To Save the Earth Essay -- Environment Environmental Ecology Essays

To Save the Earth I wonder how much the front yard of my childhood home is worth. Of course, it's worth less now than before. Once, a stately tree stood in each corner: a tall lilac, a pine, a cherry tree, and a droopy evergreen. My favorite tree lived in the middle. I never knew what kind it was, but every spring it blossomed in delicate pink, and on warm afternoons, I read under its canopy. The front yard no longer looks like that, however. My father removed the lilac bush because it made the lawn too difficult to mow, and cut many of the branches from the pine and my pink-flowered tree so that friends could park their cars on our lawn rather than getting ticketed for parking on the street. Eventually, my tree died from those wounds. But parking place or childhood haunt, what's my yard worth? In The Future of Life, Edward O. Wilson wonders the same about the whole Earth. Wilson, an advisor to various environmental groups and an award winning entomologist, acknowledges that his work requires the preservation of natural habitats, but also clearly feels a deep love for the natural world and a deep sorrow for its destruction. The first half of The Future of Life discusses the ways humans have harmed the environment, culminating with the idea that (like my dad and the yard) we have never been good for the Earth. "The trail of Homo sapiens, serial killer of the biosphere, reaches to the farthest corners of the world." Stopping here, Wilson would make a powerful and persuasive statement, but also a damning and uninspiring one, and the time it takes to impart the lesson dulls its impact. Fortunately, he goes on to explore why this damage is a tragedy, even to an economically minded person like my dad, and how to remedy ou... ...ve large areas of existing ecosystems, particularly rain forests. He argues that NGOs, effective as they have been, cannot save the earth by themselves, and emphasizes the need for greater government involvement. His ideas are firmly grounded in reality, however, and he acknowledges that "...local people with families to feed do not see the larger picture, and their needs cannot be met by a purely preservationist policy." Instead he advocates the economic exploitation of these ecosystems, but in a sustainable and ultimately non-destructive manner. His ideas and goals for the future show a balance necessary in any productive discussion about The Future of Life. If only he could have spoken to my dad about our yard. Works Cited: Wilson, Edward O. The Future of Life. 2002: Alfred A. Knopf, New York. Note: "Overyielding" appears as a single word in the text.

Addiction as A Lifestyle

For several decades, health issues have increased by more than 8.5% each year. According to a recent study conducted by the center for Disease Control and Prevention, 65% of US adults are either overweight or obese. The rate of diabetes are increasing in the United States, with a 27 percent increase seen in the last five years. The high cost of health care also poses a major threat to the nation's economy. However, health problems can be prevented to a large extent by controlling people's lifestyle. Group discussions and conversations may help people to adopt a healthy way of living. Therefore, Cybernetics which is the study of conversation/communication and control/regulation can be used to help solve this problems. This study aims at using cybernetics as a model for controlling health problems.AddictionIn developed countries of the world like USA, where the literacy rate is above 95%, people know that leading a healthy lifestyle removes the risk of chronic health issues to a considerable margin. However they most times do not adopt a healthy way of living.   Why? Addiction has ruined the healthy life style of people. For example- people may be addicted to sleeping and do not exercise, addicted to eating foods with high calories that causes them obesity and make them prone to heart problems. Addiction is a condition in which a consistent desire/craving to repeat an addicted behavior exceeds the ability to rationally stop doing so. When the more you have, the more you seem to need to achieve the same effect or result. This effect can be displayed as a positive feedback loop where the want continues expanding within the loop.Some background about feedback loops – Feedback loops are of two forms: negative feedback loop and positive feedback loop. Negative feedback loops strives towards balance and stasis by subtracting error with each cycle. A good example of negative feedback loop is homeostasis, the body's system for keeping itself chemically and temperature balanced. Positive feedback loops, by comparison, add the variations of each cycle. As a result they can become potentially dangerous as their effect mount with each event. Hypothermia, shock, heatstroke are examples of positive feedback.Figure-1 models addiction (nicotine addiction) as a positive feedback. The desire for smoking continues to increase in the loop for achieving the same level of satisfaction. The first day, Bob needs to smoke once and get satisfied. The second day, he needs to smoke twice to get the same level of satisfaction. Gradually, his cravings and urge to smoke increases along with the frequency.Controlling the Uncontrollable(addiction)The graph above (Figure-1) indicates how the addiction continue to expand in a positive feedback loop. Also, Bateson's examination of alcohol addiction contended that the very attempt to regain discretion, to be a â€Å"commander of one's own spirit†, added to the heightening of the alcoholism. Moreover, the Twelve Step Program of Alcoholics Anonymous-which has been effectively adjusted to a huge number of addictive practices, offers recuperation by â€Å"surrendering† that is, by stopping to deliberately try to stop the addiction. Subsequently, the person who is addicted does not have an essential variety to control addiction. At the point when Addiction becomes uncontrollable, how can it be controlled? Ludwig's research on Alcoholics mind demonstrates that â€Å"developing the right mind frame† (sufficient inspiration) for sobriety improves the probability that an individual can figure out how to resist his addiction .Sufficient inspiration or adequate motivation can solve the puzzle of addiction as an uncontrollable event. The diagram beneath demonstrates the cybernetic approach to deal with controlling health issues by inspiring individuals to follow a sound way of life (work out, yoga, healthy food and so on.), that is abstaining from an unhealthy way of life. Reward/Incentive SystemPeople have various needs including monetary needs, physiological needs, safety needs and esteem needs. An individual can be motivated for performing an activity using proper incentives which may help in fulfilling some of his needs. A reward system could be a web application like Weight Watchers or an organization such as a health club. Below is a model of an incentive system used in motivating a person to exercise regularly. The model also shows that the system can keep refining or modifying the incentive system to make sure that the user is always motivated.Group Affiliation/FriendsGroups, friends and circle of relatives assist in controlling addictions and regulating the manner people live. People develop trust, care and similarity in a group that offer intellectual strength for controlling their cravings. It has additionally been proved that the group association programs offer long- term remedy for addiction in comparison to short-term remedy provided through medication therapy. Self-assist programs like Alcoholics anonymous, rational healing or women for Sobriety, assist in gaining control over addiction through assisting the affected person to integrate into a self-assist group. TrustTrust is a system-related concept and that is a constantly evolving state of information acquisition, processing and feedback. Figure-4 demonstrates the system model of trust between two actors (trustor and trustee). The trustor continually accesses the behavior of the trustee against his mental model of trustworthiness, which results in increased trust if the behavior matches with his mental model otherwise decreased trust. Trustworthiness relies on three variables which relate to perception about the person to be relied on: competence, integrity and benevolence. ‘Competence' is the perceived potential of the trustee, as measured through indicators which includes training or credentials, experience, and reliable past performance. ‘Integrity' is the degree to which the trustee is considered to perform with honesty, fairness, and consistency of actions and words. ‘Benevolence' concerns the extent to which the trustee demonstrates care and consideration for people he or she interacts directly or indirectly.In addition to the above-recognized antecedent variables, trust also relies on the ‘context' within which the trustor and trustee are embedded. It could affect the extent to which the trustee is rated on antecedent variables particularly competence. For instance, a person may be perceived as competent in one context but no longer in another. Furthermore, it is essential to differe ntiate between Interactions among unfamiliar others and ongoing interactions among familiar others for trust. In a social system, trust could be unidirectional or bi-directional. Also, trust may be commutative.After the developement of trust, the trustor (Alice) feels confident and becomes willing to take actions based on the suggestions, actions and decisions of the trustee (Bob) to an extent proportional to the trust level in the trustee. Now, when Bob says that he controlled his blood sugar level by following the recipes from the diabetic cook-book, Alice feels confident the same recipes in the diabetic cook-book works and she is now motivated to follow them too. It also gives her a social proof of the reliability of the recipes from the diabetic cook-book. Figure-6 is the conversation model of this trust and social proof scenario between Alice and Bob.CareCare is also a continously evolving state of information aquisition, processing and feedback.Similarity, trust, understanding and reciprocity make the important variables. It is also dependent on context and familiarity/relationship between individuals. Below is a figure which shows a model of care between Alice and Bob and how care helps them for abstinence. Bob's behavior is matched to Alice's mental model of a person she would like to care for. If there is a positive match,then the care for Bob increases otherwise it decreases. When there is a match, she cares about what Bob's expectations are from her. She feels a sense of responsibility/accountability for Bob's expectations because she does not want to disappoint him. Similarly, Bob also does a behavior assessment of Alice against a mental model of a person she would like to care for. Its also important to note that both may have different perceptions or mental models of the persons they may like to care for. Also, care may be unidirectional as well. Now when Bob makes a suggestion to Alice about losing weight, she feels responsible/ accountable for losing weight as she cares about Bob. Similarly, Bob feels responsible/accountable for not smoking when Alice asks him to quit smoking.

Nafta And The United States Free Trade Agreement

â€Å"NAFTA was bold and controversial from the start. When first conceived, it was far from obvious that it would be possible given the circumstances of the times,† Michael J. Boskin The North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was enacted in 1994 by United States, Canada, and Mexico. NAFTA is the predecessor to the Canada-US Free Trade Agreement (CUSFTA) and was used to facilitate the creation of the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC). It was also used to facilitate the creation of the North American Agreement on Labour Cooperation (NAALC). This agreement between Canada, United States, and Mexico, created the first tri-lateral rule based trading system in North America. The signing of NAFTA has generated modest benefits for Canada. Since the signing of the NAFTA there have been varying conclusions and results as to the benefits and effects NAFTA have brought to Canada. There have also been concerns pertaining to if the goals of NAFTA have been met. At the time concerns were voiced regarding the differences in the countries level of economic development, wages and relative factor endowments. Critics argued that, given the differences in each variable for each country, trade liberalization would have a significant distributional effect within each country. This would end up creating winner and losers in the agreement. In this paper I will assess the benefits NAFTA have brought to Canada. To assess the benefits that have been derived from NAFTAShow MoreRelatedEffect Of The North American Free Trade Agreement And Other Trade Agreements Between Canada And The United States1625 Words   |  7 Pagesattention on free trade agreements. While proponents of these agreements contend that free trade spurs economic growth and development, critics of these agreements charge that benefits accrue to a small concentration of stakeholders, including wealthy owners of capital, while regular workers are negatively impacted. In light of the continued debate between critics and proponents of free trade, an investigation into the effects of Canada’s free trade agreements with the United States is warrantedRead MoreEvaluating Naft Was It Worth It?1229 Words   |  5 PagesEvaluating NAFTA: Was it worth it? In 1994, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was enacted between two industrial countries and a yet still developing nation. This was an agreement that was the first of its kind due to the relationship that the countries had and the investment opportunities that it presented. The United States, Canada, and developing Mexico decided to work towards eliminating most tariffs and non-tariff barriers between the three in order to increase the flow of trade in goodsRead MoreThe North American Free Trade Agreement1711 Words   |  7 PagesThis paper will discuss four components of the North American Free Trade Agreement: Background, events, pros and cons. Upon the research, you will discover four online articles to provide more detail and examples. This research will indicate how it was developed and the reasoning on why it would benefit the nation. Also, it will provide events that occur after the agreement was signed by congress and the recession the countries experience d uring the early 2000s. There will be a chart locatedRead MoreNAFTA Case Study1586 Words   |  7 PagesPROVISIONS: The implementation of NAFTA expedited the quick disposal of duties on more than one-portion of Mexicos exports to the U.S. and more than 33% of U.S. exports to Mexico. Within 10 years of the execution of the agreement, all U.S.-Mexico levies were to be eliminated except some U.S. farming exports to Mexico to be eliminated inside 15 years. Most U.S.- Canada exchange was at that point duty free. NAFTA likewise tried to take out non-duty exchange barriers and to secure the intellectualRead MoreThe North American Free Trade Agreement. One Of The Major1307 Words   |  6 Pages The North American Free Trade Agreement One of the major keys to having two or more parties successfully trade and invest with each other is the ability to make agreements peacefully and come to similar terms. Many times, people would like to trade goods and services, but cannot agree on the terms each other have made. This can obviously cause many problems with trading and is the reason many deals do not go through, which can impact not only the people involved, but many more people very negativelyRead MoreNafta Essay1377 Words   |  6 PagesINTRODUCTION TO NAFTA: The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) came into effect on January 1, 1994 (Free Trade Agreements, 2016). The agreement was marked by President George H.W. Bush on December 17, 1992 as the primary period of his Enterprise for The Americas Initiative (EA) and endorsed by Congress on November 20, 1993. The NAFTA Implementation Act was marked into law by President William J. Clinton on December 8, 1993. NAFTA eliminates tariffs and other trade barriers on goodsRead MoreThe North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)1345 Words   |  6 PagesAmerican Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), came into effect on January 1, 1994, creating the largest free trade region in the world, generating economic growth and helping to raise the standard of living for the people of all three countries participating. By strengthening the rules and procedures governing trade and investment, the NAFTA has shown to be a great base for adding to Canada’s prosperity and has set a valuable example of the benefits of trade liberalization for the rest of the world. NAFTA wasRead MoreThe Role Of Regional Integration Essay1476 Words   |  6 Pagesinternationational trade and cultural exchange. This paper will analyze the role of NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) in promoting global business. Besides NAFTA, regional integrations such as: EU, APEC, ASEAN, CAFTA, or others may be discussed for the purpose of comparing advantages and disadvantages of regional integration. Also discussed will be the economic development stages of countries within NAFTA (United States, Canada, and Mexico) and any ramifications of NAFTA development for globalRead MoreEssay on Who Did NAFTA Benefit The Most?896 Words   |  4 PagesAfter a lengthy negotiation of over 3 years, Canada, the United States, and Mexico reached an agreement on trilateral trade ― the North American Free Trade Agreement. Commonly referred to as NAFTA, it came into effect on the first day of 1994. Covering 450 million of population and reaching $17 trillion in combined GDP, NAFTA proudly ranks the first among the world’s free trade agreements (USTR). It is usually seen as a remarkable success for the countless benefits it brings to its members. SomeRead MoreEssay on North American Free Trade Agreement NAFTA1710 Words   |  7 PagesNAFTA: North American Free Trade Agreement Implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) began on January 1, 1994, and is one of the United States’ most significant regional trade agreements. The final provisions of the NAFTA were fully implemented on January 1, 2008. With full implementation, the last remaining trade restriction on a handful of agricultural commodities such as U.S. exports to Mexico of corn, dry edible beans, nonfat dry milk and high fructose corn syrup