be a tool to help understand ecosystem functions. Global climate change has affected many factors involved in ecosystems and their functions, and this will continue to happen. A very likely outcome of continued climate change is the changing of plant communities and their traits. This in turn affects the surrounding soil, and that will have an impact on the nutrient cycling which rely very heavily on the soil to be the mediator. Most of Earth’s processes and functions are interconnected and are difficult to alter without having an effect on something else. The relationship of plant traits to ecosystem properties can tell researchers a great deal about the current state of the ecosystem and the kind of functions that are present. Key nutrient cycles such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and carbon are intricate and affected by many factors. The researchers of this paper believed that by studying the plant traits and soil properties they could gain a better idea of these cycles and the way that they are affected. Their main goal was to determine whether or not the traits of co-existing grassland species grown with different growth strategies would have an effect/differ the soil properties. They measured the plant traits on fresh leaf, litter, and root...
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...take full advantage of these resources. This motivated me and strengthened my desire to explore and search for answers to questions I had crafted in an attempt to understand nature and its role in our lives. I was privileged to study cellular and molecular biology under one of the most experienced professors at this University. In this class, I gained a holistic view of nature. This was a challenge initially as I had to comprehend how intimately the various parts of our ecosystem were interconnected; from the carbon cycle to the invertebrate and fungi population. At the end of the semester, using information and data collected previously, I presented a research paper explaining the effects of land management practices on carbon sequestration in Costa Rica. I studied deforestation in Costa Rica and some viable reforestation techniques. Writing this paper gave me some background knowledge on the tropical forests of Costa Rica. I have been exposed somewhat through research to some of the...
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...which results in global warming; however, global warming may just be caused by natural occurrences, such as cosmic rays, the sun, volcanic activity and the ocean. The combustion of fossil fuels input enormous emissions of CO2 into the atmosphere causing the atmospheric CO2 levels to rise radically. The academic textbook, Contemporary Environmental Issues states, “CO2 is the principal gas contributing to the enhanced greenhouse effect…three main greenhouse gases, CO2, CH4, and N2O, are rising because of human activities such as the burning of coal, oil, and natural gas” (Turk & Bensel, 2011). Levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere have increased substantially through the industrial revolution. In particular, the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has increased by roughly 35 percent since...
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...Ecosystem Structure, Function, and Change Paper (Great Lakes) Shantera Bell October 26, 2015 SCI/256 UOP The Great Lakes region is rich with life and full of native species well adapted to survival. However, since the early 1800s, many non-native plants, animals and microscopic organisms have been introduced into the Great Lakes, either accidentally or intentionally. Great Lakes native species are diverse and interesting and contribute to a healthy ecosystem. There are many unique and interesting birds, fish and plants found in Michigan and throughout the region that are integral to the health of the Great Lakes ecosystem. More than 140 species of birds depend on Michigan’s coastal habitat during their life cycle. Coastal wetlands, beaches, sand dunes and remote islands provide food and shelter for both resident and migratory species. Waterfowl such as Canvasback and Scaup are among the many species that use coastal wetlands as stopover sites to rest and refuel. Shorebirds including the endangered piping plover fly thousands of miles to nest on undisturbed beaches and remote Great Lakes islands. Because of their use of the coastal lands, there are thousands of great locations to see both resident and migratory bird species throughout Michigan and the Great Lakes region. State parks, national parks, wildlife refuges and sanctuaries throughout the state all provide good bird-watching opportunities. Some sites along Michigan’s Great Lakes shoreline are even...
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...MIS TERM PAPER on Split Cycle Engine and Graphene: the future of Automobiles Vinod Gupta School of Management IIT Kharagpur Submitted in partial fulfilment of Management Information Systems Course (BM61014) to Dr. Prithwis Mukherjee at VGSOM, IIT Kharagpur Submitted by : Mayank Mohan 10BM60048 Page | 0 CONTENTS TOPIC Page No ABSTRACT INTRODUCTION TO SPLIT CYCLE TECHNOLOGY BASIC PRINCIPLES OF SPLIT CYCLE ENGINE OTHER SPLIT CYCLE TECHNOLOGY: TOUR ENGINE GRAPHENE : THE MATERIAL FOR THE FUTURE AUTOMOBILES FUTURE OF AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY IN INDIA HURDLES TO SPLIT CYCLE TECHNOLOGY SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION REFERENCES 1 2 3 8 9 10 13 15 16 Page | 1 ABSTRACT Split Cycle Engine and Graphene : the future of Automobiles The Split-Cycle Engine functions by dividing (or splitting) the four strokes of the Otto cycle over a paired combination of one compression cylinder and one power cylinder. Gas is compressed in the compression cylinder and transferred to the power cylinder through a gas passage. Graphene is a 2-dimensional network of carbon atoms. These carbon atoms are bound within the plane by strong bonds into a honeycomb array comprised of six-membered rings. This paper describes that how combining these two may lead to a sustainable future by tackling problems like low mileage and low efficiency of automobile engines leading to low consumption of fossil fuels . Page | 2 Introduction to Split Cycle Technology The Split-Cycle Engine was originally...
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