Half Essays - Cerebrum, Lateralization Of Brain Function

Half Brained Your brain has two sides. And each has a distinctly different way of looking at the world. Do you realize that in order for you to read this article, the two sides of your brain must do completely different things? The more we integrate those two sides, the more integrated we become as people. Integration not only increases our ability to solve problems more creatively, but to control physical maladies such as epilepsy and migranes, replace certain damaged brain functions and even learn to "thin" into the future. Even more startling is evidence coming to light that we have become a left-brain culture. Your brain's right and left side have distinctly different ways of looking at the world. Your two hemispheres are as different from each other as, oh, Micheal Wilson and Shirley Maclean. The left brain controls the right side of the body (this is reversed in about half of the 15 percent of the population that is left-handed) and, in essence, is logical analytical, judgemental and verbal. It's interested in the bottom line, in being efficent. The right brain controls the left side of the body and leans more to the creative, the intuitive. It is concerned more with the visual and emotional side of life. Most people, if they thought about it, would identify more with their left brain. In fact, many of us think we are our left brains. All of that non-stop verbalization that goes on in our heads is the dominant left brain talking to itself. Our culture- particularly our school system with its emphasis on the three Rs (decidedly left-brain territory) - effectively represses the intuitive and artistic right brain. If you don't believe it, see how far you get at the office with the right brain activity of daydreaming. As you read, your left-side is sensibly making connections and analysing the meaning of the words, the syntax and other complex relation- ships while putting it into a "language" you can understand. Meanwhile, the right side is providing emotional and even humerous cues, decoding visual information and maintaining an integrated story structure. While all of this is going on, the two sides are constantly communicating with each other across a connecting fibre tract called the corpus callosum. There is a certain amount of overlap but essentially the two hemispheres of the brain are like two different personalities that working alone would be somewhat lacking and overspecialized, but when functioning together bring different strengths and areas of expertise to make an integrated whole. "The primitive cave person probably lived solely in the right brain," says Eli Bay, president of Relaxation Response Inc., a Toronto organization that teaches people how to relax. "As we gained more control over our environment we became more left-brain oriented until it became dominant." To prove this, Bay suggests: "Try going to your boss and saying "I've got a great hunch." Chances are your boss will say, "Fine, get me the logic to back it up." The most creative decision making and problem solving come about when both sides bring their various skills to the table: the left brain analysing issues, problems and barriers; the right brain generating fresh approaches; and the left brain translating the into plans of action. "In a time of vast change like the present, the intuitive side of the brain operates so fast it can see what's coming," says Dr. Howard Eisenberg, a medical doctor with a degree in psychology who has studied hemispheric relationships. "The left brain is too slow, but the right can see around corners." Dr. Eisenberg thinks that the preoccupation with the plodding left brain is one reason for the analysis paralysis he sees affecting world leaders. "Good leaders don't lead by reading polls," he says. "They have vision and operate to a certain extent by feel." There are ways of correcting out cultural overbalance. Playing video games, for example, automatically flips you over to the right brain Bay says. "Any artistic endavour, like music or sculpture, will also do it." In her best-selling book "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain (J.P. Tarcher Inc., 1979), Dr. Betty Edwards developed a series of exercises designed to help people tap into the right brain, to actually see or process visual information, differently. She cites techniques that are as old as time, and modern high-tech versions such as biofeedback. An increasing number of medical professionals beieve that being in touch with our brain, especially the right half, can help control medical problems. For examplem Dr. Eisenberg uses what he calls "imaginal thinking" to

Using the JSON Gem in Ruby

Using the JSON Gem in Ruby Its easy to jump into parsing and generating JSON in Ruby with the json gem. It provides an API for parsing JSON from text as well as generating JSON text from arbitrary Ruby objects. Its easily the most used JSON library in Ruby. Installing the JSON Gem On Ruby 1.8.7, youll need to install a gem. However, in Ruby 1.9.2, the json gem is bundled with the core Ruby distribution. So, if youre using 1.9.2, youre probably all set. If youre on 1.8.7, youll need to install a gem. Before you install the JSON gem, first realize that this gem is distributed in two variants. Simply installing this gem with gem install json will install the C extension variant. This requires a C compiler to install, and may not be available or appropriate on all systems. Though if you can install this version, you should. If you cant install the C extension version, you should gem install json_pure instead. This is the same gem implemented in pure Ruby. It should run everywhere that Ruby code runs, on all platforms and on a variety of interpreters. However, its considerably slower than the C extension version. Once installed, there are a few ways to require this gem. A require json (after a prerequisite require rubygems if needed) will require whichever variant is available and will prefer the C extension variant if both are installed. A require json/pure will explicitly require the pure variant, and a require json/ext will explicitly require the C extension variant. Parsing JSON Before we start, lets define some simple JSON to parse. JSON is typically generated by web applications and can be quite daunting, with deep hierarchies that are difficult to navigate. Well start with something simple. The top level of this document is a hash, the first two keys hold strings and the last two keys hold arrays of strings. { CEO: William Hummel, CFO: Carlos Work, Human Resources: [ Inez Rockwell, Kay Mcginn, Larry Conn, Bessie Wolfe ], Research and Development: [ Norman Reece, Betty Prosser, Jeffrey Barclay ]} So parsing this is quite simple. Assuming this JSON is stored in a file called employees.json, you can parse this into a Ruby object like so. require rubygemsrequire jsonrequire ppjson File.read(employees.json)empls JSON.parse(json)pp empls And this programs output. Note that if youre running this program on Ruby 1.8.7, the order the keys are retrieved from the hash is not necessarily the same order theyre inserted. So your output may appear out of order. {CEOWilliam Hummel, CFOCarlos Work, Human Resources [Inez Rockwell, Kay Mcginn, Larry Conn, Bessie Wolfe], Research and Development [Norman Reece, Betty Prosser, Jeffrey Barclay]} The empls object itself is just a hash. Nothing special about it. It has 4 keys, just as the JSON document had. Two of the keys are strings, and two are arrays of strings. No surprises, the JSON was faithfully transcribed in Ruby objects for your perusal. And thats about all you need to know about parsing JSON. There are some issues that come up, but those will be covered in a later article. For just about every case, you simply read a JSON document from a file or over HTTP and feed it to JSON.parse.

Should vaccination for HPV be mandated for teenage girls Essay

Should vaccination for HPV be mandated for teenage girls - Essay Example Opponents of this mandate argue that mandating the HPV vaccine would increase sexual activity among teenagers and jeopardize abstinence education (Rettner, 2011). As such, there is need for educating the public about the dynamics of the HPV vaccine. The debate manifests a collision between two fundamental topics in American healthcare mandatory vaccination and teenage sexuality (Donahou, 2013). The question on the morality of a vaccine for a sexually transmitted infection and the question of parental rights in regards to mandatory vaccination dominate the debate (Donahou, 2013). However, by analyzing the prevalence and incidence of cervical cancer in the U.S and the ability of the HPV vaccine to address this health problem, I would agree that the vaccine is necessary. Moreover, medical organizations, the federal government, and medical professionals guarantee the safety and effectiveness of the HPV vaccine. The HPV vaccine will enable significant numbers of young women to play a major role in curbing cervical cancer that claims too many lives in America. The American Academy of Pediatrics and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) approximate that about 20 million people in the United States are suffering from HPV while about 6.2 million people get the HPV infection every year through sexual transmission (National Conference of State Legislatures, 2014). The two organizations estimate that about 4,000 women die from cervical cancer caused by a HPV infection every year (Rettner, 2011). Since there is no cure for HPV, it is very wise to seek prevention measures for this epidemic by encouraging teenage girls to take a HPV vaccine (National Conference of State Legislatures, 2014). The target audience for this vaccine is clearly prone to the HPV infection since it affects at least half of sexually active people in their lifetime (National Conference of State Legislatures, 2014). With the existence of more than 30

Modern Arabic Media Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Modern Arabic Media - Essay Example We have to carefully access each belief by keeping in mind these different criteria's, which will help us, give our responses and will result in a well orientated research from which actions will take place. In short, we can say that culture can be known as the identity of a person, which varies from person to person. (Traditional beliefs and health problems, 1, n.d) When we talk about Arab culture, there are many cultures because of which we can not say that the Arab culture comprises of only one culture, but this comprises of many cultures which is vary vast and rich in communities, groups and cultures. Within the countries there exist many different cultures due to which there are differences amongst themselves, which is not amongst the countries but within the countries as well. Arab is territory which ranges from Morocco across Northern Africa and then to the Persian Gulf. Arab countries are also being termed as Middle East and North Africa. The key component of Arab countries is that they are religious and culturally different having Islam as their most dominant religion. They include different races such as Muslims, Christians and Jews. Religion does play a vital role in the Arab countries and their politics. It has been observed that all Muslims are Arabs and all the Arabs are Muslims which is a wrong conception. Their culture is a civil ized one in which the modern cities combine with the ancient cities. Religion plays a vital role in politics of the country. In the Arab countries women are subordinates of men in the society, which is being varied from country to country. Arabian Peninsula have the most restricted condition over women as compared to other countries such as Egypt and Lebanon, the women have less restrictions and are able to work with men in the society. They respect their families and friends and they act as a center for the Arabs in which Men are always the head of the family. (Arab Cultural Awareness, 1, 2006) Problems faced by Arab Media Today the Arab media is facing problems which include political, social, and cultural problems. It all began after the disastrous tragedy of 9/11, when the US government was shocked by attacks on them and Arab media played a major role to expose all the related information of the environment. The Arab media displayed the entire real picture of the on screen events as well as behind the scene. At that time, the US government was of the point of view that how the Arab media was showing and informing the people's mind. They launched an investigation into this matter to find out the real picture. Americans deeply investigated into the matters at how they are revealing information which has not been revealed before. All this started to cause problems for the Arab media which was researching deep analysis into the matters and providing information against the US Government. (Arab Media, 1, 2005) Cultural problems faced by Arab Media In the Arab countries companies are of the point of view not to leak out any sort of information which can be processed by the journalists. They try and keep things to themselves and do not share their internal information. The companies do not want themselves to

Introduction to Health Economics, Lorna Guinness | Overview

Introduction to Health Economics, Lorna Guinness | Overview NAME OF THE BOOK: INTRODUCTION TO HEALTH ECONOMICS AUTHOR: GUINNESS, LORNA KEY TERMS Efficiency It describe the connection between inputs and outputs. It’s involved with increasing advantages with the resources accessible, or minimizing prices for a given level of profit. Goods These are the outputs (such as health care) of a production method that involves the combining of various resources like labor and instrumentation. Merchandise (including services) are valuable within the sense that they supply some utility to individual shoppers. They’re termed ‘goods’ as theyre fascinating, as distinct from ‘bads’ that youll examine later! Health sector It contains organized public and personal health services, the policies and activities of health departments and ministries, health-related nongovernment organizations and community teams, and skilled associations. Health services- The vary of services undertaken primarily for health reasons which have an instantaneous result on health, as well as health care programs like health promotion and specific disease prevention and treatment. Marginal analysis It is the examination of the additional focal points or costs emerging from an extra unit of utilization or generation of a decent. Market A state of affairs wherever those who have a requirement for an honest move with suppliers and agree on a worth at that the great are going to be listed .The important condition for effectively working markets may be an arrangement of property rights to verify that people will take part in honestiness. Opportunity cost (economic cost) As assets are rare, a single person, in deciding to devour a decent, on a fundamental level, picks the great which provides for him or her the best advantage, and in this manner renounces the utilization of a scope of option merchandise of lesser worth. The opportunity expense is the estimation of the profit of the following best option. Resources These represent inputs into the method of manufacturing merchandise. They’ll be classified into 3 main elements: labor, capital and land. Completely different merchandise would typically need variable mixtures of those parts. Resources are typically valued in financial terms. Utility- The satisfaction or fulfillment an individual increases from expending a decent. The more utility an individual gets from the utilization of a decent, all else being equivalent, the more they would be eager to use their salary on it. What is an economy? The economy is outlined as all the economic activities and establishments among an outlined space (usually geographically, associated with the political borders of a nation state). Resources’ are those items within the economy that can be used to manufacture and distribute goods. Resources will be classified as labor, capital and land: Labor refers to human resources, manual and non-manual, accomplished and unskilled. Capital-are those product that are accustomed turn out alternative product – as an example machinery, buildings and tools . Land –consist of all natural resources, like oil or ore. Goods are either items that you can hold or touch (e.g. a medication) or else they are administrations that befall you (e.g. a counsel). There are 2 vital attributes that recognize diverse goods: 1 Physical attributes – a frozen dessert and a cup of tea are totally completely different commodities as a result of they need different producing techniques and since they satisfy different needs. 2 Context in which the good is consumed – for example: a) the time in which the good is available – an ice cream that is available on a hot summer’s day is a different good from one available in the cold midwinter. b) The place where the commodity is available – a cup of tea available in a fashionable cafà © is a different good from tea that is sometimes sold at a petrol station. What is a market? In financial science, the expression business sector is utilized to clarify any condition of undertakings wherever individuals that request a conventional close with suppliers. For it to be a market the purchasers and venders dont need to be urged to physically meet – case in point, most unmistakably, exchanging on the net will include systems of individuals in all segments of the planet who can never meet. Altogether, an important condition for effectively working markets could be an arrangement of property rights to affirm that people will take part in accordance with some basic honesty. This infers that the exchanges made between gatherings are some way or another enforceable which there are bound comprehended tenets in regards to however people act as far as giving information, making installment. Health System finance Health system finance is that the method by that revenues area unit collected from primary and secondary sources, that area unit accumulated in fund pools and allotted to supplier activities’ Within the finance function of the health system there are unit 3 main activities. Revenue collection refers to the raising of funds either directly from people seeking health care or indirectly through governments or donors. Fund pooling refers to the gathering of funds which will be used for finance a given population’s health care in order that contributors to the pool share risks. Purchasing is the method of allocating funds to the suppliers of health care. There are two ways of paying for health services: Out-of-pocket payments: this is often the only and earliest style of dealing between patient and provider. Third-party payments: where providers are paid by an insurance company or a government. 1) In several countries out-of-payments for health care play a crucial role. From low-income countries theres proof that individuals who are not covered by insurance pay high amounts for health care in relevance their financial gain. In Africa, quite fifty per cent of health care expenses return from directly paid non-public sources. Types of out-of-pocket expenditure include the following. †¢ Private consultations with doctors. †¢ Over the counter (OTC) drugs. †¢ Co-payments and user fees: where third-party payment is prevalent, cost sharing within the variety of co-payments plays a very important role. Co-payments and user fees might apply to prescription drugs, medical care, patient care and emergency transport. †¢ Unofficial fees: besides official fees, unofficial payments to doctors are common in several countries. Further payments to employees to urge access to hospitalization are common in some Asian countries. In range of countries in central and Eastern Europe, doctors used to expect unofficial payments as a supplement to their financial gain. †¢ Services not covered by insurance: transport costs, traditional or complementary medicine and luxury services such as cosmetic surgery. 2) These are costs that are high in connection to salary. Case in point, lavish helps are unrealistic to be paid out-of-pocket, as individuals would need to use a substantial extent of their salary or riches on social insurance. Generally, people look for protection to secure themselves against such conceivably disastrous misfortunes. You might likewise consider administrations with qualities of an open decent which are financed openly on the grounds that they are not given by private markets. Consider preventive administrations, for example, wellbeing instruction, which the individual customer may not be ready to buy secretly. 3) Overall out-of-pocket spending on health care is increasing. This is due to the growing proportion of OTC drugs and increasing cost sharing. The evolution of health service finance Global correlations demonstrate that nations use distinctive methods for paying for wellbeing administrations. Case in point, France and Sweden have created notably diverse practices to reserve healing centers and to pay for specialists. Latin American nations have social protection frameworks while in numerous African nations government subsidizing is normal. The Changing World of Health Services Finance The climbing estimation of health awareness imply that paying for medicinal services is an issue of concern in most, if not all nations. Governments are upset in regards to the monetary and political results of the expanding benefit of giving wellbeing administrations and look at to utmost using through tighter controls and diverse changes. Theres gigantic assemblage of writing to suggest that a considerable measure of nations are disappointed with the present methodologies of account and conveyance of wellbeing administrations or as inside the instance of the past Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, are forced into change through immense political alteration and wretchedness. Though the motives and kinds of reform could disagree, there are some common themes: Separation of customer and supplier responsibilities whereby the underlying plan is that purchasers contract with those suppliers giving best price for cash which this will increase the potency of service delivery . Redefinition of the role of the state in responsibility for health care. Encouragement of the personal sector. Encouragement of competition between suppliers. Alternative sources of funding, budget constraints and political modification in several countries has resulted within the health sector and governments seeking out other ways of mobilizing the resources. What is economic evaluation? It is the comparison of prices and consequences of different health care interventions to assess their worth for cash. Impact of health problems A key need of numerous social orders far and wide is the assuagement of wellbeing issues: illness, damage or a danger component for one of these. The effect of such wellbeing issues can be showed in distinctive ways – physical inability, dismalness and mortality, enthusiastic trouble, social troubles and seclusion, and monetary and financial misfortune. The impact of health problems can be measured as: The number of cases The number of passing’s(deaths) The amount of disability, pain or suffering The measure of people with a risk factor The measure of money spent on a health problem

iNTERNATIONAL TRADE :: essays research papers fc

International Trade Understanding the culture in a country or region in which you are doing business is a critical skill for the international business person. Without this knowledge, a successful outcome to the business venture can be in jeopardy. â€Å"The level of world output in any given year influences the level of international trade in that year.† By this it means that the slower the world economy is the less international trade and the higher the economy the higher the volume of trade. "Globalization" is a term that came into popular usage in the 1980's to describe the increased movement of people, knowledge and ideas, and goods and money across national borders that has led to increased interconnectedness among the world's populations, economically, politically, socially and culturally. Although globalization is often thought of in economic terms, this process has many social and political implications as well. Many in local communities associate globalization with modernization. At the global level, globalization is thought of in terms of the challenges it poses to the role of governments in international affairs and the global economy. There are heated debates about globalization and its positive and negative effects. While globalization is thought of by many as having the potential to make societies richer through trade and to bring knowledge and information to people around the world, there are many others who perceive globalization as contributing to the exploitation of the poor by the rich, and as a threat to traditional cultures as the process of modernization changes societies. There are some who link the negative aspects of globalization to terrorism. To put a complicated discussion in simple terms, they argue that exploitative or declining conditions contribute to the lure of informal "extremist" networks that commit criminal or terrorist acts internationally. And thanks to today's technology and integrated societies, these networks span throughout the world. It is in this sense that terrorism, too, is "globalized." Increasingly over the past two centuries, economic activity has become more globally oriented and integrated. Some economists argue that it is no longer meaningful to think in terms of national economies; international trade has become central to most local and domestic economies around the world. Among the major high-income economies, sometimes referred to as the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries, 60 percent of the total economic production, or GDP, is associated with international trade. Thirty-four percent comes from trade between high-income and low-and middle-income nations.

How Humans Have Contributed to Climate Change

CLIMATE CHANGE: HOW THE HOMO SAPIENS HAVE CONTRIBUTED By Ernest Ebo Jackson TERM PAPER Climate change refers to change in average weather patterns and can be caused by both natural processes and human activities. In the past, the earth's climate has been affected by natural factors such as changes in solar output and the discharge of volcanic ash. In fact, the planet has been through many periods of cooling and warming. The last period of major cooling ended about 10,000 years ago. The physical evidence that suggests that the earth’s climate is changing is truly overwhelming. The world’s glaciers are retreating and disappearing, extreme weather is occurring more often now than in the past, the sea’s level and temperature is on the rise and it’s becoming more acidic, increased evaporation is drying out the earth’s supply of fresh water found in lakes and rivers, heat waves kill thousands in Europe, uncontrollable forests fires are destroying forests reserves in places like Australia and Africa, and increasing atmospheric temperature is raising the budget of many families in tropical countries use in cooling their homes. Need I say more? The sun's warmth heats the surface of the earth, which in turn radiates energy back to space. Some of this radiation, which is nearly all in the infrared spectrum, is trapped in the atmosphere by greenhouse gases. For instance, water vapor strongly absorbs radiation with wavelengths between 4 and 7 micrometers, and carbon dioxide (CO2) absorbs radiation with wavelengths between 13 and 19 micrometers. The trapped radiation warms the lower atmosphere, or troposphere. Some heat then finds its way back down to the Earth's surface, making it hotter than it would otherwise be. This is the greenhouse effect. Carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere over the last 400,000 years show a rise since the industrial revolution. Analysis of ice in a core drilled from an ice sheet such as the Antarctic ice sheet enables scientist to arrive at this conclusion. But since when did humans becoming aware of the potentially adverse effects of Carbon dioxide emissions on the climate? As early as 1827, French polymath Jean-Baptiste Fourier predicts an atmospheric effect eeping the earth warmer than it would otherwise be. He is the first to use a greenhouse analogy. Also in 1957, US oceanographer Roger Revelle warns that humanity is conducting a â€Å"large-scale geophysical experiment† on the planet by releasing greenhouse gases. Colleague David Keeling sets up first continuous monitoring of CO2 levels in the atmosphere. Keeling soon finds a regular year-on-year rise. Over the years, there have been many conferences aimed at finding solutions to climate change or global warming. In 1985 for instance, there was a major international conference on the greenhouse effect at Villach, Austria, which warned that greenhouse gases will â€Å"in the first half of the next century, cause a rise of global mean temperature which is greater than any in man's history. † This could cause sea levels to rise by up to one meter, researchers say. The conference also reports that gases other than carbon dioxide, such as methane, ozone, CFCs and nitrous oxide, also contribute to warming. The world’s nations however have not been united in their quest to curb global warming or climate change. Many nations have been selfish, especially developed ones, seeking first to achieve or maintain economic growth and thus world dominance rather than make the sacrifices needed to reverse the negative trend of climate change. . A revisit to some historical event will help buttress this point. 1995 proved to be the hottest year recorded to date. In March, the Berlin Mandate is agreed by signatories at the first full meeting of the Climate Change Convention in Berlin. Industrialized nations agree on the need to negotiate real cuts in their emissions, to be concluded by the end of 1997. In 1996, at the second meeting of the Climate Change Convention, the US agrees for the first time to legally binding emissions targets and sides with the IPCC against influential skeptical scientists. After a four-year pause, global emissions of CO2 resume their steep climb, and scientists warn that most industrialized countries will not meet Rio agreement to stabilize emissions at 1990 levels by the year 2000. Furthermore, in 1997, Kyoto Protocol agrees legally binding emissions cuts for industrialized nations, averaging 5. 4%, to be met by 2010. The meeting also adopts a series of flexibility measures, allowing countries to meet their targets partly by trading emissions permits, establishing carbon sinks such as forests to soak up emissions, and by investing in other countries. The precise rules are left for further negotiations. Meanwhile, the US government says it will not ratify the agreement unless it sees evidence of â€Å"meaningful participation† in reducing emissions from developing countries. In 2001, the new US president, George W Bush, renounces the Kyoto Protocol because he believes it will damage the US economy. After some hesitation, other nations agree to go ahead without him. Talks in Bonn in July and Marrakech in November finally conclude the fine print of the protocol. Analysts say that loopholes have pegged agreed cuts in emissions from rich-nation signatories to less than a third of the original Kyoto promise. Signatory nations urged to ratify the protocol in their national legislatures in time for it to come into force before the end of 2002. Now let’s talk about a second human behavior that is negatively impacting the climate – deforestation. Deforestation is the permanent destruction of indigenous forests and woodlands by the processes of humans such as logging and/or burning of trees in a forested area. Deforestation occurs because of many reasons: trees or derived charcoal are used as or sold for fuel or a commodity to be used by humans, while cleared land is used by humans as pasture for livestock, plantations of commodities, and settlements. People's removal of trees without sufficient reforestation has resulted in damage to habitat, biodiversity loss and aridity. It has adverse impacts on biosequestration (the capture and storage of the atmospheric greenhouse gas carbon dioxide by biological processes) of atmospheric carbon dioxide. Deforested regions typically incur significant adverse soil erosion and frequently degrade into wasteland. Forests (an area with a high density of trees. ) are the most natural biological formation. They serve many functions. Firstly, forests protect and form other natural resources. Thanks to the processes of photosynthesis, they renew the oxygen stock in the atmosphere by fixing atmospheric carbon dioxide and moderating the greenhouse effect. Forests also allow for the existence of many species of plants and animals, thus protecting diversity of nature and its gene stock. Forests clean the environment by muffling noises, lowering the wind strength as well as stopping dust and gases. They have a regulatory influence on surface water runoff; they moderate high and low temperatures and prevent soil erosion. By performing all of the above listed functions forests stabilize the climate and shape the landscape. Forests create conditions for relaxation, recreation and improvement of health. Only when actively growing can trees or forest remove carbon over an annual or longer timeframe. The decay and burning of wood releases much of this stored carbon back to the atmosphere. In order for forests to take up carbon, the wood must be harvested and turned into long-lived products and trees must be re-planted. Sadly consumer trends indicate the humans like to discard products such as furniture after only a few years of usage and buy new ones, increasing the need for wood and thus deforestation. Reducing emissions from the tropical deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries has emerged as new potential solution to complement ongoing climate policies. The idea consists in providing financial compensations for the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from deforestation and forest degradation†. The earlier these ideas are implemented, the better for us. The hydrological effects on climate as a result of deforestation are even more alarming. The water cycle is probably the most affected by deforestation. Trees extract groundwater through their roots and release it into the atmosphere. When part of a forest is removed, the trees no longer evaporate away this water, resulting in a much drier climate. Already, acute water shortages in countries like Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Palestine and Iraq has resulted in armed conflicts with factions fighting to control the scanty water resources available. Water prices increase too is an indication of global water shortage. In Britain, water and sewage bills increased 67 percent between 1989 and 1995. The rate at which people's services were disconnected rose by 177 percent. Deforestation also contributes to decreased evapotranspiration (the sum of evaporation and plant transpiration from the Earth's land surface to atmosphere), which lessens atmospheric moisture which in some cases affects precipitation levels downwind from the deforested area, as water is not recycled to downwind forests, but is lost in runoff and returns directly to the oceans. According to one preliminary study in deforested north and northwest China, the average annual precipitation decreased by one third between the 1950s and the 1980s. Trees, and plants in general, affect the water cycle significantly: their canopies intercept a proportion of precipitation, which is then evaporated back to the atmosphere (canopy interception); their litter, stems and trunks slow down surface runoff; their roots create macropores – large conduits – in the soil that increase infiltration of ater; they contribute to terrestrial evaporation and reduce soil moisture via transpiration; their litter and other organic residue change soil properties that affect the capacity of soil to store water. Their leaves control the humidity of the atmosphere by transpiration. 99% of the water pulled up by the roots move up to the leaves for transpiration. As a result, the presence or absence of trees can change the quantity of water on the surface, in the soil or groundwater , or in the atmosphere. This in turn changes erosion rates and the availability of water for either ecosystem functions or human services. Tropical rainforests produce about 30% of our planet's fresh water. So what are we waiting for? When will human start acting to reverse these trends? I wish I knew. The third human activity that has contributed to global warming is the use of chlorofluorocarbon. A chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) is an organic compound that contains carbon, chlorine, and fluorine. Many CFCs have been widely used as refrigerants, propellants (in aerosol applications), and solvents. Applications exploit the low toxicity, low reactivity, and low flammability of the CFCs. During World War II, various chloroalkanes were in standard use in military aircraft. After the war they slowly became more common in civil aviation as well. In the 1960s, fluoroalkanes and bromofluoroalkanes became available and were quickly recognized as being highly effective fire-fighting materials. By the late 1960s they were standard in many applications where water and dry-powder extinguishers posed a threat of damage to the protected property, including computer rooms, telecommunications switches, laboratories, museums and art collections. Beginning with warships, in the 1970s, bromofluoroalkanes also progressively came to be associated with rapid knockdown of severe fires in confined spaces with minimal risk to personnel. By the early 1980s, bromofluoroalkanes were in common use on aircraft, ships, and large vehicles as well as in computer facilities and galleries. A planet's climate is decided by its mass, its distance from the sun and the composition of its atmosphere. Earth's atmosphere is 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, and 1% other gases. Carbon dioxide makes up just 0. 03 – 0. 04% with water vapour varying in amount from 0 to 2%. Without the greenhouse gases, Earth's average temperature would be roughly -20 °C. The use of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in machinery and other purposes have resulted in the release of CFCs into the atmosphere which intensifies the heat-trapping properties of the atmosphere as a whole. There is no natural process that release CFCs. In addition, CFCs rise into the upper layer of the atmosphere, the stratosphere, where they destroy the protective layer of ozone, a gas that forms a shield against ultraviolet rays that can harm many forms of life. About l million tons (over 900,000 metric tons) per year of CFCs have been released worldwide since the mid l970s. Demand for refrigeration (which has cooling systems that use CFCs) in developing countries is projected to increase greatly, especially in China and India. Ozone losses in the upper atmosphere are occurring at all latitudes in both hemispheres. The most striking example of ozone loss occurs over the South Pole during September and October. As ozone is lost, the amount of biologically harmful UV-B radiation will increase. Skin cancer rates are expected to increase. Other health effects will likely include an increase in cataracts and suppression of the immune system. Increased UV-B radiation may also harm plants and animals. These CFCs have a global warming potential of up to 11,000 times as strong as carbon dioxide by weight. Unfortunately, millions of products such as refrigerators, air conditioners, fire extinguishers and aerosol cans that contain CFCs are still in use around the world and are nearing the end of their usable lives. The next 10-20 years present a unique one-time opportunity to prevent emissions from these products as they are retired and therefore mitigate ozone damage and global climate change. The damage caused by CFCs was discovered by Sherry Rowland and Mario Molina who, after hearing a lecture on the subject of James Lovelock's work, embarked on research resulting in the first publication suggesting the connection in 1974. It turns out that one of CFCs' most attractive features—their low reactivity— is the key to their most destructive effects. CFCs' lack of reactivity gives them a lifespan that can exceed 100 years, giving them time to diffuse into the upper stratosphere. Once in the stratosphere, the sun's ultraviolet radiation is strong enough to cause the homolytic cleavage of the C-Cl bond. Since the late 1970s, the use of CFCs has been heavily regulated. By 1987, in response to a dramatic seasonal depletion of the ozone layer over Antarctica, diplomats in Montreal forged a treaty, the Montreal Protocol, which called for drastic reductions in the production of CFCs. On March 2, 1989, 12 European Community nations agreed to ban the production of all CFCs by the end of the century. In 1990, diplomats met in London and voted to significantly strengthen the Montreal Protocol by calling for a complete elimination of CFCs by the year 2000. On October 2 2009, the Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) held a briefing about the stockpile of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in old equipment and building infrastructure, and the enormous potential for these potent greenhouse gases to accelerate climate change. These CFC â€Å"banks† store the equivalent of 18 billion tons of carbon dioxide, approximately one-third of which will be emitted over the next decade under business as usual. EESI estimates that the destruction of CFCs could cost $62 -$180 billion globally. No wonder institutions are reluctant to destroy them though they are very much conscious of the effects CFCs are having on our climate. As the evidence shows, we have ourselves to blame for the unfavorable climate in recent history. Our practices are changing the climate and we are conscious of it but still keep on living life as if nothing is at stake. The billions of dollars that we gain from over-exploiting the earth are the same billion we spent on relief for victims of extreme weather. What then do we gain? The U. S. has sustained 96 weather-related disasters over the past 30 years in which overall damages/costs reached or exceeded $1 billion. The total normalized losses for the 96 events exceed $700 billion. Read an instance in the paragraph below. Southwest/Great Plains Drought persists for an entire year in 2009. Drought conditions occurred during much of the year across parts of the Southwest, Great Plains, and southern Texas causing agricultural losses in numerous states (TX, OK, KS, CA, NM, and AZ). The largest agriculture losses occurred in TX and CA. Estimate of over $5. 0 billion in damages/costs. I believe the arguments presented herein are very conclusive. Humans have contributed immensely to climate change and they are paying for it.