Reflection FINAL

Back in my polytechnic days, business reports rather than academic essay writings constitutes the bulk of my academic journey. Hence, the focus was not on the language and gradually, I took for granted the importance of it. Having known that I would be required to go through the process of essay writing again seemed so daunting in the beginning and it was a huge blow to my confidence as well.

At the start of the course, I was extremely careless during essay writing as I did not paid much attention to grammar, sentence structure, verbs and tense. Furthermore, my essays lacked the focus and organization. Through the intensive lessons and one-to-one consultation, the valuable feedback from my tutor has made me more aware of my common mistakes. Activities in class such as peer reviews, engaging games and interaction with peers help to enforce the learning process. As I went through the course, I became more conscientious in my work to spot my errors and strive for further improvement. Even though I witness the personal development of my writing skills, there is definitely room for improvement. For example, the depth and critical analysis of my essay writing could be further honed. Moreover, the blunders I made could be further minimized. To overcome these, it is essential to read and write more to improve myself. Through the continuous practices, I also aim to sharpen my critical thinking skills.

In conclusion, it has been a fruitful and enriching experience for me in ES1102. The knowledge and skills I acquired will definitely aid me in my essay writings at NUS. It is encouraging to see myself improving but I will not be complacent and instead, continuously strive to achieve my potential.  

Essay (Final Draft)

Critics often debate the controversial benefits and drawbacks of globalization with no conclusive outcome regarding which is more dominant. The impacts, whether negative or positive, are definitely far reaching and are manifested in many forms. While the magnitude of its influence varies amongst the different nations, it is undisputable that globalization indeed affects each country in one way or another. To narrow the broad implications of globalization, the essay seeks to focus on global warming as the key problematic area and its influence on society. In addition, two measures namely the development of green technology and the Montreal Protocol will be examined to evaluate their effectiveness in improving the current environmental situation. 

Globalization promotes the growth of open economies and international trade. Hence, the rapid growth of industrialisation in developing countries and heavy reliance on fossil fuels (Francesob, 2010) are the underlying contributors to global warming. Furthermore, greater interconnectivity among countries due to globalization fuel the surge of transportation networks, resulting in the rise of carbon emission. Hence, extreme weather changes have been observed and the detrimental effects of climate change has occurred on a wide spectrum. On one end, the natural ecosystem is destroyed and melting ice in the Artic has led to increased sea levels. NCSE (2012) observed that ‘the ocean has risen 10-20cm globally over the last hundred years.’ On the other end of the spectrum, humans are also directly affected by climate change. It causes natural disasters such as droughts, floods and hurricanes in different parts of the world today. As a result, homes are destroyed leading to the relocation of people and lives are lost. For example, a flood in Thailand in 2011 led to 730 deaths and 766 267 homes destroyed (Wikipedia, 2013). 

The devastating environmental consequences caused by globalization are increasingly seen and felt by the global community. It is a pressing issue that warrants attention and timely intervention to prevent the exacerbation of the situation. Multinational companies have been developing green technology in an effort to minimize human impacts on the environment. For example, hybrid cars utilize solar energy thus greater fuel economy is achieved and carbon emissions are significantly reduced. Apple also launched a ‘green’ MacBook which is built from ‘using materials that are highly recyclable and free of many of the harmful substances present in other computers.’ (Francesob, 2010)  While such developments are definitely commendable, the market for such products are relatively small. This could be caused by the lack of public awareness for such environmental products or the lack of understanding of the significant contributions on their part as consumers of such products. Hence, educating the public and promoting awareness in such areas may encourage a larger consumer base for these ‘green’ products.

Secondly, the Montreal Protocol was established in 1987 and enforced in 1989 (United Nations, n.d.). It is an international treaty which aims to protect the depleting ozone layer by the concerted efforts of nations to gradually ease the production of various substances believed to be the cause of its thinning. Since its enactment, the Montreal Protocol has proven its effectiveness in combating global warming. This is supported by concrete statistics for example, the countries participating in the Protocol had phased out 98% of all the chemicals controlled by the Protocol and scientists predict that there is a possibility of the ozone layer returning to pre-1980 levels by the middle of the century (United Nations, n.d.). However, the continued success of this protocol depend very much on the joint commitment and active participation of global governments.    

In conclusion, globalization contributes largely to global warming which has detrimental effects on the world today. While the implementation of the Montreal Protocol and the development of green technology are useful interventions to curb environmental degradation, success could not be sustained in the long run without the support and effort of the public. If more is not done to address and mitigate the pressing issue of climate change, countries could suffer far more severe consequences in the future. Hence, the responsibilities rest on every single member of the global community to unite and combat the common threat.   

References

2011 Southeast Asian floods . (n.d.). Retrieved from WIkipedia : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Southeast_Asian_floods

Climate Impacts on Society . (n.d.). Retrieved from United States Environmental Protection Agency : http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/impacts-adaptation/society.html

Francesob. (2010, July 13). The effects of globalization on the environment. Retrieved from Allvoices : http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/6301040-the-effects-of-globalization-on-the-environment

How Will Climate Change Affect the World and Society? (2012, January 16). Retrieved from National Center for Science Education : http://ncse.com/climate/climate-change-101/how-climate-change-affects-world-society

Mander, J. (2011). Economic Globalization and the Environment. Retrieved from Tikkun: https://www.tikkun.org/nextgen/economic-globalization-and-the-environment

Essay

Over the past years, critics often debate the controversial benefits and drawbacks of globalization with no conclusive outcome of which is more dominant. The impacts whether negative or positive, are definitely far reaching and manifest in many forms. While the magnitude of its influence varies amongst the different nations, it is undisputable that globalization indeed affects each country in one way or another. To narrow the broad implications of globalization, the essay seeks to focus on global warming as the key problematic area and its influence on the society. In addition, two measures namely the development of green technology and the Montreal Protocol will be examined to evaluate the effectiveness to improve the current environmental situation. 

Globalization spurs the emergence of open economies and international trade. Hence, the rapid growth of industrialisation in developing countries and heavy reliance on fossil fuels (Francesob, 2010) are the underlying contributors to global warming. Furthermore, greater interconnectivity among countries due to globalization fuel the surge of transportation networks, thus resulting in the rise of carbon emissions. The detrimental effects of climate change occurs on a wide spectrum. On one end, the natural ecosystem is destroyed and melting ice in the Artic lead to increased sea levels. NCSE (2012) observed that ‘the ocean has risen 10-20cm globally over the last hundred years.’ On the other end of the spectrum, humans are also directly affected by climate change. For example, changes in weather patterns cause natural disasters such as droughts, floods and hurricanes in different parts of the world today. As a result, homes are destroyed leading to the relocation of people and lives are lost. Other than costly social consequences, climate change also impacts the economic activities of nations such as tourism.

The devastating environmental consequences caused by globalization are increasingly seen and felt by the global community. It is a pressing issue that warrants attention and timely intervention to prevent the exacerbation of the situation. Firstly, multinational companies have been developing green technology in an effort to minimize human impacts on the environment. For example, hybrid cars utilize solar energy thus greater fuel economy is achieved and carbon emissions are significantly reduced. Apple also launched a ‘green’ MacBook which is built from ‘using materials that are highly recyclable and free of many of the harmful substances present in other computers.’ (Francesob, 2010)  While such developments are definitely commendable, the market for such products are relatively small. This could be caused by the lack of public awareness for such environmentally products or simply, they do not understand the significant contributions on their part as consumers of such products. Hence, educating the public and promoting awareness in such areas may encourage larger consumer base for these ‘green’ products.

Secondly, the Montreal Protocol was established in 1987 and enforced in 1989 (United Nations, n.d.). It is an international treaty which aim to protect the depleting ozone layer by the concerted efforts of nations to gradually ease the production of various substances believed to be the cause of thinning ozone layer. Since its enactment, the Montreal Protocol proves its effectiveness in combating global warming. This is supported by concrete statistics for example, the Party to the Protocol had phased out 98% of all the chemicals controlled by the Protocol and scientists predict that there is a possibility of the ozone layer to return to pre-1980 levels by the middle of the century (United Nations, n.d.). However, the continued success of this protocol depend very much on the joint commitment and active participation of global governments.    

In conclusion, globalization contributes largely to global warming which have detrimental effects on the world today. While the implementation of Montreal Protocol and the development of green technology are useful interventions to curb environmental degradation, success could not be sustained in the long run without the support and efforts of the public. If more are not done to address and mitigate the pressing issue of climate change, countries could suffer far more severe consequences in the future. Hence, the responsibilities rest on every single member of the global community to unite and combat the common threat.   

References

Climate Impacts on Society . (n.d.). Retrieved from United States Environmental Protection Agency : http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/impacts-adaptation/society.html

Francesob. (2010, July 13). The effects of globalization on the environment. Retrieved from Allvoices : http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/6301040-the-effects-of-globalization-on-the-environment

How Will Climate Change Affect the World and Society? (2012, January 16). Retrieved from National Center for Science Education : http://ncse.com/climate/climate-change-101/how-climate-change-affects-world-society

Mander, J. (2011). Economic Globalization and the Environment. Retrieved from Tikkun: https://www.tikkun.org/nextgen/economic-globalization-and-the-environment

Reader Response

In the article ‘The Double Edge of Globalization’ by Chanda (2007), he highlighted that globalization encourages the expansion of international trade which aggravates and accelerates environmental degradation and pollution. However, the emergence of greater interconnectivity as a result of globlization also promotes the ease of reaching out to a global audience through the advancement of technology.  

Despite the detrimental effects of globalization, I believe that the benefits of interconnectivity outweigh the negative impacts. Firstly, globalization promotes specialization and creates competition for local markets hence lowering the costs. Furthermore, the expansion of international trade between nations translate to economic growth for most countries in the age of globalization. Secondly, the interconnectivity resulted from globalization means that the public is becoming more conscious of the negative impacts of globalisation and nations are now actively looking into possible courses of actions to avert the environmental consequences. The Montreal Protocol (Chanda, 2007) proved that with effective interventions and joint efforts between the nations, the challenges of globalization can be successfully curbed.

Therefore, while globalization may bring about harmful environmental impacts, these can be averted by the efforts of both the government and the public. The prominent benefit derived from globalization, namely interconnectivity, enables nations to thrive economically and socially, which are the key factors of survival in the globalized world today. 

Summary assignment (e-learning week)

Globalization is often blamed as the cause of climate change and deforestation. The expansion of international trade brought about by globalization results in increased economic activities, which ultimately lead to worsening pollution. Even though globalization is not the sole factor to be blamed for environmental degradation, it is agreed that it further aggravates and accelerates the situation. Furthermore, the lack of commitment and unity in global and local governance make matters worse.  The Montreal Protocol proved that joint efforts between the nations and effective interventions are critical to successfully curb the challenges of globalisation.  

However, globalisation has its advantages as well. It brings about greater interconnectivity between nations and promotes the ease of reaching out to a global audience through online platforms, due to the advancement of technology. As a result, the public is becoming more conscious of the negative impacts of globalisation and nations are now actively looking into possible courses of actions to avert the environmental consequences. 

Scary Oil in-class summary practice

The rise in oil prices threaten the weak global economy. In 2011, a barrel Brent crude costs less than $100 but it cost $125 now. The fear of a potential military conflict between Israel and Iran is the key factor resulting in the spike of oil prices. Furthermore, it caused 3 global recessions including the one in 2008. US and Israel are considering using military force as the last resort to curb Iran's aggression and prevent the development of nuclear weapons. This could aggravate the tension in the Middle East.

Week 4: Paraphrasing & Summarizing 

A2. Butler (2004) mentioned that the nuclear reactors will be more efficient and reliable, with the ability to run largely on its own. They will also be cheaper and emit less radioactive waste.

B1. Quality of life indicators are often used by sociologists to study the disparities between the rich and poor in a nation.

D. Studies have shown that too much time spent on Facebook has an adverse impact on students' academic performance.