Today's world is about making a difference to what is happening around us. There are many challenges that we face and as a person, we have a duty to make a difference to how it affects our lives. War has affected our lives recently and over many a years and there are people out there who can make a difference. Climate Change is something that everyone can make a difference from. But ordinary people like me, can only really make a small but significant difference. If everyone made a difference at roughly the same time, then it would lead to a bigger difference at the end. What the guy at the end of Knight Rider says about "One Man can make a difference", he is right to an extent, just need the will power to do so.
People nowadays have control over their lives, and with that power, they are able to change things. With regards to Climate Change, there are many different things that people can do to help prevent this problem from taking a significant effect. Things like recycling and using vehicles less is a start, but everyone needs to start doing it for it to take effect. Governments can also help, by toughening laws that can help prevent climate change and help the people realise what they could do to bring about our lives from being changed by this global problem. This is just the start of what is to come....
Over many years there have been many changes from natural to man made. Natural Disasters have taken over many parts of the country, and have become more frequent, they cannot be stopped with man power, but they can be prevented. There is an extent where people can change things and natural things are pretty much out of peoples reach. It just takes a bit of knowledge and a bit of courage to bring this down and help create a much better place for generations to come.
From Today, there should be people helping to make a difference to many people and natural beings. Creating a better life for us and our children to live in. There are many different things to conquer and it takes not just one man to do it, but takes many people to do it. It many only be a small solution, but it may, in time, lead to a bigger difference.
Wednesday, 10 December 2008
Thursday, 20 November 2008
United Nations Debate
One of our assignments was to prepare for a United Nations style debate, and there were 14 pairs, each assigned a country. Me and Hannah got Columbia. Now, Columbia is not the most advanced country in the world, nor is it the safest, but it seems to have a grip on most things, like disease and the economy is taking a turn for the better. Being a UN style debate, it was going to be tough, talking about the country and what its sustainable development goals are, and then being asked questions about what we have said or about the country itself. Preparing it was tough, we managed to work as a team and collect facts about the country but getting information about its sustainable development goals were a bit more tough, as they were all in Spanish, and me or Hannah not being able to speak any Spanish, were not able to translate. But we looked at the facts and figures and recognised what we think the goals would be. After talking with a few people in other groups, it surprised me on how much people recognise sustainable development across the world. Even LEDCs (Less Economically Developed Countries, for anyone who hates Human Geography and didnt pay attention in a-level) had some goals drawn up and put in place to help save the planet.
Throughout the whole debate, i was nervous, safe to say, but whilst i was listening to other groups, i was astonished to see what other countries had in place. For example, Denmark was at the cutting edge of agricultural farming and recycling, and had many goals in place, which in the end, lost them the money because they were way in the lead with Sustainable Development, but if that was me, i would have given them a little bit more money to develop more goals and put them into place to make it a very sustainable country. I honestly felt i had let Hannah down from being such a pillock standing in front of 27 people and talking a load of random facts, which somewhere, had goals in there. I felt bad because everyone else had prepared better and i wish that i could have done more of that, and prepared what i was going to say when. Nerves got the better of me, and i think it got to Hannah as well.
The UN debate i thought was quite fun, we need more activities like that to keep us going, it is better than just reading off a powerpoint and taking notes. Geography is all about getting out there and exploring the world and what the world is about. I would be happy to do another UN style debate if they would let us, and give us better countries (sorry faith and greg, you did do your best, which we appreciate). Also whilst listening to everyone talk about their countries, it gave me an insight into countries that i had never even heard of. Places like the Solomon Islands and Belize, these countries were new to me, but once the representatives talked about them, it helped me picture what life would be like there. The whole debate was great as it helped bring people together more and get to know each other more, and it also gives us more charisma as we have to stand up and present what we have found in front of 27 people and i thought it was good, even though i was nervous. Activities are all about getting together and learning more, without being bored and write notes. We need more of these and if they do happen, i think Geography would be much more fun, as well as educational.
Throughout the whole debate, i was nervous, safe to say, but whilst i was listening to other groups, i was astonished to see what other countries had in place. For example, Denmark was at the cutting edge of agricultural farming and recycling, and had many goals in place, which in the end, lost them the money because they were way in the lead with Sustainable Development, but if that was me, i would have given them a little bit more money to develop more goals and put them into place to make it a very sustainable country. I honestly felt i had let Hannah down from being such a pillock standing in front of 27 people and talking a load of random facts, which somewhere, had goals in there. I felt bad because everyone else had prepared better and i wish that i could have done more of that, and prepared what i was going to say when. Nerves got the better of me, and i think it got to Hannah as well.
The UN debate i thought was quite fun, we need more activities like that to keep us going, it is better than just reading off a powerpoint and taking notes. Geography is all about getting out there and exploring the world and what the world is about. I would be happy to do another UN style debate if they would let us, and give us better countries (sorry faith and greg, you did do your best, which we appreciate). Also whilst listening to everyone talk about their countries, it gave me an insight into countries that i had never even heard of. Places like the Solomon Islands and Belize, these countries were new to me, but once the representatives talked about them, it helped me picture what life would be like there. The whole debate was great as it helped bring people together more and get to know each other more, and it also gives us more charisma as we have to stand up and present what we have found in front of 27 people and i thought it was good, even though i was nervous. Activities are all about getting together and learning more, without being bored and write notes. We need more of these and if they do happen, i think Geography would be much more fun, as well as educational.
Thursday, 6 November 2008
Recycling Today
Recycling is a very important thing nowadays. There are a lot of materials that people today throw out which are recyclable and made into something else that is useful. Im a big fan of recycling. Now that i have moved into a new life in University, it has made me realise how aware people are about recycling. When i first walked into my kitchen, i saw 3 bins. I was aware that one was for general waste as it had a black bin liner, but there were 2 others, a green and a blue one. I then noticed a poster on the wall about which materials to place in what bin and what not to put in there. I was amazed by how much can be recycled. A few years back and recycling was only just beginning and the bins were small when i was back home and as the awareness came about, the council had realised that recycling was becoming more popular so bigger bins were needed. When i went back home, it was recycling bin day and when the lorry went past, i was even more amazed to see more things can recycled, like glass. if you put glass in the recycling a few months ago, the council wouldnt have taken your rubbish and then within one week, the bin would be massively full. At least i now dont have to carry heavy bags full of glass to the bottle bank now.
Today in the Northamptonshire area, recycling rates have soared since the start of the century. There has been greater awareness of recycling all that you can so there is less landfill waste to deal with. Recycling helps create new products from old and this is great as it means that our landscape is less susceptible to eyesores like landfill. Over the whole of the Northamptonshire area there are variations which show that some places maybe doing more recycling than others, but the figures show that one third of all recycling in Northamptonshire is recycled. That is a pretty good figure but there are targets to make that even greater. With all this recycling, it helps the strain on getting raw materials to make things easier as the material is there, just in a different form. Also, the rates being high can also be down to the times in which the recycling is collected and this is like a ongoing operation which runs like clockwork. Supplies are always in demand and with collections every 2 weeks maximum, whoever wants this material, gets it in such a short amount of time.
But recycling has its flaws. There are many people out there who still do not recycle everything they can. Some ignore the recycling prospect and this can harm the figures, which seem to be going well. There have been many tv and paper adverts showing how much recycling can help society today. The government really needs to get the message across that would grab everyones attention, like a picture of what could happen if recycling doesnt happen. That would be a way of getting to people, showing how they are affecting future generations and then show what they could do about it as well.
In the lecture last week, we had a visitor from an organisation that helps look at waste management in business. I was shocked by the fact that legislation from the government stops companies from giving waste to other companies that may find it useful. It states that transporting any waste across to another company requires a licence and this can take ages with forms to fill etc. This is the kind of legislation that needs to be put down as it is hindering recycling rates and like the old saying goes: 'one man's rubbish is another man's treasure'.
But im happy with what society is doing to help keep resources in tact and how most people are seeing the benefits that recycling does and recycling. Just some laws need to be modified slightly and for everyone to really start looking at recycling what they can and get the most out of what we have today.
Today in the Northamptonshire area, recycling rates have soared since the start of the century. There has been greater awareness of recycling all that you can so there is less landfill waste to deal with. Recycling helps create new products from old and this is great as it means that our landscape is less susceptible to eyesores like landfill. Over the whole of the Northamptonshire area there are variations which show that some places maybe doing more recycling than others, but the figures show that one third of all recycling in Northamptonshire is recycled. That is a pretty good figure but there are targets to make that even greater. With all this recycling, it helps the strain on getting raw materials to make things easier as the material is there, just in a different form. Also, the rates being high can also be down to the times in which the recycling is collected and this is like a ongoing operation which runs like clockwork. Supplies are always in demand and with collections every 2 weeks maximum, whoever wants this material, gets it in such a short amount of time.
But recycling has its flaws. There are many people out there who still do not recycle everything they can. Some ignore the recycling prospect and this can harm the figures, which seem to be going well. There have been many tv and paper adverts showing how much recycling can help society today. The government really needs to get the message across that would grab everyones attention, like a picture of what could happen if recycling doesnt happen. That would be a way of getting to people, showing how they are affecting future generations and then show what they could do about it as well.
In the lecture last week, we had a visitor from an organisation that helps look at waste management in business. I was shocked by the fact that legislation from the government stops companies from giving waste to other companies that may find it useful. It states that transporting any waste across to another company requires a licence and this can take ages with forms to fill etc. This is the kind of legislation that needs to be put down as it is hindering recycling rates and like the old saying goes: 'one man's rubbish is another man's treasure'.
But im happy with what society is doing to help keep resources in tact and how most people are seeing the benefits that recycling does and recycling. Just some laws need to be modified slightly and for everyone to really start looking at recycling what they can and get the most out of what we have today.
Wednesday, 29 October 2008
The UK Newspapers and Climate Change
Climate change has become more aware of over the past few years. There have been many studies and stories about how the world is changing and how we might end up. The Newspapers publish stories about this sensitive topic to help give us the knowledge they have found out about a certain story, but is it to be believed by the general public?
All newspapers have a target audience and they create stories to help build an understanding between them and that certain type of person. But, because of that target audience, the story may have been exaggerated or stretched so they can sell more copies. The Tabloids are especially good at this as some of them like The Sun or the News of the World like to exaggerate the total truth behind the story so they can sell more. As both of the newspapers can be read by a 6 year old, the people who read it are more likely to believe this over other sources.
Climate change is an ongoing topic in today's news and new discoveries are always within the next day's newspapers and tv news. But newspapers can change the truth slightly to make the paper more popular, but this can have a knock on effect if the readers find out about this. Also, some of the readers of the newspapers do not really take notice of the Climate change story unless it is really eyecatching.
Broadsheet newspapers like the Guardian and The Independent are targeting more middle class people and have a lot more fact within them. With regards to reliability, the broadsheets are more reliable than the tabloids, as they usually sell well for being more factual and having more eyecatching stories about the real world and not like The Sun or News of the World who usually talk about Sex or Drugs or Crime.
Climate Change has a significant link to Sustainable Development where alternative resources are needing to be discovered, tested and put into action to help run the world after non-renewable resources have been used up. Newspapers across the UK rarely show this link, unless it is a story that is highly valuable in the media. This is one example of a newspaper relating a story to climate change and sustainable development:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/oct/27/green-new-deal-climate-change
Being a broadsheet, it sticks to the point of what is happening and this is the kind of story that sells papers. People in society today are more aware of what is happening to our planet and need to be updated with the information for everything that is happening with Climate change. Slightly changing the story to sell papers would not be good as it could lose its readers if the news is slightly wrong as many people want to know the solid truth about that story.
To conclude, most newspapers slightly change the truth to help their newspapers sell faster. Not all of them do but some. As this stands, it has been working for ages but when it comes to a story to do with a sensitive topic like Climate Change, it can cause readers to read more reliable papers. Also, many newspapers look at Climate Change, but rarely look at it with regards to sustainable development. Only the more reliable papers look at both together and with the link above, this shows how newspapers look at them together and link it up properly.
All newspapers have a target audience and they create stories to help build an understanding between them and that certain type of person. But, because of that target audience, the story may have been exaggerated or stretched so they can sell more copies. The Tabloids are especially good at this as some of them like The Sun or the News of the World like to exaggerate the total truth behind the story so they can sell more. As both of the newspapers can be read by a 6 year old, the people who read it are more likely to believe this over other sources.
Climate change is an ongoing topic in today's news and new discoveries are always within the next day's newspapers and tv news. But newspapers can change the truth slightly to make the paper more popular, but this can have a knock on effect if the readers find out about this. Also, some of the readers of the newspapers do not really take notice of the Climate change story unless it is really eyecatching.
Broadsheet newspapers like the Guardian and The Independent are targeting more middle class people and have a lot more fact within them. With regards to reliability, the broadsheets are more reliable than the tabloids, as they usually sell well for being more factual and having more eyecatching stories about the real world and not like The Sun or News of the World who usually talk about Sex or Drugs or Crime.
Climate Change has a significant link to Sustainable Development where alternative resources are needing to be discovered, tested and put into action to help run the world after non-renewable resources have been used up. Newspapers across the UK rarely show this link, unless it is a story that is highly valuable in the media. This is one example of a newspaper relating a story to climate change and sustainable development:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/oct/27/green-new-deal-climate-change
Being a broadsheet, it sticks to the point of what is happening and this is the kind of story that sells papers. People in society today are more aware of what is happening to our planet and need to be updated with the information for everything that is happening with Climate change. Slightly changing the story to sell papers would not be good as it could lose its readers if the news is slightly wrong as many people want to know the solid truth about that story.
To conclude, most newspapers slightly change the truth to help their newspapers sell faster. Not all of them do but some. As this stands, it has been working for ages but when it comes to a story to do with a sensitive topic like Climate Change, it can cause readers to read more reliable papers. Also, many newspapers look at Climate Change, but rarely look at it with regards to sustainable development. Only the more reliable papers look at both together and with the link above, this shows how newspapers look at them together and link it up properly.
Friday, 10 October 2008
Private Cars
Over the years, there has been many cars coming onto Britain's roads which is becoming increasingly worrying, as climate change is upon us. I for one have tried to cut down on my use of my car as I want to do something about stopping our world from becoming a world which we don't want to live in. I have stopped going out in the car for no reason, ever since ive come to university, I have used the bus a lot more, as it is cheaper and really isn't that bad, and it has been good not getting into road rage situations. I have a problem with other motorists and not being in the car has helped me.
But anyway, with the figures from Defra, stating that CO2 emissions have been going up 4%, its only been 4 %. I know that sounds bad but over the space of 16 years, that seems like we have won. Since the Kyoto Agreement in Japan, many countries have tried to combat Climate Change and so too have Car companies. Many companies like Ford and Toyota have made cars a lot cleaner over the years. 1990 was bad with Leaded petrol still being around and nowadays, theres alternatives like LPG and Ethanol (which being Swedish, makes me feel good). There has been an improvement in the amount cars produce in emissions and people never stop inventing. We have cars that produce less than 100 kg/km of CO2 and people should be encouraged to drive them instead. I know i would!
But today, since the credit crunch has hit us and petrol went up rapidly in the past 12 months, people have been forced to try different modes of transport, like the bus and train. But still, these produce mass amounts of CO2, even though they carry a lot of passengers. I still think that every public transport vehicle should be run onf alternative fuels. Ok, everyone thinks thats a bad idea, but if they want to see the world another day, then the government should help encourage us by converting government vehicles to run on alternative fuels.
Also, just on another note, if roadworks were helping keep traffic flowing, then they need their head sorted out. All roadworks do is make everyone queue up and burn fuel that is unnecessary. Roadworks should happen at night when noone is about so less CO2 goes into the air. Everytime I need to get home, im always in a traffic jam because roadworks have blocked one lane and it happens to be on a slip road, so everyone queues up to let people out. What a crap idea. if they did it at night, it would make me and every other driver happy.
But alternative fuels have their advantage. Since ethanol is 85% more powerful than petrol when burnt, the Swedish car manufacturer Koeniggsegg created the CCX-R, which has 850bhp. But as it is able to run on ethanol, it goes up to over a 1,000 bhp. Now thats what i call a success, even going green can help get more power when driving that supercar, which by the way, is very very fast. Ok, it costs £1.5 million quid, but even so, alternative fuels are showing their strengths now.
Here is a link to help support my opinion:
http://www.seriouswheels.com/cars/top-2007-Koenigsegg-CCXR.htm
But onto a serious note, over the past few years, the government have been trying to help us stop using our cars and get to use other modes of transport. The bus and the train have been successful to an extent but most of the people in this country still drive our cars. I feel that the government have not done enough to help advertise the fact that public transport is better. Places like London you are better off to use public transport as it is a lot quicker, but in other parts of the country, people are not swayed by public transport. I'm with them as public transport is way too expensive and like trains for example, they are £19 for a one way ticket from Peterborough to London Kings Cross. When i went to Sweden 3 months ago, the Train was only £1.60 one way, for the same distance. Shows how much the government is not providing the people of this nation the value for money that other countries provide. Let's hope the government sort this out.
Anyway, since the credit crunch is hitting us, noone can really afford to buy a clean car. There are so many cheap cars that pollute a lot out there that are cheap as chips. Car companies should put the price of small cars down so people can exchange their old banger for a shiny new clean car. Me on the other hand, im upgrading my car, because its just as cheap to run a bigger car to mine than to run mine. My car has cost me a fortune over the past year so im going to get a cheaper car, and get a profit out of mine. It has to be done, however much my parents hate it.
Anyway, the choice of having a car outweighs public transport. Unless your a student or an OAP, then public transport is not for you and the public car seems cheaper in the long run. Public transport is not cheap enough and until it does, everyone is going to drive their cars everywhere. I might not think its a good idea, or a bad one, but if the government want to get a green tick from Defra, then they need to promote alternative transport better and stop putting car drivers down with stupid laws. It would make everyone happy and make Britain a healthy place.
But anyway, with the figures from Defra, stating that CO2 emissions have been going up 4%, its only been 4 %. I know that sounds bad but over the space of 16 years, that seems like we have won. Since the Kyoto Agreement in Japan, many countries have tried to combat Climate Change and so too have Car companies. Many companies like Ford and Toyota have made cars a lot cleaner over the years. 1990 was bad with Leaded petrol still being around and nowadays, theres alternatives like LPG and Ethanol (which being Swedish, makes me feel good). There has been an improvement in the amount cars produce in emissions and people never stop inventing. We have cars that produce less than 100 kg/km of CO2 and people should be encouraged to drive them instead. I know i would!
But today, since the credit crunch has hit us and petrol went up rapidly in the past 12 months, people have been forced to try different modes of transport, like the bus and train. But still, these produce mass amounts of CO2, even though they carry a lot of passengers. I still think that every public transport vehicle should be run onf alternative fuels. Ok, everyone thinks thats a bad idea, but if they want to see the world another day, then the government should help encourage us by converting government vehicles to run on alternative fuels.
Also, just on another note, if roadworks were helping keep traffic flowing, then they need their head sorted out. All roadworks do is make everyone queue up and burn fuel that is unnecessary. Roadworks should happen at night when noone is about so less CO2 goes into the air. Everytime I need to get home, im always in a traffic jam because roadworks have blocked one lane and it happens to be on a slip road, so everyone queues up to let people out. What a crap idea. if they did it at night, it would make me and every other driver happy.
But alternative fuels have their advantage. Since ethanol is 85% more powerful than petrol when burnt, the Swedish car manufacturer Koeniggsegg created the CCX-R, which has 850bhp. But as it is able to run on ethanol, it goes up to over a 1,000 bhp. Now thats what i call a success, even going green can help get more power when driving that supercar, which by the way, is very very fast. Ok, it costs £1.5 million quid, but even so, alternative fuels are showing their strengths now.
Here is a link to help support my opinion:
http://www.seriouswheels.com/cars/top-2007-Koenigsegg-CCXR.htm
But onto a serious note, over the past few years, the government have been trying to help us stop using our cars and get to use other modes of transport. The bus and the train have been successful to an extent but most of the people in this country still drive our cars. I feel that the government have not done enough to help advertise the fact that public transport is better. Places like London you are better off to use public transport as it is a lot quicker, but in other parts of the country, people are not swayed by public transport. I'm with them as public transport is way too expensive and like trains for example, they are £19 for a one way ticket from Peterborough to London Kings Cross. When i went to Sweden 3 months ago, the Train was only £1.60 one way, for the same distance. Shows how much the government is not providing the people of this nation the value for money that other countries provide. Let's hope the government sort this out.
Anyway, since the credit crunch is hitting us, noone can really afford to buy a clean car. There are so many cheap cars that pollute a lot out there that are cheap as chips. Car companies should put the price of small cars down so people can exchange their old banger for a shiny new clean car. Me on the other hand, im upgrading my car, because its just as cheap to run a bigger car to mine than to run mine. My car has cost me a fortune over the past year so im going to get a cheaper car, and get a profit out of mine. It has to be done, however much my parents hate it.
Anyway, the choice of having a car outweighs public transport. Unless your a student or an OAP, then public transport is not for you and the public car seems cheaper in the long run. Public transport is not cheap enough and until it does, everyone is going to drive their cars everywhere. I might not think its a good idea, or a bad one, but if the government want to get a green tick from Defra, then they need to promote alternative transport better and stop putting car drivers down with stupid laws. It would make everyone happy and make Britain a healthy place.
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