Task 6:One Planet Living & Cool Cities

Modern cities are developing in an assortment of ways as we can see here with respect to the UAE’s cities. This improvement has conveyed with it both bright and gloomy growth. Nowadays, cities consume more energy that produces more CO2 and heat. Therefore, the developers found out a basic strategy to deal with heat and CO2 by building Cool Cities. These cities have the ability to reduce heat and CO2 to the zero level. In my essay I will look at the expected role that modern cities make with respect to climate changes, I will look at how modern cities can minimize their energy consumption and as a result to reduce their carbon emission. Finally, I will state my opinion regarding the practicality of environmentally friendly cities.

Firstly, I will look at how modern cities contribute to global warming. For starters, one notable concern is with regard to the buildings. For example, buildings in the UAE don’t have spaces so they don’t provide any shade as well as poor materials used in construction (Stanton 2). An additional factor to take into consideration is with respect to the transportation. To clarify, the rapid growth of UAE’s population led to increase the numbers of cars used in the country .This increases the energy consumption and also the carbon dioxide being emitted into the air.

Having looked at some contributions, I will now turn our attention to recommended solutions as to how they can reduce the level of energy used and the carbon emissions. One major point is regarding climate control. To illustrate, Mr. Hope stated that sorouh plans to circulate seawater underground to cool the pavement and benches and the exterior of buildings (Hope 2). Mr. Younes stated that using creative architecture will cut the energy consumption by 50-70 % (Stanton 3).Furthermore, they will create abundance of trees and water to prevent the heat island effects, filtered light rooftops which can reduce the impact of sun heat and utilizes natural energy such as wind energy (Cool cities).Another point worthy of mentioning is in terms of reducing the carbon dioxide being emitted by transportation. To clarify, cool cities will use a modern technology of public transportation and encouraging people to use them. Moreover; they will introduce new ways of transporting people from zone to other zones of the city. This will reduce the amount of gases emitted into the air because it will be a car free city. Cool city will use Monorail, Hybrid car, Light rail transit and solar ship for water transportation (Cool cities). One last significant solution for this subject to take note of is in terms of recycling. For instance, plastic bags from supermarkets could save the word by recycling these wastes. Vivian Salama stated that Géat hypermarkets became the first retailer in the UAE to commence deposit payments of 25 files per plastic bags (Salama 3). This fell Consumption of plastic bags at the outlet about 50 per cent in the first few weeks of the scheme.

All in all, cool cities are a very smart idea to reduce carbon emission in the world. However, there are many challenges stop in the face of this project. “Masdar” is making superior plan to make people live in less-polluted cities as a result to reduce global warming. In my opinion I think these solutions are practical to reduce the carbon emission but the UAE or other Middle East countries can’t change easily to other resources.





Works Cited
Cool cities. Prod. SDCJ. 4 May 2009 .
Hope, Bradley. "Cool ideas to beat the heat." The National NewsPaper [Abu Dhabi] 5 May 2008: 3.
Salama, Vivian. "Building a green dream." The National NewsPaper [Abu Dhabi] 6 May 2008: 4.
Stanton. "Masdar?s green dream is not for all." The National NewsPaper [Abu Dhabi] 25 Apr. 2008: 3.

Addtional posting

Mohammed Khalfan
Jasaim Al Marzoqai
Saif Al Shamsi
Sultan Hanash
Saleh Salem

Carbon Footprint

There are various ways to measure our impact on the earth from an environmental standpoint. One of these ways is by way of our carbon footprint. In the following report, I will define what a carbon footprint is, show how a carbon footprint measured, and show how I rank in comparison to others, my country and the worlds as whole and finally I’ll make some suggestions as to how we can reduce our carbon footprints.
Let’s now look at how is carbon footprint defined .A carbon footprint is the measurement of the effect human activities have on the environment. To clarify, “carbon footprint is a measure of the impact our activities have on the environment, and in particular climate change. It relates to the amount of greenhouse gases produced in our day-to-day lives through burning fossil fuels for electricity, heating and transportation etc” (carbon footprint 2).

There are two ways to measure a carbon footprint. One is by calculating the amount of emission released by a product or in its manufacturing .Another is by a product life cycle. We all have different carbon footprints because each person lives at a different standard and have certain element that affects our footprint on the planet. With that in mind it makes an accurate account of the world carbon foot print difficult to count as it is the calculation process consist of calculating the energy a person uses in their life, house, travel and transportation but even with this calculation being a rough one it still helps people to see how much their life style effects our planet and make us step back and see what we can do different.




Taking our attention to my ranking I measured my carbon footprint from the website http://footprint.wwf.org.uk/ and http://www.myfootprint.org/. I answered my quizzes about food, Travel, home and stuff in different categories that were related to identify my carbon footprint. I scored the highest among my classmate with a total of 7.145 .My classmate Zabir recorded a reading of 2.585 making him the second, Mohammed Khalfan coming in third place with a reading of 2.205, Salah came fourth with a score of 1.7and finally Jassim scored 1.475. UAE has poor reputation as far as energy use is concerned .It was stated in the National Newspaper that” Mohammad al Jawdar, the director of strategy management at the EAD, said Abu Dhabi was unable to provide accurate statistics on environmental matters at present and this was one of the reasons for the country’s poor international reputation”(Todorova 1).

Finally, I will wrap up by turning out some recommendation to reduce the amount of carbon footprint. First point to take into account is concerns saving energy. To illustrate, Switch off all lights and electrical appliances when not in use and Choose energy-efficient appliances and light bulbs. According to http://extinct.wwf.org.uk website recycling is a perfect factor to reduce carbon footprint. (Re-think your lifestyle 1).For instance, buy recycled or recyclable products such as toilet tissue and stationery. Last point to consider is that saving water is one of the important factors to reduce carbon footprint. For example, don’t leave the tap running while you clean your teeth, washing your car and cooking.

In brief, this report helped me to principally become more attentive of my impact on the environment and take into consideration ways that I can also benefit the environment by becoming a responsible.

Works Cited

"Ecological footprint." Ecological footprint. 16 Apr. 2009 .

"Footprint calculator." Footprint calculator. 9 Apr. 2009 .

"Re-think your lifestyle." Re-think your lifestyle. 16 Apr. 2009 .

Todorova, Vesela. "New measures to gauge emirates? Carbon footprint." The National Newspaper [Abu Dhabi] 29 Apr. 2008: 1.
"What Is A Carbon Footprint?" Carbon Footprint. 9 Apr. 2009 .

An Inconvenient truth: Part2

An Inconvenient truth: Part2

Arguments and criticisms arise for any documentary, movie, or research that discusses an important issue. Reviews have been made about the documentary An Inconvenient Truth which talks about the global warming issue. Some reviewers praised the movie’s aim, the others haven’t admired it. This essay will outline some arguments for and against this movie.

Some people were in favor of this movie. First of all, they pointed out that Al Gore’s presenting makes the film very interesting and he had a great background on this subject. For example, he treated his listeners like adult and mixed the presentation with some jokes. A further relevant point is that he didn’t use this documentary for political purpose. To clarify, he was very watchful not to revolve this film into a political transmit for him and the US Democratic gathering. Helen O’Hara stated that Al Gore’s charts, statistic and scientists studies prove that the global warming is not new phenomenon (O’Hara 2).To illustrate, they support their opinion by several excellent climate researchers who says that Al Gore got the facts right.

Any documentaries may have some discussion against it. The first point to consider is that the reviewers think that he tried to gain some points against the Republicans. To clarify, criticisms against An Inconvenient Truth because the said that Al Gore was joking on Bush administration and other Republicans. Another point is that Al Gore spent a lot of time to tell us that the global warming is occurring. For instance, they said that he also uses the term they and scientists to prove that his theory is happening. According to Scott, the film doesn’t provide the impression to be about the global warming but it is about Al Gore’s life (Scott 1).
In conclusion, the movie discusses a vital issue despite of the arguments for and against it. I think that we all should work together in order to protect our earth from this calamity.The video was very useful for me and my colleges.

Works Cited
O'Hara, Helen. "An Inconvenient Truth(U)." Empire Review Central-Review of An Inconvenient Truth. 26 Feb. 2009 .
Scott, and Eric. "Movie Review Inconvenient Truth,An." Three Movie Buffs Review. 25 Nov. 2006. Paramount Classics. 26 Feb. 2009 .

An Inconvenient Truth: Summary

Al Gore, the host, was the vice president of the USA in the Clinton administration. He has been interested in climate change issues since grade school and has continued to take interest in this subject as a politician. In this documentary, he highlights some very important points regarding global warming in his discussion. We will take a look at some of these.

Some very important effects include illustrations of the impact of global warming. He does this by first pointing out the relationship between the amount of carbon in the atmosphere and the corresponding temperature over a 650,000 years period. For example, he showed some pictures of the ice melted in Kilimanjaro Mountain in Africa. Then he focused about the increase of the ocean Temperature that led to many Hurricanes and Tornadoes. For instance, in September 2004 Florida has faced a very bad hurricane which called Ivan. After that he talked about the sea ice extent dropped by 1.5 million km2 since 1970.To clarify, Ice caps melts as the surrounding water gets warmer this devastated the ice species such as polar bears. He also showed a trend of ten hottest years recorded in 14 years period .To illustrate ,In 2003 the temperature in India raised to about 122 degrees c and 1400 people died.

To sum up, Al Gore says that although the situation regarding global warming appears dire, he does speak fervently looking forward to the future with hope. His presentation concludes with parting nuggets of practical advice as to how man can play a role in curbing climate change.

Purpose of this blog

The purpose of this blog is to write about global warming issue to keep people aware of this issue by posting videos , pictures and reports.I also have to present what i have done.

Introduction to Global Warming:

Nature can be affected by a variety of natural phenomena which include natural disasters such as volcanic eruption, earthquakes and landslide. The one which is going to be the focus of the following will be on the subject of global warming.
In my essay, I will talk about some causes and effects which have led to this issue.

Lets now take a look at some causes of this issue. For starter, one notable concern is with regard to Carbon Dioxide from Power Plants. For example, carbon dioxide emissions curtail from the burning of fossil fuels for the purpose of electricity generation and cars. An additional factor to take into consideration is with respect to devastating of green areas.For instance,many countries are cutting trees to develope their constructional areas which can cause some kind of pollution.

Having looked at some causes, let’s now turn our attention to some effects of the global warming. One major result is regarding diseases. To illustrate, as the earth warms, disease carrying insects starts to appear bringing plague and disease with them. Yet another point worthy of mentioning is in terms of waters warming and more hurricanes. For instance, as the temperature of oceans rises, the probability of more frequent and stronger hurricanes .Yet a final result is to do with Polar ice caps melting. To clarify, the melting of ice will cause the sea level to increase and will throw the global ecosystem out of balance.

In brief, taking into account all that I have mentioned regarding this issue, there is no simple solution to this problem because it has many causes, but the effects are damaging both the nature and the people who live there. In my opinion I think governments should try to remedy this problem by implementing rules and regulations to reduce the gasses emissions of factories and cars.