Alternative energy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Alternative energy - Essay Example The Guinness Atkinson Alternative Energy Fund’s co-manager Edward Guinness says that although wind energy’s use is growing almost at 30 per cent per year, yet the price of energy generated by the wind is competitive with the price of the fossil fuels (Eaves, 2007). Rapid growth in the production and use of solar power is also expected in the near future. Slightly more than 0.1 per cent of the total energy in the world is derived from the solar power through the photovoltaic vells. According to Edward Guinness, use of the solar power can grow to more than 10 per cent in the next two to three decades with the improvement of the manufacturing processes (Eaves, 2007). However, â€Å"[t]here are financial, political, and technical pressures as well as time constraints that will force tough choices† (Grunwald, 2009). Therefore, it would take some time for the use of the alternative sources of energy to outperform that of the fossil fuels. The future of energy is more about how than what. â€Å"I think the things that would really blow us away if we could jump forward 20 years would not be the giant fields of windmills, but the 1,000 changes in daily life that have taken place in order to save energy† (Steffen cited in Eaves, 2007). In the future, the sources of power are expected to get closer to the home. The changes would extend beyond the use of low-energy light bulbs. People would rely more on local energy particularly where the places have abundance of wind, sunshine, and rivers. With the production of energy at the domestic level, there would be flow of energy back and forth within the small infrastructure in the form of power grids that would supply energy two-way i.e. both to and from the homes. The alternative sources of energy have not been utilized to full extent on the Earth to date fundamentally because their supply and use has been expensive and the supply has not met the demands. Although the use of fossil fuels

The Four Natural Physical Spheres Essay Example for Free

The Four Natural Physical Spheres Essay Lithosphere (litho is Greek of stone) The solid, inorganic portion of Earth, comprising the rock of Earths crust as well as the broken and unconsolidated particles of mineral matter that overlie the solid bedrock. The surface is shaped into an almost infinite variety of landforms, both on the seafloors and on the surfaces of the continents and islands. Atmosphere (atmo is Greek of air) The gaseous envelope of air that surrounds Earth. It contains the complex mixture of gases needed to sustain life. Most of this adheres closely to Earths surface, being densest at sea level and rapidly thinning with increased altitude. It is a very dynamic sphere, kept in almost constant motion by solar energy and Earths rotation. Hydrosphere (hydro is Greek for water) Comprises water in all its forms. The oceans contain the vast majority of the water found on Earth and are the moisture source for most precipitation. Biosphere (bio is Greek for life) Encompasses all the parts of Earth where living organisms can exist; in its broadest and loosest sense, the term also includes the vast variety of earthly life forms (properly referred to as biota).

Impact of Agricultural Changes in Goa

Impact of Agricultural Changes in Goa INTRODUCTION Etymologically the term Agriculture is derived as follows – ‘Agri’ means field or soil and ‘culture’ means the care of or tilling. It includes all such human efforts as are conducive to the quick and better growth of vegetables and animal products for the benefit of man. In the last fifty years of liberation, the state has undergone and witnessed in the agriculture sector. At the time of liberation, nearly two third of the population was involved in agriculture as their primary occupation. Paddy was the predominant crop of the state followed by cashew and coconut. The situation now changing and today we have cashew nut which is cultivated in nearly 55,000 Ha with paddy 31,000 Ha. The cultivation of horticulture crops nowadays are gaining importance due to the good returns, lower risk and tolerance of these crop for part time farming are greatly influence. The state of Goa is providing assistance to agriculture at all levels to provide substantial returns to rural people.The Agriculture Department gives assistance for farmer from land preparation of the extent of marketing of the produce. The Department of Agriculture with is head quarter at Tonca, Panaji implements developmental programme through zonal agriculture offices located in each talukas level and training center at district level. Laboratories are set up at district level to test the soil where soil health cards are issued for major and micro Goa being a progressive state, the farmers face tremendous shortage of labor who could work on the fields . The dependence of machine for activities in agriculture is emerging trend. Goan farmers having small land holding and nearly 80% of farmers own less than 1 ha of land. The government preferred smaller machine to farmers and provides financial assistance for such machines. In the state of Goa agriculture is one of the most important economic activity. . Lies between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghats, to feed its own people Goa faces problems . The coastal areas are exposed to salinity and not suitable for agriculture , while the inland areas are not productive enough. So for its day-to-day needs of agricultural produce like vegetables, Goa is dependent on Karnataka and Maharashtra for its day to day needs of agricultural produce like vegetables. However, approximately one-third of the total land in Goa falls under forest areas and yields substantial profits. The government, however, has done much to improve and develop agriculture in Goa to make it more productive, thus enabling the farmers to get a better return for their labor. Rice and fish being the staple diet of the people, paddy becomes the prominent crop in the scenario of agriculture in Goa. The important crops, besides paddy, are maize, ragi, bajra, jowar and pulses. Cash crops like mango aerecanut jackfruit, banana pineapple, cashew nut coconut, are also grown in abundance. Cashew is one of the most important crop in Goa. One kind of intoxicating drink called Feni is produced from cashew. Sugarcane cultivation has been recent phenomena and a sugar factory has also been set up in Goa. There are different variety of mangoes are grown in Goa. Some of the famous Mango varieties are mancurade, mussarade, fernandine, xavier, alfonsa, colaco. Kapo (hard) and Rasal (soft) are two varieties of jackfruit are grown here. The vegetables that are commonly part of the agriculture in Goa are ladys fingers, radish, brinjol, pumpkins, cucumber, drumsticks, breadfruit and different varieties of gourds. Sweet potatoes, chillies, onions are also available in Goa. Paddy being the principal crop of Goa, it is grown in two seasons, namely Kharif or sorod and the rabi or vaingan. The crops which are grown in monsoon are called the kharif crops and the winter crops are called rabi crops. The main sources of irrigation for winter crops are the nallahs, rivers and streams, tanks, wells and canals. Crops which are grown in the Kharif season consist of paddy, ragi (locally called nachani) and some pulses. Crops grown in the rabi season are comprised of paddy, pulses like horse-gram (kulith), black gram (udid), a variety of beans and some vegetables. However even though one fourth of the population is sustained by agriculture in Goa, it contributes to only 15 to 16 percent to the income of the state. Due to rapid urbanization the availability of agricultural land is reducing. In Goa, shifting cultivation is locally known as Kumeri and it is this form of agriculture that is largely responsible for producing Goas output of nachne, other millets and pulses. However, agriculturally trained farmers, scientists or foresters condemn kumeri cultivation as ecologically damaging and sustained effort have been made by the forest and Agriculture department to discontinue such cultivation. There are basically 5 stages in Kumeri cultivation. Felling an area of forests, fixing the dead vegetation, planting or sowing seeds without the plough, weeding; and eventually harvesting. Though virgin forests give higher yields, kumeri cultivation prefers a secondary forest for cultivation. This is because clearing primary forest is quite an dangerous task, requiring more manpower and demanding a larger drying period for the felled vegetation. In Goa, Kumeri cultivation became a problem for 2 reasons. First, during Portuguese regime, large chunk of hilly areas have been declared a s forests and later by the Goa government thus reducing drastically the Kumeri cycles of the tribals. Secondly forest Department cleared felled forest with in the non-protected areas and converted these to monoculture species of eucalyptus and teak, thereby affecting forest availability to Kumeri cultivation. The elimination of Kumeri cultivation has led to a drastic decline in the availability of millets like nachne which have remained the traditional diet of the economically unprivileged population in Goa. Goa being a small state in area, agricultural land is sometimes used for nonagricultural purposes. Large areas are used to build bus-stands, highways, buildings etc. Being situated in the coastal belt, the real estate industry in Goa has grown much higher during the last few years and the land prices are soaring high, thereby luring the farmers to keep their land fallow and then sell it off for a huge market price. It is also found that the increase in residential area has led t o increased dumping activities which may include mud and rubble. These activities lead to rain water clogging instead of it rushing into the sea. This factor too keeps the farmers from cultivating their lands and they prefer to keep it fallow as improving the drainage can be a very costly affair. Farming in Goa is mainly dependent on the arrival of monsoons. The quality and quantity of cropd by timely required rains . At times the farmers are helpless with the late arrival of monsoons which in turn leads to delayed sowing and thus low yield. At times there is a dry spell which also affects the growth of crops. All this calls for better irrigation facilities. The fact that tourism industry in Goa has flourished, has had its implications on agriculture too. The tourism industry gives more lucrative offers to the present day youth, thus providing them with regular employment. And this aspect leads to the next problem faced by farmers i.e. availability of labour and high labour cost. Wi th the younger generation not wanting to soil their hands in the land and looking out for white collar jobs and green pastures overseas, shortage of labour has led farmers to hire labour from other states. This in turn has increased the cost of farming. The neighbouring states of Goa like Maharashtra and Karnataka have abundant of 4 agricultural activity and thus the agricultural products are low priced. Thus importing these products works out much cheaper than cultivating them. LITERATURE REVIEW According Olekar Ramesh (2008) agriculture has been one of the important part of our economy. There are more than 60% of our people depend upon agriculture for their livelihood. It is a way of life, a tradition; agriculture will continue to be central to all the strategies for socio-economic development of the country. Rapid growth of agriculture will not only ensure continued food security but also aid in growth in industry and the GDP. To maintain growth in agriculture credit plays an important role. The amount of agriculture credit given by the bank to the farmers has increased from over the year. This has been an impressive development in banking credit sector, considering the fact that there are several problems like accessing credit for agriculturist and problem providing loan by the bank. Chand Ramesh et. al (2010) talks about agriculturalproduction and farm income in India involve several risks. One and only mechanism available to safeguard against production risks is crop insurance. For eg.the scheme called as NationalAgriculturalInsuranceScheme(NAIS) operating in the country and has suggested several modifications to make crop insurance more effective. But the coverage of this scheme in terms of crop area, number of farmers and value ofagriculturaloutput is very small.To make agriculture risk management more effective the present level of coverage have to be improved. Such an improvement has financial implication and will have an impact on current insurance practices.Therefore it requires renewed effort on the part of the government in terms of designing appropriate mechanism and providing support in terms of finance.,to agricultural insurance. Kumar and Sameer(2009) focuses on the implementation Kishan Credit Card (KCC)Schemein India.The Government of India consulted with the Reserve Bank of India, and National Bank forAgriculturaland Rural Development to establish KCC. Providing credit support to the farmers through banking system timely and adequately manner is the objective of thescheme. Advantages of thescheme include a full year credit requirement, simplified documentation, and availability of credit for 3 years. Sharma and E. Kumar (2008) reports regarding agriculture related concerns of different Bt cotton farmers those who are not eligible for any benefit under Indias Finance Minister P. Chidambarams Rs. 60,000-crore farm loan waiverscheme. The farmer name Gurram Adi Reddy, hold a view that the real issues behind there non elegibility for any benefit under waver scheme is lack of adequate water power, the timely availability of inputs and fair, remunerative and consistent prices for the produce. Rajkumar P K et. al (2009) talks about of onion and maize growers who have been under Market Intervention Scheme(MIS) in the state of Karnataka by selecting two districts of the state. Dharwad and Gadag. Due to several problems such as procedural complexities the scheme has been delayed payments and the requirement of meeting Fair Average Quality (FAQ) stipulations for the crops. It has also been found that if the procourement centres as farther it is more likely that farmer to go in the open market sale. The study suggest that simplification of procedure making timely payment and increasing the number of procurement centres to cover larger number of farmer under Market Intervenion Scheme This study talk about an important innovation in providing healthcare for the rural poor: the Yeshasvini Health InsuranceSchemefor rural farmers and peasants in Karnataka. This is one of the worlds largest health insuranceschemefor the rural poor, theschemestarted in 2003. So it is designed in a suc h a manner that overcome several obstacles to providing health security for rural populations. In the the second year, the scheme covered about 2.2 million widely dispersed peasant farmers for surgical and out patient care for a low annual premium of approximately US$ 2. According Jana and Sebak Kumar(2011) in India more than 50% are dependent on agriculture for their livelihood. Still Indian economy are agrarian economy.60% of the rainfed areas without any source of irrigation.And majority of these areas are covered by marginal farmers and rural poor. Due to lack of irrigation facilities small and marginal farmers are are at risk. There is need for sustainable and innovative forms of irrigation. For eg innovative experiment is happa experiment which is viewed as Integrated Natural Resource Management( INRM) emphasizing both water and soil management. According K. N. Rao(2002) inIndia nearly 2/3rd of the population depends onagriculturefor their livelihood andagricultureis highly depend upon nature, crop insurance has to play the role of a vital institution. Crop insurance alone cannot increase productivity or by providing finance both should increase same time .During the VIIth Five-year plan period, the Comprehensive Crop Insurance Scheme was introduce. Though the scheme has shortcomings, farmers received nearly 6 times the premium as claims, but only 5% of the total farming community were covered under this scheme. The National Agricultural InsuranceScheme(NAIS), which replaced CCIS w.e.f. 1999 is an improved version. Just like in other parts of the world the crop insurance programs in India is supported and financed by governments. According Jennifer(2009) In1985 crop insurance scheme is started offering by the government of India with the Comprehensive Crop InsuranceScheme.In the recent years NationalAgricultureInsuranceScheme replaced by comprehensive Crop Insurance Scheme. Though it is considered NAIS as an improvement over CCIS it is also flawed scheme just as the CCIS.It is found that Government crop insurance scheme have failed worldwide but India seems to have this reality. S.K. Mishra(2007) claims that rice, wheat, maize, millets and pulses are the major food crops of India where as major cash crops include Oilseeds, sugarcane, cotton, jute mesta, and potatoes. Minor cash crops include Tobacco, chillies, ginger, onion, turmeric, tapioca, sweat potatoes, etc. Plantationcrops includetea, coffee and rubber. 3/4th of the gross area under cultivation is cereals and pulses. This clearly shows that there is increaseinthe percentage area under thecashcropsis discernible. Less than 1% area is under Plantation crops. Among the foodcrops, wheat has highest growth rate followed by maize, rice and pulses. Millets having negative growth rate area. J K Sachdeva(2005) talks about cash crop like tea, coffee, spices, oilseeds, cotton and cashew . They are traditional export items, and India exports 50% cash crops of its total agricultural produce. These items are ready for consumption after some value addition. In industries these items are used as raw material in food. The commodities can be ranked highinhierarchy of demands after food items like wheat and rice. The consumer economic status plays a significant roleintheir demand. The paper analyses the exports of tea, coffee, spices, cotton, oilseeds and cashew byIndia, the growth in the exports after the coming of economic reforms, calculates the changes in export and discusses the relationship between exports, imports and production. According to Richa Kumar(2014) that farmers have limited information and many middlemen create problem in getting higher price for their produce . She gives the example of soybean farmersinMalwa, centralIndia, which is acashcropthat connects farmers to global consumers, this article argues that the very expectation of disintermediationinthe soybean supply chain is misleading.Indias positioninthese global networks puts farmers and intermediariesinMalwainthe position of price receivers: they are unable to influence the global price of soybean or manipulate its local priceinany way.Inthis context, providing price information has negligible impact on the final price obtained by farmers. To bring about potential changes there is a need to find out the waysinwhich power is exercised by various actorsinthe marketplace According Gulati, et . al (2002)Riceis the major food crop of almost 70% of the worlds poor who are stayinginAsia, where more than 90% of worldriceproduction and consumption takes place.Ricetrade liberalization therefore has tremendous implications for poverty. The worldricemarket of the world has been imbalanced partly due to intervention. Poor countries such as Thailand, Vietnam, andIndia not protecting à ¢Ãƒâ€šÃ¢â€š ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ rice sectors, the rich countries of East Asia (Japan and Korea), Europe, and the United States heavily support theirriceproducers. This leads to great diversityindomesticriceprice levels, with very high pricesinthe latter countries and very low pricesinthe former. Trade liberalization would thus resultsinflows from these poorer Asian countries to East Asia and Europe. This will be positive effect on poverty, where price of producer will increase. It will also bring about second-round effects (wages, employment, and investment)inexporting countries. Parshuram Samal Rabinarayan Patra(2012) focuses on production lossesinricedue to natural calamities like drought, flood and cycloneinOdisha during period of(1965-66 to 2008-09) by using secondary data. It also tells the coping strategies adopted byfarmerson the basis of primary data collected from 100 affected samplefarmers. The result show heavy losses in riceproduction in calamity years. To earn additional income and smoothen consumption spending in the calamity years coping strategies used by farmers were Migration and shifting to wage workinthe construction sector. Given the impossibility of preventing the occurrence of natural calamities, it is possible to argue that a greater allocation of funds forriceresearch for developingricevarieties is useful to tackle various calamity situations and generation Sathishka k and P. A.Rego(2013) studied about Agriculture in Dakshina Kannada. This paper studies the major trends of agriculture sector in Dakshina Kannada District and also examines the crop diversification in Dakshina Kannada District. Dakshina Kannada is primary an agriculture district of karnataka state. More or less 60% of population of district depends on agriculture for their livelihood. Dakshina Kannada has replaced food grains with non food grains crops like rubber, areca nuts, cashew nuts. The writer concludes by saying that urban migration of agricultural labor and urbanization led to the diversification. According D. N. Patil (2010) It is now understood that the changes in the institutional credit is important factor to bring about development in the farm sector. This is particularly true in areas which could not participate in the process of development. There is an urgent need to increase the institutional credit in the agriculral credit. Therefore to reduce the regional imbalance, new bank branches should be open in rural areas. Narwade S. S. et.al (2009) studied about agricultural performance in the state of Orrisa during the pre and post reform period . in the pre reform period there was decline in both area and yield growth rates. The analysis reveals that in Orissa an yield per hectare of food grain crops have received severe setback during post reform period over the pre reform period. Output of the food grain crops and instability has also significantly increased during post reform. S. A. Sujatha (2010) studied the problems faced by farmers in the existing farming system. That all the categories of farmers facing scarcity of family labor due to involvements in non farm activities and fragmentation of land. Large number of farmers are dependent on rainfall, they are also faced with problems like lack of transportation and marketing facilities.

Death Of A Salesman :: essays research papers

Death of a Salesman - Willy Charley says something in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman that sums up Willy’s whole life. He asks him, "When the hell are you going to grow up?" Willy’s spends his entire life in an illusion. He sees himself as a great man that is popular and successful. Willy exhibits many childlike qualities. Many of these qualities have an impact on Willy’s family. His two sons Biff and Happy pick up this behavior from their father. He is idealistic, stubborn, and he has a false sense of his importance in the world. Willy is like an impetuous youngster with high ideals and high hopes. Children always have high hopes for their future. They all want to be astronauts or millionaires. Willy always believes he can achieve that kind of success. He never lets go of his wasted life. He dreams of being the man who does all of his business out of his house and dying a rich and successful man. Furthermore, Willy also dreams of moving to Alaska where he could work with his hands and be a real man. Biff and Happy follow in their father’s footsteps in their lofty dreams and unrealistic goals. Biff wastes his life being a thief and a loner; furthermore, Biff, along with happy try to conjure up a crazy idea of putting on a sporting goods exhibition. The problem with Willy is that he never grows up and deals with his obstacles. Willy is also a very stubborn man. He is like a little child that wants to do something their way even though they know that another option would be the wiser choice. Charley practically sets a potential job into Willy’s lap and he refuses it. Willy just was fired and needed a job. He refuses one. Willy is too stubborn to let go of his old job and take a new one. He still believes that he is at the top of his profession. When Willy does not get his way he acts just as a child would. He has tantrums such as when he basically challenged Charley to a fight after he told him to grow up. Biff is also stubborn like his father. He never gives up being a child. He steals and lies. Biff cannot handle being ignored, so he steals a pen. Willy’s childlike stubbornness hampers him throughout his life.

Improve end-of-life care Essay

Advocacy to improve end-of-life care and decision-making for patients over the past twenty-five years has frequently turned to the law as a source of protection and procedural innovation. There has been a deliberate strategy to use the legal system to improve the outcome for patients at the end of life by means of courts of law and congressional hearings. Such efforts have resulted in the formation of legislation and regulation but have produced varying measures of gain as well as some serious limitations. As a result of these efforts a wide array of patients’ rights respecting end-of- life care have been established. These include the right to self-determination and to refuse unwanted life-prolonging interventions. Additionally there are regulations which have established decision-making processes and protocols should patients lose the ability to make decisions for themselves. The right to die is understood as the freedom to make a decision to end one’s life, on one’s own terms, as a result of the desire to allay painful effects of an incurable illness (Angus, 2004). The act of ending one’s life can take various forms, depending on the role the patient, their family and the physician plays in this process (Rosen, 1998). Euthanasia refers to the family member or physician intentionally ending the patient’s life by direct request from the patient. Euthanasia can be active or passive, voluntary or involuntary. In active euthanasia either a physician, a family member or another prescribed person, at the directive of the patient or an authorized representative, administers or withholds some form of procedure that leads to the eventual or immediate death of the patient. Passive euthanasia involves these agents withholding a procedure necessary for the patient’s continued survival. Active euthanasia involves administering either drugs or another treatment that will directly lead to death. Voluntary euthanasia is where the patient makes a direct request for either an active or passive procedure and involuntary euthanasia is when this decision is made by someone besides the patient because the patient is probably incapable of making such a decision. Assisted suicide refers to helping the patient end his or her life. There are numerous advocates and agencies throughout the United States, Canada, Europe and other countries, that either promote or oppose the right to die concept. One group advocates the establishment of clear limitations on the ability of healthcare providers or the state to impose undesired life-prolonging interventions against the wishes of the patient or the patient’s authorized surrogate decision-maker. The strength of this effort lies primarily in the articulation by these advocates of procedures for decision-making that respect patients’ autonomy and anticipate the range of circumstances in which patients would lack decision-making capacity and thus would require tough decisions about end-of-life care to be made for them (Johnson, 1998). In contrast to such articulation of ‘negative rights’, more recent advocates for dying patients have focused on using legal mechanisms such as courts of law and legislative processes to try to establish and articulate rights and responsibilities governing the role of the physician in a patient’s suicide. Instead of asking for patients to be free of unwanted interventions, these efforts have lobbied for legal support for positive assistance at the end-of-life. This assistance involves purposefully bringing an end to life through the use of medical interventions. To date, these efforts have met with mixed success. While physician-assisted suicide has been legalized in the Netherlands, achieving the same results in the United States has been challenging. Thus far only the state of Oregon has managed to make any headway in this regard. They managed to pass the ‘Death with Dignity Act’ which came into effect in 1997 (Public Agenda, 2006). This act gives patients a limited amount of legal right to physician-assisted suicide. Furthermore, the Supreme Court has determined that at this time, there is no constitutional violation if a state’s criminal laws prohibit assisted suicide. At a minimum, however, these efforts have succeeded in arousing public interest and inquiry into the suffering endured by patients and their families when serious or terminal illness becomes unbearably burdensome. This outcome may be more valuable than any articulation of a theoretical legal right. Another category of advocates targets the issue at the level of the health centers that provide care for these patients. They argue that the presence of so many discussions on the provision of suicide assistance is a reflection of the U. S. ’ failure to make proper palliative care readily accessible to those who are suffering. They believe that little has been done to ensure that all dying patients and their families receive competent, compassionate care at the end of life, regardless of the care setting or disease process. Such care does not simply involve being left alone or freedom from the use of machines. Efforts and successes in the legal arena have had more to do with decision protocols and processes, documents and directives, than with the substantive clinical aspects of quality care at the end of life. It is not sufficient to simple have a document that articulates a patient’s wish to refuse life-prolonging interventions. What this group advocates is ensuring that doctors effectively communicate with the patient and compassionately provide each with quality palliative care appropriate to their condition (Waters, 1999). There is a limit to the extent to which the law is turned to as a strategy for improving end-of-life care. While considerable time and effort has been spent over the past few decades ensuring, through the law, that certain things should not be done to patients at the end of life, there has been little focus on what should be done for such patients. In this regard the law has limited utility. The earliest and most enduring efforts involving the law in end-of-life care have focused on defining the limits of government intervention and interference, articulating individual freedoms, and creating processes and protocols to address areas of contention. There are precedents from judicial cases, including the cases of Karen Ann Quinlan in 1976 and Nancy Cruzan in 1990, that clearly establish the right of individual patients to refuse all undesired life-prolonging interventions as well as the clear establishment that the interests of third parties or governments cannot supersede individual rights to limit care at the end of life. Also there are legal guidelines and procedures that enable the treatment wishes of patients to be preserved and respected, even when the patients are no longer capable of articulating them. Finally there has been the creation of legal obligations and responsibilities on the part of care providers and care systems to inform patients of their options in this difficult decision-making process. In many ways, the law has been effectively employed to ensure patients’ liberty and privacy against the encroachments of modern medical technology as they approach the end of their lives. However, it is difficult to determine how successful the law has been in impacting positively the quality of care and decision-making provided to patients at the clinical level (Angus, 2004). Through legal principles and legislation, courts at both the state and federal levels have extensively considered the issue of end-of-life care and decision-making. They have consistently emphasized the right of patients to refuse any and all life-prolonging medical interventions, including ventilators, dialysis, surgery, and artificial nutrition and hydration. This protection is extended where patients are able to personally articulate their wishes or do so through authorized surrogate decision-making mechanisms. With respect to the cases that have thus far been examined through the courts, they have extended the fundamental legal right of patients to generally refuse treatment, providing clarity and creating decision paths in situations of uncertainty. The cases have not, however, completely eliminated debate and apprehension in the clinical arena, where moral ambivalence, medical uncertainty, religious convictions, emotional distress, and outright misunderstanding of the law still obscure the decision-making process in individual circumstances. The issue of ending a patient’s life is complex, no two cases being the same. There are significant implications for the patient involved, their family, physician and the facility providing care at this crucial time in their lives. For many clinicians, patients and their families, decisions about whether to withdraw a feeding tube or turn off a ventilator are still difficult. Such dilemmas cannot be addressed by the law, which can provide a process for decision-making but cannot necessarily guide the involved parties to the ‘right’ decision in a particular circumstance. The difficulty of end-of-life decisions are further compounded by evolving standards of care, continuing debate over what constitutes ‘futile’ care and confusion among clinicians, particularly about ‘what is legal’ (Angus, 2004). Evidently there are limits to what the law can clarify and make concrete when the issues are so complex and confounding. Another challenge has been the limited use of the many advance care-planning mechanisms that have been developed through both judicial and legislative processes. Additionally there has been limited advocacy by healthcare professionals for the use of these mechanisms. Mechanisms such as living wills and healthcare proxies or powers of attorney are intended to empower patients and their surrogates. Through the use of these, patients and their caregivers can consider the complex and problematic area of end-of-life care in a thoughtful and deliberate way, long before the chaos that often accompanies an acute, life-threatening event or the onset of serious illness ensue. While none of these mechanisms is perfect, if used properly and as prescribed in the law, such documents and advance planning could help avoid some of the crises that frequently accompany end-of-life care and decision-making (McDonald, 1999). A growing body of studies documents the myriad of problems and challenges that have surfaced in trying to implement advance care planning in the clinical setting. Some studies reveal physicians’ erroneous beliefs about advance directives and their lack of knowledge about how to employ them in clinical care routines. Other studies highlight the inadequacy of understanding between patients and their care providers about treatment preferences at the end of life, even when patients have previously executed an advance directive. Still other studies reflect that there is uncertainty in the clinical arena concerning who is responsible for initiating and helping to formulate advance care-planning decisions. Of course the variety of issues examined by studies are not exhausted as there still needs to be studies on strategies to increase the number of patients who execute advance directives prior to incapacity given that only a small percentage do so now. Also it remains unclear whether more directives will ultimately lead to better care that is more responsive to patient and family needs.

Abuse in Nursing Homes Essays

Abuse in Nursing Homes Essays Abuse in Nursing Homes Essay Abuse in Nursing Homes Essay Imagine being told every day when or when you can’t eat, there’s a set time for bed and you’re not allowed to leave your home without a family member. What if you were confined to 4 walls and a set of windows and when you needed something you had to wait and ask someone to get or do it for you? What if you were forced to do things you didn’t want to do? What if you were beaten, sexually, and verbally abused for simply saying no or not doing what someone says? How would you feel? What would you do? For thousands of Elderly people in nursing homes, this is their daily routine. Today I will be talking about the 3 most common types of abuse in nursing homes; abuse, mistreatment and neglect. I will show examples of these types of abuse and also ways to prevent and how to report it. The dictionary defines abuse as to treat in a harmful, injurious, or offensive way. There are also 2 different types of abuse; mental and physical abuse. Abuse includes, but it not limited to striking, hitting, kicking, punching, throwing an object, spitting, burning, pulling on a part of a resident’s body, or any form of retaliation for a resident’s behavior. Here are some examples: The next type of abuse is mistreatment. Mistreatment is more appointed towards the nurses in the elderly care facilities. The types of mistreatment elders in nursing homes would come into contact with would be exceeding a resident’s prescribed dosage of medication, using restraints as a form of retaliation rather than being put into place for a safety device, or keeping a resident confined to a closet, locked room or other enclosed area against their will. Although these are looked down upon and are illegal there are some ways that these can be used without being illegal such as; a court authorizes the medication, isolation techniques or restraints must be used or when the treatment is necessary to prevent the resident from engaging in behaviors that may be harmful to them or others. The last and final type of abuse is neglect. Neglect is the failure to provide treatment or services necessary to maintain the health or safety of a resident. Types of neglect are; failure to provide medical, dental, nursing, physical therapy, pharmacy, psychological, speech or other treatments or services, failing to carry out care plans or specific treatments or failing to provide safety measures. One of the most common types of neglect is not answering call bells or bathroom lights, an example of this is; A nursing assistant assists a female resident to a bathroom and tells her to call when she is ready to return to her room. The resident rings the call bell for five minutes and no one comes to answer it. Frustrated, the resident tries to get into her wheelchair by herself, and falls and fractures her hip. Here are some pictures of neglect. Although there are a lot of ways elders can be harmed it is preventable. Reporting abuse, mistreatment, and neglect is one of the easiest things you can do to stop abuse. Everyone can report abuse even your co-workers if you work in a facility. If you report any type of abuse it is anonymous you will not be in any sort of trouble for reporting abuse and you probably will save lives. If you find yourself in a situation where you may harm a resident, walk away. You can also call for help, get some fresh air or organize support groups. you are not alone. In conclusion elderly abuse in nursing homes is a big problem in elder services. I have shown you the 3 most common types of abuse and examples of them. Also I have shown you ways of reporting and dealing with a situation if you think you may harm anyone. Just think, would you want any of your family members looking like this? (Show picture) Then help educate, prevent and report abuse, mistreatment and neglect before this (show picture) happens.

Water Shotage Around the World Essay Example

Water Shotage Around the World Essay Example Water Shotage Around the World Essay Water Shotage Around the World Essay Humans consume water, discard it, poison it and waste it without considering the consequences. Supplying enough water in the right quantity, at the right time and in the right place has always been a concern. All of life depends on water. It is as important to life as air, food and sunlight. For this reason water has always played an important role in civilizations throughout history. People can live for days without food but will not survive for very long without water. The problem with water is that there is the same amount now as there was in pre-historic times and no way to make anymore of it.As the citizens of Chennai have been witnessing over the past few years, the city is still in the grip of an acute water shortage. Two of the rain-fed lakes that meet the citys needs- Poondi and Red hills- have severely depleted storage owing to the failure of the southwest monsoon and the northeast monsoon last year and a third, sholavaram, is dry. Tanker trucks pressed into service by the Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (CMWSSB) and those run by private operators are trying to meet the peoples daily needs, at least partially.The people of chennai get 35 liters of water per capita in the best of times. The poor, the majority of them living in slums, are the worst- affected. They depend entirely on the water supply systems. Groundwater is the citys major water source now; It is drawn mainly from the well-fields in the Araniyar- Kortakaiyar basin and the aquifer between tiruvanmiyur and Muttukadu along the coast of south Chennai. Groundwater extraction is reaching its limits. According to the Central Groundwater Board, 80% of Chennais groundwater has been depleted and any further exploration could lead to salt water ingression.The assured yield from groundwater sources is estimated at 190 million liters per day (mld); of this, 158 mld has been tapped already. During the past century, the World population has tripled, and water use has increased six- fold. These changes have come at great environmental cost: half the wetlands have disappeared during the twentieth century; some rivers dont reach the sea and twenty percent of the freshwater fish are endangered. These environmental consequences also entail social and economic costs.While agriculture uses more and more water every year, to meet the food demands of a growing population, other users are competing for the same water: more people means more energy required and more hydropower. Especially in the western world, industrialization has had serious and often negative effects n water quality; currently global markets move the most polluting industries to the developing countries, usually near cities where population growth and illegal settlements already put a lot of pressure on water resources.In 2020, 60% of the Worlds population will be urban, a concentration that makes urban water infrastructure development an extremely urgent issue. These are but one of the factors influe ncing the worlds water resources, complicated by the fact that they are interlinked, and cant be approached separately. The projections are grim: around the world over the next twenty years, the average supply of water per person is expected to drop by a third and it already is in short supply.The United States projects that by the middle of the next century, at least two billion people in sixty countries- depending on factors such as population growth and climate change – will be seriously short of water. In the meantime, the water quality will worsen due to pollution and rising temperatures. Growing populations, wastage of water, inefficient irrigation and pollution exert pressure on this resource. Pollution and wastage are the primary threats to this resource, both of which we as human beings are responsible for.Water shortage and degradation is a growing concern for many countries including the United States. Drinking water protection is a big responsibility that involves government, business and individuals. Everyone has an important role in trying to protect the supply of water. Water is a vital necessity that all people need in order to survive. Without water, people could only go a few days to a few months before having serious health problems or even death. One of the major concerns regarding water is if there will be enough water for the demand within the next 25 to 50 years.With the help of agencies, scientists and experts, we as people may see that there will be a shortage of water in the years to come. Today in the world the leading cause of the water shortage is the rising demand for water for the industries and agriculture (George, 1). On the earth today there is no more freshwater than there was 2,000 years ago. Then the population was 3% of what it is today (Knight, 1). In 31 countries around the world that contains near a half a billion people face water shortage with the most severe being in the Middle East and Africa.By the year 2025 it is estimated that another 17 countries will be added to that list. Some researchers believe that also be the year 2025, 35% or 2. 8 billion people will face shortage. There are different reasons and causes of what continues to cause a shortage of water. Some of the water is being contaminated with pollutants. Agriculture is the biggest polluter in which the pollutants come from the fertilizers and pesticides used on the crops. The industries and municipal pollutions are also a factor. In some countries 90 to 9