Global Warming Essay -- Climate Change, Greenhouse Gases

Global Warming    Even before Homo erectus first stood up on his hind legs, humans have had an enormous influence over the environment and atmosphere. They have used land, oceans, and other natural resources to help further their expansion and growth. Unfortunately, while the human race flourished, the atmosphere and environment did not. Humans released toxins into the air with their large-scale fires and killed many species to extinction. However, global warming is one of the largest and most current dilemmas the Earth is facing. Over the past century, the temperature of the Earth’s surface has risen 1 ° C and in the past fifty years, humans have been the primary cause of the warming of our planet. One of the major confusions in environmental issues today is the concept of the â€Å"greenhouse effect†. People identify this term in a very negative fashion when in fact the greenhouse effect is what keeps Earth’s temperature livable for organisms such as humans. Energy from the sun heats up Earth’s surface and in turn the Earth radiates some of that heat back into space. The purpose of the atmosphere is to trap some of the â€Å"greenhouse gases† and energy in order to keep temperatures similar to what they are today as well as protect from extreme temperatures. However, complications arise when the concentration of the greenhouse gases increase. Before the Industrial revolution, human activities did not have such a drastic effect on the atmosphere. Yet, as the population of humans on Earth grew, more gases began to be emitted into the atmosphere where they accumulated and remained. One of the most detrimental gases to the atmosphere, carbon dioxide, is accumulating at an alarmingly fast rate. Currently, about half of the carbon dioxi... ...her living creatures. Educating the public about the causes and effects of global warming is a step that many countries, states, and cities have taken. One local example is the â€Å"Walk! Philadelphia† campaign which encourages people to walk or use public transportation to reduce the use of cars. Currently, international and government agencies are thinking of ways to monitor and reduce the amount of greenhouse gases released into the air. I am optimistic that our government and governments from all over the world are working hard to overcome the causes and effects of global warming. While any large-scale change will be gradual, there is no doubt in my mind that we will fix the atmospheric problems to the best of our ability. Source Cited Environmental Protection Agency’s Global Warming website at: http://yosemite.epa.gov/oar/globalwarming.nsf/content/index.html

The Functionalist View on Education (for as Level Sociology)

â€Å"Asses the contribution of functionalism to our understanding of the role of education† Functionalists take a very positive view of education. They see it as a form of secondary socialisation which is essential to the maintenance of society. Functionalists believe that social institutions including education benefit society and perform functions to maintain a stable society. However there are many different theories to consider. Sociologists such as Durkheim believe that education has two main roles. These are ‘Creating social solidarity’ and ‘teaching specialist skills’.Durkheim believes that social solidarity is created through teaching children shared norms and values. These are taught particularly in history lessons where students learn about their shared heritage. It may also be constructed through wearing school uniform or in American schools, pledging to the American flag. This helps create value consensus and prepares students for work as both children and adults have to work with people who aren’t family or friends. Durkheim also establishes the fact that modern industrial society has a very complex division of labour.He argues that education teaches students specialist skills in order to keep the economy functioning, as students can apply their skills to specific jobs that society needs them to perform. Parsons argues that school is a ‘bridge` between family and wider society, especially work. He states that how we are treated in the family is different to how we are treated at work. Therefore schools must prepare children for this change. Parsons claims that in the family a child is judged by particularistic standards (rules that apply only to that child/family) thus their status is ascribed.However in school and work, children are judged by universalistic standards (rules that apply to everyone equally), which means their status is achieved through passing exams or working towards a promotion. Accor ding to Parsons both school and work are meritocratic which means every student and employee has an equal chance in succeeding. Sociologists Davis and Moore argue the main function of education is ‘role allocation`. (Making sure people end up in the jobs they are suited to). To do this we need to make sure the most talented students get the most important jobs such as doctors etc.As these jobs are highly paid, many students try to compete for them in school. Schools then ‘sift and sort` people based of their talents and intellect, to ensure the students with the highest valued qualifications achieve the most important jobs. Vocational courses are an example of the functionalist view that education teaches students specialist skills to perform specific jobs. The first type of vocational course was the Youth Training Scheme (YTS) which was formed in the 1980s which unemployed young people had to enrol.This gave them the work experience they needed to maintain a job. Later forms of vocational courses included BTEC’s, NVQ’s and vocational A-levels. However YTS has been criticised due to young people not being offered jobs after training. Also, vocational training can be seen as having a lower status and being less academic than courses such as A-levels and Degrees. Functionalists have also been criticised as Marxists argue the norms and values that are passed on through education aren’t those of society, but of the ruling class.Interactionalists such Wrong also argue that the functionalist view of education is too deterministic: functionalists assume that students accept the norms and values they are taught in school, when they may reject them. In addition to this there is a lot of evidence that suggests that students don’t have an equal chance of succeeding. Gender, social class and ethnicity all have an influence on how well children do in school. In conclusion, functionalists are able to establish the preparation for the workplace which occurs in schools through theories such as parson’s and Durkheim’s.It is clear that education does in fact create value consensus and prepare students for changing attitudes from school to the workplace. However there are flaws in many of these theories. As Wrong states, functionalists ignore the fact that students may reject norms and values, thus the functionalist view on education is too deterministic. There is also evidence that schools are not meritocratic due to influences that gender, social class and ethnicity have on a child’s education. Ella Clarke

The Country Of Ghana And Nigeria Essay - 1786 Words

What is surprising by most is how Africa is one of the largest known continents and being one of the richest when it comes to natural resources. However, the countries that make up Africa and the people living in these countries are known to be living in devastating poverty. How can it be that this plentiful continent of natural resources, Africa’s people are living in poverty and living in the poorest conditions? With Africa being such a rich continent of natural resources why are the countries within Africa so poor? Take for instance, the countries Ghana and Nigeria There are many countries within Africa but the main focus will be on the country of Ghana and the country of Nigeria. Both countries are poor and the people there are in poverty. Ghana has been struggling with poverty and being poor for quite some time and has been slowly trying to work its way out of poverty. In an article called â€Å"Microenterprise financing preference† There have been some laws now pu t in place to try and reverse the poverty and help Ghana. (Osei†Assibey, E., Bokpin, G. A., Twerefou, D. K., 2012). Nigeria has also been quit poor for some time and the people struggling with poverty. Africa has been and is one of the richest continents when it comes to their natural resources. The countries within it are some of the poorest. From the report of the African development report 2007: Natural resources for sustainable development in Africa it said one of the biggest reasons that Africa is so richShow MoreRelatedBuilding A Construction Of Ghana1500 Words   |  6 PagesEstablishing a construction company in Ghana is very important because of the ongoing growing of Ghana. Ghana wants to become more modern day and start building more houses and more buildings in its cities. 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