Everyone has heard the infamous words global warming, but not many understand the disaster that’s happening. Terms are thrown out such as carbon emissions and greenhouse gases the list goes on, and those not scientifically savvy tend to brush off what may become the downfall of humanity. According to Nasa’s official website, The planet’s average surface temperature has risen about 1.62 degrees Fahrenheit (0.9 degrees Celsius) since the late 19th century, a change driven largely by increased carbon dioxide and other human-made emissions into the atmosphere.4 Most of the warming occurred in the past 35 years, with the five warmest years on record taking place since 2010 (Climate change evidence: How do we know?, 2018, para. 6). This phenomenon has started to show itself as recently as this past year, making record breaking highs in temperature. The effects of global warming include warming of the ocean’s water, which can lead to catastrophic weather. Also, melting of ice caps will cause the sea level to rise, this will eliminate our coastline as we know it. Sea level is already rising at an alarming rate. Globally the sea level has risen about 20 centimeters since the beginning of the 20th century and more than 5 centimeters in the last twenty years (Steadman, Hugh, 2017, p. 21). Since the industrial revolution, around the mid 1800’s, carbon emission has been on the rise.
The average carbon emission before the 19th century was around 280 ppm (parts per million). However, now Carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere are reaching 400 ppm. Since carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has a direct effect with warming of the globe this is bad news. Many scientists are warning politicians about cutting back on CO2 emission, but many are refusing to look at the science and refusing to make the changes needed. The idealistic fix is to cut carbon-based fuel systems totally and integrate a source of cleaner energy. The energy source most abundant is solar energy, replacing carbon-based fuel with solar energy is the future. Solar energy is limitless, clean, and easily available. With further technological advancements there’s no reason solar energy can’t be used to power every residential house, commercial building, or every vehicle on the road. Transferring to solar energy in those three areas could be the life or death difference for generations to come. Realistically, solar energy could replace nearly all sources of energy, including land vehicles and building power. There’s no excuse not to convert to total solar power, other than the humanistic thought of muscle cars ruling and electric cars stinking. The only time solar energy wouldn’t be a feasible option is in a case where a large amount of energy is needed at one time, such as a rocket launch. Fossil fuel use could still be a relevant source of energy, it just needs to be limited for certain situations.
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There are countless advantages to converting to solar energy. This isn’t a matter of making money, this is a matter of saving the environment as we know it. It has been shown carbon emissions are nearing 400ppm. According to Hugh Steadman’s research carbon levels between 4-450ppm will cause catastrophic climate destabilization, 425-600ppm will cause irreversible climate destabilization, and levels above 600ppm will cause human extinction (Steadman, H., 2017, p 21). Carbon emissions need to drop by nearly half to get this under control. These advantages include having an endless supply of energy, pollution being bare minimum, and reducing the use of fossil fuels. Since solar energy is a renewable energy source from the sun energy is limitless. Solar energy can even be picked up on cloudy days, in lower amount. If energy isn’t being gathered due to weather battery storage can be used instead to generate the power needed. Solar energy will be the most economically friendly solution to this carbon emission problem. Initial costs to set up solar panels will be quite expensive, but the ROI (return on investment) of solar panels will be massive. A study done in Poland, by Mixtaj, L., Nakov, J., Weiss, E., Weiss, R., & Zawada, M. (2012, p. 363), showed an annual saving of 284 euros for electrical (solar) energy and a return period of twelve years. While other energy sources such as natural gas, the return period would be nearly double the time, twenty-two years, to get the money back from initial costs. Doing this will drastically decrease electricity bills per month making the investment instantly worthwhile.
Greenhouse gases are the main culprit in global warming, solar energy drastically reduces the amount of greenhouse gas emittance. Solar energy has been known to produce small amounts of greenhouse gas, but nothing compared to traditional energy sources. This is the main reason solar is the best replacement for energy. The whole objective is to cut down on air pollution and nothing compares to solar when it comes to cleanliness. Another advantage of solar is the reduced need for fossil fuel use, with an abundance of solar energy there will be no need to waste precious fossil fuels on tasks easily achieved by renewable energy. Fossil fuels should be used only when necessary and at this rate they will be totally gone, soon. Fossil fuels have been in use for a few hundred years and are a great source of energy. However, the use of fossil fuels releases carbon into the atmosphere at a rate many times more than alternative sources. Research showed in 2014, fossil fuels were responsible for 81% of the planet’s energy source (Hartley, Peter R., 2018, p. 233). Ultimately, fossil fuels will become much more expensive as scarcity becomes more relevant, then pushing an alternative source of energy to the forefront. Benefits will be extravagant once these (solar) energy systems are put into place. Once governments agree to incorporate these systems electricity will be dirt cheap. The nation will be powered totally on sunlight with storage reserves always ready to kick on. Maintenance for these systems will also be minimal, the benefits are endless.
This problem cannot be left alone any longer, the science is showing trends that are irrefutable. Mankind has pumped some 150 billion tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Almost half that amount has been emitted since 2000 (Steadman, Hugh, 2017, p. 19). The disadvantages of solar energy must be sacrificed to ensure a safe future for the planet. Some of these disadvantages include job loss, high initial cost, large area consumption, and animal habitat destruction. Loss of jobs is a difficult subject to tackle, one cannot be persuaded their job needs to be eliminated. For example, coal miners have already had a reduction in job opportunities and will only decrease in solar energy becomes a real possibility to power the planet. However, with a decrease in coal careers comes an opportunity in the solar energy field. It’s a tradeoff, many times in history these shifts have come about. High initial cost to install and integrate solar panels and batteries large enough to store the abundance of energy being brought in is another disadvantage and probably the main issue keeping progression low. After funding, finding an area to put these solar structures becomes an obstacle, a fear is the destruction of animal habitats. Some research on this topic showed that other than land clearing the environmental change had little effect on the wildlife within the area of research (Rudman, J., Gauche, P., & Esler, K. J., 2017, p. 11). Assuming these studies hold true over time, solar energy looks very promising. The area needed for a mass solar energy plant is extremely large and presents its own problems in large cities. A fix for that problem would be to tie the energy into a grid and pump the energy in from a more rural area, easier said than done.
The conversion to solar energy has its own set of advantages and disadvantages, but no disadvantage is greater than the future of the planet if carbon emissions continue to rise at this pace. The environmental catastrophes will continue to get worse. Hurricanes will become larger and more powerful than ever before. Ice caps will continue to melt causing flooding in coastal areas. Crops will begin to die due to increased heat. The negatives of global warming are real and are in effect now, at a smaller degree. The negatives of solar energy being job loss, high initial costs, large area consumption, and animal habitat destruction. All these negatives can be mitigated to a certain degree. Job loss will level out and be replaced with more current jobs. The high initial costs will only hurt for a moment, they will pay for themselves in the long run. Animal habitats have been shown to do well with solar plants nearby. The positives are endless including limitless energy, low pollution output, and fossil fuel reduction. The data shows solar energy is the future. It’s a matter of time until fossil fuels become scarce and prices of all will skyrocket, causing an economical crash. Hugh Steadman predicts a nuclear war over resources (fossil fuels) as they become scarce (Steadman, H., 2017, p. 22). If solar energy plants are put in place today this fear can be put to bed. Results will show a decrease in global warming and all negative factors that come along. The world will have to work together and face this issue head on. One country cannot accomplish this goal alone. They all must work in unison. Cutting fossil fuel usage and putting forward a plan for the future. The most sensible plan is solar energy. The positives far outweigh the negatives. This is a plan that may hurt now, considering job loss, but will be far worth it in the future. It’s the only thing that can happen, because what’s going on in the environment cannot last much longer. It’s comparative to a lifelong smoker, they need to quit but the satisfaction for the moment blinds them from seeing the future. That future is not one, exactly like ours if these changes are not made.
Racist And Ethnic Discrimination
Abstract
I have chosen these two author it gave me the different opinion how they describe about racial and ethnic discrimination. The first author (Barkan) opinion that he will describe about racial and ethnic discrimination go back history for instinct Civil War and through Christopher Columbus. The next author (McConahaybetty), his opinion is different than Barkan. He states that white do not discriminate against African American and treat them equality. He also states about different color marriage that it should be allow. These two articles will come to me with Charles Chestnut with color skin.
Keyword: The history, individual discrimination and intuitional discrimination.
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Racial and Ethnic Discrimination
Racial and ethnic discrimination has remained and unresolved issue in Untied States and other countries around the globe. I find the topic quite sensitive because of its persistence in the contemporary world and my belief that discrimination should be eliminated in the modern-day world. In his book “Social Problem: Continuity and changes”, (Barkan, Dec. 2015) give a historical background of ethnic and racial discrimination. Further, he goes ahead to discuss how the two forms of discrimination occur under different instances. I chose this resource because it is not only educative on the topic but also give an in-depth insight on the same issue.
History
Barkan observes that racial and ethnical discrimination in the United States dates back from the era of Christopher Columbus. The book narrates how white settlers and the U.S army killed thousands of Native Americans to secure land and other property. African Americans were also maltreated during the colonial era. Notably, Africans were captured and forcibly taken from their homelands and sold as slaves. By the end of the Civil War, African Americans living in the south were not regarded as slaves but were subject to racial prejudice. Numerous African American folks suffered attacks from white mobs in Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Cincinnati, and Philadelphia among other cities and towns. The era of Jim Crow was marred by racial extremism where multiple African Americans were lynched (Barkan, 2013, pg.1.1).
Individual Discrimination
In the book, Barkan cites individual discrimination as one of the prejudices faced by African Americans in the United States. Some African American individuals confessed that they have been harassed by the police, offered poor service in restaurants and stores, and denied service in different facilities because of their complexion. In 2012, George Zimmerman shot a seventeen-year-old called Trayvon Martin. Martin was an African American teenager walking in a white neighborhood when Zimmerman spotted and shot him dead claiming that he looked suspicious. Notably, Zimmerman did so even after being warned by the police to stay away from Martin. Martin’s incident highlights a case of individual discrimination.” Racial and ethical discrimination is also common in workplaces. In an interview carried out on Mexican American women, 40% of them stated that they had experienced discrimination based on their gender and ethnicity” (Barkan, pg. 1.2). Some of them expressed that they have received condescending comments about their Mexican backgrounds and education level. Workplace discrimination may deny individuals from certain ethnic and racial backgrounds the chance gets to top management level or getting promotions (Barkan, 2013, pg. 1.2).
Institutional Discrimination
Barkan observes that loan officers in the United States consider numerous factors before issuing a loan or when reviewing mortgage applications. The primary factors to consider include credit history, employment, and income. The law prohibits loaning officers from factoring race and ethnicity when reviewing applicants. However, it is reported that Latinos and African Americans have the highest probability of having their mortgage applications rejected. Notably, this is because members of these groups tend to be relatively poor than their white counterparts. Other studies consider African American and Latinos who have good credit histories and have the similar jobs and incomes as their white counterparts. Such studies show that the Latinos and African Americans are still likely to have their mortgage applications rejected. Mortgage rejection against races in the United States leads to residential segregation. It is common to find certain neighborhoods housing only folks from a given race. Housing segregation is unlawful but widespread. Wealth gaps between the whites and other races like the Hispanics and the African Americans continue to widen because of the unchecked multiple forms of ethical and racial discrimination.
Racist
The article “Racist behavior is declining in America?” by author McConahaybetty 1981, explores the possibility that racism is progressively reducing in America. I chose this article on the basis that it gives arguments that contradict views by McConahaybetty. According to the article, recent studies reveal a nationwide decline in negative stereotyping, resistance to equality, and expressions of prejudice. For instance, it is stated that a white is highly likely to aid an African American individual in an emergency just as he would offer the same help to a fellow white person. It is highlighted that from the period 2011 to 2014 the number of hate groups in America had drastically reduced but increased again during the presidential campaign period. Opposition to living next to an individual of another race and disapproval of interracial marriages have reportedly reduced. Previously, most families’ American families especially those of African American and white descent have always felt uncomfortable in interracial unions. However, this trend is on the decline, and interracial marriages are being witnessed now and then by author McConahaybetty, 1981.
Baking Loans, Economics
Also, when it comes to holding political offices and workplace discrimination, African Americans who have high levels of education often find themselves lucrative jobs unlike in the past where white people dominated most of the private and public sectors of employment. The election of Barrack Obama as president of the United States also proved that racial and ethnic discrimination is no more. “Notably, Obama got 43% of the white votes in 2008 and 39% in 2012. Professed racist acts and views have been on a steady decline. Ethnically and racially fueled hate crimes have also reduced by 48% according to the FBI. Further, the progressive change is alluded to positive images that are shown on the television, such images bring about cohesion” (McConahaybetty, 1981, pg.563). It is also argued that the police do not discriminate against African Americans when it comes to apprehending and sentencing criminals. Notably, the high level of poverty among African-Americans, Hispanics and other minority groups can be blamed for rise in criminal activities perpetrated by members of these communities.
Conclusion
Racial and ethnic discrimination is a sensitive issue that must be dealt with cautiously so that the American dream of equality is realized. Sensitization programs should be promoted so that the citizens of United States should learn to appreciate the diverse races and ethnic groups. Employers and the government should also work towards eliminating workplace discrimination by offering employment based on qualifications rather than ethnicity. In chosen two article the one I agree on is my first article, because in our modern-day discrimination is still a continue problem in our society.
