The Role of Government for Sustainable Management Systems

Pastor C. Paa, Jr.


Government incentives towards achieving certain goals are always needed. Therefore government policies should focus on giving priorities towards reshaping the economic, social and political sustainability of the country. Sadly, incentives such as subsidies and tax exemptions initiatives in most countries are designed only to produce economic gains, which are mostly a quick fix for ailing economies. Agricultural subsidies such as fertilizer and pesticides, forest clearing, cash crop productions and irrigation systems result in environmental damage. As well, road building encourages more use of vehicles and results to urban sprawl claiming land and creating greenhouse gas pollution.

Such incentives must be eliminated to promote a sensible environmentally sustainable economy. However, it is not enough to just eliminate these bad incentives but rather incentive rewards must be thought of for ecologically sound practices, which will make them attractive. An example is the US Conservation Reserve Program, which rewards farmers for conserving soil. Farmers are rewarded $120 per hectare in rental payments, for planting trees and grass on their most erodible land.

Trade is also one area that governments must look into because it is trade that determines which materials are used and transported to different parts of the world. Trade barriers in the forms of import quotas, tariffs, export subsidies and domestic price supports are undesirable because they restrict competition in the global marketplace. A freer trade environment will eliminate these trade distortions and improve economic efficiency. When third world countries become economically stable, then they can focus more on the improvements of the environment.

Governments therefore should consider one overarching guideline: No net environmental damage. This means that for any project that might destroy forests, add carbon into the atmosphere, or pave over grasslands, additional investments must be required to compensate for these damages. For example, if building a commercial mall will destroy a forested area, investment must be required to reforest an equivalent area elsewhere. Although this might not be a complete compensation, at least some of the ecological benefits of the original forest will be recaptured.



Source:

Brown LB, Flavin C, Postel S. 1991. "Reshaping Government Incentives" In Saving the Planet: How to shape an environmentally sustainable global economy. 500 Fifth Avenue, New York, N. Y. 10110: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 131-140 p.

Compact and Sustainable Communities

By
Pastor C. Paa, Jr.

Urban planning is a technical and political process concerned with the welfare of people, control of the use of land, design of the urban environment including transportation and communication networks, and protection and enhancement of the natural environment1. It integrates land use and transportation to improve the quality of life for each individual in the community economically and socially by creating compact and sustainable communities.

Land use and its effects on the environment is now becoming a major concern not only in Canada but also around the world. Climate change and pollution are two of the major problems brought about by ineffective urban planning and land use.

So how does land use affect climate change and the sustainability of a community?

The build up of green house gases due mainly to the use of fossil fuels is the primary concern in the immediate future. Green house gases destroy the ozone layer of the atmosphere which protect the earth from the harmful effects of solar radiation such as rising global temperature, freak weather conditions and smog formation to name a few. Most of the green house gases coming from the use of fossil fuels are from vehicular emissions. Land use therefore is an important factor because it affects the need for travel from residential areas to the work place. A compact community where homes, jobs and entertainment places are in close proximities could prove to be one that is sustainable.

Land Use: Compact vs. Sprawl
There has been a remarkable consensus in recent years that planning for more cities that are compact is one of the most important ways of reducing energy consumption and pollution. The consensus arises because of a limited amount of academically produced evidence that such a policy is an appropriate way of reducing environmental problems. Secondly, because governments are anxious to make their contribution to that most fashionable of causes: sustainable development (Breheney 81). While sustainable cities have been promoted as a desirable goal within a variety of policy contexts, critical questions concerning the extent to which cities and local governments can address the challenges of sustainability remain unanswered (Bulkeley and Betsill 42)

Low-density development and suburbanization are regarded as the primary components of urban sprawl. Compact city proponents have argued for higher density regulation and mixed land uses. However, they ignore the individual’s preference for low density living. The idea of owning a single family home, the need for an adequate environment for raising a family, a strong desire for privacy and the appeal of a rural ambiance are among the most prominent reasons for choosing suburban localities. The spatial manifestation of these values has permanently shaped the structure of the American city.

Finally, innovations in transportation and communications have reduced the importance of centrality for households and firms. Urban analysts reassessed sprawl as the emerging urban pattern of postindustrial society, a deconcentrated and highly interdependent urban structure organized around advanced transportation and communications technologies on a time-cost (rather than a spatial distance) basis. Given these observations, policy efforts to revert the present urban pattern into obsolete, central city, physical forms and the implications of high-versus-low density development should be critically examined.

However, recent studies found that close links exist between density and the efficiencies with which land and infrastructure are used and the degree of automobile dependence. These observations support the arguments of smart growth advocates that smarter development is more environmentally sound, fiscally prudent, and consistent with quality of life goals2.

David C. Soule sums up the effects of sprawl in his article “Defining and Managing sprawl” (Soule 1).

“In its path, sprawl consumes thousands of acres of forests and farmland, wood-lands and wetlands. It requires government to spend millions extra to build new schools, streets and water and sewer lines. In its wake, sprawl leaves boarded up houses, vacant storefronts, closed businesses, abandoned and often contaminated industrial sites, and traffic congestion stretching miles from urban centers”.

William H. Whyte (Whyte 133), in his original Fortune magazine article, wrote:

“Sprawl is bad aesthetics; it is bad economics. Five acres is being made to do the work of one and do it very poorly. This is bad for the farmers, it is bad for communities, it is bad for industry, it is bad for utilities, it is bad for the railroads, it is bad for the recreation groups, it is bad even for the developers”

One of the leading indicators of sprawl is increased traffic congestion, caused by people living far from where they work and shop (Hallsmith 73-74). Hallsmith further explained that the typical response to this issue, widening the roads, deals only with the symptoms of sprawl and actually makes the matter worse because it creates an increasing development potential which in turn serves to worsen the situation.


The Canadian Land Use Pattern
Most North American cities were built using technologies that assumed abundant and cheap energy and land would be available forever (Roseland et al 18). These resulted in inefficient growth, which were dependent on lengthy distribution systems. Cheap energy influenced the construction of our spacious homes and buildings, fostered our addiction to the automobile, and increased the separation of our homes from workplaces. Calthorpe, in his book “The Pedestrian Pocket Book” (Calthorpe ) wrote:
“The current round of suburban growth is generating a crisis of many dimensions: mounting traffic congestion, increasingly unaffordable housing, receding open space, and stressful social patterns. The truth is, we are using planning strategies that are [now over seventy] years old and no longer relevant to today’s culture. Our household makeup has changed dramatically, the workplace and the work force have been transformed, real wealth has shrunk, and serious environmental concerns have surfaced. But we are still building World War II suburbs as if families were large and have only one breadwinner, as if jobs were all downtown, as if land and energy were endless, and as if another lane on the highway would end congestion.”

Consequently, Canadian land use has severely relied on these inefficient strategies. These include separating homes, jobs and shopping from each other. Roads and parking lots in turn connect these places where housing, retail and office parks are at low densities. This is reflected in the fact that, over the last three decades, the rate of BC’s population growth was only about half of the rate of land urbanization – (87% vs. 162%)2 This inefficient use of land has severe consequences on our economy, our environment, our farmland, our health, and our safety.

The resulting traffic congestion and the subsequent pollution from car emissions is now one of the most serious problems that came from this inefficient urban planning. The need for transportation resulting from development of areas away from city centers has increased the need for fossil fuel and thus resulted to more air pollution. The cost of connecting these spread of communities has become considerably unaffordable due to the increase in the maintenance costs for roads and infrastructures. Most importantly, health problems related to vehicle dependency such as obesity, diabetes, and asthma is increasing.

Transportation and Air Quality
The quality of the air we breathe has recently become one of the most prominent issues in the minds of Canadians from schoolchildren to the most powerful political decision makers. The green wave that is currently sweeping our country has helped make all of us aware of the fragile nature of our planet, and more and more of us are now voluntarily making positive personal and business decisions about the resources we use in the new light of awareness3. Air pollutants, which are of concerned according to the BC Lung Association, are described below:

Particulate Matter (PM) refers to a combination of microscopic solid and liquid particles that are suspended in the air we breathe. Particle size is usually measured in units of one millionth of a metre – a “micron”. PM10 refers to particle size of 10 microns or smaller. When inhaled, particles between 2.5 and 10 microns in diameter tend to get trapped in our upper and middle airways. Particles less than 2.5 microns in diameter, referred to as PM2.5 or fine particulate matter, are the biggest concern to our health because they can be inhaled more deeply into the lungs. PM2.5 is a component of regional haze, which results in impaired visibility.

Sulphur Dioxide (SO2) is a colourless gas with a pungent odour that smells like a struck match. It is irritating to the lungs and, in high concentrations, can damage leaves on trees and agricultural crops. SO2 is emitted by the burning of sulphur-containing fossil fuels and the processing of sulphur-containing ores. SO2 reacts in the atmosphere to form sulphur trioxide, which in the presence of water vapour can readily transform to
sulphuric acid, a major component of acid rain.

Nitrogen Oxides (NOx) are a group of highly reactive gases that include nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and nitric oxide (NO). In the atmosphere, NO reacts to form nitrogen dioxide (NO2), an odorous, brown, highly corrosive gas that is harmful to our health and environment. NO2 is also of concern because it contributes to the secondary formation of ozone and PM2.5. NOx is formed when fuel is burned at high temperatures.

Ozone (O3) is an extremely reactive gas with molecules composed of three oxygen atoms. The ozone found high in the upper atmosphere shields us from the sun’s ultraviolet rays. However, at ground level, O3 can cause damage to crops, trees and
materials and is harmful to human health. Ground-level O3 is formed in the air through complex chemical reactions involving NOx and volatile organic compounds in the presence of sunlight. Because the production of ozone is dependent on sunlight, the
hourly ozone levels tend to be highest in the summer. Ground-level O3 is a key ingredient of smog.

The Border Air Quality Study3 is a combination of research projects looking at health impacts related to air quality in the Georgia Basin-Puget Sound airshed. The airshed includes Vancouver, Victoria, the Sunshine Coast, the Fraser Valley, Seattle and Puget Sound. The Study found that traffic pollution increases the risk of premature births and low birth weight. It also found a connection between pollution and the respiratory health of young children. Specifically, the study found evidence for a link between bronchiolitis and traffic-related air pollution. Bronchiolitis, an infection that affects the tiny airways, is the main cause of hospital stays for young children4.

According to Smart Growth2 president and CEO, Geoff Anderson, the largest percentage share of transportation emission in BC is passenger vehicles. Moving to more fuel-efficient vehicles and cleaner fuel sources are important steps in reducing GHG emissions, but local governments have limited jurisdiction in these areas. Local governments however, can help people drive less by encouraging smart growth development. Compared to conventional, low-density single-use development, smart growth reduces the amount people drive by 20 to 40 %. This translates into an 18-36% reduction in GHGs emissions compared to a business-as-usual scenario.

One key strategy for countering the effects of vehicular emissions would be to reduce the need for travel. Policy makers need to look beyond fuel efficiency and low-carbon fuels towards reducing emissions. This can be done by building compact communities where people can accomplish more without having to travel. Researchers at the Urban Land Institute estimate that shifting 60% of new growth to compact patterns would save 85 million metric tons of carbon-dioxide emissions annually by 20301.


Recommendations

Strategies for creating Smart Growth
Smart Growth BC5 recommends these strategies for creating a compact and sustainable
community:

· establish and adhere to urban and rural containment boundaries;

· offer housing diversity for all ages through affordable housing strategies and homes of all sizes for all stages of life;

· limit service provision (no servicing above a certain elevation or outside the containment boundary). This includes roads, sewer and water lines, fire protection and policing;

· allow natural places to continue to provide recreation, aesthetic, and health benefits by protecting them from urbanization.

Benefits include:
· improvements to our health by providing safe and attractive ways to get around on wheels (bike, rollerblades, wheelchair) or on foot;

· mitigation of climate change by providing shopping, schools, and other services within easy walking distance, thereby reducing our dependency on vehicles;

· protection of our farmland by keeping the town in the town and the country in the country;

· reductions in the costs of servicing (and therefore taxes) by extending infrastructure over shorter distances and are shared by more people through densification;

· on of the local economy by allowing people to work from vibrant, mixed-use neighbourhoods that attract and keep residents;

· more time with family as commuting times are reduced, which in turn allow neighbours and to get to know one another better and the social fabric of the community to strengthen.

Conclusions

Land use and urban planning that ensure enhanced quality of life by providing enough privacy, open space, and other features associated with single-family living will certainly be the “meter stick” with which urban centers will be measured against. The compact urban form therefore must not ignore the essential needs of the community if it is to be a successful alternative to urban sprawl. Enhancing walkability around town centers can be achieved by designing features such as street art, parks and water features and arranging commercial businesses and entertainment spread all over the compact community. Bike and rollerblade lanes can also encourage exercise to and from the workplaces within the community. These features of an urban center will certainly reduce the need for cars and thus reduce energy consumption, the amount of pollution from car exhaust, and ensuring a sustainable community and a cleaner and safer environment.





References
Notes
1. What is urban planning? McGill School of Urban Planning. http://www.mcgill.ca/urbanplanning/planning/ (Accessed November 22, 2009)

2. Alexander, Don, and Ray Tomalty. "Sprawl : The BC sprawl report 2001." http://www.smartgrowth.bc. Sprawl : the BC sprawl report 2001. SmartGrowthBC, 2001. Web. 3 Dec. 2009

3. BC Lung Association, state of the Air in British Columbia. www.lung.ca [accessed November 2009].

4. BC Ministry of Health Services. Provincial Health Officer’s Annual Report 2003. Every Breath You Take – Air Quality in British Columbia, a Public Health Perspective (Chapter 4).

5. Actions for Land Use. BC Climate Action Tool Kit. http://www.toolkit.bc.ca/solution/land-use-solutions (Accessed November 22, 2009)

Bibliography
Alexander, Don, and Ray Tomalty. "Sprawl : The BC sprawl report 2001." http://www.smartgrowth.bc. Sprawl : the BC sprawl report 2001. SmartGrowthBC, 2001. Web. 3 Dec. 2009

Breheney, Michael. The Compact City and Transport Energy Consumption. Blackwell Publishing on behalf of The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers). Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, New Series, Vol. 20, No. 1 (1995), pp. 81


Bulkeley, H., & Betsill, M. (2005). Rethinking Sustainable Cities: Multilevel Governance and the 'Urban' Politics of Climate Change . Environmental Politics, 14(1), p. 42

Calthorpe, P. “Introduction : A reverse definition.” In The Pedestrian Pocketbook: A New Suburban Design Strategy, ed. D. Kelbaugh. New York: Princeton Architectural Press. 1989

Hallsmith, Gwendolyn. The Key to Sustainable Cities. Gabriola Island: New Society Publishers, 2003. 73-74. Print

Whyte WH Jr. Urban Sprawl. Fortune January 1958. Reprinted in Whyte WH Jr.,Ed. The exploding Metropolis. New York; Doubleday, 1958, reprinted Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993, p 133

Roseland, Mark , Sean Connelly, David Hendrickson, Chris Lindberg et al. Towards Sustainable Communities: Resources For Citizens and their Governments. Revised ed. Gabriola Island: New Society Publishers, 2005. 18. Print.

Soule, David C, ed. Urban Sprawl : A comprehensive reference guide. Westport: Greenwood Press, 2006. p1. Print.

Stone, Brian, Adam C. Mednick, Tracey Holloway, and Scott N. Spak. "Is Compact Growth Good for Air Quality?" Journal of the American Planning Association 73.4 (2007): 414+. Print.

Urban Land Institute. "Stopping Sprawl will aid Planet." Engineering News Record 259.12 (2007): 13. Print.

Sustainability

Jun Paa
November 5, 2009

BC Coastal Fish Farming

The present method in BC coastal fish farming is the most harmful aquaculture production systems(1). The industry use open net-cages placed directly in the ocean, where farm waste, chemicals, diseases and parasites are released directly into the surrounding waters. Escaped Atlantic Salmon, the preferred variety, is a threat to the local population of wild pink, sockeye and Coho as the escaped fish can compete with food and habitat(2).

The vast majority of salmon farming operations depend on the use of vaccines, antibiotics and pesticides to control diseases and parasites in often high densities that becomes a major pollutant in the water. Diseases and parasites are transferred easily to the wild stock through the open net cages.

All these combined effects of diseases, parasites and chemical pollutions could easily be the main culprit for this years dismal salmon runs. Furthermore, the seabed underneath these farms where other aquatic natural resources such as crabs and shrimps are detrimentally affected by the pollution caused by excess feeds and feces that form a blanket of organic content, smothering the sea floor(3).

Raising carnivorous fish like salmon that require a high percentage of protein derived from wild fish in their feed also has a significant impact on the environment. More kilograms of wild fish are used to raise salmon than farmed salmon produced, depleting wild fish stock rather than supplementing them.

The BC government, in its pursuit for economic sustainability in the coastal communities is encouraging this type of fish farming(4). Operators prefer this method to the alternative (closed containment) because of the high cost of operation in the alternative methods. Until the BC government recognizes this threat to the local fish industry and the environment as a whole, the forecast for next year’s salmon run is grim.


References

1. Environmental Impacts http://www.farmedanddangerous.org/page/environmentalimpacts

2. McGinnity, P., C. Stone, J. B. Taggart, D. Cooke, D. Cotter, R. Hynes, C. McCamley, T. Cross, and A. Ferguson. "Genetic impact of escaped farmed Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) on native populations: use of DNA profiling to assess freshwater performance of wild, farmed, and hybrid progeny in a natural river environment." ICES J. Mar. Sci. 54 (December 1997): 998-1008

3. EVS Environmental Consultants. In 'Impacts of Freshwater and Marine Aquaculture on the Environment: Knowledge and Gaps (Preliminary Report). Prepared for Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans, June 2000, pp. 12
4. van Dongen, John. 2002. “Why BC Lifted the Moratorium on Fish Farms.” Press Release, Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Fisheries, Province of BC. (September 26

Defeating Cheating to Win

An analysis of Anne Mullen's
"Cheating to Win"
By: Jun Paa


Plagiarism and all sorts of cheating have invaded the campuses, even those that exude high standards and reputable institutions are not spared from this menace, so thinks Anne Mullens in her article, “Cheating to Win.” Here, she introduced her subject in the first paragraph by citing a story about plagiarism in the campus. She used truth and controversy effectively to capture the audience’s attention in opening her essay.

To support her thesis, she continued with the controversial story of the two students who submitted a gritty revelation on an essay about “persuasive opinion” where the subject was, the increase in cheating at large universities because “the institutions were too large, too impersonal, too lazy and too stupid to catch the perpetrators”. The story went on, where the students were caught with their plagiarized compositions.

This narrates support to the central idea that plagiarism and other forms of cheating is actually happening and the driving force that compels the students to commit the act. She further re-enforces this idea by citing internet websites and the concern that this poses “more opportunities for cheating, such as buying papers from the internet” and the fact that the present culture “is more competitive, with more pressure to do well and more to lose if they fail”.

By organizing a presentation of a series of events, Mullens dissected her subject into
parts wherein every paragraph is linked to the one ahead, thus creating a smooth
transition from paragraph to paragraph. Each paragraph states a subject similar to the one the paragraph followed, yet it takes the audience to a higher degree of truth as the train of thoughts goes on with a lot of researched material. This certainly is the confirmation – the body of proof for the points Mullens is trying to pitch. Her use of reputable persons and institutions (i. e., Patrick Finn, Ph D of University of Victoria, Frances Bauer of the University of Western Ontario, Donald McCabe, Ph D of Duke University) add more truth to what she is saying – an effective persuasive style.

To defend her thesis, Mullens created sub titles (Mount Allison survey and Compulsory tests) to expound the subject by using facts from surveys done by, again, reputable people. One sub title (Mount Allison survey), used statistics and numbers as facts to answer would be rebuttals that cheating is not happening even in such well-known institutions. She further goes on to explain why the faculty of such institutions are reluctant to penalize cheating by quoting Dr. McCabe: “They don’t want to become involved in the bureaucracy or in the threat of litigation from the parents. Sometimes they think the threat of penalty, such as failing grades or expulsion is too harsh, so they simply reprimand or warn the students or make them do the assignment again”. “It isn’t always the poor, lackadaisical students who perpetrate the crime. Sometimes it is the best students, accustomed to obtaining good marks and doing well who resort to cheating,” says Dr. McCabe. “When students feel they are under tremendous pressure, that is when they make bad decisions,” adds Lynn Smith, director of student advocacy at the University of Manitoba. These are statements to further bring into light why cheating is prevalent in campuses.

The subtitle, Compulsory tests, explains the idea that students who would not cheat in their area of specialty are compelled to cheat on courses that are required to complete the program they are in, but feel that these courses are not as important. Mullens goes on to give an example on the situation of Engineering and Business students who would pay to have their English essays written or cheat on English exams. These are accepted facts in campuses, which Mullens exploited to perfection, driving her thesis home.

In her conclusion, Mullens implies that the faculty has a responsibility to lead students away from cheating by employing ways and means as that of Dr. Grove-White (UVic) who require her students to submit their English essays in stages. That is, topic and thesis statement first, then bibliography, then outline, then first draft and finally second draft. “It teaches them that writing is a process, not a product,” says White. “We must be much more thoughtful about what we teach and how we tech it. It is probably making us become better teachers,” adds Dr. Grove-White.

In its entirety, Cheating to Win is an example of a well-researched, well-written essay, which followed Cicero’s sequential method of arrangement, a coherent rhetoric of a sane person!

Climate Change

By: Pastor C. Paa, Jr.


Tantrums of a Child

El Niño is a term first used by the Peruvian fishermen meaning ‘Christ Child’ to describe the warm current appearing off the western coast of Ecuador and Peru around Christmas time. The result is extra heavy rain, which the coastal inhabitant of those countries have always welcomed for the abundance of crops that it brings, hence the name El Niño (the Christ Child), for the gifts of plenty that it bestows so soon after the Nativity.

However, the event is no longer a blessing in other parts of the world, because today it is associated with severe flooding, severe drought, reversal of normal rainfall pattern and even mass death due to toxic marine harvest during ‘red tide’, a phenomenon caused by excessive toxic algal bloom associated with a rise in sea temperature.

Sir Gilbert Walker, a British meteorologist started the first investigation into this phenomenon while attempting to understand the droughts that caused famine in India in the 1800s. He coined the term ‘Southern Oscillation’ to describe the warm phase of a naturally occurring sea surface temperature oscillation in the tropical Pacific Ocean. The El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) has become one of the most studied phenomena on the planet because it is also one of the most feared.

Normally, a large area of high pressure sits over the eastern edge of the Pacific Ocean. From this high-pressure zone the southern trade winds blow towards a large area of low pressure that is settled over Indonesia, on the other side of the ocean. These strong winds drag the cool water that lies off South America westwards with them, which in turn is warmed up as it makes contact with the atmosphere and by the heat of the sun. This process raises the sea level in the western Pacific by about 40 cm thick of warm water that is brought back gently to the east to cool off by an action known as the countercurrent, and the cycle starts again. This process also brings about the monsoon rains. Further up, the drier air is carried by the fast moving upper level winds to the east, where it cools and comes down producing a high pressure zone off South America where the cycle began. This is called the ‘Walker circulation’ and is the normal cycle.

An El Niño event is different, however. A slight relaxation of the trade winds can start this event. The weaker winds causes the mass of warm water in the west to surge eastward, strengthening the countercurrent and forming a warm layer of warm water much closer to South America than usual. This warm layer of water warms the air above which lowers the pressure of the atmosphere thus weakening the winds even more. So more warm water pushes eastward reversing the flow of the countercurrent. The whole Pacific is effectively covered with an extra layer of warmth and the winds change direction, setting into a new long term pattern in the opposite direction.

The warm air eventually will carry with it moisture evaporating from the ocean resulting to more rain. For the farmers, this is a blessing but for some it is a disaster. Large areas are flooded while those that depend on the harvest from the seas, this event is a disaster.
The warm waters are depleted of nutrients needed by the fish thus fish goes somewhere else to feed.

The rise in the temperature of the environment also changes the normal patterns of the weather. Freak storms and hurricanes appear suddenly while large part of the world experience drought. In the Philippines, the effects of El Niño can be enumerated as:

Environmental effects

• degradation of soil which could lead to desert-like conditions if persistent
• effect on water quality like salt water intrusion
• high forest/grass/bush fire risk
• domestic water supply shortages
  

Social effects

• disruption of normal human activities
• migration to urban communities
• health problems
  

Economic effects

• unemployment
• food shortages
• significant reduction in the productivity and subsequent revenue of various industries
  

In other parts of the world like India, the monsoon rains is always an awaited event but during an El Nino event, this may never happen which will result into a drought that devastates the crops and induce famine.

Elsewhere, the calm weather is deafening!

Reading references

1) Philander, S.G.H., 1990: El Niño, La Niña and the Southern Oscillation. Academic Press, San Diego, CA, 289 pp

2) Lynch, John. 2002. The Weather. Firefly Books Ltd.. Toronto, Ontario. p100-104

3) . 2010 [cited 2010 Jan 27]. GMA News TV. [Internet]. Diliman, QC: GMA. Available from: http://www.gmanews.tv/story/52900/The-El-Ni&ntildeo-Phenomenon

4) . 2010 [cited 2010 Jan 27]. Ww2010. [Internet]. Urbana-Champaign: Department of Atmospheric Sciences-University of Illinois. Available from: http://ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu/(Gh)/guides/mtr/eln/home.rxml.







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My Environment - A reflection

By: Pastor C. Paa, Jr.

I come home to a townhouse complex surrounded by trees. In fact the complex is basically a park beside a park.

The front is a main thoroughfare, 104th Avenue, where all types of vehicles pass by while the back and sides are part of Hawthorne Park, where residents can enjoy nature whether biking, jogging or just taking a walk along the winding trails under the trees in the forested area of the park. One can also have a peaceful rendezvous with nature just sitting by the pond where ducks abound even on cold winter days. The pond is actually my favourite place to visit in times when I need to be alone to think or even just ponder about things.

For me the park is a perfect place to get away and breathe a cleaner air. I believe it is the absence of vehicular exhausts, and the vegetation that makes the air purer. Even the noise of city life is obscured by the sound of the winds gently blowing over the tree tops, although the silence is occasionally broken by a few quacks of hungry ducks frolicking in the pond.

My car is a V6 SUV of which I am not particularly proud of because of its fuel consumption that is not only hard on my pocket but is against my conviction towards anything that contributes harmful elements to the environment we as the higher kind of species are suppose to be stewards. But I do as what other humans do trying to convince myself that a few perks here and there is not going to hurt the earth. After all, I am but just one of the 7 billion inhabitants and so what I do or not do thus is insignificant.


When finally man is able to live with nature instead of trying to tame it, the hope of the future generation will be realized. For to live in harmony with that which sustain life is a noble endeavour. One that is generally considered desirable by the majority yet only a few adhere to.

Just this past week, we finally wrapped up our sustainability class. The culmination of which was a presentation of the many different teams about what we have learned in the course. Personally, being a student trying to learn this new concept of paradigm shifts, I am overwhelmed with what I have done and not done as a citizen of this planet. The trash I have created all throughout my more than 40 years of existence. The many chances that I could have cleaned up or help cleaned up my trash and of others. My apathy towards those who were actually trying to save this planet, from those who were destructive and just did not care.

I would wish and will strive to become a positive force towards change for a better understanding, a better usage of the resources that this planet offers me.

First day of School

Finally, school started with an orientation for us new students and of course the usual "getting to know each other round of speeches" serves to give a little info about who we will be with in the classrooms. Some seems to be intimidating with their degrees and what not about themselves and what they have done in their careers before they decided that a career in Environmental Engineering could bring them the satisfaction that they had been trying to achieve in their careers.

I for one talked about my degree in Agricultural Engineering and my need to launch myself into a career that I will be proud of for I am, and I admit honestly, is a proud person. Not that i would be bragging about my achievements because I still believed I could have done better given the chance.

First subject was Surveying and though I have transfer credits for this course I decided to sit-in if only to refresh my knowledge of how to measure areas which I was kind of amazed to learn about such unit measures as "chains and links" and something like rads. I think I am going to enjoy this class.

The second course was Chemistry. Its not that I hate counting protons and electrons, but I believe my instructor Kevin Hoy, Ph. D., could be a little lively with the discussions then maybe the class can interact a little more to make the discussions more interesting rather than the formal delivery of the subject.

Tomorrow we'll start the day with Air Quality Management followed by Environmental Law.

I hope I don't fall asleep.......