Critical Reflection

The Next Stage of My Learning

Essay writing has always been a bane for me, as English is not my mother tongue and personally it is hard for me to express my ideas. Furthermore, the writings have to be academic, and unfortunately I do not have the necessary vocabulary for it. Academic writing also has to include citations and references, and one cannot simply copy a passage, as it is an act of plagiarism, and therefore has to rephrase. These are foreign practices for me, and I need instructions to be able to complete my university level assignments which highly focus on writing assignments.

This course has provided the necessary base for academic writing. For example, I have learned that it is not enough to just replace words with their synonyms in paraphrasing and I was also taught how to cite properly. As a result, for two of my essay assignments, I can avoid being charged with plagiarism.

There are still a lot of areas that I need to improve on, such as I need to be able to do more researches in order to create essays with contents of higher quality and learn more academic words. These need time and continuous practice, which I intend to do in the future by reading more books and academic journals and practising to write with more academic lexicons.

Final Draft for the Essay

Globalization is the obscuration of borders between nations that allows countries to interact more freely as a result of the advancement of technology, which has allowed trade to grow exponentially as companies can obtain raw materials from around the world and sell them everywhere. However, this positive growth has negative impacts on the environment, one of which is the global warming. There are some solutions to this issue, such as creating rules on carbon emission, producing materials locally, and increasing people's awareness of the dangers that global warming presents.

Global warming is the increase in the world's temperature as a result of the escalating production of green house gases, especially carbon dioxide, that traps the heat from the sun inside the atmosphere. It results in various environmental issues, such as increasing sea levels, and more extreme weather conditions. As this is a result of the rising carbon production, the first logical step is to reduce the carbon emission. The nations are trying to do this, which can be seen in the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol, a protocol to reduce carbon emission by the countries. However, the world leaders, especially the USA, is not cooperating (Chandra, 2007). Furthermore, the leading world companies themselves are not decreasing their carbon emissions as instructed. Instead, they are concealing their carbon footprint data, which is a report on their carbon production. The reports state that they are producing less carbon, however the gases included in the reports are minor green house gases that are not really dangerous and easy to control, not the major ones such as carbon dioxide (Confino, 2013).

One possible way to spur the companies to take part in the struggle is by giving monetary rewards (Confino, 2013). Decreasing carbon emissions is expensive and gives abstract results such as increasing prestige, thus the companies lack the drive to try and manage their carbon emissions. Therefore, by providing a concrete prize such as cash, companies can be more motivated in controlling their waste materials and energy consumption. This can also applied to the employees, in which the company can give appreciation, for example a wage bonus, to the workers who are eco-friendly.

Another policy that can be adopted to fight global warming is by producing materials locally in order to reduce transportation, thus reducing the pollution of fossil fuel. According to Chandra, the world's ecosystem is contaminated by China's usage of coal and chemicals to export their products (2007). Therefore, by producing materials in nearby areas, the pollution that causes the global warming can decrease.

However, population in both the developing and developed countries need export activities in order to survive, because they can no longer handle the growing demands in their countries. China, for example, does not have enough land to grow enough food for its population. The environmental organization, Greenpeace, estimates that China's demand for soybean has cleared 2.5 million acres of the tropical forest in Brazil (Chandra, 2007). This demand is so great that China cannot possibly produce these products, because China lacks land. This can be seen by the one child policy in China, which shows that China does not even have lands to support its housing demands, much less lands for food plantations that cover a vast amount of areas. This is a hard issue to tackle because it is a chain of demand and co-dependency between countries that cannot be broken without any consequences. Therefore, countries need to minimize their reliance and try to support themselves. For example, China can search for nearer lands to grow their food, which decrease the distance for import and therefore reduce pollution. It may be hard to realize this in the near future, but if the nations cooperate and try to be independent, it may be possible to achieve this in the long term.

It is necessary to increase people's awareness of the threats that climate change bring, as climate change is not just a problem for big enterprises or nations. Individuals are affected, and therefore everyone needs to take part in the endeavor against global warming by doing some simple activities. For example one can minimize the usage of fossil fuel powered engines, such as cars, by instead walking, using a bicycle, or using public transportations. One can also use recyclable and eco-friendly materials to decrease pollution. Fortunately, communication technologies are developed now and can become a platform to inform people of these dangers, and hopefully these information can stimulate people to make efforts in reducing the carbon emission.

In conclusion, global warming is a serious issue that should be addressed now. There are a variety of ways to do this, for example by decreasing carbon emissions, reducing exports, and informing people of the dangers. However, each strategy faces other challenges that need to be addressed in different kind of ways. The fight against climate change is a long and arduous one, therefore the struggle should be supported from the the smallest community, the individuals, to the largest ones, the nations.

Resources :

Chanda, Nayan. (2001, June 28). The Double Edge of Globalization. Bound Together: How Traders, Preachers, Adventurers, and Warriors Shaped Globalization. YaleGlobal.

Confino, Jo. (2013, September 12). Report shows companies still don't take climate change seriously. The Guardian. Retrieved from : http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/blog/cdp-report-companies-emissions-failing

ES1102 Essay Second Draft : Globalization and Global Warming

 Globalization is the obscuration of borders between nations that allow countries to interact more freely as a result of the advancement of technology, which has allowed trade to grow exponentially as companies can gather raw materials from the world and market them everywhere. However, this positive growth has negative impacts on the environment, one of which is the global warming that people have been hearing about. There are some solutions to this issues, such as the creation of rules on carbon emission, the production of materials locally, and the efforts to increase people's awareness of the dangers that the global warming presents.

Global warming is the increase in the world's temperature as a result of the escalating production of green house gases, especially carbon dioxide, that trap the heat from the sun inside the atmosphere. It results in various environmental issues, such as increasing sea levels, extreme weather conditions, and many more. As this is a result of the elevating carbon production, the first logical step is to reduce the carbon emission. The world is trying to do this, which can be seen in the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol, which is a protocol to reduce carbon emission by the countries. However, the world leaders, especially the USA, is not cooperating (Chandra, 2007). Furthermore, the leading world companies themselves are not decreasing the carbon emission as per instructed. Instead, they are concealing their carbon mapping, in which they only report the unimportant gases as decreasing (Confino, 2013).

One possible way to spur the companies into action is by encouraging companies with monetary benefits (Confino, 2013). Decreasing carbon emissions is expensive and gives abstract results such as increasing prestige and good name, thus the companies lack the drive to try and manage their carbon emissions. Therefore, by providing a concrete prize such as cash prizes, companies can be more motivated in controlling their waste materials and energy consumptions. This can also applied to the employees, in which the company can give appreciation to the workers who practice eco-friendly exercises.

Another policy that can be adopted to fight the global warming is to produce materials locally in order to reduce transportation and its pollution. According to Chandra, the world's ecosystem is contaminated by China's usage of coal and chemical to export their products (2007). Therefore, by producing materials in nearby areas, the pollution that causes the global warming can decrease. However, both the developing and developed countries need export activities in order to survive, because they can no longer handle the growing demands in their countries. For developed countries, such as China, they do have enough land to grow enough food. For example, the environmental organization, Greenpeace, estimates that China's demand for soybean has cleared 2.5 million acres of the tropical forest in Brazil (Chandra, 2007). China does not have any unused lands that be used to produce soybeans, as can be seen by its policy of one child per family that is implemented in order to control its populace that has grown too large. Developing countries do not have the necessary technology and capital to produce the things that they usually import into their countries. They even need to accept other countries demands for raw materials to support their country, which can be seen in Brazil where the farmers need to take advantage of China's demand of soybean to earn money (Chandra, 2007). This is a hard issue to tackle because it is a chain of demand and co-dependency between countries that cannot be broken without any consequences. It can only be done slowly. For example, China can search for nearer lands to grow their food, which decrease the distance for import and therefore reduce pollution. Brazil can accumulate the profit it has gained from developed countries and also look for support from environmental organization and slowly begin to grow and hopefully support itself.

Global warming is a serious issue that should be addressed now. There are variety of ways to doing this, for example by decreasing carbon emissions and reducing exports. However, each strategy faces other challenges that need to be addressed to with many kinds of ways. The fight against climate change is a long and arduous one, therefore the struggle should be supported from the the smallest community, the individuals. Everyone needs take part in the endeavor against global warming by doing some simple things. For example one can minimize the usage of fossil fuel powered engines, such as cars, by instead walking or using a bicycle. One can also use recyclable and eco-friendly materials to decrease pollution. Little things will accumulate to bigger things, and hopefully it can eventually affect the bigger communities.

Resources :

Chanda, Nayan. (2001, June 28). The Double Edge of Globalization. Bound Together: How Traders, Preachers, Adventurers, and Warriors Shaped Globalization. YaleGlobal.

Confino, Jo. (2013, September 12). Report shows companies still don't take climate change seriously. The Guardian. Retrieved from : http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/blog/cdp-report-companies-emissions-failing

Reader's Response : Runaway Globalization Without Governance

        According to the article “Runaway Globalization Without Governance” by Nayan Chandra, it can be learnt that from a long time ago, communities have been connected with each other, but unfortunately regulations regarding this connection have failed to follow it. Empires and faith were good tools for the creation of rules, but as a result of growing transportation and communication technology, globalization has reached higher levels faster than the protocols governing it. There are three serious challenges as a result of the lack of order : sovereignty and security problems, spread of nuclear weapons, and climate change. In spite of these challenges, nations are hesitant to face them together. USA's constant rejection to regulations controlling these issues seriously hinders the world's fight against these dilemmas.

        Despite the constant worry of the danger of nuclear weapons, they are a strong tool to control the world. Power has always been a perfect instrument of control as it is able to subjugate people with fear and thus forces them to obey. It is an out of date method, and perhaps a little barbaric, but this seems to apply for the world as well.

Power is represented by the possession of nuclear weaponry. Countries all over the world have been trying to get their hands on this dangerous weapon to be able to hold their ground in case a war happens. Multiple nations possess these deadly tools and they are considered dangerous threats to the global world. Ironically, as countries are perfectly aware of the dangers of a nuclear bomb exploding in their territories, they become docile. No one dares to be out of control and wreak havoc because nuclear weapons can be used to bombard them anytime. The world is in a delicate balance because of this weapon. Therefore, nuclear weapons are ideal to keep the world in check.

Final Draft : Summary : The Double Edge of Globalization

     Even though there are many other factors in play, it can be assumed that globalization has brought harm to nature, because of its role in encouraging trade expansion and consumerism. For example, China’s demand for soybean resulted in the clearing of forests, and China’s export activities caused pollution to air and water. The research by the World Bank proved that 20% of global carbon production was caused by deforestation. Furthermore, damaging the environment may prove fatal for the world’s economy, as the global warming may cause a huge economic unrest that can affect the whole world.

     However, globalization also provides an easy way to spread and acquire information, including information about the devastating state of the world. The activists, also known as “new preachers”, are trying to raise people’s awareness to global environmental issues. With this almost unrestricted access to global knowledge, people are now aware of what’s going on.

     The problem now is that major powers in the world are not truly cooperating in the struggle to save the environment, even though their intervention may increase the world's opportunity to repair the damaged environment and preserve it for future use.

Summary : Scary Oil

            The world is now facing a financial crisis. The greatest threat of all is the increase in oil prices which has been brought about because of the fear that war will break out in Iran.

            Economic recessions that occurred a few times before in the world has been caused by a political instability occurring in the Middle East, which resulted in increasing oil prices. Iran is still a threat, as they’ve been trying to create nuclear weapons. If the World take arms against them, the oil price will definitely escalate to a whole new level and will lead to an economic depression.

Summarising and Paraphrasing Exercises

1.     “These new reactors would all operate at high temperatures, improving their efficiency. And they would include simplified safety features that do not rely on sophisticated backup systems or experienced operators – all are, in principle, ‘meltdown proof’ and can cool themselves down in the even of an accident with minimal, if any, human intervention…

      Expert agree that reactors will need to be a lot cheaper to run. And to sway a nuclear-averse public, the next generation of reactors will need to produce much less radioactive waste at terrorist-proof facilities.”

      

      My paraphrase

      Some expected general features of  the new nuclear reactors are : high temperature operation to improve productivity, easy safety operations, low-cost, less radio-active waste, can withstand terrorist attack, can do automatic emergency measures. (Butler, 2001)

2.     “In any one nation, there are both very wealthy and very poor individuals and families. When sociologists conduct research on these disparities, they frequently analyze secondary data that originally were collected by the World Bank and the United Nations. These data focus on quality-of-life indicators such as wealth; income; life expectancy; health; sanitation; the treatment of woman; and education for high-income, middle-income and low income nations.”

      Source: Kendall, D. (2004). Social problems in a diverse society (3^rd ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

      

      My Summary

      There are poor and rich people everywhere in the world. Sociologists usually measure the difference between them with “quality-of-life indicators” data from the World Bank and the United Nations.

                                                                              

3.     Facebook can effectively affect/lower students’ grades as students tend to spend more time on Facebook rather than their schoolwork.