1. Sirona Cares came up with a project that helps develop a stable economic base through farming of Jatropha in rural Haiti, a place where it is very hard for farming. Jatropha has seeds that are oil rich and it grows all over Haiti, and it costs cheaper than food crops - which is a positive thing for farmers because that doesn't damage their economy but lift their lives out of poverty. This project is sustainable because it will carry on into the future while improving the lives of the people that farm at the same time. Additionally, the fuel source from oil in the seeds can displace the use of charcoal, reducing pollution, and the plants will reverse the damage of deforestation while they improve the soil for food production.
2. Vietnam plans to have 100 percent of shrimp and tra fish raised in the form of intensive cultivation and semi intensive cultivation by 2012, and it is a national plan for sustainable development of Vietnam's aquaculture. This plan will approach food safety & pharmaceutical safety, and improve high quality of input materials, building modern raising farms, and diversifying markets.
3. China built the Three Gorges Dam in order to prevent floods from overflowing to destroy the land and the crops. At the same time, it is built in purpose of harnessing hydro power so that the use of coal will decrease, reducing the release of CO2 which causes global warming.
4. Other examples:
Use recycled materials
Use renewable energy (hydroelectricity, solar energy, wind energy, etc)
Sustainable tourism development = instrument for poverty reduction
In 1920, Dadaria started to wage a war on Naagarjun – a country that was mostly bound to farming and wild life, in purpose of taking Naagarjun’s rich resources such as diamond, gold, oil, and iron. Many families fled to other countries with a hope of having a better life, including Nadiir’s family. Nadiir and his family migrated from Naagarjun to Saborina mainly because of the war and the pollution it caused. Additionally, they decided to move externally because of a pushfactor: persecution. Naagarjun and the regions surrounding the country basically had two races: the blue people and the green people. Green people had been mistreated for years because of their appearance, to blue people, green represented sickness. Therefore, green people had to pay high taxes every year, yet they had no right to vote or participate in high government positions. Furthermore, since the war was waged on Naagarjun, a man from any green family was forced to join the army and should be the first one to die in the war. For that reason, Nadiir’s external migration to a country far away from his homeland was a wise decision; otherwise he would suffer the same thing if he just migrated to regions/countries nearby. Meanwhile, Saborina had many attractive pullfactors including: safety, education economy, and environment; and these factors sure benefited Nadiir and his family. In contrast, though, they probably left a negative impact in their homeland because they had a lot of skills that could have contributed to help Naagarjun winning the war. People migrating away from the country led to a decrease in population of the country. The culture might also lose, delaying the growth of economy and education. Plus the strain of the war, Nagaarjun would probably end up being under Dadaria’s rule soon.
Despite Nadiir being an immigrant who was supposed to interact and blend in with people of different ethnic backgrounds from his in Saborina, his safety was guaranteed by Saborina’s government and the Saborina’s Refugee Camp. Not long after that, Nadiir’s parents found a job and finally were able to afford an apartment, settling in the capital of Saborina – which was an urban area. The advantage of living in an urban area was that the family’s economy would be more likely to increase so that Nadiir would be able to go to school and get a good education as well as being able to communicate with the world. This new change benefited Nadiir’s family, but they also contributed much to Saborina as well. As they migrated here, they brought along their skills of adapting to nature and animals, boosting more worthy and realistic ideas to zoology, farming techniques, as well as the study of environment in favor of Saborina. There were still some negative effects of Nadiir and his family migrating to Saborina and living in the capital – where it was acknowledged as the center of business and attracted lots of people here. Nadiir’s family moving here added to the population and that would cause more waste, more pollution, which finally could lead to a higher stage of global warming. However, if they developed well and contributed ideas to Saborina, it could change the situation completely (based on the study of environment).
The main point of this article is about whether weather is an indicator of climate change that is impacted by global warming or not.
2)List four vocabulary words that you do not recognize or understand, and look up the definitions, write them out using your own words.
Uproot – forcing someone to leave
Reluctant – unwilling to do something
Variability – inconsistency; changeability
Vulnerable – likely to be hurt or damaged
3)What is the difference between “weather” and “climate”?
Weather is a condition of the atmosphere at a particular time and place whereas climate is the usual weather of a place, occurring for a long period of time.
4)What are the examples listed in the article of “extreme weather”?
Heavy rainstorms in summer
Big snowstorms in winter
Intense droughts
Bad heat waves
Monsoon rains in Pakistan, killing more than 1,500 people and uprooting millions.
In Russia, a bad heat wave and a record-breaking drought had destroyed millions of acres of wheat and sparked wildfires that killed dozens.
In the United States, flooding devastated New England, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Oklahoma. Meanwhile, a record-breaking heat wave warmed/heated the entire eastern part of the country.
5)What experiences have you had with “extreme weather”?
I haven’t had any experience with an extreme weather because I live in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam – a pretty safe place because it is not bordered by the oceans which can cause floods, neither any earthquake, drought, etc – has had happened before. Despite that fact, there are still some unusual climate changes during the past few years, for the temperature increases and rains turn out to be heavier. However, so far as I remember there were two severe storms in 1996 in Vietnam and they damaged a lot of things, killing a hundred of people, destroying 194,000 households, and flooded 177,000 ones.
6)What does the word “perception” mean?
Perception – the understanding; how you see and comprehend the concepts of something.
7)What is your “perception” of global climate change?
I perceive that global climate change is in fact a serious issue that all human beings should concern about. In my opinion, global climate change can be blamed of global warming, and that severely damages human as well as living things’ habitations. In general, global warming is when CO2 and other greenhouse gases are heated and released to the atmosphere, which later get trapped in the greenhouse effect. That heat cannot escape in which it warms the earth more and more. As the earth gets hotter, precipitations will get heavier in wet regions whereas in dry regions, they will get drier. Even though those signs are only statistics of weather change, it could be perceived as global climate change if that keeps happening for a long period of time. Therefore, I personally think that global warming is affecting climate change.
Lalaland is where dreams come true, all started with the historical man named Gaga. Gaga was originally born an inheritance in Spongie Spunge, but at an age of 33, he was exiled to another land because of his dullness & irresponsibility towards the nation. Only that Spongie Spunge people didn’t realize that there was an extraordinary potential in Gaga, which later manipulated him to be a successful king.
Gaga sailed to the wild land across the Woolge Zand Ocean, and decided to found his kingdom named Lalaland there. After many years, he died a shameful man for he didn’t leave any accommodating things on earth for his people. Consequently after his death, the kingdom felt into years of corruption with wars and destructions, including a devastating pollution. In heaven, Gaga was regretful and desperately asked God to give him another chance in 5 years to rebuild his kingdom. His issue was accepted, and therefore he revived from the death and expanded Lalaland into an official country. The capital is named after Gaga, where every year people around the country gather together to have a memorial of him. They then later proceed to the Gaga Shrine, which locates about 2000 miles west from the capital, 525 degrees north and 350 degrees east. On this special event, people would use the main road system that leads the four main cities toward the capital, even though normally they would travel by clouds as transportation; the clouds often suddenly precipitate which cause a variety of accidents throughout the country. Those four cities include Mooney – the largest port city, Sleepy – another port city, Cloudy – a port & exploitation city, and Pinky – a port city. Each city has one hospital and one agora so that those will support human’s needs. All of them locate on 0 sea levels and near the sea coasts as well as the Pinky Sugary River. The highest elevation includes Mt. Lolli, in which people from Pinky and Sleepy have to go through in order to reach the capital.
The Pinky Sugary River starts from Gaga Shrine and spreads north east across the country where it ends up meeting the Wet Land, and south east where it ends up flowing into the Lagonspolin Ocean. Facing the oceans, the port cities provides adequate boats for traveling to foreign countries such as Gongoozler, Spongie Spunge, and Linsey – Woolsey order to trade and exchange ideas: education, religion, etc; exchange goods: silk, fabric, spices, cotton, etc.
In the past, Lalaland people just spent the whole day eating, gossiping at the agora, sleeping, or checking into the hospital. They were really lazy and mainly got the food resource by ordering Spongie Spunge people to fish the cotton fish from the seas and exploit the Cotton Mines region. Nowadays, they do the same thing yet but their own labor. The Cotton Mines region locates near the North West coast and is ever famous for its splendid cotton - deposited from the dead cotton fish. Cotton Mines region is not only a physical geography or an environmental geography, but also a human geography and an economic geography because many countries crave for this resource.
Lalaland has different types of precipitation throughout the year, including: hailstone, rain, fog, etc Even though those cause various accidents and death, yet sometimes is helpful for the Lorda Forest that locates 650 degrees north and 600 degrees east. A lot of wild animals live there, including gryphon, Pegasus, unicorn, and jackalope. People never disturb these animals, though their population remains balanced due to hailstones.
By doing the 'Family Tree' Project, it not only reminded me of the times that I've been through with my family and how I've been growing to become the me right now, but it also helped me understand and appreciate other classmate's family cultures more. Personally, I was amazed by my own process of growth for what I’ve been through were really challenging. The biggest change ever was when I entered AIS. This school has been helping me to become a more confident person with more worthy knowledge, which miraculously took away part of my fear of being lonely and useless. However, I’ve also realized that I have to face a new challenge, for the US culture has caused my Mom and me numerous fights. In her perspectives, Mom thinks that I should only care about my family and she expects me to look up for traditional issues. While at school, I’ve been taught that friends are really important for your social health, and being open to modern ideas are essential because that makes you a better person. Also, since my Mom doesn’t speak and understand English well, it’s really hard for me to explain every single thing to her.
In addition, I also acknowledge that the conversion in my religion was also a big step in my 14 – year old – live, for faith made me become more calm and peaceful. I actually went through a pretty hard time when I was in grade 4 - when my friends discriminated me, and grade 5 – when I couldn’t manage my stress and had to take half of the year of. After that year, I had to start over my 5th grade life, and therefore I had to face a lot of changes since I was one year older comparing to my peers. I had to change the way I normally communicated with my friends, and I had to accept the fact that some of them think that I failed so I had to retake the grade. Anyway, since I converted into Christianity, I don’t care what people say and how they feel about me anymore. But yes, if there are positive comments I’ll listen to them, but in general, I just know that I’ve always been doing my best in everything and therefore should feel satisfied. Speaking of spiritual issues like this, it reminds me of how fascinating God is, for he changed not only my life but my each member of my family’s, too. It’s really important for me because what involves my family influences me. By doing this project just made me feel prouder about how my family has been supporting me even when sometimes we made bad choices, and that motivated me to think that I’m a really lucky person to having been born in the society of being loved and supported.
Describe one place that you have been. You must discuss at least three physical characteristics and two human/ environment interactions.
Florida's Flag
Last summer I've been to Florida, a state of the United States which is bordered by Alabama and Georgia. It is surrounded by water on three sides, and has always been famous for its sunny and warm climate. There are 4 distinct seasons, including spring and autumn with mild weather, summer with humid weather and a lot of rains, and winter with cool weather. Even though Florida is a humid place, 10 years ago it once snowed in winter. There are also a lot of forests with deers and bears, wet lands – where thousands of aligators live, and beautiful beaches – where also are homes of sharks.
The advantage of having a good weather and broad lands not only make Florida a famous place with many attractions: including Walt Disney World, Sea World, Everglades National Park, and the Kennedy Space Center; but also a very suitable place for manufacturing (electrical equipment and electronics, printing and publishing, transportation equipment, food processing, and machinery - referred to the Kennedy Space center) and agriculture. For that reason, it is no wonder why many food resources come from here, such as oranges, grapefruits, and sugar cane. In addition, the main attractions such as Miami Beach, Palm Beach, Daytona Beach, Key West, and Tampa, etc – have numerous of tourists each year and that helps raise the state's economy. One special highlight of recent news is that the explosion of BP’s Deepwater Horizon drilling rig contaminated a huge area of the United States marine environment among the Gulf of Mexico – one of the bodies of water that surround Florida. That caused a lot of people in Florida to lose their jobs, especially fishermen. In particular, because of the oil a lot of sea creatures die and therefore sea food amount decreases. Besides, Florida is a tourist city with attractive beaches and plentiful sea food. If the amount of sea food decreases, at the same time the beaches are contaminated, the city might lose a lot of tourists and other things that might result problems in Florida’s ecosystem, economy, and the environment.
