Atmospheric Conditions Compared to Indoor Air Pollution Essay Example for Free

Atmospheric Conditions Compared to Indoor Air Pollution Essay There are many different air pollution problems that exist today. Ozone depletion, climate change conditions, volcanic eruptions, acid rains, and motor vehicle exhaust to name a few. One particular problem that is wide spread is â€Å"acid rain†. Acid rain is an effect caused by natural as well as man-made pollution, with a mixture of wet and dry deposited materials in our atmosphere containing nitric and sulfuric acids higher than normal amounts. Increase of these chemical compounds is caused from exhaust from burning of fossil fuels such as automobiles, electric power generation as well as volcanic eruptions and activity and natural plant decay. www. epa. gov). Nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxides are emitted from power generation and other sources where acid rain is created when these gases react with other components of the atmosphere, water, oxygen, and other acid compounds resulting in creation of sulfuric acid and nitric acid. Prevailing winds cause these particulates to spread out over long distances over wide spread regions. These acid rains are of environmental and quality of living concerns. Water vapors from acid rain can enter into the homes through open windows, poor insulation around doors and windows, ventilation systems and vent pipes that can affect air quality of the home as well as outside environments. Some of the environmental effects of acid rain can cause paint to peel, steal corrosion of bridges and structures, erosion of stone buildings and statues affecting the quality of air and life in residential and commercial areas. (http://en. wikipedia. org). Ground water supply sources can become contaminated and affects everything the water is used for. Acid rain can have harmful effects on animals, aquatic life, plants and their ecosystems. The effects are greater lakes, streams, wetlands and aquatic environments. Acid rain causes waters to become acidic and absorb aluminum deposits from runoff from the soils around them. The combination of this and the results of the chemical reaction make the water toxic to shell fish, crayfish and other aquatic species. Even though some species tolerate acidic waters, interconnected ecosystems that impact certain species will eventually impact others along the food chain. The damaging effects of acid rain on plant life are quite dramatic. Damage to forests in higher elevations is more apparent than lower lying regions. The acid content is at a higher level and leaches the soil nutrients and releasing aluminum making it harder for trees and plant life to absorb water. In lower lying areas the effects of acid rain, environmental stressors, and poor soil quality on plant life and trees cause them to become weaker where they cannot tolerate temperatures too cold or too hot, resist infestation of insects and susceptible to disease, and inhibit the ability to reproduce. Some areas the soil is better equipped to neutralize the acids in a â€Å"buffering capacity† that varies from region to region. (www. environment. nationalgeographic). By curbing the use of fossil fuel burning will decrease the forming of acid rains and conservation efforts of individuals. Not only is acid rain damaging to the outside environment, but also on inside air quality of the home. Physical contact of acid rain from rain droplets or swimming in acidic recreational waterways has little effect on human health. However, the pollutants that cause acid rain are associated with increasing the risks of health problems including respiratory and other illnesses. These pollutants infiltrate into indoor living spaces and cause many respiratory illnesses, breathing disorders including asthma and can even cause death. By improving ventilation systems and air purification techniques of the home, using better insulation and installing energy efficient windows and doors will greatly improve air quality of the home and diminish the risk factors from outside air pollution. http://greenliving. nationlageographic. com). Laws, such as the Clean Air Act has improved greatly the air quality. The EPA, through monitoring, and imposing strict guidelines on release of toxins in fossil fuel burning industries. The EPA has reported that from 1980 and 2009, the national average of sulfur dioxide content in the air has decreased by 76 percent, and the amount of nitrogen dioxide decreased by 48 percent. Congress has also created the Acid Rain Program Title IV of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendment. Some of the EPA’s initiatives are the SO2 Reductions and Allowances Trading under the Acid Rain Program involves Phase 1, which imposed tightened annual emission limits of higher emitting plants by installing pollution control devices. Allowance trading systems contributes the low-cost rules of exchange minimizing government intrusions and allowance trading to prepare for a viable compliance tool in reduction of SO2. (www. epa. gov). Another asset implemented by the EPA and Congress in the Clean Air Act Amendment is the reduction of NOx beginning in 1995 through 2000 as a two phase program concerning coal-fired electric electricity utility boilers. Phase 1 covered Group 1 Boilers and Phase 2 covered Group 1 and 2 boilers. Group 1 boilers are tangentially dry bottom fired boilers which has a tendency to give off higher NOx concentrations than Group 2 wet bottom wall fired boilers. Although the NOx reduction program incorporates many of the same characteristics as the SO2 program, it does not include allowance trading or caps the NOx emissions. www. epa. gov). The EPA also requires participants of programs to install, monitor and report data so tracking of the progress can be compiled on quarterly, semi-annually, and yearly bases. Monitoring devices known as CEMS (Continuous Emissions Monitoring System) are required to be installed and maintained by the participants. In the event that data is not compiled or not reported during a reporting period, the applicants will be considered non-compliant and the units deemed out of control for that period and fines incurred to the applicants. (www. epa. gov). The EPA requires any new or upgraded boilers or generating plants to install pollution control devices to capture, or remove sulfur before burning the fuel, and stack collectors for NOx particulates. There are several types of pollution control devices in use, and, depending on the fuels burned, amount of fuel burned, boiler types, amount of electricity produced and type of â€Å"stacks† used for venting on which device will meet the appropriate application. With the aide of the EPA and other government and private pollution control departments involved our air quality has improved greatly in the past few decades. With contributions of these departments and each individual persons working together to improve air quality of our open spaces and within businesses and homes will bring us that much closer to improving our world air quality for the new generation growing now, and even better for future generations. Keeping due diligence in our efforts ensures the planets recovery not only in air pollution, not only, but also our environment as a whole improving quality of life for all organisms large and small.

Genetic Engineering and Genetically Modified Organisms :: GMOs Genetically Modified Foods

Genetically Modified Organisms Do you concern yourself with the nature of the food you consume? Ever think twice about genetically modified organisms contained in a daily meal? If you're like most people you'll be baffled to know most cheese, Big Macs, and even soup contain bioengineered enzymes which are grown from the seed. In these articles there are two public opinions in which one states the innocence of American judgement and the other describes the protests of Americans against GMOs. Most daily meals contain GMOs while people aren't aware of the modifications. Throughout this paper there are people's ideas and opinions represented on the topic. "Does the US Know What it is Eating" talks about how large amounts of Americans aren’t aware of the contents contained in everyday meals. Soup, for instance, is considered to have contained a certain type of bioengineered enzymes which could be harmful. This all happens to start around six years ago when farmers use to mischievously sneak bovine, a growth hormone, into the cows by injection. This would increase the amount of milk produced by the cows and in turn profits would increase. Likewise, people blamed the government on the lack of regulations on GM foods when in fact Bill Clinton's treasury man stated, "Clinton's administration has allowed hormone-stimulated and GM food to creep on the market"(Steven 1). This confirms the lack of seriousness of regulations among GM products. In relation to the innocence of Americans, this just states that because of the absence of communication between the consumer and the â€Å"label† of that specific product, p eople aren't educated. There is no connection to notify the consumer of the ingredients contained inside. Some of these enzymes could be potentially dangerous. Similarly, "Taking it to the Main Street" discusses how protesters in San Francisco, CA were picketing in front of a grocery store demeaning the store about contents in GM products. Shouting derogatory chants, this was a move to persuade a nationwide campaign to force pre-market safety testing; requiring testing would ensure the protection of all citizens from harmful GMOs. On the other hand, dating back to 1992, the FDA said, "biotech ingredients did not materially alter food and therefore didn't require labeling"(Roosevelt 1).

Freemium pricing of Dropbox Essay

1. Describe Dropbox’s â€Å"Freemium Pricing strategy† to get users and revenue. What was this strategy? What did the company hope to accomplish with this strategy? Dropbox is a company providing remote-storage over the internet, cloud storage service as well. The â€Å"Freemium Pricing Strategy† is a popular pricing strategy which company provide client a basic service without paying a dime and premium services were paid. Dropbox offers 2GB cloud storage space for free and 1TB for $9.99 per month. The basic service attracts millions of customer to use and like it. On the other hand, the major revenue is generated by paid customers which weights 60% of total revenue. Moreover, Drew Houston, the CEO and founder of Dropbox, introduced an incentivize mechanism to expand the market. Satisfied users are more willing to recommend Dropbox to their friends, family and co-worker, in turn, they can get free storage upgrade. In corporate business, Dropbox provide paid â€Å"Dropbox for Business† which featured unlimited storage and administrative control. Corporate contribute 40% of Dropbox revenue for the effectiveness Dropbox provided. The freemium pricing and incentive mechanism accelerate Dropbox customer acquisition. Although 98% customers are unpaid and generate zero revenue, the significant amount of user base is potential wealth of Dropbox. Dropbox was considered as one of the most successful companies to offer â€Å"Freemium Pricing† in cloud storage market. Freemium offers customers an opportunity to try out a new product or service risk-free and cost-free. Meanwhile, Dropbox achieved the objective, 200 million of user. 1. What were the positive results of this strategy? With â€Å"Freemium Pricing†, Dropbox has 17% market share, and the second market dominator, beside Apple iCloud, which pre-programmed inside consumer hardware such as iPhone, iPad and laptop. Even several internet giants began vying a piece of promising cloud storage market, Dropbox was still possessing the second big vendor in the market. In short-term, â€Å"Freemium Pricing† speed up Dropbox user grew from 4 million to 200 million in four years and generate $400 million revenue by 2012. As well, in long-term, Dropbox builds brand image and cultivates customer habit. With huge potentials, Dropbox is valued at over 4 billion dollars. 2. What were the negative results or failures of this strategy, if any? The competition of cloud storage market is very intense, which makes Dropbox profitability less sustainable. Consumers may turned into other giant vendor such as Google, Apple and Amazon. â€Å"Freemium Pricing† and incentivize mechanism bring some negative influence on Dropbox. Customer prefer to get more storage with recommend to friends and their friend will do the same thing to get free upgrade by doing the same thing. This will increase Dropbox operation cost by purchasing more servers and maintain them. For venture capital investor, great volatility of future revenue means high risk. The value of D ropbox may be overestimated. Low user conversion rate, loss of customers and make people always want use Dropbox for free will be hidden risk for Dropbox. 3. What was the strategy that Dropbox used for corporate/business customers? Describe this strategy and its results. Firstly, Dropbox was applying the â€Å"Freemium Pricing Strategy† to acquire basic users. According to Drew Houston, his goal was to get individuals to use and like it so much that they, in turn, got their employers to sign up as well. Dropbox was offering a product that people didn’t know that needed until they tried. Free trial gives everyone a chance to try and experience the convenience and efficiency Dropbox brings to them. Secondly, Houston built an incentive strategy to stimulate the referral process Users benefit from getting more free storage and Houston get more customers. The referral hierarchy and accelerate the promotion of Dropbox. The quick expand of user create more chance that users will bring Dropbox to their workplace. After that, Dropbox holding a large share of the consumer cloud storage market. Internet giants stepped into the market, Houston turned his sight on corporate users. Dropbox termed corporate version â€Å"Dropbox for Business† which including unlimited storage space and administrative control. File sharing and co-working are become more efficiently than before. Finally, Dropbox achieved another success in corporate users whom become the secondary revenue stream weighted 40% of total revenue. 4. What other strategies can you think of that Dropbox could have chosen, instead of  Freemium Pricing? According to news, Dropbox is turning its direction into Big Data analysis. Diversity in product is necessary for Dropbox to develop a new stream of revenue. â€Å"Freemium Pricing† costs too much time and budget on customer cultivating, in exchange, high uncertainty and risk are fatal disadvantage of Dropbox. Alternatively, Dropbox could use penetration pricing strategy. They offer the basic service with lowest price and gain enough consumers to gain the market share. The difference between penetration pricing and Freemium is the cost of customer maintaining is low but they may loss more users when the price raised.

My Papa’s Waltz - Battered Knuckles Essay - 686 Words

My Papa’s Waltz - Battered Knuckles Many people look back on memories with a pleasant slant. A backpacker may love to go to the mountains, but every time that person ventures out he encounters a blizzard. The weather is not always conducive to the backpacker and can cause great discomfort. However, when the hiker returns to his normal routine he usually forgets about the bad experience so that he can continue loving the mountains and happily plan his next adventure. Similarly, Theodore Roethkes, My Papas Waltz is a poem about a man who tries to make a horrible event into something much more pleasant to think about. The speaker seems to be remembering back to his childhood and finally uncovers dark memories about his father.†¦show more content†¦The speaker in this poem is obviously bothered by the smell of the liquor on his fathers breath and the actions the alcohol facilitates. Some people drink for the sport of getting drunk. However, in this poem, the father is not a pleasant drunk to be around. When the speaker states We romped until the pans / slid from the kitchen shelf, the reader gets the impression that the father is roughhousing with the son (5-6). It is not until the speaker says The hand that held my wrist (9) that one realizes that he is being physically held by his father. The child has no choice but to keep on waltzing. There is nobody that is going to stop what is going on in this house due to the fact that the mother is simply watching. The boy did not realize his father was doing anything wrong until he remembers back to his childhood and comes to understand what really happened. He discovers that his childhood wasnt actually like everyone else. That may be why the speaker is now looking back on these drunken nights and remembering how horrible they were. A strong case for physical abuse could be made by reasoning that this is not just one occurrence of drunken behavior because the speaker reveals how his fathers knuckles are battered. His knuckles would not have been battered if the hitting only happened after one night of drinking on one occasion.Show MoreRelatedMy Papas Waltz by Theodore Roethke Essay examples574 Words   |  3 PagesIn â€Å"My Papa’s Waltz† by Theodore Roethke, was a great poem that can mean many different things to many different people of this world. To me I think it was just a boy who just wanted to spend time with his dad before he has to go to bed. The boy probably does not get to spend time with his dad that much. The father probably works all day and all week and this is the only time the boy gets to spend with him. Roethke use of words in this poem is amazing. The use of the words in this story can meanRead MoreEssay on Love Found Within Battered Knuckles and Cracked Hands690 Words   |  3 Pagesrole in which he plays. Accordingly, the poems â€Å"My Papa’s Waltz† by Theodore Roethke and â€Å"Those Winter Sundays† by Robert Hayden both portray the relationship between a father and son and the manner in which they communicate and show love. However, while love is visible within both poems, the relationships within each poem cannot be more different and it is through the authors’ use of imagery that such relationship is revealed. In â€Å"My Papa’s Waltz,† Roethke uses imagery to portray the relationshipRead More My Papas Waltz Essay554 Words   |  3 Pages Revealing Child Abuse in â€Å"My Papa’s Waltz† nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;In Theodore Roethke’s â€Å"My Papa’s Waltz,† the persona reveals an incidence of child abuse that happened earlier in his life. He divulges the occurrence of abuse through the use of certain words and noting the actions that go on during the â€Å"waltz.† Through the use of graphic diction, Roethke informs the reader that â€Å"My Papa’s Waltz† depicts an episode of child abuse. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;The persona Roethke createsRead MoreAnalysis Of My Papas Waltz By Theodore Roethke873 Words   |  4 Pagesof the poem â€Å"My Papa’s Waltz† by Theodore Roethke has spurred passionate academic debate from professors, scholars, and students alike, the imagery, syntax, and diction of the poem clearly support the interpretation that Roethke writes â€Å"My Papa’s Waltz† to look back at the fond memories he has as a child with his father. Roethke’s poem was published in 1961, he was born in 1908 so at the time of this memory he was only about five or six years old. In discussions of â€Å"My Papa’s Waltz,† one controversialRead MoreRoethkes Smart Balance of Joy, Fear and Tension in His Poem My Papa’s Waltz705 Words   |  3 Pagesa close friend or family member who becomes abusive and aggressive because of drug or alcohol related problems. My Papa’s waltz is a poem that tells the story of a young b oy dealing with an abusive father and a broken home. Despite the initial light atmosphere of the poem Theodore Roethke uses strong and powerful language to convey an underlined meaning to their dance. My Papas Waltz is a poem of fear, all the more horrible because the boy is terrified and hurt by his father, even in play, yet heRead More Misinterpretations of a Waltz in My Papa’s Waltz Essay662 Words   |  3 PagesMisinterpretations of a Waltz in My Papa’s Waltz  Ã‚   We romped until the pans / Slid from the kitchen shelf (5-6). In numerous poems different readers vista a variety of ways to interpret what poems actually mean. This is very much true in Theodore Roethkes poem My Papas Waltz. The quote mentioned has caused many misconceptions about what the poem; My Papas Waltz actually refers to. The two superior interpretations of critics are that Roethkes poem describes abuse or a dance. TheRead MoreThe Power Of A Father s Hand1514 Words   |  7 PagesThe Power of a Father’s Hand Eventually we will all grow older and take something away from our childhood that our parents taught us. I can only hope they will be positive like those in Tips from My Father by Carol Ann Davis, rather than possible negative experiences like the ones in My Papa s Waltz by Theodore Roethke. Although some feel like they do not gain or lose anything from their parent’s impact on them and do not believe that they are the ones who shape their character or actions theRead MoreMy Papas Waltz And Those Winter Sundays Analysis880 Words   |  4 Pagessilence. The poems My Papas Waltz, by Theodore Roethke and Those Winter Sundays, by Robert Hayden use the topic of emotionally-based childhood experiences that create a theme to signify their love for their fathers, but are displayed in different ways. The fundamental message conveyed is the importance of a father-son relationship when growing up. Each poem is written with a unique perspective, but they are able to be interpreted with similar ideas. In â€Å"My Papa’s Waltz† Theodore Roethke describesRead MoreFamily Symbolism In Literature1134 Words   |  5 Pagesunit entitled Family, many of the works that are studied contain literary symbols that can be interpreted. Specifically, this essay will discuss symbols in My Papa’s Waltz by Theodore Roethke, Sonny’s Blues by James Baldwin, and Daddy by Sylvia Plath. The first work studied in the family unit that contains obvious use of symbolism is My Papa’s Waltz by Theodore Roethke. In a poem with a name of a popular dancing style literally in the title, one would expect to see some dancing. However, a better wordRead More Childhood Memories in My Papas Waltz by Theodore Roethke and Piano by D.H. Lawrence613 Words   |  3 PagesChildhood Memories in My Papas Waltz by Theodore Roethke and Piano by D.H. Lawrence My Papas Waltz by Theodore Roethke and Piano by D.H. Lawrence are two poems in which grown men recall memories of their childhood. My Papas Waltz has a quietly sad, almost resigned tone as Roethke relives his nightly dances with his father as a young boy. Lawrences Piano is somewhat dreamy as a man is taken back by a song to his childhood. While both are presented to us through similar personas