reflection

In the past, essay writing was very difficult for me. I found it hard to extend the ideas as well as to organize the language in order to express my ideas clearly. Besides that, sometimes I made grammar mistakes, which made my essay even harder to be understood.

At the start of this course, writing an essay was a time-consuming project in which I could not get satisfactory marks. I made grammar mistakes, for example, I seldom used 'the' when I was supposed to do so. Moreover, some sentences in my essay could not be understood by others, perhaps I did not use the appropriate word. During this course, I learned academic words and grammar, which helped me choose the right word to express my opinions clearly and reduce grammar errors.

In my future study of English, I need to read more magazines such as the Guardian as well as books to become more familiar with English writing styles. At the same time, I will do some writings to practice, which will make sure that I get the hang of the writing skills I learned from books.

In conclusion, writing an essay was difficult for me before this course. I spent a lot of time on it but still could not get satisfactory results. After I learned grammar and academic words, which corrected some grammar mistakes and made my essay more readable. Now constructing an essay is not that 'painful' for me.

Globalization increases the level of carbon dioxide emission (final)

Globalization increases the level of carbon dioxide emission

Carbon dioxide is a constituent of the atmosphere, and has been in the atmosphere for many years with its amount kept at a stable level. However, this balance was broken by globalization, which intensified the frequency of transportation. As a result, the emission of carbon dioxide was increased by fossil fuel combustion in vehicles. Although it is a natural existing gas in the atmosphere, having too much CO₂ can bring drawbacks such as causing global warming and increasing the acidity of oceans. To alleviate this problem, governments can improve energy efficiency by using fuel-efficient vehicles. Moreover, working on exploring alternative energy of fuel is also an effective method to lower the emission of carbon dioxide. Globalization is beneficial in many aspects, but its side effect of increasing the CO₂ level in the atmosphere brings problems such as global warming. Improving energy efficiency and seeking clean energy substitutes are two methods to tackle this issue.

Improving energy efficiency can help slow down the emission of carbon dioxide. Currently, carbon dioxide is being emitted at a rapid speed, which makes the greenhouse effect become increasingly serious. Greenhouse gas prevents heat from escaping the earth, which results in an increase in the temperature. The rise in temperature causes glaciers to melt and the sea level to rise. This may submerge some islands and lead to the extinction of animals. Moreover, too much CO₂ will acidify seawater and affect the amount of ocean creatures as well as the lives of people who live on fishing (Black, 2009). Since having a high level of CO₂ in the air is harmful, governments created some solutions to this problem. For example, about two hundred countries signed the Kyoto Protocol and promised to reduce or slow down the emission of greenhouse gas. However, the result of the first commitment period showed the ineffectiveness of this protocol, and some countries even experienced a sharp increase of their output of carbon dioxide. To illustrate, China increased its CO₂ emission by 7.189GT from 1990 to 2011. (Clark, 2012). The reason might be that countries do not want to sacrifice economic development; hence they have not tried hard to cut emissions of CO₂. Moreover, some industrial countries transferred their factories to developing countries. In this way, they succeeded in reducing CO₂ emission in their local region, but on a global scale, the emission of carbon dioxide is still the same. Compared with signing protocol, improving energy-efficiency is a more effective way to control CO₂ emission. For example, recently Sweden is saving energy by warming one house with the extra heat of another house. Moreover, in UK, some neighbors share cars, which can help reduce the emission of carbon dioxide (Harrabin, 2012).

Another method to control CO₂ level is to explore substitutes for fossil fuels that do not produce any harmful gas. Nowadays, trees are planted to remove CO₂ from air, which works but the amount of carbon dioxide absorbed by trees is very limited. These newly formed forests can absorb around 1.6 GT CO₂ a year, which is a relatively small number compared to annual emissions of 50 GT CO₂ (“To what extent,”2012). However, seeking a clean energy substitute for fossil fuels is different. Once a clean and cheap energy is found, fossil fuels will be largely replaced by it, and the emission of carbon dioxide will decrease accordingly. Nowadays there are many kinds of clean energy that can be utilized as substitutes of fuel. For example, Holland is very successful in using wind energy, and its wind turbines produced about 2000 megawatts energy in 2009 compared with 600 to 700 megawatts energy produced by a traditional coal power station (“ Wind energy in Holland”, n.d.). Moreover, islands like UK can make use of tidal energy. It has been predicted by analysts that tidal energy can offer UK over 20 percent of its electricity demand (McGrath, 2013). Countries can choose the ‘easiest-to-acquire’ clean energy to replace fossil fuels according to their geographical characteristics or weather. As a result, using clean energy to replace fossil fuels is feasible in most countries.

In conclusion, globalization intensifies transportation, which increases the burning of fossil fuels and causes CO₂ level in atmosphere to rise. This brings problems like global warming and the acidification of seawater. Some solutions have been created, for example, improving energy efficiency in daily life by using energy-efficient vehicles. Another method is to use clean energy as a replacement for fossil fuels. Since different countries can adopt different clean energy according to their situations, this method can be globally implemented.

Black.R(2009, December,14) Acidifying oceans' threaten food supply, UK warns  Retrieved from  http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8411135.stm

Clark.D (2012, November,26) Has the Kyoto protocol made any difference to carbon emissions?   Retrieved from

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/blog/2012/nov/26/kyoto-protocol-carbon-emissions

Harrabin.R(2012, October, 8) Climate change: EU rebrands green energy campaign   Retrieved from

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-19868580

Grantham Research Institute (2012). To what extent could planting trees help solve climate change?  Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2012/nov/29/planting-trees-climate-change

Wind Energy in Holland (n.d.) Retrieved from http://www.holland.com/us/tourism/article/wind-energy-in-holland.htm

McGrath.M (2013, January,14) UK tidal power has huge potential, say scientists  Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20983645

Globalization increases the level of carbon dioxide emission

Globalization increases the level of carbon dioxide emission

Carbon dioxide is a constituent of atmosphere, and has been in atmosphere for thousands of years with its amount kept at a stable level. However, this balance was broken by globalization, which intensified the frequency of transportation. As a result, the emission of carbon dioxide was increased by fossil fuel combustion in factories and vehicles. Although it is a natural existing gas in atmosphere, having too much of CO₂ can bring drawbacks like causing global warming and increasing acidity of oceans. To alleviate this problem, governments can improve energy efficiency by using fuel-efficient vehicles. Moreover, working on exploring alternative energy of fossil fuel is also an effective method to lower the emission of carbon dioxide. Globalization is beneficial in many aspects, but its side effect of increasing CO₂ level in atmosphere brings problems like global warming. Improving energy efficiency and seeking clean energy substitute are two methods to tackle this issue.

Improving energy efficiency can help slow down the emission of carbon dioxide. Currently, carbon dioxide is being emitted at a rapid speed, which makes greenhouse effect become increasingly serious. Greenhouse gas prevents heat from escaping the earth, which results in an increase in the temperature on earth. The rise in temperature causes glacier to melt and sea level to rise. This may submerge some islands and lead to the distinction of animals. Moreover, too much CO₂ will acidify seawater and affect the amount of ocean creatures as well as lives of people who live on them (Black, 2009). Since having high level of CO₂ in the air is harmful, governments came up with some solutions to this problem. For example, about two hundred countries signed Kyoto Protocol and promised to reduce or slow down the emission of greenhouse gas. However, the result of first commitment period showed the ineffectiveness of this protocol, some countries even have a sharp increase their output of carbon dioxide. To illustrate, China increased its CO₂ emission by 7.189GT from 1990 to 2011. (Clark, 2012). The reason might be that countries do not want to sacrifice developing economy; hence they did not try hard on cutting emission of CO₂. Moreover, some industrial countries transferred their factories to developing countries. In this way, they succeeded in reducing CO₂ emission in their local region. But on a global scale, emission of carbon dioxide is still the same. Compare with signing protocol, improving energy-efficiency is a more effective way to control CO₂ emission. For example, improving insulation in the buildings can reduce the use of air conditioner and thus emit less CO₂. Moreover, people can travel in more energy efficient vehicles, which is also economic as oil price is extremely high these days.

Another method to control CO₂ level is to explore substitute for fossil fuels that does not produce any harmful gas. Nowadays, people are planting trees to remove CO₂ from air, which works but the amount of carbon dioxide absorbed by trees is very limited. These newly formed forests can absorb around 1.6 GT CO₂ a year, which is a relatively small number compared to annual emission of 50 GT CO₂ (“To what extent,”2012). However, seeking a clean energy substitute for fossil fuel is different. Once a clean and cheap energy is found, fossil fuels will be largely replaced by it, and the emission of carbon dioxide will decrease accordingly. There are many kinds of clean energy, the area that has enough sunshine can utilize solar energy; countries like Holland can use wind energy; and islands like UK can make use of tide energy. Countries can choose the ‘easiest-to-acquire’ clean energy to replace fossil fuels according to their geographical characteristic or weathers. As a result, using clean energy to replace fossil fuels is feasible in most countries.

In conclusion, globalization intensifies transportation, which increases the burning of fossil fuels and causes CO₂ level in atmosphere to rise. This brings problems like global warming and acidification of seawater. Some solutions have been come up with, for example, improving energy efficiency in daily life by using energy-efficient vehicles. Another method is to use clean energy as a replacement for fossil fuels. Since different countries can adopt different clean energy according to their situations, this method can be globally implemented.

Black.R(2009, December,14) Acidifying oceans' threaten food supply, UK warns  Retrieved from  http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8411135.stm

Clark.D (2012, November,26) Has the Kyoto protocol made any difference to carbon emissions?   Retrieved from

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/blog/2012/nov/26/kyoto-protocol-carbon-emissions

Grantham Research Institute (2012). To what extent could planting trees help solve climate change?  Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2012/nov/29/planting-trees-climate-change

reader response of 'The Effects of Media Globalization' (final)

The ideas presented by Mary Hickman in his work, ‘The Effects of Media Globalization’, can be mainly summarized as follows. Media globalization has many benefits, like improving people’s quality of lives. However, it is misused by some multinational media corporations to pursuit their profits. They only convey the information they want people to know and block the rest. As a result, though the number of media keeps increasing, people are not even better informed than before. Only the governments can regulate media, but they let big corporations and media merge freely. The idea of free market creates monopoly-like super corporations in the end.

When the author wrote about increasing advertising in media, she mentioned the Coca-Cola’s case, which showed how powerful can large corporations be. Since the income of newspaper mainly comes from advertising, advertisers play a vital role in diciding what kind of news can be put on the newspaper. I agree with the author that it is a terrifying phenomenon as media can be very influential on one’s mind. Many people who read news every day believe they are well informed, but a number of them accept the news they read without filtering or judging. As a result, they put themselves under the control of media unconsciously. It is very dangerous to let the minority manipulate thoughts of the public and even shape a culture.

In conclusion, media globalization itself is beneficial to human. It can make people’s lives easier and more convenient. However, at the same time, it can be a powerful ‘mind control’ machine. Large corporations could convey misleading messages to the public through it. From my point of view, its disadvantage outweighs the benefits it brings, and media globalization should be regulated by goverments.

Summary of ‘The Double Edge of Globalization’

  International corporations have long been blamed for environmental degradation, however, it has been found that consumer habits may lead to more environmental issues than the pollutions made by corporations. Many people accuse globalization of damaging environment, actually the evidence is little and there are other factors that cause environmental problems like turning forest into farmlands. Even when the pollutions are from companies, the local ones sometimes tend to pollute more than the international ones. Although globalization is not the only factor that causes environmental devastation, it works as an accelerator by encouraging consumption. This leads to an increasing number of activities like fishing and logging. The good thing about globalization today is that people can share information through high-speed Internet and gather their effort to solve problems and help people. For the bad side about globalization, it increases the emitted pollution, which poisons not only the local people but also global citizens. Governments are not working efficiently in cutting greenhouse gases, but luckily they do contribute their effort in solving ozone hole issues. This shows that with appropriate governance, environmental problems can be lightened.