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Oil Spill Accidents

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Oil Spill Accidents

Since the boom of the technological revolution, many negative environmental contributors have been found such as oil spill accidents. As long As the oil’s is value still precious, the oil trade overseas will continue. However, oil spill accident examples, causes, effects and solutions will be discussed in this report in order to cover this issue thoroughly.

The accidents range from minority to extremely dangerous. For the oil spill accidents the range can be measured regarding to the number of gallons or barrels which have been spilt in the sea. The accidents happen commonly in certain parts of the world such as the Gulf of Mexico, the northeastern U.S., the Mediterranean Sea, the Persian Gulf, the North Sea and Korea(FAQ: Oil Spills in History). While the Gulf of Mexico has the highest number of accidents with 267 spills, Korea has the lowest number of accidents with 32 spills (FAQ: Oil Spills in History). The worst oil spill accident happened on the 26th of January 1991 in the Persian Gulf during Iraq-Kuwait War, when around 240 million gallons of oil were spilt (Oil Spill History). Another example of dangerous accidents is what happened on 19th of July 1979, when 2.2 million barrels of crude were spilt after a collision in Trinidad & Tobago (Oil Spill History).

Oil spill has several causes and effects. People’s fault, apparatus smashing, weather calamities such as storms may help to cause an oil spill accident (Oil Spills). All these causes have a wide effect, especially for the sea creatures. For instance, sea birds are at risk of getting poisoned if they try to rinse the oil that covers their body and bans them from flying (Oil Spills). As well, sea otters may die in low temperature if the oil coats their air bubbles, which contribute them in staying alive at the cold weather (Oil Spills). In addition, killer whales can be affected by two ways. Eating small fish which are covered with oil may poison them. Also, jamming the blowhole with oil can disallow the whales from breathing well (Oil Spills).

(Skimmers)

In order to get rid of this problem, several solutions can be done. The solutions are in two phases. The first phase is to increase the worker’s awareness as well as to check the safety equipment (Shah). The onset stage is very important because it reduces the possibility of accidents. However, if the accidents occur and the oil is spilt in the sea, the oil has to be cleaned by using the second stage of solutions. Adding some chemicals to the sea, setting a boom that gathers the oil off the water, and using skimmers to remove the oil are some solutions (Oil Spills). Additionally, burning the spilled oil with fireproof booms is a solution, but not optimal due to its air pollution releases (Oil Spills).

In conclusion, oil spill accidents are a vital issue. They have harmful effects environmentally. If we don’t try to solve it, the problem will become worse. I hope that soon, this issue will be debated widely and many rules will appear in order to decrease the problem’s effects, if not to finish it. We need to protect our environment from accidental oil spills.

Bibliography:

"FAQ: Oil Spills in History." NOAA's Ocean Service Office of Response and Restoration. 23 May 2009 http://response.restoration.noaa.gov/topic_subtopic_entry.php?RECORD_KEY%28entry_subtopic_topic%29=entry_id,subtopic_id,topic_id&entry_id(entry_subtopic_topic)=325&subtopic_id(entry_subtopic_topic)=2&topic_id(entry_subtopic_topic)=1.

"Oil Spills." Oracle ThinkQuest Library. 18 May 2009 http://library.thinkquest.org/CR0215471/oil_spills.htm.

"Oil Spill History." The Mariner Group. 18 May 2009 http://www.marinergroup.com/oil-spill-history.htm.

Shah, Anwar. "Environment protection in seaports." Economic Review. 38. 11 (Nov 2007): 34(2). Student Resource Center - Gold. Gale. Higher Colleges of Technology. 18 May. 2009 http://0-find.galegroup.com.library.hct.ac.ae/srcx/infomark.do?&contentSet=IAC-Documents&type=retrieve&tabID=T003&prodId=SRC-1&docId=A185951473&source=gale&srcprod=SRCG&userGroupName=971hctnet&version=1.0.

Reckless Driving (additional post 2)

Car accidents are big problem in the UAE. Although the police have tried to get rid of this problem, they have found another trouble which is some videos shows drafting and dune-bashing competitions that will encourage young drivers on being more reckless.

The police haven’t investigated this scary situation until now. One of the officers said that they will be strict about it and they will use these videos as evidence to catch the careless driver. Being nonchalant in this situation will cost the UAE a lot, not only with the money, but also with people’s lives. The statistic show that for the first nine months of this year, 26 people died and 121 were injured in the UAE as a result of reckless driving.

In my opinion, it is not police responsibility to solve this problem, I think everyone has to be aware about this problem. Also why not make an awareness campaign about the driving so all of us will benefit. In addition, why not they make a stage where they can play with their cars using safety stuff like helmets and under the police care.



Reference


http://www.thenational.ae/article/20081120/NATIONAL/828554242/0/FRONTPAGE

The Emirate Identity Debates (additional post 1)

Every citizen has to be proud about his identity. When we will debate the identity, we will find that the most important problem that UAE faces is the demographic imbalance. More expatriates than the nationals, low birth rate, and high divorce rate are contributing in the problem. The UAE government has three goals which are protecting the Arabic language; women entering the workforce and decreasing the number of maids.

The Arabic language is affected by the expatriates as well as the maids. We don’t use the Arabic language a lot these days, because we cannot communicate with the workers who are foreign. Also the children affected by the maids and their language are becoming weaker. So making a law that obliges the workers to learn Arabic and to use it instead of English is good solution. Also, the numbers of maids have to be restricted. Another important thing is that we have to give confidence to women in order to enter the workforce, why not where the UAE has the highest percentage of the female graduates in the Arab world.

In conclusion, everyone has to think about his identity. This problem, is will not be solved by just words on paper or saying words, we have to do something.

Reference:

http://www.thenational.ae/article/20081122/NATIONAL/658046277

Cool Cities

Transportation and Building are two of the most obvious ways that contribute to global warming from modern cities. Cool cities are an available solution to get rid of this issue, but I totally disagree with saying that by 2050 most of the people will live in them. In this essay I will prove my opinion with some reasons which support it.

First of all, the most obvious reason is the population growth. For example, the cool city Masdar will be roughly occupied by 50 thousand (Cheung). The population growth is estimated to be around 10 billion in 2050 (World population development). Therefore, to have most of the 10 billion in these cool cities, we will need about 200,000 cool cities which is semi impossible.

The huge cost is the second reason. The cost of Masdar is around $22 billion (Cheung). There are a lot of poor countries around the world, so having cool cities in these countries would be impossible. In addition, putting this budget on other projects which reduce the global warming's contributor and help to evolve the slums is better.

Additionally, lifestyle is the third reason. It’s difficult to change the habit of the humans in a few periods. Humans have been accustomed with some routines for many decades such as driving 4 wheel cars, using air conditioner and using a lot of electricity. As a result it’s very difficult to make them adapt with cool cities.

In conclusion, it is obvious that most people cannot live in a cool city. However, cool cities can give examples of sustainable living. I hope that by the year 2050, everyone will live in more sustainable cool cities.

Bibliography:

Cheung, Philip. "Masdar’s green dream is not for all." Home Page - The National Newspaper. 25 Apr. 2008. 05 May 2009 http://www.thenational.ae/article/20080424/BUSINESS/919451504.

"World population development -." Maps and Graphics at UNEP/GRID-Arendal. Ed. UNEP/GRID-Arendal. 05 May 2009 http://maps.grida.no/go/graphic/world_population_development.

Carbon FootPrint (Task 5)

A carbon footprint refers to the total greenhouse gases including carbon dioxide which releases from the human activities. However, it’s also indicating to the number of earths that needed to uphold the lifestyles. In this essay, I will outline the process in order to know your carbon footprint.

Many websites have been created to calculate the carbon footprint. Therefore I have chosen two websites. The first website was footprint .wwf.org.uk and my result was 2.46 (WWF). Conversely, in myfootprint.org website my carbon foot print was 6.68 which is a big different (What it measures). This is because the questions are more specific in the second website. Hence, I calculated the average which is more accurate. Although the questions are varying from website to another, most of these questions are based on four categories. The categories are food, travel, home and stuff.

Comparing your average with your classmates is one way to know if your carbon footprint is normal or not. However, I compared my average which is 4.57 to my colleagues Mohammed Saleh, Ahmed Al Zaabi and Hamad. My average was the lowest. Whereas Mohammed and Ahmed have more than once and half of my carbon footprint, Hamad was slightly higher than me. Another way to know your level is to compare it with your country average. My result was below my country average which is 10.33 (What it measures). Looking at the countries, UAE got the highest footprint measurement in the world (Heroes of the uae).

Several ways have been recommended to decrease our carbon footprint. One way is to use clean transport like biking or walking. Another way is to add energy-saving features in your home. For food category you may choose foods with less packaging to reduce waste. On the other hand, committing on saving water or energy habits is very essential. I hope that everyone will try his best in order to decrease his carbon footprint.

Bibliography:

A Sustainable UAE. Heroes of the uae. 16 Apr. 2009 http://www.heroesoftheuae.ae/en.

"What it measures." Ecological Footprint Quiz by Redefining Progress. Ed. Kinga Dow Productions, Inc. 22 Apr. 2009 http://www.myfootprint.org/en/about_the_quiz/what_it_measures/.

WWF Footprint Calculator. Ed. Torchbox. 22 Apr. 2009 http://www.footprint.wwf.org.uk/.

An Inconvenient Truth (Task 4)

Numerous documentaries like An Inconvenient Truth movie, campaigns and researches have been made to solve the global warming issue. While several critics praised the movie’s aim, the others haven’t admired it. This essay will outline some arguments for and against this movie.

Many people were arguing for the movie. Their points were in the movie’s goal, Al Gore’s presenting and his knowledge. The movie is advisable to watch because of its eminent purpose, which is to make the people aware about the risk of the global warming’s effect (Ebert). Conversely, Al Gore’s presenting makes the movie more interesting. For instance, treating his listeners like adult and his enthusiastic manner (Ebert).Al Gore’s charts, statistic and scientists studies prove that the global warming is not new phenomenon. They support their opinion by several excellent climate researchers who says that Al Gore got the science right (Ebert).

Any documentaries may have some discussion against it. The criticisms against An Inconvenient Truth were based on Al Gore’s error, unnecessary details and disregard others. Al Gore spent a lot of time to tell us that global warming is occurring. Then he concludes that the men action is the reason without any evidence or proof which is a basic error (Medley). Also unnecessary information about his personal life, his sister and his child make some people think that the film was an advertisement campaign for Al Gore (Medley). In their opinion the rain forest’s ruin is the main contributor to the global warming which the film practically ignores it (Medley).

In conclusion, the movie discusses a vital issue despite of the arguments for and agains it. In my opinion the movie was bad as an documentaries movie. I think we all should work together to protect our earth from this calamity, although the movie was not made directly for this issue.

Bibliography

Ebert, Roger. "An Inconvenient Truth." Www.brandonfibbs.com. 30 Mar. 2009 http://brandonfibbs.com/2006/05/24/an-inconvenient-truth/

Medley, Tony. "An Inconvenient Truth." Www.tonymedley.com. 12 May 2006. 30 Mar. 2009 http://www.tonymedley.com/2006/An_Inconvenient_Truth.htm