Worlds environmental problems Essay Example for Free

Worlds environmental problems Essay Introduction Rational Based on the past experience in the area of environment and resource studies, the environmental problems such as the accumulation of heavy metals in water and sediment in the canal and river have been the major focus in the study area. The study shows that the major source of heavy metals that accumulate in water and sediment is industries. As a result, it motivates the researcher to choose the research topic about industrialization is responsible for the worlds environmental problems. This current research will certainly be useful for the researcher. It is because this research is closely related to the researchers future study, particularly in the area of environmental engineering. The analysis of research topic Industrialization and the worlds environmental problems are shown as the topic area of the research in the diagram. The research topic is focused on the relationship between industrialization and the worlds environmental problems. Therefore, there are two aspects in the topic which are industrialization and the worlds environmental problems. The purpose of this research is to take a position whether industrialization is responsible for the worlds environmental problems or not. Industrialization brings many problems to the worlds environment. As a result, it is definite to study the causes of worlds environmental problems which can be explained with three main aspects. These three main aspects are the aims of industrialization, the consequences of industrialization and the governments policies about industrialization. Moreover, it is certain to study the effects of these three causes on the environment as have been shown in the diagram. Therefore, it can be proposed that industrialization is responsible for the worlds environmental problems. The diagram below shows the structure of the analysis of research topic. Industrialization is responsible for the worlds environmental problems Data collection The research method The research covers four steps shown as following. Firstly, the research topic that industrialization is responsible for the worlds environmental problems is analyzed in order to find out the probable areas that the research should concentrate on and the information which should be presented. Secondly, the definition of key concept is given. It is that industrialization can be defined as using developed technology in order to change a process of production from small-scale to mass production. After that, based on the definition, research evidence such as examples and statistical data are collected and analyzed in order to support the argument that industrialization is responsible for the worlds environmental problems. Finally, the information is organized into three main reasons of industrializations responsibilities to the worlds environment which are the aims of industrialization, the consequences of industrialization and the governments policies about industrialization. Annotated bibliography Alder, J., Cazamias, P. Monack, D. (1995). Benchmarks : The Ecological and Economic Trends that are shaping the natural environment and human societies. In R. Bailey (Ed.), The true state of the planet (pp. 394-453). New York: The Free Press. This chapter has been written for universitys student who studies in the area of environment. The major area is to present and analyze the data about ecological and economic trends such as world domestic product, total consumption of energy in the world level, water quality violations in United States, emission and atmospheric concentration trends for selected air pollutants in United States. The important information that has been mentioned is the total consumption of energy that is used in economic  sectors. Beder, S. (1996). A case study: The greenhouse effect. In S. Beder (Ed.), The nature of sustainable development (pp. 201-213). Newham: Scribe Publications. This chapter has been written for environmentalist and student who study in the environmental area. The major area is to present some information about the greenhouse effect such as the consequences of greenhouse effect, the responsibility for global warming, the responsibility for reducing greenhouse gases. The important information in this chapter is to tell about the main sources of greenhouse gases. Castillo, C.C. (1995). The sequencing of industrial policies in ASEAN nations. In T. Tullao JR., G.Largoza C. Castillo (Eds.), Issues in Philippine Economic Development (pp. 75-92). Manila: De La Salle University Press. This chapter has been written for students who are studying in social sciences. The major area is to reveal the governments policies of different country in Asia such as Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore. The government of each country tried to support industrialization in order to increase the economic growth. For example, Philippines government exempted manufacturing industries from all taxes such as exempting tariff of raw material. Eastop, T.D. Croft, D.R. (1990). The economic of energy-saving schemes. In T.D.Eastop D.R. Croft, Energy efficiency for engineers and technologiests (pp.6-26). Great Britain: The Bath Press. This chapter has been written for students who are studying in engineering or technology course. The major issue is to reveal how to decide to invest in energy-saving measures such as what the types of costs of energy usage are  and how to calculate the value of energy saving. The important information that has been mentioned is the price of fuel per unit energy. Martin, M. Allenby, G. (1993). Global Distribution of Manufacturing in the 1980s. In M. Martin G. Allenby, World: Environments and people (pp. 416-445). NSW: Southwood Press. This chapter has been written for the students who study in environmental program. The major area is to reveal how the distribution of manufacture in the world is. Moreover, the author also talks about why some developing nations have the success in establishing a manufacture. The important evidence that is presented in this chapter is talking about the ranks of the worlds exporters of manufactures in developing nations. Martin, M. Allenby, G. (1993). Non-renewable Forms of energy. In M.Martin G. Allenby, World: environments and people (pp. 71-89). NSW: Southwood Press. This chapter has been written for the students who study in environmental program. The major topic area is to reveal about the non-renewable forms of energy such as fossil fuels and nuclear power which is the newest energy sources. The important information that is presented in this chapter is the component of the coal such as carbon dioxide, sulfur oxides, heavy metals, organic compounds and radioactive element. Mulhall, D. (1992). Environmental Management: The relationship between pressure groups and industry-A radical redesign. In D. Koechlin K. Mà ¼ller (Eds.), Green Business Opportunities (pp. 187-203). Great Britain: Biddles Ltd. This chapter has been written for environmentalist. The major issue is to reveal the reasons for the emergence of environmental groups and talk about the impact on peoples live. Moreover, the author also talks about cost of waste management technology and how the movements of environmental groups are. The important evidence that has been mentioned is German industries have to spend a lot of money to eliminate their waste that occurs from  production. New South Wales Department of Energy. (1998). Manufacturing sector energy projections for New South Wales to 2010. In New South Wales Department of Energy, Analysis of energy use in the New South Wales manufacturing sector (pp. 121-130). NSW: Author. This chapter has been written for executives of private organizations or the government in order to use this information to manage the energy use of industries in New South Wales. The major topic area is to present the energy consumption by industries and fuel types that are used by New South Wales manufacturing. The important evidence that has been mentioned is New South Wales manufacturing used coal to be the energy more than other kinds of energy. Sedjo, R.A. (1995). Forests: conflicting signals. In R. Bailey (Ed.), The true state of the planet (pp.178-209). New York: The Free Press. This chapter has been written for universitys student who studies in the area of environment. The major issue is to present the reasons that why the forests are destroyed. This chapter also presents the idea about how the forests can be protected and renewed such as setting protected area and plantations. The important evidence in this chapter is the current situation of global forests. Toal, B.A. (2001, October). Renewable: Future shock, Oil Gas Investor [online]. Available: Proquest 5000 Full-Text Database. [Accessed 2 December 2002] This journal article has been written for students who study in the area of environmental science and environmental engineering or any businessman who considers to environment. The major issue is to present that energy sources such as oil and gas are decreasing. Therefore, renewable resources should be used as the alternative of using energy. As a result, it is time to focus on developing renewable resources. The important examples in this journal  article are the research about photovoltaic devices (solar cells), biomass energy and wind turbines. Unite, A.A. (1995). Recent developments in foreign direct investments in the Philippines: Policy, Trends, and Issues. In T. Tullao JR., G. Largoza C. Castillo (Eds.), Issues in Philippine Economic Development (pp.97-136). Manila: De La Salle University Press. This chapter has been written for students who study in the area of social sciences. The major issue is to present about the foreign investment policies in Philippines and give the growth rates in foreign direct investment. Moreover, this chapter also gives the information about the issues of the foreign investment in Philippines such as the change of the foreign investment policies. The important evidence that has been mentioned is the policy that the Philippines government uses to encourage foreigners to invest in Philippines. Critical Review The two sources by Martin Allenby and Toal focus on the topic area of energy resources which are classified as renewable and non-renewable resources. Moreover, the authors relate the amount of resources to the using of resources in order to make people have the awareness about the limit and decreasing of non-renewable resources. The authors also emphasize people to use renewable resources as alternative energy sources. It is believed that these two sources clearly present about the situation of using natural energy resources and show that it is time to do the researches in order to develop the quality and cost of using renewable energy sources. In the articles written by Martin Allenby and Toal, they both reveal that non-renewable resources are decreasing; as a result, people should focus on using renewable resources as the energy instead of using non-renewable resources. However, in the article by Martin and Allenby, the authors emphasize on presenting the information about non-renewable forms of energy that are finite resources (Martin Allenby, 1993, p.71). The authors report  that the most important sources of energy in the world today particularly in the industrial countries are the fossil fuels ( Martin Allenby, 1993, p.71). For example, oil provides 40 percent of the worlds primary energy consumption (Martin Allenby, 1993, p.79). However, oil is not a plentiful resource. It is estimated that oil reserves are around 2000 billion barrels but only haft of oil reserves has been found and 400 billion barrels have been used (Martin Allenby, 1993, p.79). There are around 650 billion barrels that have been left in prov ed reserves (Martin Allenby, 1993, p.79). Another example which is mentioned in this article is natural gas. The authors report that the using of natural gas is increasing because it is clean, cheap and easy to handle (Martin Allenby, 1993, p.82). However, natural gas is not renewable and it has a limited supply (Martin Allenby, 1993, p.84). Moreover, the authors mention to coal that although coal is non-renewable resources (Martin Allenby, 1993, p.88) and burning coal create the pollution (Martin Allenby, 1993, p.87), it is used in many kinds of industries and the major use of coal is in electricity generation (Martin Allenvy, 1993, p.87). The authors conclude that people are aware that the fossil fuels are finite and non-renewable; therefore, they have become to look at renewable resources as alternative energy sources (Martin Allenby, 1993, p.89). On the other hand, in article written by Toal, the author focuses on showing the researches that have been done in order to develop renewable energy and energy efficient technologies. The author reports that 70 percent of research work that has been done by The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) is about the supply-side energy technologies of photovoltaics, biomass and wind (Toal, 2001, p.2). According to Kazmerski, director of NRELs national center for photovoltaics at Golden (cited in Toal, 2001, p.2), after many researches about photovoltaic devices or solar cells have been done, photovoltaic devices or solar cells are cheaper and more efficiency than the pass. Moreover, Bull, associate director of science and technology for all of NREL, reports that NREL is doing the research about biomass energy (Bull, cited in Toal, 2001, p.3). It is believed that the cost of biomass will be cheaper in the future and biomass energy will be produced more than now (Bull, cited in Toal, 2001, p.4). Further more, Thresher, director of NRELs national wind technology center, presents that the problem in the past to produce electricity by  using wind is the cost of production was too expensive (cited in Toal, 2001, p.4). However, since wind turbines have been developed, the wind machines have become bigger, more efficient and cheaper (Thresher, cited in Toal, 2001, pp.4-5). The issues discussed in the sources have been considered as an important issue because decreasing and exhausting of non-renewable resources are going to be serious problem. It is showed that non-renewable resources such as oil, natural gas and coal are decreasing. They will be exhausted in the future if people still use much these kinds of energy. Therefore, these non-renewable resources should be conserved and people should use renewable resources such as solar energy and wind instead. Historically, non-renewable resources are the most important energy sources in the world. Currently, non-renewable resources are shrinking and renewable resources have been considered as the alternative. As a result, many researches have been done in order to develop the quality of renewable resources and reduce cost of them. In Martin and Allenby article, it shows that fossil fuels such as oil, natural gas and coal have been used by many kinds of industries even though they are finite and non-renewable (Martin Allenby, 1993, p.76-88). However, Toal reports that there is the organization in America which has been established in order to develop renewable energy such as photovoltaic devices (solar cells), biomass and wind (Toal, 2001, p.2). These two articles show that the authors have the consideration about the decreasing of non-renewable resources by trying to encourage people to use renewable resources instead non-renewable resources. It can be seen that using non-renewable resources will make these resources exhaust because non-renewable resources are finite. As a result, it is very important that people should focus on using renewable resources. It is clearly distinguished whether each author of these two articles is objective or not. The article written by Martin and Allenby is objective because the authors present the issue by referring to the international situations. Moreover, the authors use the statistic data to support their research such as distribution of the worlds known oil reserves by region (1984) (Department of International Economic and Social Affair, 1987, cited  in Martin Allenby, 1993, p.86). The article written by Toal is subjective because the author emphasizes on doing the researches about renewable forms of energy in order to use them instead of using non-renewable energy sources by The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Even though the author refers to the other experts opinions, all of these experts are the people who work for NREL. For example, according to Bull, associate director of science and technology for all of NREL (cited in Toal, 2001, p.4), cost of biomass will cheaper in the future and biomass energy will be produced more than now. It can be seen that the article written by Martin and Allenby is objective, whereas the article written by Toal is subjective. However, the examples or evidence in these two articles are clearly presented because the authors present the data by using graphs and tables that are easy to understand. Although the examples or evidence that are used in these two sources are not current, they still can be used because some of them are general knowledge. On the other hand, some of statistical data can be used as the direction of change for the future. For example, non-renewable resources are finite; therefore, the amount of them can not increase. In contrast, they are decreasing because non-renewable resources have been used as the major source of energy. Therefore, it can prove that non-renewable resources are decreasing and it is time to develop renewable resources to use as the alternative of energy sources. Even though one article is objective, whereas another is subjective, these two articles are clearly presented about the situation of using natural resources to be energy. In both articles, the authors present the data clearly because all data are presented directly to support the authors argument by using tables, graphs, maps and quotations. For example, the article written by Martin and Allenby explains how each type of non-renewable energy sources such as oil, natural gas and coal formed (Martin Allemby, 1993, pp.71-88). In this part, the authors use the maps to show the areas that these non-renewable energy sources formed in order to make clear understanding about the areas that these energy resources formed (Martin Allemby, 1993, pp.71-88). Further more, the authors also present about the amount of each kind of non-renewable resources in order to support their argument that energy resources which are mostly used are finite by using tables (Martin   Allenby, 1993, pp.71-88). \The article written by Toal mentions the results of researches that have been done by The National Renewable Energy Laboratory such as the research about photovoltaic devices, biomass energy and wind turbines by using quotations and graph (Toal, 2001, pp.1-5). The evidence that Toal uses can show the possibility of using renewable energy sources. Thus, the evidence can support his argument that it is time to focus on developing renewable energy resources to use as the alternative of energy sources instead of non-renewable resources which are decreasing. Therefore, it can be said that these authors interpret data clearly in order to confirm their argument. Both articles are general study because the authors only want to explain some important points about energy source. Therefore, the authors conduct research in order to confirm their argument. However, in the article written by Martin and Allenby, the authors have conducted enough research because the authors use the statistical data to support each area that they mention. Even though all of statistical data that authors use are selected from one source, these data come from the exploration by using scientific method. As a result, these statistical data have the accuracy and they can be considered as the fact. Further more, the authors use these statistical data that mention to the international situation to support their argument. For example, the authors use the statistical data that show the distribution of the worlds known oil reserves when they explain that oil is finite (Martin Allenby, 1993, p.77). On the other hand, in the article written by Toal, the author has not conducted enough research because all of data and other experts opinions are selected from one source. Moreover, all of them only describe the situation of developing renewable resources in America. For example, the author refers to the cost and the efficiency of photovoltaic devises that they are cheaper and more efficiency than the past because of doing the research by NREL (Kazmerski, cited in Toal, 2001, p.3). It can be seen that Martin and Allenby have done enough research, whereas Toal has not done enough research. Therefore, it can be said that Martin and Allenby conduct their research more thoroughly in order to confirm their argument. Among the two sources which are reviewed, it can be clearly seen that the  article written by Martin and Allenby has practical suggestion because it is possible to use renewable resources as the energy. Currently, the cost of renewable resources is the limitation of using renewable resources to be the energy sources. However, it would be possible to decrease the cost. The authors suggest that the research in the area of changing the cost of renewable energy should be done in order to tend people to use renewable resources as the energy sources (Martin Allenby, 1993, p.89). It is because the renewable energy such as sun and winds are infinite (Martin Allenby, 1993, p.89). Further more, many renewable resources are the clean energy. Therefore, it will be benefit for the environment if people use renewable resources (Martin Allenby, 1993, p.89). On the other hand, in the article written by Toal, the author does not make any suggestion. However, it is not necessary to make any suggestion because the author only wants to present the important point which is about possibility of using renewable resources to be the alternative of energy sources. Further more the author only wants to emphasize that it is time to focus on doing research to develop renewable energy resources. Therefore, it can be strongly said that Martin and Allenby have made practical suggestion in their article because renewable resources can be used as energy sources, whereas in article of Toal, it is not necessary to make any suggestion. Among these two sources, in the article written by Martin and Allenby, the authors have not used other experts opinions to support in their article. It is because their article presents the general knowledge that has been proven by many researchers by using scientific method. For example, the authors refer to how non-renewable resources formed and the amount of each kind of non-renewable resource (Martin Allenby, 1993, pp.71-88). In contrast, the article written by Toal is well supported by other experts opinions through using the quotation of other experts opinions. Toal refers to the situations of using renewable energy sources such as cost and quality that has been researched by NREL (Toal, 2001, pp.2-5). For example, according to Kazmerski (cited in Toal, 2001, pp.2-3), Some 35 years ago, when I started in photovoltaics, these devices were used almost exclusively for satellites. A solar cell would cost about $300 to $600 per watt. Today, a solar-cell module such as you would put on your roof-costs $3 to $6 per  watt. And in the future, with the use of thin-film PV technology, we could see that cost drop by half. In addition, the efficiency of commercial solar cells- their ability to convert sunlight into electricity- has risen from 7% to about 15% to18%. Not only Kazmerrskis opinion, but also Bulls and Threshers opinion that Toal uses to support in his article by using quotation. It can be seen that quotations clearly support Toals argument about the possibility of using renewable resources to be alternative of energy sources. Therefore, it is certain for the method of quotation to support authors argument stronger through using other experts opinion. In conclusion, the review shows that energy resources such as natural gas, oil and coal are non-renewable resources and they have the limited supply. As a result, people should use renewable resources as the energy instead. In this review, two articles have been discussed in different six aspects. There are the historical and current significance, the objectivity of the writers, the interpretation of data, the thoroughness of treatment, the practicality of suggestion and other experts opinions. The authors of each article present their argument in different way. However, the authors of both articles use the examples, evidences or other experts opinions to support their arguments and present them clearly. More over, Martin and Allenby make their suggestion practically in their article. However, these two articles will be more effective than present if the authors use current data or current evidences and select data or evidences from various sources. The Analysis of the research The research is limited by three factors. These three factors are the types of information, the research focus and the time limitation. The first limitation is the types of information. The information used in the research is all secondary information such as the research results by Beder in the field of sources of greenhouse gases, the research results about the cost of investment in environmental protection by Mulhall. The information is conducted in order to support the argument. However, the information has not been examined closely whether it has exactly happened or not. The research focus is the second factor that limits the research. It is because this  research focuses only on the current situation such as the consumption of energy in order to use the energy in economic sectors such as industry and agriculture by Adler, Cazamias and Monack. This research does not cover any environmental situation before industrial revolution and during the beginning of industrialization. The final limitation in this research is the limitation of time. The research has to be finished with in limited time. Therefore, time is an important factor that enables the researcher to do in particular area. Many areas such as governments policies about environmental protection and reasons why governments policies about environmental protection can not control the environmental problems are not included in the research. In summary, these possible factors from the above are the factors that limit this research. Suggestions for future research As the research is limited by three certain factors, all suggestions are presented to overcome these limitations for the future research. The first suggestion is primary sources should be used in order to support the argument such as a survey about the cost of investment in environmental protection and monitoring sources of greenhouse gases. It is because using primary sources can tell about what has actually happened. For limitation of the research focus, the further research should be focused on other areas such as environmental situation before industrial revolution and during the beginning of industrialization. Moreover, the future situation about environment should be predicted. It is because the comparison of environmental situation in each period of time can show how serious environmental problems have been expanded. Therefore, the research area becomes deeper in terms of the relationship between industrialization and environmental problems. Finally, the suggestion on limitation of time is the future research should mainly focus on the past situation of environment, governments policies about environmental protection and reasons why policies about environmental protection can not control environmental problems. All of these suggestions will overcome three possible limitations and produce the deeper and more accurate research in the future.