The hottest global topic today is the environment. Transportation is one of the leading causes of global warming today and things must change globally to prevent catastrophe. Several countries are pushing to make significant environmental changes; Brazil, Japan, and Denmark being front-runners. Brazil has mad some remarkable changes in the automobile industry by introducing ethanol-fueled cars. One third of cars sold in Brazil today can run both on gasoline and ethanol. This allows the drivers to choose between the two, generally choosing the economical ethanol fuel. Ethanol is an alcohol that is from the sugar cane plant, which is abundant in Brazil. This idea has risen in North America, but North American ethanol is produced from corn and the carbon emissions put into growing the crop doesn’t significantly change the carbon emissions.
Several Japanese automobile manufacturers in the past few years have revolutionized the automobile industry by introducing hybrid fuel vehicles. These vehicles join a gasoline driven engine and an electric motor. These cars use the fuel-efficient gasoline engine while driving at high speeds, but when idling and driving at slow speeds the electric motor kicks switches on. The most fuel-efficient car on the roads today is the Toyota Prius. This car can cut your carbon dioxide emissions by 70 per cent. Several scientists and professionals worldwide believe that this is what’s required for the climate to stabilize by 2050. Europe is leading the charge by investing very much in the hybrid technology. They have also begun research on a compressed-air car for the future. Flannery believes that hydrogen technology is inefficient and that hybrid fuel cars are the most effective. While explaining the compressed-air car, Flannery describes a potential family in Denmark that could use their windmills to power their house and to compress the air for their cars, allowing them to have a very small environmental footprint.
Automobile pollution is noticed the most because cars are everywhere, but there are other means of transportation that are causing serious air pollution. Cargo shipping and air travel are major producers of air pollution. Cargo shipping has doubled over the past 10 year and has become a major source of air pollution. These ships run on a thick fuel that must be heated before used. It is the leftover fossil fuel from previous production. Going back to wind-powered travel could be the only way to make shipping a carbon free way of transportation. Air travel is the fastest growing source of CO2 emissions. Contrails are trails of water vapour generated by jet aircrafts. These can create cirrus clouds, which cover thirty per cent of the planet. These clouds have a serious impact on global climate, and if planes were to fly lower without affecting airtime, it could cut cirrus cloud formation in half, resolving this issue.
1. How long do you think it will take before the compressed air cars begin commercial production?
2. You talked about transportation and its effect on the environment. Which of the three do you believe causes the most damage?
3. How long do you think it will take for all commercial automobiles to run on gasoline alternatives?
Monday, May 26, 2008
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Ash Garden
“For months, after waking up in the Red Cross Hospital, I was forced to lie on my stomach in order to let the wounds on my back breathe and heal. My left eye had sealed over with scar tissue and pus since I was shipped here from the Oshiba Aid Station, where we had been taken after being found near the river by a group of soldiers.”
This quote is taken from the beginning of the novel. Emiko is talking about the months after the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and how it affected her life. I chose quote because it depicts the horrors of what happened in Hiroshima quite vividly. This quote puts in to question the morality and logic behind dropping the bomb. This is a question that Anton struggles with throughout much of the novel.
"He was no stranger to this sort of ambush, which was not uncommon during these hot and emotional summer days. He'd been sought out often enough to know he had to prepare in advance for whatever words came: war criminal, butcher, mass murder. He had learned to hold his tongue. To offer the silent respect each of his accusers deserved, without, of course, ceding a single point."
This quote appeals to me as it shows that Anton is fully aware of the pain and suffering that was caused from the atomic bomb. Many points are brought up by the interviewers comparing Anton to that of Adolph Hitler or Saddam Hussein. He understands their point of view and does not try and defend his actions. This shows that he was fallowing orders and when looking back maybe it wasn’t the right thing to do but it was necessary.
"At night he reminded himself why all this had happened. He'd close his eyes and remember that there had been no alternative. Us or them. The sad fact of the world. A tragic inevitability."
This quote appeals to me because it is humanizing Anton. He is trying to convince himself that there was no alternative to dropping the bomb. By doing what he had done, he had spares many more deaths, thus making the action just. This begins to show you that Anton has a soft side that is deeply affected by what he did. This is a change from the cold work driven scientist that the rest of the novel had portrayed him as.
What parts of the novel were the toughest to write?
Would you change anything about your book?
Do you agree or disagree about the use of the atomic bomb?
This quote is taken from the beginning of the novel. Emiko is talking about the months after the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and how it affected her life. I chose quote because it depicts the horrors of what happened in Hiroshima quite vividly. This quote puts in to question the morality and logic behind dropping the bomb. This is a question that Anton struggles with throughout much of the novel.
"He was no stranger to this sort of ambush, which was not uncommon during these hot and emotional summer days. He'd been sought out often enough to know he had to prepare in advance for whatever words came: war criminal, butcher, mass murder. He had learned to hold his tongue. To offer the silent respect each of his accusers deserved, without, of course, ceding a single point."
This quote appeals to me as it shows that Anton is fully aware of the pain and suffering that was caused from the atomic bomb. Many points are brought up by the interviewers comparing Anton to that of Adolph Hitler or Saddam Hussein. He understands their point of view and does not try and defend his actions. This shows that he was fallowing orders and when looking back maybe it wasn’t the right thing to do but it was necessary.
"At night he reminded himself why all this had happened. He'd close his eyes and remember that there had been no alternative. Us or them. The sad fact of the world. A tragic inevitability."
This quote appeals to me because it is humanizing Anton. He is trying to convince himself that there was no alternative to dropping the bomb. By doing what he had done, he had spares many more deaths, thus making the action just. This begins to show you that Anton has a soft side that is deeply affected by what he did. This is a change from the cold work driven scientist that the rest of the novel had portrayed him as.
What parts of the novel were the toughest to write?
Would you change anything about your book?
Do you agree or disagree about the use of the atomic bomb?
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