1. .Environmental Sustainability
Evaluation of Paper 1: Fall 2012
William Sullivan, Bridgette Moen, Shimon .Zimbovsky
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1 Gr.aaing lrlteria · ' eroficlent B' Weak or not at an
Introduction and ·.'· Cl~arly~iticulat~d Thesis statement P~~ily de~eloped.th~sis;
'. thesis; clear and,· • ;,,. son:ewhat d~ar; .orientation to paper
compelling orientation· •. )orientati'on t()' . weak or lacking. ·
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.: .) Clearly describes.hbw 1~oluti~~s identified~;~ Weakor missing•···.
. readers can play a role in not all appropriate for solutions; lack of detail;
' . addressing at le~st one I! the challenge hand; solutions are unfeasible, at
. ofthe chalh~nges;;, ••·•; missing some' details ·
prg~ides thre~ sp:<:ific~ ; ;:. about, concr~te, feasible (f·Opoints) .....
concrete, f,easiblesteps><•; steps that mtght be. . < ; •., . .
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Total Points Possible: 20 points
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2. ,1
Environmental Sustainability
Professor: William Sullivan
Paper# 1
'·· Changes today
There is no dnubt whatsoever that climate change is a big issue when it comes to
sustainability discussions. The earth climate has changed, and is changing very fast. That's what
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we read in newspapers, leam at school and see specialists talking about. The idea of climate
change have been spread all over the world, we even see people valking streets saying "This
summer was hotter than· it used i() be.", or "This year rained much more than the regular average.
That'.s a global wam1ing effect''. In our everyday life we are quite used to this relative new
concept But; what causes these changes? How can we play a role helping society to overcome
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this new scenario? The main challenges when it comes to climate changes are population
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growth,·slow environmental response and mternatwnal stalemate.
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Human activities produce a great impact on earth, so population growth means more
people depending on earth resources. The global increases in carbon dioxide, methane and
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nitrous oxide concentrations (greenhouse gases) are due primarily to fossil fuel use, land use
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change and agriculture, main activities of countries today. Scenario that might get worse as
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population grows. Not only population has increased, but also we have a bigger product demand
as our life quality has changed. Although some nations are presenting decreasing birth rates,
many othe~s ~re in fast increase, a~d that is a trend to persist for some decades.
3. Another v~mportant issue is that ecosystems usually have a slow response to
environmental.changes. Notall changes that we have made in the environment are being felt by
earth's ecosystems. Some of these changes will only have visibleimpact many years from now.
Oceans are a great example of that slow response. In the past years oceans temperature have
increased less than other ecosystems, but twice as much warming is expected for the future. This
slow response is also seen when corrective actions:are implemented, the environment take some
time to show a positive impact of these actions. That fact makes solutions planning very difficult
to policy makers, as their actions may only have an impact several generations from now.
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The last great challenge to be overcome is the international stalemate when discussing
alternatives to climate change. Clitnate conferences, seeking global cooperation to tninimize the
effects of environmental pollution, did not generate effective results yet. Usually, they only
reproduce the economic confrontation between world powers for greater production and
consu~ption. One example is the relationshi~ between the u.s. and Chiria. China stands out as
the u.s. effort should be higher because it is a developed cmmtry and the economic foundation
has stabilized. In the other hand, the U.S. claims that China is a competitor by unfair trade goods
with quite currency devalued against the U.S. dollar. The stalemate continues when developing
nations claim for solutions. Countries like Brazil, India and Russia insist that agreements of the
Kyoto Protocol, which sets targets for reducing carbon emissions, should be renewed. Developed
countries refuse to renew until new agreements are made that include developing nations in
carbon emission targets. Therefore, already established agreements may be lost and new
solutions end up being harn1ed by individual commercial interests.
Finally, although many doubts about climate changes still remain, there is much evidence
that it is real. We already got used to this new concept, but now we need to get used to new
4. attitudes in our daily life that can be solutions for many current problems, especially when it
comes to our living standards. As population has grown we have to c~an~e how we live so earth
can give us what we need without disrupting. Transportation is one main cause of global
wanning, as many transports use fossil fuel. One way of reducing emissions is using public
transportation, because busses and subways can transport many people with less energy than cars
or motorcycles. Another action is to pay attention in what we ,consume and how much of it,
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simpl~ as it may so'und, we need to stop and think what we really need, as everything we buy
directly or indirectly produce ~1environmental impact.: This impact is mai~lydue to how goods
are produced and shipped to the consumer. One way to solve this is financially responsible
compani~s and producers for the impact they cause to the environment and induce them to use
more sustainable practices ·within the supply chain, this action may reduce the impact of many
people consuming products. And, most important of all, we have to change the consciousness
that climate changes are a bad issue"but nothing can be done. Many things can be solute on the
future with a simple effort today .
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