Benefits Of Getting A College Education - 1303 Words

As the price to attend college increases throughout the years many young adults are experiencing increasing difficulty in being able to pay for such an endeavor and many more are beginning to question whether or not it’s worth the price due to the faltering of the economy. The price tag may be the most common concern about getting a college education but another important factor that many students consider when applying for college is how much time they will need to devote to school. Many prospective students think that the time spent in a college math class is a waste when they are majoring in the arts. This results in many students deciding against getting a college education in favor for finding a source of income to support themselves and due to the lack of employment opportunities available today the decision to choose an income over an education is really a matter of survival. However, this is the beginning of a slippery slope that can easily lead to a population that is severely lacking in education which can lead to a disaster in a country where the nations populace are the ones making decisions with their vote. I believe it is time to make education not only cheaper, but more accessible to more people across the country by eliminating course requirements and majors in order to allow students to seek out an education that is tailored to the subject they are seeking to pursue. Doing so will not only result in a lower cost of college by eliminating useless andShow MoreRelatedCollege Is It Worth It?1317 Words   |  6 PagesCollege, is it Worth it? Is college really worth the time and money? This is the question I am going to be exploring. While many people may have an idea that college is just an abundance of debt, other students argue that most of the information they learn doesn’t provide them with the value they thought it would (Adams 1). Many college students who grow up with the opportunity to go to college usually don’t stress the idea of going to school, but most students who don’t have the opportunity toRead MoreValue Of College Education837 Words   |  4 PagesIn recent years, the rising costs of college education made many high school graduates question whether getting a degree is worth the price. However, there are several reasons why going to college is still a beneficial investment. A college education has value; it makes you more well-rounded, it increases your chance of success, and it makes you more prepared for adult life. A college education is a four-year bachelor’s degree re ceived by living on a college campus. While there are other ways toRead MoreBenefits of a College Degree Essay1411 Words   |  6 Pageswhether to go to college or not. There are many factors that go into one’s decision. There are pros and cons to going to college and also there are pros and cons for not going to college. But the decision that will give someone the better opportunity to have a more successful life is to go to college. The money that one will earn after getting a college degree will be more than the money a person will make without getting a college degree. As our society has continued to evolve, education has become theRead MoreIs College Education Necessary For College?1509 Words   |  7 PagesI really need to go to college?† In my case, the answer was yes, I need to go to college. Each year high schoolers have to make the decision to go to college or not. This is a decision people have been making since college has existed. Almost everyone has to m ake this decision at some point in their life. Some chose to go to college for two years, four years or however longer to get their desired degree. Then, there are people who make the decision to not pursue a college degree. There are variousRead MoreShould College Athletes Be Paid?1578 Words   |  7 PagesAshay Mehta Nou Per 8 Should College Athletes Be Paid? One of the hottest debates in the sports industry is if college athletes should be paid. If you want to pay these athletes, how would the college determine the dollar amount that should be paid? Should the basketball team make more than the football team? Should the the soccer team be paid as well? Cheerleading? Chess team? Should everyone on the team get a salary? What if your college is good at football and your basketball team is awfulRead MoreBenefits Of College Education1462 Words   |  6 Pagesfuture to support their family and have a brighter future. Some students question whether attending college is worth their time, but research suggests that students who study at postsecondary institutions will benefit in the long run. If students want to have a successful future, to be able to support their family, and have a higher income, they will need some sort of higher level education. Going to college can help with unemployment rates and increase the chances of attaining a stabl e career. PeopleRead MoreIs A College Education Worth It?1018 Words   |  5 PagesIn today’s society, the idea of receiving a college education has been pondered quite a bit as to whether or not it is actually worth it. According to Michelle Adam, many people â€Å"†¦today believe that getting a good education is key to success in our society, this revealed surprising issues that challenge the notion of higher education being worth its price tag† (59). Naturally, many high school graduates apply for college right before or after graduation. Others decide to go into the work force, armedRead MoreWhy College Is Becoming More Expensive938 Words   |  4 Pagesattend college for a higher education and to find a career within their interest. Despite the fact that college is becoming more expensive and many people are not on a full ride scholarship have student loan debt, a college education is necessary. College has the ability to help build skills for a specific ca reer or job. It also teaches students how to get involved with other students and to network. College can open doors for a poorer family. Many jobs today that don t require any college experienceRead MoreWhy College Education Is Important to Me839 Words   |  4 PagesWhy College Education is Important to Me Patty Murray said â€Å"A good education means learning to read, write and most importantly learn how to learn so that you can be whatever you want to be when you grow up.† Getting a college education will help open so many doors and give me opportunities to better myself, and provide me with a more successful life that I can be proud of. In today’s society it is hard to get a good job or have a stable career without first getting a college degree. A college educationRead MoreEssay Is College Worth It682 Words   |  3 PagesIs college worth it? Ask yourself a question, is college worth it to you? If you answered no then in this case it will be beneficial for you to read this. When thinking about college you have to think more about what you want out of it rather than what you have to do to get through it. The skills that you get while attending college can be very beneficial to you. Having the critical thinking and advanced communication skills that you acquire in college. Getting a college degree and bringing what

Are Humans Responsible for Global Warming Free Essays

Are Humans Responsible for Global Warming? A REVIEW OF THE FACTS APRIL 2007 AUTHORS James Wang, Ph. D. Bill Chameides, Ph. We will write a custom essay sample on Are Humans Responsible for Global Warming? or any similar topic only for you Order Now D. Are Humans Responsible for Global Warming? The case for attributing the recent global warming to human activities rests on the following undisputed scientific facts: †¢ Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a greenhouse gas that warms the atmosphere. †¢ Since pre-industrial times, atmospheric CO2 concentrations have increased from about 280 parts per million (ppm) to over 380 ppm. Current concentrations of CO2 and other greenhouse gases are unprecedented in at least the last 650,000 years, based on records from gas bubbles trapped in polar ice. †¢ Independent measurements demonstrate that the increased CO2 in the atmosphere comes from burning fossil fuels and forests. The isotopic composition of carbon from these sources contains a unique â€Å"fingerprint. † †¢ Since pre-industrial times, global average temperatures have increased by about 0. 7? C, with about half of the warming occurring over the past few decades. The only quantitative and internally consistent explanation for the recent global warming includes the intensified greenhouse effect caused by the increase in CO2 and other greenhouse gases. The U. S. National Academy of Sciences—the independent organization of the country’s most renowned scientists established by Congress to advise the nation on scientific and technical issues—has concluded: â€Å"The scienti fic understanding of climate change is now sufficiently clear to justify nations taking prompt action. Some argue that the recent global warming is due to natural fluctuations and not to human activities. This argument and its fallacies are discussed below. Argument 1: CO2 is not coming from human activities CO2 has natural sources: volcanoes for example. All animals exhale it. How can human activities be affecting the concentration of CO2 on a global scale? The Facts Natural processes emit large quantities of CO2 into the atmosphere, but they also remove it—at nearly identical rates. This balance maintained the concentration of CO2 at a stable level for thousands of years prior to the Industrial Revolution. In the case of global warming, the question is: What is causing the increase in CO2 concentrations? The answer turns out to be incontrovertible. The isotopic composition of carbon in atmospheric CO2 provides a unique â€Å"fingerprint† that tells scientists that the lion’s share of the additional CO2 accumulating in the atmosphere is from the burning of fossil fuels. Argument 2: No one really knows why the climate varies The global climate has fluctuated considerably over the Earth’s history, either for unknown reasons or because of â€Å"internal variability† in the climate system. We do not know enough about the climate system to attribute the present global warming to any specific cause. The Facts It is true that the Earth’s climate has exhibited wide swings over geologic time due to natural processes. However, scientists have reasonable qualitative explanations for most of the significant variations in 2 limate over geologic time;1 they can be largely attributed to specific processes, not to unknown internal oscillations. Many of the major climatic changes can be traced to changes in the Earth’s orbit around the sun (Hays et al. Science, 194, 1976, pg. 1121). Others can be linked to specific events (such as the impact of a comet or meteorite or the assembly or breakup of supercontinents) that led to large changes in the concentration of atmospheric greenhouse gases. For more recent times (the past millennium), scientists have been able to quantitatively attribute the major temperature fluctuations to changes in solar activity, volcanic eruptions, and human-produced greenhouse gases and particulate pollution. These natural processes can not explain the current warming. Argument 3: The Medieval Warm Period disproves global warming The current warming trend is analogous to the Medieval Warming Period (MWP). Since the MWP was obviously a natural event, the current warming is also likely caused by natural processes. The Facts The Medieval Warm Period (MWP) refers to a relatively warm period lasting from about the 10th to the 14th century. 2 However, the initial evidence for the MWP was largely based on data3 gathered from Europe, and more recent analyses indicate that the MWP was not a global phenomenon. A number of reconstructions of millennium-scale global temperatures have indicated that the maximum globally averaged temperature during the MWP was not as extreme as present-day temperatures and that the warming was regional rather than global. Perhaps the most well-known of these is that of Michael Mann and colleagues (Nature, 392, 1998, pg. 779). Their reconstruction produced the so-called â€Å"hockey stick† graphic that contributed to this conclusion in the 2001 assessment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change: â€Å"The†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢Medieval Warm Period’ appear(s) to have limited utility in describing trends in hemispheric or global mean temperature changes in past centuries. † The accuracy of the â€Å"hockey stick† graphic was widely discussed in the press when the Mann et al. methodology was criticized by McIntyre and McKitrick (Geophys. Res. Lettr, 32, 2005, pg. L03710). Less attention was given to subsequent studies, such as that of Moberg and colleagues (Nature, 433, 2005, pg. 13) and Osborn and Briffa (Science, 311, 2006, pg. 841) that were based on different, independent methodologies but reached conclusions similar to Mann. Observations of melting high altitude glaciers are perhaps even more telling. Andean glaciers that have been intact for more than 5,000 years are now rap idly melting (Thompson et al. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. , 103, 2006, pg. 10536). If the MWP was truly global, these glaciers would not have survived. More generally, it is a logical fallacy to argue that because the climate has changed in the past due to natural causes, the current warming trend must also be due to natural causes. The debate over the magnitude and causes of earlier climate change such as the MWP is of scientific interest, but it does not invalidate the considerable direct scientific evidence that human-produced greenhouse gases have been causing the Earth to warm recently. Argument 4: Recent predictions of a new ice age disprove global warming In the 1970s climate scientists were saying an ice age was imminent. Now they say the Earth is warming. They don’t know what they are talking about. The Facts The Earth’s climate for the past 2 million years has been characterized by ice ages lasting close to 100,000 years, punctuated by relatively short (10,000- to 30,000-year) warm periods or â€Å"interglacials. † The swing from glacial to interglacial is caused by changes in the Earth’s orbit around the sun amplified by natural feedbacks involving greenhouse gases (Hays et al. Science, 194, 1976, pg. 1121). The Earth entered the present interglacial about 10,000 years ago. All things being equal (i. e. , in the absence of a large human-produced source of CO2) it is highly likely that the Earth will swing back into a glacial period or ice age. But this will not occur for thousands of years. 3 As early as the 19th century, scientists recognized that greenhouse gases warm the planet, and that increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide could lead to global warming on time scales of decades to centuries—much shorter than the fluctuations related to ice ages and interglacials. Around the same time, global temperatures began to increase and scientists became increasingly concerned that humans were interfering with the climate. In the 1950s the upward trend in global temperatures unexpectedly halted and temperatures declined somewhat. This led some scientists to become concerned about global cooling and, in turn, to headlines in the popular press about an imminent ice age. What the skeptics fail to admit is that within the scientific literature—as opposed to the popular press—global warming remained a serious concern. Many scientists of the time argued that whatever the cause of the cooling, natural or otherwise, it would be eventually overshadowed by the warming effect of carbon dioxide. In 1979, the National Academy of Sciences warned that a doubling of carbon dioxide would increase global temperatures by 1. 5 to 4. oC (Carbon Dioxide and Climate: A Scientific Assessment, NAS Press, 1979) and shortly thereafter a resumption of the upward trend in temperatures was detected. Over the past quarter century, scientific research on global climate change has intensified, and programs on an international scale have been organized. More and more data are included in computer models that are capable of recre ating past trends and more precisely predicting future scenarios. We now know that the mid-20th century pause in global warming was caused by pollution from burning coal, which produced tiny particles or aerosols that blocked the energy from the sun. As aerosol emissions were controlled but greenhouse gas pollution continued to increase, the cooling effect of the aerosols was overwhelmed by the greenhouse gases, and global warming resumed. Argument 5: Scientists cannot â€Å"prove† current warming is not natural Climate scientists can not prove that the current warming is not due to natural processes and therefore can not claim with certainty that the warming is due to human interference. The Facts It is of course true that, in a complex system like climate, it is virtually impossible to prove a negative; i. e. that natural processes are not causing the current warming. What we can do is eliminate every possible natural explanation that can be posited. Thermodynamics tells us that the warming of the Earth’s lower atmosphere must arise from one or more processes that supply excess heat to the lower atmosphere. Besides the greenhouse effect, the viable processes are (1) increased output from the sun; (2) increased abs orption of heat from the sun due to a change in the Earth’s planetary reflectivity or â€Å"albedo†; and (3) an internal variation in the climate system that transfers heat from one part of the Earth to the atmosphere. Direct observations confirm that none of these explains the observed warming over the latter half of the 20th century. For example there has been no appreciable change in solar output over the past two decades (see Figure 1). Figure 1. Change in solar output from 1980 to 2005. Figure 1 shows the relative change in solar output determined from two of satellite measurements over a two-decade period. The data show variability in solar output corresponding to the 11-year sunspot cycle, but no secular trend. Source: After Lean and Froelich, 2006. 4 Satellite data reveal that the Earth’s reflectivity increased (causing cooling instead of warming) in the ’60’s, ‘70s, and early ‘80s and has decreased modestly since. 4 The overall warming from the recent decrease in reflectivity is also small compared to the greenhouse warming. In the case of internal variations, the ocean is the only viable reservoir of internal heat that could have caused the atmosphere to warm on decadal time-scales. However, observations show that the heat content of the ocean has increased instead of decreased over the past few decades (See Figure 2). This indicates that the atmosphere has been a source of heat to the ocean rather than vice versa. Moreover, the amount of heat increase in the ocean is consistent with what is needed to balance the Earth’s energy budget given the excess heating from the enhanced greenhouse effect and the amount of excess heat observed to be stored in the atmosphere (Hansen et al. Science, 308, 2005, pg. 1431). In other words, the amount of heat stored in the ocean over recent years matches the amount of heat that models predict should be trapped on Earth due to the increase in greenhouse gases. Figure 2. Change in heat content of ocean 1955 to 2005 Source: After Levitus et al. 2005. FIGURE 2 SHOWS THE RELATIVE CHANGE IN THE HEAT COTENT OF THE OCEAN FROM 1955 TO 2005 BASED ON A COMPREHENSIVE ANALYSIS OF OCEAN TEMPERATURE MEASUREMENTS. THE DATA SHOW SHORT TERM VARIABILITY BUT A CLEAR UPWARD TREND ON DECADAL TIME-SCALES. Conclusion †¢ The Medieval Warm Period does not represent an analogy to the warming of the late 20th century, for which scientists have independent evidence of human causation, and the evidence strongly suggests that the MWP was a regional, rather than a global phenomenon. Our understanding of the climate system is sufficient to provide qualitative models for most global or hemispheric climatic variations over geologic history and quantitative models for variations over the past millennium. †¢ The Earth’s climate may return to ice age conditions in thousands of years, but this does not preclude devastating effects from global warming over the next few c enturies. 5 †¢ All known natural explanations for the current global warming trend have been eliminated by direct observations. The human-intensified greenhouse effect provides the only quantitative explanation for the current warming trend. About the authors Dr. Wang received his doctorate from Harvard University and works as a climate scientist at Environmental Defense. He has published several peer-reviewed papers on the global methane budget and was the author of â€Å"The Latest Myths and Facts on Global Warming,† which was read into the congressional record by Senator John McCain in 2005. The report is available at http://www. undoit. org/pdfs/mythsvfacts. pdf. Dr. Chameides, chief scientist at Environmental Defense, is a member of the U. S. National Academy of Sciences and has been named a National Associate of the National Academies. He is also an American Geophysical Union Fellow, and has received the American Geophysical Union’s Macelwane Award. Dr. Chameides has served as editor of the Journal of Geophysical Research and is the author or coauthor of more than 120 scientific publications and five books. He received his doctorate from Yale University. The explanations are qualitative instead of quantitative because we do not have quantitative data from these events in the distant past to construct their exact histories. It has been suggested based on temperature reconstructions and model simulations that the MWP may have been caused by increased solar activity or a dearth of volcanic activity. 3 th Because worldwide temperature measurements do not exist before the 19 century, temperature records before th the 19 century are based on reconstructions of the temperature from the variations in temperature-sensit ive proxies (e. g. , tree rings, isotopes in ice cores). 4 These variations are possibly due to changes in the concentrations of atmospheric aerosols produced from the burning of fossil fuels and biomass. 1 6 How to cite Are Humans Responsible for Global Warming?, Papers Are Humans Responsible for Global Warming Free Essays Are Humans Responsible for Global Warming? A REVIEW OF THE FACTS APRIL 2007 AUTHORS James Wang, Ph. D. Bill Chameides, Ph. We will write a custom essay sample on Are Humans Responsible for Global Warming? or any similar topic only for you Order Now D. Are Humans Responsible for Global Warming? The case for attributing the recent global warming to human activities rests on the following undisputed scientific facts: †¢ Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a greenhouse gas that warms the atmosphere. †¢ Since pre-industrial times, atmospheric CO2 concentrations have increased from about 280 parts per million (ppm) to over 380 ppm. Current concentrations of CO2 and other greenhouse gases are unprecedented in at least the last 650,000 years, based on records from gas bubbles trapped in polar ice. †¢ Independent measurements demonstrate that the increased CO2 in the atmosphere comes from burning fossil fuels and forests. The isotopic composition of carbon from these sources contains a unique â€Å"fingerprint. † †¢ Since pre-industrial times, global average temperatures have increased by about 0. 7? C, with about half of the warming occurring over the past few decades. The only quantitative and internally consistent explanation for the recent global warming includes the intensified greenhouse effect caused by the increase in CO2 and other greenhouse gases. The U. S. National Academy of Sciences—the independent organization of the country’s most renowned scientists established by Congress to advise the nation on scientific and technical issues—has concluded: â€Å"The scienti fic understanding of climate change is now sufficiently clear to justify nations taking prompt action. Some argue that the recent global warming is due to natural fluctuations and not to human activities. This argument and its fallacies are discussed below. Argument 1: CO2 is not coming from human activities CO2 has natural sources: volcanoes for example. All animals exhale it. How can human activities be affecting the concentration of CO2 on a global scale? The Facts Natural processes emit large quantities of CO2 into the atmosphere, but they also remove it—at nearly identical rates. This balance maintained the concentration of CO2 at a stable level for thousands of years prior to the Industrial Revolution. In the case of global warming, the question is: What is causing the increase in CO2 concentrations? The answer turns out to be incontrovertible. The isotopic composition of carbon in atmospheric CO2 provides a unique â€Å"fingerprint† that tells scientists that the lion’s share of the additional CO2 accumulating in the atmosphere is from the burning of fossil fuels. Argument 2: No one really knows why the climate varies The global climate has fluctuated considerably over the Earth’s history, either for unknown reasons or because of â€Å"internal variability† in the climate system. We do not know enough about the climate system to attribute the present global warming to any specific cause. The Facts It is true that the Earth’s climate has exhibited wide swings over geologic time due to natural processes. However, scientists have reasonable qualitative explanations for most of the significant variations in 2 limate over geologic time;1 they can be largely attributed to specific processes, not to unknown internal oscillations. Many of the major climatic changes can be traced to changes in the Earth’s orbit around the sun (Hays et al. Science, 194, 1976, pg. 1121). Others can be linked to specific events (such as the impact of a comet or meteorite or the assembly or breakup of supercontinents) that led to large changes in the concentration of atmospheric greenhouse gases. For more recent times (the past millennium), scientists have been able to quantitatively attribute the major temperature fluctuations to changes in solar activity, volcanic eruptions, and human-produced greenhouse gases and particulate pollution. These natural processes can not explain the current warming. Argument 3: The Medieval Warm Period disproves global warming The current warming trend is analogous to the Medieval Warming Period (MWP). Since the MWP was obviously a natural event, the current warming is also likely caused by natural processes. The Facts The Medieval Warm Period (MWP) refers to a relatively warm period lasting from about the 10th to the 14th century. 2 However, the initial evidence for the MWP was largely based on data3 gathered from Europe, and more recent analyses indicate that the MWP was not a global phenomenon. A number of reconstructions of millennium-scale global temperatures have indicated that the maximum globally averaged temperature during the MWP was not as extreme as present-day temperatures and that the warming was regional rather than global. Perhaps the most well-known of these is that of Michael Mann and colleagues (Nature, 392, 1998, pg. 779). Their reconstruction produced the so-called â€Å"hockey stick† graphic that contributed to this conclusion in the 2001 assessment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change: â€Å"The†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢Medieval Warm Period’ appear(s) to have limited utility in describing trends in hemispheric or global mean temperature changes in past centuries. † The accuracy of the â€Å"hockey stick† graphic was widely discussed in the press when the Mann et al. methodology was criticized by McIntyre and McKitrick (Geophys. Res. Lettr, 32, 2005, pg. L03710). Less attention was given to subsequent studies, such as that of Moberg and colleagues (Nature, 433, 2005, pg. 13) and Osborn and Briffa (Science, 311, 2006, pg. 841) that were based on different, independent methodologies but reached conclusions similar to Mann. Observations of melting high altitude glaciers are perhaps even more telling. Andean glaciers that have been intact for more than 5,000 years are now rap idly melting (Thompson et al. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. , 103, 2006, pg. 10536). If the MWP was truly global, these glaciers would not have survived. More generally, it is a logical fallacy to argue that because the climate has changed in the past due to natural causes, the current warming trend must also be due to natural causes. The debate over the magnitude and causes of earlier climate change such as the MWP is of scientific interest, but it does not invalidate the considerable direct scientific evidence that human-produced greenhouse gases have been causing the Earth to warm recently. Argument 4: Recent predictions of a new ice age disprove global warming In the 1970s climate scientists were saying an ice age was imminent. Now they say the Earth is warming. They don’t know what they are talking about. The Facts The Earth’s climate for the past 2 million years has been characterized by ice ages lasting close to 100,000 years, punctuated by relatively short (10,000- to 30,000-year) warm periods or â€Å"interglacials. † The swing from glacial to interglacial is caused by changes in the Earth’s orbit around the sun amplified by natural feedbacks involving greenhouse gases (Hays et al. Science, 194, 1976, pg. 1121). The Earth entered the present interglacial about 10,000 years ago. All things being equal (i. e. , in the absence of a large human-produced source of CO2) it is highly likely that the Earth will swing back into a glacial period or ice age. But this will not occur for thousands of years. 3 As early as the 19th century, scientists recognized that greenhouse gases warm the planet, and that increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide could lead to global warming on time scales of decades to centuries—much shorter than the fluctuations related to ice ages and interglacials. Around the same time, global temperatures began to increase and scientists became increasingly concerned that humans were interfering with the climate. In the 1950s the upward trend in global temperatures unexpectedly halted and temperatures declined somewhat. This led some scientists to become concerned about global cooling and, in turn, to headlines in the popular press about an imminent ice age. What the skeptics fail to admit is that within the scientific literature—as opposed to the popular press—global warming remained a serious concern. Many scientists of the time argued that whatever the cause of the cooling, natural or otherwise, it would be eventually overshadowed by the warming effect of carbon dioxide. In 1979, the National Academy of Sciences warned that a doubling of carbon dioxide would increase global temperatures by 1. 5 to 4. oC (Carbon Dioxide and Climate: A Scientific Assessment, NAS Press, 1979) and shortly thereafter a resumption of the upward trend in temperatures was detected. Over the past quarter century, scientific research on global climate change has intensified, and programs on an international scale have been organized. More and more data are included in computer models that are capable of recre ating past trends and more precisely predicting future scenarios. We now know that the mid-20th century pause in global warming was caused by pollution from burning coal, which produced tiny particles or aerosols that blocked the energy from the sun. As aerosol emissions were controlled but greenhouse gas pollution continued to increase, the cooling effect of the aerosols was overwhelmed by the greenhouse gases, and global warming resumed. Argument 5: Scientists cannot â€Å"prove† current warming is not natural Climate scientists can not prove that the current warming is not due to natural processes and therefore can not claim with certainty that the warming is due to human interference. The Facts It is of course true that, in a complex system like climate, it is virtually impossible to prove a negative; i. e. that natural processes are not causing the current warming. What we can do is eliminate every possible natural explanation that can be posited. Thermodynamics tells us that the warming of the Earth’s lower atmosphere must arise from one or more processes that supply excess heat to the lower atmosphere. Besides the greenhouse effect, the viable processes are (1) increased output from the sun; (2) increased abs orption of heat from the sun due to a change in the Earth’s planetary reflectivity or â€Å"albedo†; and (3) an internal variation in the climate system that transfers heat from one part of the Earth to the atmosphere. Direct observations confirm that none of these explains the observed warming over the latter half of the 20th century. For example there has been no appreciable change in solar output over the past two decades (see Figure 1). Figure 1. Change in solar output from 1980 to 2005. Figure 1 shows the relative change in solar output determined from two of satellite measurements over a two-decade period. The data show variability in solar output corresponding to the 11-year sunspot cycle, but no secular trend. Source: After Lean and Froelich, 2006. 4 Satellite data reveal that the Earth’s reflectivity increased (causing cooling instead of warming) in the ’60’s, ‘70s, and early ‘80s and has decreased modestly since. 4 The overall warming from the recent decrease in reflectivity is also small compared to the greenhouse warming. In the case of internal variations, the ocean is the only viable reservoir of internal heat that could have caused the atmosphere to warm on decadal time-scales. However, observations show that the heat content of the ocean has increased instead of decreased over the past few decades (See Figure 2). This indicates that the atmosphere has been a source of heat to the ocean rather than vice versa. Moreover, the amount of heat increase in the ocean is consistent with what is needed to balance the Earth’s energy budget given the excess heating from the enhanced greenhouse effect and the amount of excess heat observed to be stored in the atmosphere (Hansen et al. Science, 308, 2005, pg. 1431). In other words, the amount of heat stored in the ocean over recent years matches the amount of heat that models predict should be trapped on Earth due to the increase in greenhouse gases. Figure 2. Change in heat content of ocean 1955 to 2005 Source: After Levitus et al. 2005. FIGURE 2 SHOWS THE RELATIVE CHANGE IN THE HEAT COTENT OF THE OCEAN FROM 1955 TO 2005 BASED ON A COMPREHENSIVE ANALYSIS OF OCEAN TEMPERATURE MEASUREMENTS. THE DATA SHOW SHORT TERM VARIABILITY BUT A CLEAR UPWARD TREND ON DECADAL TIME-SCALES. Conclusion †¢ The Medieval Warm Period does not represent an analogy to the warming of the late 20th century, for which scientists have independent evidence of human causation, and the evidence strongly suggests that the MWP was a regional, rather than a global phenomenon. Our understanding of the climate system is sufficient to provide qualitative models for most global or hemispheric climatic variations over geologic history and quantitative models for variations over the past millennium. †¢ The Earth’s climate may return to ice age conditions in thousands of years, but this does not preclude devastating effects from global warming over the next few c enturies. 5 †¢ All known natural explanations for the current global warming trend have been eliminated by direct observations. The human-intensified greenhouse effect provides the only quantitative explanation for the current warming trend. About the authors Dr. Wang received his doctorate from Harvard University and works as a climate scientist at Environmental Defense. He has published several peer-reviewed papers on the global methane budget and was the author of â€Å"The Latest Myths and Facts on Global Warming,† which was read into the congressional record by Senator John McCain in 2005. The report is available at http://www. undoit. org/pdfs/mythsvfacts. pdf. Dr. Chameides, chief scientist at Environmental Defense, is a member of the U. S. National Academy of Sciences and has been named a National Associate of the National Academies. He is also an American Geophysical Union Fellow, and has received the American Geophysical Union’s Macelwane Award. Dr. Chameides has served as editor of the Journal of Geophysical Research and is the author or coauthor of more than 120 scientific publications and five books. He received his doctorate from Yale University. The explanations are qualitative instead of quantitative because we do not have quantitative data from these events in the distant past to construct their exact histories. It has been suggested based on temperature reconstructions and model simulations that the MWP may have been caused by increased solar activity or a dearth of volcanic activity. 3 th Because worldwide temperature measurements do not exist before the 19 century, temperature records before th the 19 century are based on reconstructions of the temperature from the variations in temperature-sensit ive proxies (e. g. , tree rings, isotopes in ice cores). 4 These variations are possibly due to changes in the concentrations of atmospheric aerosols produced from the burning of fossil fuels and biomass. 1 6 How to cite Are Humans Responsible for Global Warming?, Essay examples

A Handbook of Employee Reward and Practice

Questions: Task 1: Broadening diversity policy, show how the relationship between BQs structure and culture has impacted on its performance?Task 2: Effectiveness of the leadership and management style at BQ?Task 3: Theories of motivation at BQ?Task 4: Using theories about the nature of groups and group behaviour in organisations, independently evaluate the factors that could help or hinder effective teamwork in BQ? Answers: Introduction The company had huge concerns with the numerous populations and there is huge competition with respect to young employees. This way, it recruited the major staff and as per the report, the employees were loyal and dedicated in their work at BQ. Youth were highly motivated for the work and they were high performers when compared with the older employees because they were poor and bad performers with high number of absenteeism and higher level of turnover. The company managed to increase the diversity policy and it had focused on the staff members that encourages and motivates the skills of language for the customers. The company widely relied upon the training and opportunities to meet with the goals and success. It also focused on the video presentations and other activities to meet the success in the organization. (Quinn, 2006) Task 1: Broadening diversity policy, show how the relationship between BQs structure and culture hasimpacted on its performance BQ was founded in the year 1969 and it brings value and longer opening hours with high amount of products to everyone. With the focus of improvement stores called BQ, it was the importance of the major expansion that developed the Europes biggest and broadest retail conglomerates. It expanded its presence to remain the leading home improvement retailer. BQ took the decisions to deal with the diversity of business reasons and the company gained the edge of competitiveness with added human resource values and customer services. The support of senior management is important in the belief that deals with age discrimination and rules as well as regulations. To remain successful, it is important to deal with the workforce and the BQ management believed in the policies of diversity. Its main approach was to lead an essential action that was of top level and strong outcomes. (Tushman, 2012) The organization has high desires to meet the position and to deliver the high amount of growth as well as success. It deals with the business transformation at the center of the organization and supports business transformation. Proper commitment was provided with active support and significant personal involvement. Business also followed the movement of culture during this process and considered the major ways of thinking. With sustainable development strategies, the corporate social responsibility helps in achieving sustainability. It helps to improve the quality of the life of the people in the business. (Slater, 2005) Diversity policies The diversity policy is the business strategy that commits to the value of the respect for people and the company manages diversity at BQ and sets the proper standard and behavior to treat the customers and employees successfully with trust, dignity and respect. For managing equality and diversity, it will add high values and bring the differences among people in the business. Initially the company worked with the suppliers to improve and enhance the integrity of the environment of its supply chains and the program is known as QUEST. It had now revised to incorporate the issues of sustainable growth and development. The principle of QUEST and the suppliers are rewarded as a grade from A-E grade and with this approach, the A is known as leadership, commitment and innovation and E grade has the challenge in the environmental policies of BQ. New suppliers do not lead to the relevant approach. The program has been expanded and applied to the impact of the stores and it identifies the challenges as well as community interactions. (Westphal, 2012) In case of employment, the BQ supports the WORKSTEP program of the government and it also provides opportunity to work to disabled person along with the non-disabled person to motivate them to meet the strong potential with the goal of person to involve in the employment. The recruitment process of BQ with respect to the automated telephone screening interviews is a structured process of interview that implements talent and meet the demands along with the culture. (Robert, 2014) BQ focuses on performance appraisal system over a decade that helps to review the performance to identify the performance needs and to meet the performance for the rise of quality. It was very subjective and the appraisal system lacked the support of other methods of evaluation to the rigorous process to assure the improvements of performance. (Fiona, 2009) The company introduced the PMS over eighteen months ago and the PMS was launched for management population in the last six months. The initial focus on the system to the different ranks was based on the strategy of Aisle ownership and this concept defines that each customer advisor in 343 stores are accountable and responsible for their own aisle in the outlet. The important ownership is the support of the PMS that helps to reach the organization goals. Other policies and practices of HR are integrated into the strategy are job autonomy, talent management and decision making. Managers focus on performance expectations and objectives and feedback of the performance. (Lori, 2013) The performance expectations were developed for each team member based on their levels of skills and learning and development framework. Task 2: Effectiveness of the leadership and management style at BQ The company has more than three million customers at every week and the BQ has extensive base of customers which is the major strength in terms of sales and profits. Thus, BQ retains the customer by offering the opportunity to develop and design the own products with respect to the taste and preferences. BQ focuses on opportunity and it is rewarded as the work place award. It is also recognized as the constant phase of employee training in terms of customer satisfaction. It has experienced the work force that meets the organization with knowledge and expertise. Thus, BQ concentrates on the soft side human resource management and spends in strong communications and training. (Goodstein, 2009) The participative styles of management deals with the organization structure that reflects the culture and employees are focused on new ideas and innovations. Therefore, it unlocks the potential of the employees. This way, it motivates the culture of empowerment and entrepreneurship. There is a belief of senior management that there are benefits with the diversity strategy and BQ has good image of doing the things in the right manner. It leads to recruitment and rules and regulations properly. To remain successful, the diversity strategy must be driven and the company and its management believe that there is a difficult trading environment. Thus, he was appointed as the senior individual with the roles and personalities for the implementation of diversity policies. It helps the managers to remain aware of major considerations on customers and employees. (Holbeche, 2015) The consistent factor of research concerns with the effectiveness of social and environmental strategies within companies is the major importance of supportive leadership. At BQ, the company focuses on great managers and they made a difference. They successfully identify the situations and deals with engagement. The managers from high engagement stores are shifted to new stores and BQ also involves in training and shares information to work and to boost the engagement and this way, they makes a difference and determines their ideas and practices. (Gallup.com, 2003) The leaders are effective and supportive with the principles of integrated sustainability into the culture. BQ has strong and inspirational leaders with the response of leadership into the sustainability. The management of the company focuses on important requirements to deal with the employees at BQ and they realize the importance of relationship at BQ. The management at BQ develops high awareness of the brand of the company and modifies the negative misconceptions and image of the company as the employer. They successfully generate awareness and positive attributes of employment to meet the internal as well as external needs. Thus, it is important and they can select the right kind of people to meet the effective services. The value proposition of employment is the name offered to the approach of BQ and it is the major way to identify the people and to join the company. It is important to meet the people and to motivate the high level of performance. BQ formulates the strategy and plans to compel the environment that would generate a confident and a strong brand image. This creates awareness and enhances the overall spending and profits. (Armstrong, 2015) Compare this with leadership and management styles in other organisations In other organizations, the company also possess the leadership styles called as participative and authoritative styles. For example, in case of Microsoft, Gates possessed the decision making styles that were good at delegation and he is called as the flexible person and is recognized for better management and is also known as the strong and energizing person. The company provided special attraction and recruitment as well as retention for the best skills and talents. It also possessed the autocratic style of leadership to generate high amount of performance. (Ibscdc.org, 2015) BQ on the other hand, developed the strategy and structured their online business with the sales platform for companies but their management styles are incompatible and no business process manages the inventory. The structure of the company is the major function of the company and the leadership deals with the financial focused ways. (Headsailbooks.com, 2015) Explain how the leadership and management style at BQ is supported by organisational theory Organization theory is known as the ways of doing things and it has shared goals and values with respect to the beliefs and expectations. It has its own defined values and culture. At BQ, the Diversity Theory incorporates trust and respect. It offers appreciation and it is associated with the terminologies called as race, gender, physical abilities and beliefs. This enables the individual to perform the best to meet the organizational goals with respect to the age, race and other skills as well as abilities. To reach the major potential in the organization, the major dimensions of self-concept are called as the dimensions of diversity. The theory needs to be designed with the maximum potential and it employs three dimensions of diversity and it involves the perspectives of life as well as the skills. (Kotter, 2005) BQ recognizes the importance and requirement of young work force and competition. There was a cultural shift due to the negative impacts on expansion strategy at BQ. Thus, it was appropriate that there is always a requirement of cultural change. These theories can help the organization in redesigning the organization. Team effectiveness and leaders has clear associations of diversity and it helps to develop the effective ways of workers difference. BQ created the active interest in the diversity strategy. It also comes up with the ways of employing workforce and the company is able to deal with the integral work force. (Opentechnologyuk.com, 2015) Use a range of theories and other sources of information to evaluate different approaches in otherorganisations. The analysis on theories of management and leadership has the same qualities and leadership is about standing out and management is strongly bureaucratic in nature. These requirements are exclusive and the manager is not a leader but possess the strong association of bureaucratic authority. Behavioral theory: The behavioral theory of the organization determines the management with leadership and leaders are made, not born. This kind of leadership is important as it educates the people willing to follow the ways. Transactional theory: The transactional approach of management is to define the ways of rewards for motivation. This is the simple but the bureaucratic approach to management. Transformational theory: This theory creates true leadership and it does not rely on the bureaucracy and it seeks to motivate people under authority. (Diy.com, 2015) Charismatic theory: This approach leads the most powerful approach of leadership and people follow the love or respect of the leader. It also motivates for great work. (Pavey, 2015) Task 3: Theories of motivation at BQ Every individual helps to increase the commitment from staff and staffs are motivated through different tools and techniques such as staff values and rewards, encouragement for every member of the team. These tools and techniques generate an increase in the commitment of an individual. The concept of mentoring is important to deal with the schemes and offers of the recruitment and mentoring. (Cyert James, 2012) The communication is important for the strategic implementation and it is difficult to deal with the motivation with strong communication sources that is difficult to monitor the strategic systems as well as processes. BQ has adopted the multiple sources and networks for the flow of information and launched the various checks as well as balances that is managed and implemented as per the goals and objectives. Employees are motivated to take active part and involvement in the growth as well as the development of BQ. (Juran Godfrey, 2009) Team performances are also evaluated with the help of 360 degree feedbacks and by the help of Demings approach. Employee motivation through financial goals is a major factor that generates better outcome and the involvement of motivation tools and techniques influence the dynamics of the team. (Johnson, 2015) Different motivational theories at work place are as follows: At BQ, the focus is based on the learning and development and the major tools of motivation are called as performance related pay. The solutions of reward are important for the theories of motivation. The single most major thing for BQ is to manage the career of the people at BQ. The learning and development could be anything from the regular feedback to deal with the training and development. This could be anything from the regular feedback to construct the training as well as coaching. Employees are assessed under a performance review system and managers at this level avails bonus. Staffs who receive the goals, they also experience the wages. (Taylor, 2006) Evaluate the extent to which motivation theories can be useful to managers and with the theory, develop your analysis of the possible effects of different motivational strategies on theworkforce, and make recommendations for the most appropriate The uses of motivation theories are useful for managers as this theory develops the major advantages in the work force. BQ management focuses on the combination of Taylorism as well as Maslows theory that enriches and encourages the level of satisfaction with the involvement of staff into the decision making with respect to the organization. This is a proven part to increase the commitments of staff and to achieve the targets. BQ employs over 39000 in staff sessions and it enables the company to manage the valuable feedback about the situations of work. This is a 360 degree framework that offers not only the feedback but also exchange the experiences and views to serve the customers in a better way. (Child, 2001) Staff training and development is the other tool that is used by BQ to involve in the staff and to meet their experiences and views. The application of personal development plan is strongly effective in terms of staff retention and staff retention as well as loyalty is the trademark of the business for success. (Likert, 2015) BQ motivates and encourages its staff with profit sharing and ownership with the offers and schemes for employees and BQ motivates the staff to remain the loyal employee. The motivation theorists such as Herzberg and Maslow are important for the motivation and the pay is a strong motivator. In BQ, the organization focuses on the strong benefits and it is a major way of dealing with the individual factors in the organization for the influence of the motivation. Another motivation theory is XY theory that impacts the strategy of human resources and as per Douglas McGregors, XY theory has been proposed in the year 1960 and it is called as the human side of the organization. This theory brings approaches to motivate people and to manage them where Theory X denotes the participative style and Theory Y accepts huge responsibilities. Thus, in case of BQ, Theory X managers are demanding and Theory Y managers are the best with effective styles of management. (Taylor, 2006) Critically evaluate the extent to which the application of motivation theories might be helpful to managers, and also their limitations Both the theories are important for the process of production. The Theory X and Y are helpful to managers as it aims to provide harmony at work and Theory X managers do not offer complete support to their staff which is the major limitation. In case of Theory Y, the creativity, innovation is at the huge extent that helps to resolve the issues of employees. This requires high amount, time and effort and it is time consuming. (Root, 2015) Task 4: Using theories about the nature of groups and group behaviour in organisations, independentlyevaluate the factors that could help or hinder effective teamwork in BQ. An effective team needs cohesion and it is important to deal with the productivity for the team. Team work and its factors at BQ help to lead the effectiveness at BQ with: Communication: Communication is effective that happens at two level communications and it motivates open communication from the management to the team. It helps to motivate with the communication and managers possess regular updates of important information to offer the training. This way, it is effective. This way, it could possess positive outcomes. Motivation: The team generates motivation that helps to reach the goals successfully. It also helps in meeting the strong and positive outcomes at BQ. The factors that hinder effectiveness at BQ are: Lack of goals: The improper goals hinder the effectiveness of the team. This also creates conflict at BQ. Impact of change: The change also impacted the stability as well as the sustainability at BQ. (MacDonald, 2015) Evaluate the possible impact of technology on team functioning at BQ The learning techniques such as learning and development programs at BQ help to deal with the encouragement of the talent and to meet the goals successfully. Technology supported the talent and skills for the development and flexibility in the business. It also helped to create opportunities and develop major roles. Examine the technologies being developed at BQ The technologies developed at BQ was the Ligo system that was completely focused on control by the management of competitiveness. The use of intelligent control system was helpful for the company BQ to increase the energy uses. 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