Wednesday, January 29, 2020

Potential For Water Supply Essay Example for Free

Potential For Water Supply Essay According to the International Water Management Institute environmental research organisation global water stress is increasing, and a third of all people face some sort of water scarcity. Where demand exceeds supply and no effective management operates, there will be conflicts between the various players involved. In addition, global climate change will exacerbate these challenges faced by countries and populations. Shifting precipitation patterns threaten to reduce water availability in some regions while inflicting stronger storms on others, increasing both potential droughts and floods. This may increase the frequency of more serious conflicts and result in ‘water wars’. Meeting the world’s growing water needs will require far more effective use of available resources. By combining appropriate technology, strategic management and involving all the players water conflicts can be avoided. The Nile river exemplifies an International dispute with the source of the conflict being the water supply. Egypt who have a historical right to The Nile are highly dependent on its waters, which are required for agricultural purposes with the waters being a necessity to irrigate the arable land. Many countries in the Nile basin depend heavily on the Nile, with Egypt depending on the Nile for 97% of its renewable water resource. Consequently, The Nile is essential to the food and water security in all of the countries that lie within the Nile river basin. With so many countries being reliant on one single water source it is no surprise that this water supply has increased tensions in the area and that there is a huge potential for it to cause conflict. Ethiopia’s tributaries supply roughly 86% of the Nile however as a result of the Entebbe Agreement Ethiopia and other upstream countries have begun to divert water for new dam projects that would provide hydro-electric power and irrigation networks. These developments upstream have led to threats from Egypt, who are extremely protective over their decreasing share of the Niles water supply. However in order to secure their  supply they must engage in peaceful negotiations as violence would only jeapordise their share of the supply. Thus the potential for water conflict is there as tensions continue to increase between upstream and downstream nations, and perhaps overtime as the downstream nations share of the supply is further squeezed, these tensions are likely to result in conflict. Conflict can also occur within a country, for example the states situated within the Colorado river basin have been constantly squabbling over who owns the water supply and who should be allocated the most water. In the 1920s the ‘Law of the River’ established the division of water amongst the upper basin states, it also defined their responsibility to supply water to the lower basin states. This division had been based on an estimated annual flow of 21 billion m3/yr in 1920, however this was a time of above normal flows, recent studies have indicated that long term average flows are around 18 billion m3/yr. The deficit between the flow and the allocation has become more apparent as the population in the clorado basin states continues to rise. As a result of this deficit tensions are rising between the states, California receives a large percentage of the water as a result of its large population and political power even though the river does not directly flow through it. This has heightened tensions with the states who are experiencing severe water shortages who actually have a grater claim to the river than California. Although the city dwellers may be losing out as they are having to share their water with other states, farmers are profiting as they claimed the land first and thus the majority of water, 80%, lies with them. The Colorado river has not only caused internal disputes but also international disputes, causing there to be the potential for conflict with Mexico. The reason being that the Colorado river is that the basin states are so dependent on the water that the river supplies that it no longer reaches the sea, 90% of the water has been extracted before it reaches Mexico. The delta has decreased in size as a result of the extraction and the large dams put in place along the river such as the Hoover Dam. This did increase political tensions between the two nations and there was a strong potential for the supply of the Colorado river to become a source of  Conflict between the two countries, however in 2012 an amendment was made to the ‘Law of the River’ entitled ‘Minute 319’ which gave Mexico a grater allocation of the water supply. This is an example of how there can be a potential for conflict yet an agreement can be reached to prevent it. Nonetheless there is still a potential for new disputes among the Colorado river, this is less likely to occur internationally on the US-Mexico border as a result of the recent amendment, however at the artificial border drawn at Lees Ferry, between the upper and lower basin states. Aside from the strain put on the supply by a growing population, the upper basin has a small surplus that it is using to develop its economy. However at the same time water shortages in the lower basin could limit the potential for economic growth in the lower basin and thus their remains a potential for the water supply to cause conflict in the future.

Tuesday, January 21, 2020

battle of hastings recruiting :: essays research papers fc

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  October 14th of the year 1066 two armies faced each other near the town of Hastings. 10,000 Norman troops under the command of William of Normandy faced 8,000 Anglo-Saxon soldiers led by Harold the current king of England. Geoffrey Parker, Cambridge Illustrated History of Warfare (Cambridge: 1995), pp. 82-3. Harold's 8,000 men consisted of Housecarls, the local Fyrd, and local village volunteers. David Howarth, 1066: The Year of the Conquest (New York: 1977),pp.170-1 The two armies clashed on that day and history tells us the outcome. But what forces go into creating an army of these sizes? The three main Anglo-Saxon troop types will be defined and the forces that created them will be examined below.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Three troop types would fight for the Anglo-Saxons the Housecarls, the Fyrd, and local peasantry. The Housecarls were professional soldiers under the service of the King and the Earls of the Kingdom. Harold used the Housecarls of the King and his Housecarls of his Earldom of Wessex. He also used the Housecarls of his two brothers. The Fyrd was a volunteer citizen army provided by the Thanes of the kingdom. The local peasants fought to protect their homes. David Howarth, 1066: The Year of the Conquest (New York: 1977), pp. 80-1. There were two divisions of fyrd in the 11th century one consisting of a local peasant force and the other a select levy force. C. Warren Hollister, Anglo-Saxon Military Institutions: On the Eve of the Norman Conquest (Oxford: 1962), p. 26.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The local peasant Fyrd that fought at Hastings came from Sussex. C. Warren Hollister, Anglo-Saxon Military Institutions: On the Eve of the Norman Conquest (Oxford: 1962), p.30. All freemen of the area were obligated to provide protection for the local area. This obligation was connected with financial and agricultural obligations. C. Warren Hollister, Anglo-Saxon Military Institutions: On the Eve of the Norman Conquest (Oxford: 1962), pp. 35-6. The peasant fighting force is a Germanic tradition in origin. Based upon a freeman's duty to defend the lands of the king, however the peasant force is a limited army. The king is required to pay the troops if needed for them to leave the area. The peasants have the right to return to there homes at the end of the day. However, they must provide their own equipment. C. Warren Hollister, Anglo-Saxon Military Institutions: On the Eve of the Norman Conquest (Oxford: 1962), pp. 27-8. The primary function of the peasant Fyrd was to provide defense against enemies attack from the sea, such as the events at Hastings.

Monday, January 13, 2020

Mr. William Bryant And His Romantic Antics Essay

Romanticism is a style of writing based in the late 19th century. It is characterized by nature, individual expression, emotion and imagination. Many writers in his time were part of the Romantic Movement and William Cullen Bryant was one of them. His poems are full of Romantic ideals such as the benevolence of Nature and the emphasis on emotion. Bryant is clearly a Romantic poet and his poems â€Å"Thanatopsis† and â€Å"To a Waterfowl† are clearly illustrations of this. Nature is a big part of both â€Å"Thanatopsis† and â€Å"To a Waterfowl†. In â€Å"Thanatopsis†, Nature actually has a speaking part. The personified Nature teaches the reader to not fear death, but accept it as a part of life. Nature in this poem is very comforting. She is described in detail and is portrayed as calm and compassionate in her way of speaking. In â€Å"To a Waterfowl†, nature is also important and in this poem, it is more concrete than the Nature in â€Å"Thanatopsis†. Bryant is talking about a lone waterfowl that is flying through the air. The waterfowl is part of nature and he questions it as if it would answer. In Romantic poetry, it would answer, as in Thanatopsis, where nature actually speaks to the reader. This also shows the freedom and the mystical aspect in his writing. Idealism is also a big romantic characteristic in these poems. In Thanatopsis, realism would consider death a dark and horrible thing. However, the idealistic Bryant portrayed it as a part of life and that dying would bring you back to the divine Nature. In â€Å"To a Waterfowl†, the bird is solitary because he is a freethinking spirit and is flying free from other’s conventional ideas. This appeals to the radical and the idealistic Romantic in him. This poetry by William Cullen Bryant is clearly of the Romantic style. He uses nature in his poetry in an aesthetic way, stating it as a kind being. Idealism is used in a romantic manner, glorifying death and showing the freedom of life in its natural form. His poetry is full of content and emotion with forgiveness and love. Bryant’s â€Å"Thanatopsis† and â€Å"To a Waterfowl† are two excellent examples of Romantic poetry because they use  Romantic ideas of freedom, idealism, and benevolence of nature.

Saturday, January 4, 2020

Video Games Video Game Violence Essay - 1693 Words

Video Game Violence Blood and gore, intense violence, strong sexual content, use of drugs. These are just a few of the phrases that the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) uses to describe the content of several games. The future of entertainment revolves around technology. Along with the evolvement of technology, video games are also changing. More ways of playing violent video games are created each year, but most of us have this question in mind; do violent video games influence people to act aggressively? Video games are a unique form of entertainment because they encourage players to become a part of the game s script. Although video games have been available for more than 30 years, today s sophisticated video games require players to pay constant attention to the game. Players engage on a deeper level—physically and emotionally—than people do when watching a movie or television. Video games follow three guidelines to hook the player. These guidelines include a ‘wow’ moment within the first five minutes of playing the game to grab the player’s attention, communicating the core value of the game, and creating a storyline that the player can follow and ‘get into’ (Zurb). The violence found in today’s video games can be anything ranging from aggressive driving in â€Å"Grand Theft Auto† to defeating the world’s most dangerous enemies in â€Å"Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare† (â€Å"Television and Video Violenceâ € ). Video games cause the player to become more aggressive. Many ofShow MoreRelatedVideo Game Violence : Violent Video Games1626 Words   |  7 PagesDavis English III 27 March 2015 Video Game Violence Violent video games have been being created since the first console. Yet only recently have we been blaming them for aggression in the player. We as humans have a tendency to blame our violent behavior on other things rather thin ourselves. 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