Climate Change, Case Study Example

The early research conducted by the scientific team indicated that changes in the biological events under review were far greater towards the bottom of the food chain. This potentially might be the beginning of a serious problem. One quoted example was that of the Pied Flycatcher in the Netherlands and that early springs were resulting in the emergence of caterpillars far earlier than normal. As the flycatchers migrated to the Netherlands from Africa, they were arriving too late for the nesting season and the young birds were deprived of the caterpillars, as they had gone.

Actual predictions on the effects of climate change to that of regional biodiversity are hard to produce with any degree of accuracy. What we are starting to see is that as climates warm the vegetation that is produced on mountain slopes tend to move towards higher altitudes. This creates pressure on certain species that are squeezed out of specific climate zones. Solutions are to reduce carbon emissions and lower the impact of global warming. This means moving away from fossil fuels to greener options like wind and solar power, hydrogen and electric power for cars etc.

The World in 2025

It is highly likely that in the next 20 years the world will be worse than nit is today. We are unlikely to significantly reduce the impact of global warming and climate change by 2025. The world is likely to be less financially stable providing increased levels of unemployment and further poverty. Famines are likely to become more severe in the drought ridden countries of the third world. On the global change the world is undergoing a massive transformation and this is likely to have a negative impact in the transformation period before it starts to stabilize and we start to see some of the benefits of change. In Europe they are talking about a lost generation of young people because of the massive unemployment figures and the overall lack of direction for the younger people. This may well lead people towards more criminal behaviour and antisocial habits. In addition, this type of stress will lead to more alcohol consumption and substance abuse and as such create increased strains and societal problems.

Globalization

The concept of globalization will present the world with some unique challenges. This will involve working with different cultures and religious backgrounds and the need for increased levels of tolerance. It has been a widely upheld belief, particularly in the west, that Middle Eastern Muslim women are oppressed by the Islamic faith. It is globally recognised that Muslim women have been engaged in a struggle of liberation and freedom from the more fundamental aspects of the religion. Ironically, it is not the Islamic faith which is entirely responsible for this situation. A lot of the issues relate to old tribal customs, beliefs and traditions that have been handed down through the generations. These have not updated to international standards. More radical elements within the Islamic faith have blamed western interference and become more intolerant of what they perceive to be a break-away from traditional Islamic values. Hence a key word is interpretation of Islam.

Governments are responsible for both promotion and restriction of international trade. In the latter, this is often where disputes occur between countries. Remedies often involve sanctions and the prevention of exported goods to the offender. A current example of this being the position of Iran, and its uncontrolled nuclear program outside the auspices of the International Atomic Energy Authority.

The Latin Americas

Many of the Latin American countries are moving in different directions. You have tiger economies like that of Brazil which are set to dominate international trade. Other countries like Venezuala have more leaning towards communism and wish to expand different political ideologies to other countries. Countries like Argentina have survived financial meltdown and now making a comeback in terms of economic and international development. Other countries like Columbia and Bolivia have been highly impacted by Drug lords and the smuggling of Narcotics to the West; this in the face of a breach in international laws. Other countries like Chile and Peru are trying to expand their trading relationships with Asia and in particular that of China and India. This has included the export of important raw materials like that of Copper and other important minerals. It is really the administrations of Brazil and Venezuala that have been trying to take Latin America in a different direction and to an extent make them less reliant upon the whims of the West. There is however a lack of an overall coherent strategy to address the diverse range of issues.

Advantages of women in modern economy

Women have taken up increasingly more important roles in both the Military and Private sector. Women now take an active role in all branches of the armed services. Indeed this has seen women taking up some of the most senior appointments in the services. One example being Anne Dunwoody elevated to the rank of General in the US army. There were certain old fashioned views that women should not participate in the armed forces and particularly alongside combat male soldiers, a view that is still upheld in certain military areas. Prejudice was equally made against gay service personnel on the grounds of being unsuitable and impacting morale of other servicemen. Even those that suffered the abuse felt there was a glass ceiling ion terms of career progression in the services. Women have been in the armed services for a long time serving as nurses and medical personnel. The roles have now expanded and they are to be seen along with their male counterparts serving on warships, in combat roles, flying helicopters and participating in a wide range of other military service operations.

Israel is another country where women take an active part in combat operational roles as soldiers alongside men. Female soldiers have been given the responsibility of manning watchtowers that surround Gaza which are manned machine gun posts. There still remains reports of sexual harassment of women in the armed services. The situation however seems to be changing and conditions improving according to recent studies in 2008. Women are seen to offer an empathetic leadership style which is more flexible and adaptable to a global multi-cultural society.

Anti-slavery

A considerable amount of American History is drawn from the Colonial through to the Civil War era. Most of this was focused upon minority groups and the exploitation of these by the predominately white land owners. This created a power struggle of politics and economics where racism and sexism escalated conflict. It was in the year of 1619 the first shipment of black slaves were brought to the Americas. In order to serve the white colonists. Most of these being located in Jamestown, Virginia, and to be used as a source of cheap labour. Slaves did not readily accept the position of enslavement. In this letter. Revolts during the period 1720 to 93. The white landowners put down such reports with considerable force and hanged many slaves in order to set an example to others who would revolt. Four petitions against slavery were made during 1773 to 1777. Slavery was an extremely cruel institution imposed by the white colonists on the important Negro population from Africa.

The slave trade was responsible for displacing millions of African people to new lands notably in the Caribbean, Cuba, Central America and the United States. After the abolition of slavery these people had to seek a new identity in a new country. In America the African Americans were treated as second class citizens until as recently as the Civil Rights movement taken up by the activity Dr. Martin Luther King. The concept of colonialism and removal of the native peoples from Africa has also impacted the economic growth and development of many African countries.

Alternate Energy

In its quest for alternate energy sources the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is focusing its attention on the abundant supply of solar energy in the region. Over the next two decades the region plans to extend its network of solar power stations by around I GW per year. The country plans to use the solar energy for both domestic use and export around the region. Despite this being a relatively clean source of energy it still contains a number of environmental impact issues. One of the biggest environmental impacts produced as a bi-product of solar energy is the seawater desalination plants. Water is a very precious commodity in Saudi Arabia and solar power is seen as a solution to expand the desalination plants around the coastal areas. The plants being needed to support the water requirements for agriculture and the populations living around the coast areas of the country.

With other forms of alternate energy, such as windpower and clean energy sources, we are moving in the right direction to address some of the climate change issues. In the short term however it is considered unlikely to resolve all of the ecological and environmental concerns facing the planet.

US and World Ecological crisis

The US is not the main cause of ecological crisis in the world but it certainly has a major contributory factor. The Deep-water Horizon oil spill is an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, which flowed for three months in 2010. It is the largest accidental marine oil explosion in the world. As result of spilling oil onto the fertile water, the environment, animals and economy have been damaged.

The explosion has affected the animals very badly. Many kinds of animals have died because of polluted water. Especially, the scientists are expecting an increase in the dolphin deaths because the birthing season for the dolphins had just started before the oil spill. Moreover, many kinds of sea birds, such as Brown Pelicans, died after their feather had covered with oil. In addition, the animals, which live around the Gulf of Mexico, could not find food. Due to those reasons, many animals of different species lost their lives.

Secondly, after the explosion, approximately five million barrels of oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico. Workers tried to clean up it in different ways, but they were not successful enough. Almost 1.5 million barrels of liquid waste were collected, but another 265.450 barrels of oil burned on the surface of the gulf. All chemical gases and toxins mixed with air. Cleaning all the oil took a long time; therefore, the oil spilled to larger area, and the pollution has become the biggest problem.

The oil spill hit the economy. First, the tourism industry in the gulf region was worth about $20 billion US in 2009. However, the number of visitors and hotel booking dropped off in the gulf region aftermath of the oil spill. The gulf coast’s fisheries were also affected by oil spill. Very large area of gulf fishing water was closed; and even today, a small area around the wellhead remains is still closed. The revenues remain under the 2009 levels.

The environmental disaster in the Gulf of Mexico may head towards criminal investigations and possible legal action from the Federal Government against those responsible for the creation of an environmental disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. In the event of criminal action taking place, it would set a new precedent in terms of a Federal Government perusing litigation against BP and the other parties deemed responsible for the environmental disaster. The delays in the inability of BP to cap the well caused a shift in the attitude of the administration, which saw a potential deepening of the crisis by pollution spreading to the beaches of the Mississippi and Alabama.

Mexico’s Drug Violence

Narcotics are a major criminal problem in the USA today. Amongst the worst of these addictions is that of heroin use and smuggling. It is without a doubt that heroin is one of the most addictive of all the drugs being used today. Heroin is one of the most dangerous drugs in the world. Heroin addiction does not discriminate amongst the addicts, despite age, gender or socio-economic status. In the USA there is a very diverse range of addicts who have become dependent upon the drug. In addition to the immediate health hazards like liver failure and the lethal risk of overdose. It is interesting to note that approximately half a million heroin addicts land up in jail each year.

Much of the drug trafficking comes from organised crime in Mexico. The US administration tries to work with the Mexican government in addressing the problem but is limited in action that can be taken. Much of this involves punitive legal measures and border controls.

Cyber Crime

Internet Crime and particularly illegal entry into other computer systems i.e. hacking is deemed to be a Federal Offence in the USA and falls under the investigative jurisdiction of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Criminal computer hacking has been legally defined as any person who willingly and knowingly commits an act of cyber terrorism, credit card fraud, malicious vandalism, identity theft or other cyber-crime by hacking into a Corporate or Government system. Such criminal acts are treated very seriously in the USA and will be subject to harsh penalties. Such intrusions are capable of creating a tremendous amount of malicious damage. They may potentially threaten national security, may cause serious service disruptions e.g. hospitals, emergency services etc. May create economic and financial instability by intrusions to Banks or large Corporate Offices.

The services of a hacker may prove useful in probing and testing for points of vulnerability. Mobile and wireless devices were particularly vulnerable and had gaping security breaches in them. Hackers working in a controlled environment were able to identify these and thus compile a dossier on the vulnerabilities and weaknesses of the system. The FBI has seen fit to use Hackers that they have turned from the dark side to the light and as such use their services to help track and locate other hackers that are involved in criminal activities. It is likely that Cybercrime will continue over the next decade as the internet expands in sophistication and technology. More e-business is likely to attract more cybercrime. Infiltrating National Defence system is perhaps the most heinous crime as disclosure of classified information can put service personnel lives at risk and endanger interests of National Security.

World Population

The impact of the world population growth is most likely going to be felt in the third world and developing countries like China and India. In Asia, Africa and Latin American countries, we are faced with a world hunger problem. It is estimated that there are over 500 million people living in what has been described as the absolute poverty category. Further, it is estimated that some 50 million children die each year because of malnutrition and hunger. In the 1990s a hundred million deaths occurred from illness and starvation. World health authorities described the situation as:’ one third of the world well fed, one third underfed and one third starving.

The world food program [WFP] states that there are 1.02 billion people who are undernourished in the world today. This roughly translates to one in six people on the planet. It is also attributed to be the number one problem associated with health todayThe United Nations has adopted a number of urgent goals of the new millennium: [ 1] attempt to reduce by half the number of hungry people in the world; [2] seek ways of reducing the growth factors causing the hundred numbers to incline.

World Pandemics

One of the most serious risks facing the world health authorities is the risk of a Flu Pandemic. Most Governments throughout the world have emergency preparation plans in order to deal with such an emergency. This paper explores how the varying health authorities plan for a response to a Flu pandemic. This case study considers a potential cluster of Avian flu appearing in the state of Florida, which is currently localised, but shows evidence of human transmission.

The state of Florida has one of the better surveillance and preventative action programs in the USA. Early preventative measures are based around containment. In a localised area the cluster would be sealed off and quarantined. A program of vaccination would commence immediately for the localised area Stocks of avian flu vaccine are maintained and an inoculation program for people in the state of Florida would commence. It is unlikely that a Pandemic could be halted in its entirety, should that event occur. Timely action would be critical to obtain containment and prevent a movement to Phase 6. There is no doubt that such an event would not only hit Florida hard but the entire USA