Though there is some scepticism that climate change is a result of human actions, it is unlikely to be a natural event. Some dismiss the phenomenon known as “global warming" as a hoax, and claim that yuppies driving SUVs could not possibly change the overall temperature of the earth. In a sense, this misguided notion is true- but climate change is much more than “yuppies driving SUVs.” It is industry freely burning fossil fuels to make a profit, and about the fact that every person on the earth requires energy, a clean source for which does not yet exist, or has not been implemented because of the tight grip governments and corporations hold on their stake in energy (fossil fuels), on which they know every person is dependant.
Nine of the eleven hottest years in the 20th century have occurred since 1985, which is not consistent with a natural trend [Haines et al., 1998]. Glacier shrinkage is occurring at a much faster rate than can be explained by natural trends [Oerlermans, 1994]. Even when the heat effects of volcanoes and other misleading weather phenomena that would make the temperature of the earth seem higher than it actually is are taken out of consideration, studies show that the surface temperature of the earth has been increasing at a rate of 0.17 degrees Celsius per decade [Haines et al., 1998]. These figures are not consistent with a natural trend, and, when one considers the tens of thousands of years in which humans have inhabited the earth, and that humans have really only started burning fossil fuels heavily since the industrial revolution, and the fact that the world’s population is only going to increase, this number is dauntingly enormous.
Increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere may alter the surface temperature through the “greenhouse” effect, which is capable of changing the ground terrain, from melting glaciers to expanding tropics and savannahs toward higher latitudes. These altered environmental states change the living conditions of microbial vectors (organisms and animals) that transmit diseases, and will lead to specific health problems, ranging from increases in infectious diseases to problems due to heat stress, among others.
With many countries edging toward greenhouse gas emission constraints, it clear that any restrictions that are put forth must balance the needs of the environment with the needs of industry. Unfortunately, any restrictions implemented will hurt many economies, the only question is which countries will it pose a threat to, and by how much.
The decrease in global demand for fossil fuels due to a “carbon tax” aimed at reducing emissions in a particular country, will result in a significant drop in their prices, resulting in economic gains for fossil-fuel importers, and losses for fossil-fuel exporters [Bernstein et al., 1999]. Depending on the carbon tax and the carbon intensity of the product, reduce international competitiveness.
In energy-intensive industries, such as chemicals, steel, or cement, mitigating countries will suffer, to a point where an importing country will import from a country who has chosen not to implement any such carbon tax. This only hinders the efforts made by those who have made emission restrictions, as the environment is none the better, and the country that had good intentions is now poorer. This scenario is known as “leakage,” where industries in emission-restricted countries suffer at the gain of non-complying countries, and thus gives few such exporting countries the incentive to improve the state of the earth. This makes it clear that
sub-global abatement of emission restrictions will nullify the efforts of those who are working towards greenhouse gas emission control.
Though many countries claim to be working towards emission control, their good efforts are quite questionable when one factors in such flexible instruments as emissions trading.
Simply put, emissions trading consists of a major polluting country buying “emission credits” from a country that does not meet their limit. The rules regarding this practice in the Kyoto Protocol are vague and few, and from this we see that the negative impacts of any emission-controls on a country are minimal, though it undermines the efforts of international emission control agreements.
One important aspect of the Kyoto Protocol effort is the unwillingness of the USA to make any emission control commitments. The stance set by the USA will render the Kyoto Protocol ineffective, as it has been observed that the US accounts for one-quarter of the world’s greenhouse emissions. Without emission constraint, the US economy is more or less unaffected by carbon abatement policies of the committed countries. The higher fossil-fuel demand of the US economy has important implications for the rest of the world.
Non-compliance by the US will result in the maintenance of coal and oil prices, which would otherwise drop. This will be beneficial to those countries that depend on fossil fuel exports, i.e. OPEC countries, and will have a negative effect on those countries who depend on energy imports, such as Europe and Japan, as well as developing regions, such as China and India, and will have an even greater effect on those countries who are both energy importers and signed Kyoto Protocol countries.
Before the November 1997 Kyoto Protocol, large sectors of the U.S. industry waged an intense and well-funded campaign against international regulation of greenhouse gas emissions. Recently, however, there has been a shift in mindset towards this issue by many large US corporations, but many environmentalists doubt their sincerity. The reasons for this are simply that first, by doing so, that corporation can gain huge rewards in public recognition, and thus gain ties with politicians and policymakers that allow them to conduct business in a manner that best suits them. Secondly, the simple fact that despite the intimidating nature of the Kyoto Protocol on an industry, the fact is, the targets and goals set forth in it are very lax, and more and more it seems to be just an effort by a few countries to quash concerns from scientists and environmental groups about the deteriorating state of the earth, with no significant hurt to big business around the world. Levy [2001] reports that greenhouse gas emissions need to be slashed by more than 50% to stabilize the earth’s climate; the Kyoto Protocol calls for a 5% decrease in world greenhouse gas emissions, and this meagre target is fast becoming unreachable.
Initiatives aimed at reducing the world’s greenhouse gas emissions by shrinking industries, implementing a “carbon tax” and other such attempts do not take into account the effects they will have on the people that depend on these industries for their livelihood. It can be shown that, to lower one’s income, even indirectly by the economic impacts a carbon tax would have, is to decrease one’s ability to access the basic requirements of life, including healthcare.
Though many large companies and corporations may experience declines in annual profits, it is certain that if environmental initiatives are made toward decelerating climate change in North America, many workers will lose their jobs, and many will work for less, as a result of shrinking industry production and the loss of revenue North American companies will face, as a result of goods being imported from non-abating countries. The economic losses to a particular country, therefore, must be balanced with the interests of the environment.
Global warming impacts human health through weather disasters, heat stress, land and water scarcity, nutritional health, non-infectious diseases and infectious diseases. One such effect is the acceleration of the global water cycle, resulting in more frequent and more severe weather disasters.
According to Epstein [1999] the 1998 summer floods in China were responsible for 3700 deaths, displaced 223 million people, and caused $30 billion in damages. In the Chicago heat wave of 1995, there were 514 deaths in the one hottest month; 485 of these were in the week of the most intense heat. Sixty percent of patients admitted for heat stress required mechanical ventilation for an average of five days. Whitman el al., 1997]. Weather disasters, primarily in un-developed countries leads to a loss of living space and food availability, and eventually leading to droplet-spread and water-borne disease epidemics. The weather disaster losses for the world during 1998 were $89 billion, which ellipsed the losses of $55 billion for the entire decade of the 1980s [Epstein, 1999].
Since 1976, the World Health Organization has reported that 30 diseases have appeared that are new to medicine [WHO, 1996]. There has also been a reappearance of old diseases previously though to have been controlled. These include malaria, dengue, cholera, rodent-borne viruses, and other diseases that rely on animals or water as vehicles.
Climate change would change our ecology with respect to biodiversity, nutrient cycle, physical relocation, internal defence systems, and transmission dynamics within microbes. Increased carbon dioxide levels stimulates microbes and carriers [Epstein, 1999].
Atmospheric ozone depletion may exacerbate the effect of global warming on infectious diseases. UV light has been shown to cause immunosupression in both animals and humans, according to studies [Patz et al., 1996]. Physical relocation of diseases is known to occur with weather changes and disasters. Mosquito-borne diseases are highly sensitive to climate changes in their geographic range, resulting in increased reproduction, biting rates, and a shortened pathogen incubation period. In the summer of 1999, New York City experienced and outbreak of West Nile Fever and Encephalitis that resulted in seven deaths and over sixty cases reported. Most of the survivors of West Nile Fever have neurological sequelae. One of the more important mosquito-borne diseases is malaria, currently on the rise, and a significant threat partly due to its drug resistance. Forty-five percent of the world represents a potential malaria transmission zone; global warming could increase this number to sixty percent [McMichael and Haines, 1997].
Algae and Vibrio Cholerae thrive with increased carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and warmer environments [Epstein et al., 1993]. When algae is present, Vibrio cholerae adhere to algae, and revert to an infectious state which is otherwise suppressed without algae. Because of extensive consumption of fish and contaminated drinking water, Vibrio cholerae spreads rapidly and results in the disease known as cholera. The largest reported cholera outbreak was in 1994 in Rwanda, killing over 40,000 people. Peru had associated economic losses with close to $800 million in seafood exports and $250 million in tourism losses, all secondary to the disease [Epstein, 1999].
Pulmonary disease is also prominent during warming. The pulmonary aspects of global warming appear as increased levels of aero-allergens. Altered concentrations of aero allergens, i.e. spores and moulds, as well as air-pollutants, such as ozone, are produced by the photochemical reactions that are sensitive to temperature [Emberlin, 1994]. The heat generated by global warming has been shown to increase levels of allergens, especially pollen [Ziska and Caulfield, 2000]. An increase of allergens is associated with rising levels of asthma, especially during the first three years of a child’s life [Wahn et al., 1997]. Pollutant gases are directly linked to worsening pulmonary health. Von Mutius [2000] reports that a study from Germany revealed increases in the prevalence of bronchitis and chronic cough, correlating with individual exposure to ozone, among other pollutant gases.
Both psychiatric and neurological cases have been associated with global warming and weather change. According to Krug et al. [1998], a study of weather disasters illustrated a 14% increase in suicide rates after natural disasters. Global warming tends to produce a series of disasters, with a compounding effect, and this effect on the human population has not been well studied. Dematte et al. [1998] also reports other psycho neurological findings, with include delirium, lethargy, disorientation, and seizures, as shown in the Chicago heat wave.
The medical effects of climate change that pertain to occupational hazards centre around workers both indoors and outdoors. Wu et al. [1996] demonstrated the connection between a hot working environment and human disease by the analysis of human antibodies produced in response to heat shock proteins. According to the National institute of Occupational safety and Health (NIOSH), heat stress is present in working environments in which there is excessive temperatures, humidity, sunlight, and workloads, In such an environment, heat rash, heat syncope, heat cramps, heat exhaustion, and heat stroke occurs due to these harsh working conditions. Unfortunately, the countries in which this problem is of any significance to, and poses any future threat to, are underdeveloped countries, or low-wage workers in developed countries.
The impacts of climate change will also be great on those countries more dependant on primary sector economic activities, as there exists a large uncertainty on productivity in the primary sectors. Global warming has been a major topic of environmental concern over the past several decades. The International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has recently predicted a 1 to 3.5 degree Celsius increase in average atmospheric temperature above 1990 levels by the year 2100. Although this temperature increase may seem small, even an increase or decrease of a few degrees in atmospheric temperature is capable of causing drastic alterations in the agricultural process, among many other everyday issues. Though many studies have been done on the probable effects of an increase in global mean temperature, much is still unknown or only guessed at, due to a general lack of deeper understanding of Earth’s very complex climate system. Theses impacts include reduction in water availability, in already water-stressed areas, changes in the incidences of extreme weather events, such as typhoons and droughts, and the impacts of the rising sea-level on low-lying areas [Watson et al., 1996]. The effects of factors such as climate variability, water availability, and quality of adaptive response by farmers to the changing climate cannot be determined conclusively. This results in a rather wide range of variability in predictions of global warming effects on Earth’s various regions. Even specific temperature and precipitation changes cannot be determined, as they will most likely vary greatly from region to region.
Modern agriculture has made an attempt to counteract these obstacles, through irrigation, the substitution of labour through energy-intensive practices, as well as plant-breeding for heat and water-stress tolerant crops. This adaptation requires initiatives by individual farmers or companies, and financing, which is often difficult to come by.
Agronomic research indicates that higher temperatures associated with global warming will be harmful to many crops. Where there is water stress or heat stress, or a combination of the two, many crops will be extremely vulnerable to even slight changes in temperature. Lal et al., [1998] notes that this will affect the rice yields of the largest grain producing areas of the Asian sub-continent.
Much of what is said about the effects of climate change on crops proves to be very misleading. For instance, research has shown that, while keeping precipitation and water availability constant, with a 1-2 degree Celsius increase in temperature, grain yields should actually increase. This situation is reversed if the increase is any greater than 2 degrees, however. The difficulty lies in the fact that water availability is predicted to decrease in many areas with climate change, and precipitation is predicted to be much less constant, which will have a negative effect on crops. Many conclude that climate change will be beneficial in some areas and will have a negative effect in others. This, alone, however does not prove to be a complete answer to the question ion of how will climate change affect the world’s crops.
Reilly et al. [1996] indicates that climate change will have a negative effect on crop productivity and yields on those countries situated in the tropics, while beneficial to those countries in higher latitudes, such as those in Europe. Thus the prediction of whether or not global warming will affect a country with respect to agriculture, and if so, by how much, is dependant on the geographical region in which the country is situated, the importance of agriculture to a country’s annual income, as well as the particular crops that constitute the bulk of its agricultural earnings.
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Thursday, April 2, 2009
Cancer
You know those days where you feel like nothing could ever go wrong? Well I had one of those days about 4 years ago. It was about this time my freshman year, my first semester of high school was almost over and I had almost escape with only a few downfalls. I knew it was to good to be true when I best friend came up to me and told me about her mom, she had been diagnosed with a brain tumor and was said to only have a couple months to live. After we got the assignment for this essay I wanted to do something that I felt passionately about so I chose cancer as my topic. I wanted to research something that affects everyday people and something that has affected me in a great deal as well. I figured I could learn a lot more about it and understand more about how it affects other people.
When I think about the writing process, I first look at how I perceive things then look at how others perceive it as well. In my life I consider myself to be pretty fortunate I haven’t lost a whole lot of people close to me compared to others who have lost many relatives and friends. It has been a little over a year since my best friend’s mother lost her life to cancer that she battled for many years after she was only given a couple months. Since that day my view has changed on many things, life being one of them. So how does cancer affect people? Well just keep reading and you will find out how it has effect me at least.
In the writing process the next step I take is figuring out what information I need and where I can get it. I have always found the Internet most useful when doing any research papers because I find it the easiest to use. Most of the time when I am searching for sources to use for papers, I use Yahoo as my search engine (http://www.yahoo.com/). Once I got to the yahoo web page I searched for web pages on “Cancer.” Of the 12,800,000 that came up I only looked at about 20 of the web pages and only used 4 of them for this paper. Yahoo normally comes up with many helpful web sites and many sources that help me to make conclusions about my topic but you always get the few that have no relevance what so ever. After finding sources and information I began writing my paper. I myself don’t really choose to do much brainstorming because I feel that is doesn’t help me in the long run, but I do go through many rough drafts before coming to a final decision on a paper.
The first source I found myself looking at was the “American Cancer Society” Web page (www.cancer.org). The web page contains many different areas of cancer. It includes an area for patients and their families and friends, which are the parts I found myself looking at the most. On this website I found out many statistics about cancer and the majority of people it affects. Cancer affects over one million people each year and about 77% of all people diagnosed with cancer are over the age of 55. Cancer always starts when there is an abnormal cell growth in the body. The reason to why cancer is caused hasn’t really been discovered yet but doctors have their reasons to think one-way or the other.
The next source I looked at was also on the Internet. It was the “National Cancer Institute” (http://www.nci.nih.gov/), which I found very useful but also very similar to the American Cancer Society Web page. On this web page the homepage is more user friendly then the ACS (American Cancer Society) was because all the topics were listed on the home page. Much of the information I found on this website was the same stuff I previously found but some of the information went into more details. The website provided me with a better insight to cancer as a whole and what types are cancers there are out there. The National Cancer Institute web page talks about ways to test and screen cancer and a lot of other information on cancer the disease itself. The web site also talks about cancer treatments and the side affects they tend to take on people and how to care for a patient when taking on the battle. This web site also provided me with many web sites that I could be connected with to get a number of statistical data for the disease and many other things.
The third source I looked at on the Internet was the “Cancer Care” website (http://www.cancercare.org/). I found this website very hard to read and not very useful for this paper. The title is what caught my attention for this web site to begin with. I thought that with a title like “Cancer Care” it would help with some information about my topic. I thought from the name that the web site was going to be a lot more useful but once I opened it up and started searching I realized that it was more for families to seek help for a loved one then for research and finding out more about the topic itself. This site wasn’t very useful in that it talks about cancer care services and how to come in contact with someone that can help you care for a loved one. This web site also included a section called managing your cancer which informed people with cancer all the side affects that would be caused and the pain that would occur.
My fourth Internet source I looked at was “National Alliance Breast Cancer Organization” (http://www.nabco.org/). This web page was useful in that it showed that there are other types of cancer. This web page shows statistics for breast cancer as opposed to cancer overall. This website would be very helpful in my research paper because it would help me to narrow down my search and put facts about different types of cancer in my paper. There are statistics such as about 200,000 people not just women but men as well are diagnosed with breast cancer each year in the United States. Breast cancer is the most common cancer found in women in the United States. The statistics show that 39,800 women are expected to die from breast cancer this year. After looking at this web site it made me think a lot about my own health and the health of my family members.
One of my other sources was from our book The Brief Bedford Reader. In our book there is a story called “The Cancer-Cluster Myth.” In this story the author Atul Gawande talks about misconceptions that are often made by people about cancer. In this story the people of a small community think that the cancer is all contagious or caused by something in the community itself. After looking at all my other sources while I researched the topic, I realize that Cancer isn’t a contagious disease but it is something that is commonly thought of that way. To this day doctors are still trying to figure out what causes cancer and how it can be cured.
After the extensive researching I went through I thought I had enough information to research my topic. After doing all the researching I am aware that this is a very vulnerable topic for all the people that are affected by cancer day in and day out. After all the research I have a better understanding of what to know and to do. While writing this essay I thought to myself, “How do people get through this?” It takes a very strong individual to make it through a rough patch such as cancer. I often thought back to last year about this time when I was comforting my best friend. I now realize that cancer is a battle that is hard to fight but that people do it day after day and people are continuing to win that battle with better odds now then before.
Many people are finding that cancer can be beat with a wide variety of treatments. In addition, it is very expensive to treat any kind of cancer but individuals that have family medical histories that include cancer can now include cancer insurance on their medical plans. While this type of insurance is costly it can mean the difference between exceptional treatment and a standard treatment. If I could share one message with anyone about cancer it would be that regular checkups with your doctor as well as routine examinations as you age can be the difference between life and death. Many women do not have mammograms when needed; as well as many men do not have prostate examinations when required. These routine exams can detect these types of cancer easily and quickly. After researching this topic I have found that not only will I continue to have my regulars exams, but also I will encourage anyone else to do the same.
You can order a high-quality custom essay, term paper, research paper, thesis, dissertation, speech, book report or book review from our professional custom writing service. We have employed more than 700 highly qualified Ph.D. and Master's academic writers to provide students with professional academic writing help. Feel free to contact our company right now!
When I think about the writing process, I first look at how I perceive things then look at how others perceive it as well. In my life I consider myself to be pretty fortunate I haven’t lost a whole lot of people close to me compared to others who have lost many relatives and friends. It has been a little over a year since my best friend’s mother lost her life to cancer that she battled for many years after she was only given a couple months. Since that day my view has changed on many things, life being one of them. So how does cancer affect people? Well just keep reading and you will find out how it has effect me at least.
In the writing process the next step I take is figuring out what information I need and where I can get it. I have always found the Internet most useful when doing any research papers because I find it the easiest to use. Most of the time when I am searching for sources to use for papers, I use Yahoo as my search engine (http://www.yahoo.com/). Once I got to the yahoo web page I searched for web pages on “Cancer.” Of the 12,800,000 that came up I only looked at about 20 of the web pages and only used 4 of them for this paper. Yahoo normally comes up with many helpful web sites and many sources that help me to make conclusions about my topic but you always get the few that have no relevance what so ever. After finding sources and information I began writing my paper. I myself don’t really choose to do much brainstorming because I feel that is doesn’t help me in the long run, but I do go through many rough drafts before coming to a final decision on a paper.
The first source I found myself looking at was the “American Cancer Society” Web page (www.cancer.org). The web page contains many different areas of cancer. It includes an area for patients and their families and friends, which are the parts I found myself looking at the most. On this website I found out many statistics about cancer and the majority of people it affects. Cancer affects over one million people each year and about 77% of all people diagnosed with cancer are over the age of 55. Cancer always starts when there is an abnormal cell growth in the body. The reason to why cancer is caused hasn’t really been discovered yet but doctors have their reasons to think one-way or the other.
The next source I looked at was also on the Internet. It was the “National Cancer Institute” (http://www.nci.nih.gov/), which I found very useful but also very similar to the American Cancer Society Web page. On this web page the homepage is more user friendly then the ACS (American Cancer Society) was because all the topics were listed on the home page. Much of the information I found on this website was the same stuff I previously found but some of the information went into more details. The website provided me with a better insight to cancer as a whole and what types are cancers there are out there. The National Cancer Institute web page talks about ways to test and screen cancer and a lot of other information on cancer the disease itself. The web site also talks about cancer treatments and the side affects they tend to take on people and how to care for a patient when taking on the battle. This web site also provided me with many web sites that I could be connected with to get a number of statistical data for the disease and many other things.
The third source I looked at on the Internet was the “Cancer Care” website (http://www.cancercare.org/). I found this website very hard to read and not very useful for this paper. The title is what caught my attention for this web site to begin with. I thought that with a title like “Cancer Care” it would help with some information about my topic. I thought from the name that the web site was going to be a lot more useful but once I opened it up and started searching I realized that it was more for families to seek help for a loved one then for research and finding out more about the topic itself. This site wasn’t very useful in that it talks about cancer care services and how to come in contact with someone that can help you care for a loved one. This web site also included a section called managing your cancer which informed people with cancer all the side affects that would be caused and the pain that would occur.
My fourth Internet source I looked at was “National Alliance Breast Cancer Organization” (http://www.nabco.org/). This web page was useful in that it showed that there are other types of cancer. This web page shows statistics for breast cancer as opposed to cancer overall. This website would be very helpful in my research paper because it would help me to narrow down my search and put facts about different types of cancer in my paper. There are statistics such as about 200,000 people not just women but men as well are diagnosed with breast cancer each year in the United States. Breast cancer is the most common cancer found in women in the United States. The statistics show that 39,800 women are expected to die from breast cancer this year. After looking at this web site it made me think a lot about my own health and the health of my family members.
One of my other sources was from our book The Brief Bedford Reader. In our book there is a story called “The Cancer-Cluster Myth.” In this story the author Atul Gawande talks about misconceptions that are often made by people about cancer. In this story the people of a small community think that the cancer is all contagious or caused by something in the community itself. After looking at all my other sources while I researched the topic, I realize that Cancer isn’t a contagious disease but it is something that is commonly thought of that way. To this day doctors are still trying to figure out what causes cancer and how it can be cured.
After the extensive researching I went through I thought I had enough information to research my topic. After doing all the researching I am aware that this is a very vulnerable topic for all the people that are affected by cancer day in and day out. After all the research I have a better understanding of what to know and to do. While writing this essay I thought to myself, “How do people get through this?” It takes a very strong individual to make it through a rough patch such as cancer. I often thought back to last year about this time when I was comforting my best friend. I now realize that cancer is a battle that is hard to fight but that people do it day after day and people are continuing to win that battle with better odds now then before.
Many people are finding that cancer can be beat with a wide variety of treatments. In addition, it is very expensive to treat any kind of cancer but individuals that have family medical histories that include cancer can now include cancer insurance on their medical plans. While this type of insurance is costly it can mean the difference between exceptional treatment and a standard treatment. If I could share one message with anyone about cancer it would be that regular checkups with your doctor as well as routine examinations as you age can be the difference between life and death. Many women do not have mammograms when needed; as well as many men do not have prostate examinations when required. These routine exams can detect these types of cancer easily and quickly. After researching this topic I have found that not only will I continue to have my regulars exams, but also I will encourage anyone else to do the same.
You can order a high-quality custom essay, term paper, research paper, thesis, dissertation, speech, book report or book review from our professional custom writing service. We have employed more than 700 highly qualified Ph.D. and Master's academic writers to provide students with professional academic writing help. Feel free to contact our company right now!
Plastic Surgery
Radical plastic surgery is by many looked upon as science fantasy. But it appears that we are going to have to adapt ourselves to a society were humans have their body changed surgically in such a radical extend that you do not know whether to amused or afraid.
In the excerpt from the article “I’m having my wings done “ we hear about the plastic surgeon Dr. Joe Rosen who does not seem to have any scruples about fx. trough plastic surgery to give a person wings. Personally I think it is way to weird and I am downright discussed by the descriptions of the surgery in the article where they talk about stretching torso fat and rejiging rib bones and about how the patient afterwards will have full sensation in their new hanging, boned flaps of flesh.
But at the same time though I find myself being partly convinced when I read about how the brain, according to apparently respected Dr. Joe Rosen, adapt to create neural maps for new body parts, so they thereby become a “natural” part of body. But just because something is scientifically possible and explainable should therefor it be acceptable? Dr. Rosen appears to think so. And sadly the article is probably right in its comment on that if the technology and the will to experiment exist it is almost impossible for even the most overwhelming ethical qualms to prevent these surgeries from taking place. This comment leaves for me a feeling of magteslшshed and жrgrelse , the same felling I could imagine many people would get from reading the excerpt from the article “Gene cheats aim to conquer the Olympics”.
This excerpt tells about how athletes with a single injection can manipulate with their DNA in favour of their athletic abilities. I already think that it is very wrong for athletes to take steroids and such as they already do, but to mess with your DNA, that it down right sick and in this context, as the article mentions, also the end of real competition and sportsmanship as we know it, because of the fact that this can not be detected through tests. So these people are not just affecting themselves they are also ruining it for, in this case, other athletes who believe in competition through human capability, in its original sense.
Another situation where you affect others by making a use of the technological advantages is commented in the tekststykke “A modern Baby”. Here a young mother to be talks about the problematikken omkring genetic counselling and amniocentesis during a pregnancy. Should you just let the child grow on its own, and give it the “right” to life no matter what could be wrong with it, or should you use your possibilities to create as perfect a child as possible? Is it right to make discisions and take actions which affects another life in such a huge way when the human being who is the object of the whole menagerie can not stand up for itself and say no.
In “I’m having my wing done” Jim Rose, the head of a “freak show”-circus explains that people do it for the attention, because they fell overlooked and maybe have felt this way for a very long time, and that the radical change of appearance that way makes them happy because of the attention which comes along with it. Most people who do not know of this problem often come to the conclusion that these people are sick, and should find another way of dealing with their low selfasteam, take a pottery-class or something. But should we not just let these people do with there body what they wish, and if we do not like to look at it or hear about it, we should look the other way and face the fact that just because a few people find this possibility the solution to all there problems does not mean that the whole world will be running around with wings and tales by the end of next week. And you could actually use the same justification in connection with the athletes. If they feel such a huge need to win that they are willing to destroy their own body then let them. Of curse it will not be the same to watch the sports any more, but the real reason why people tager aftstand is the same as with the above mentioned. They are afraid that the tendency will spread. But just because super athletes might choose to tinker with their DNA, it does not mean that our children in the future will have to get DNA injection to be on the local sucker- team.
The last excerpt “Something New” puts the whole thing in perspective. In this science fiction story from 2000 we read about a society where people have numerous surgeries where they change the appearens of their face and body as we change our clothes, and have sex via “Virtual Reality”-equipment. Kort sagt a very superficial world in eternal stribe for perfection, where no one if ever satisfied with their looks and real touch is a shamefull thing.
Now you could imagine that the generations before the people in the story felt that they would be happier if they changed their appearance, but were does it end. When do we stop being natural human and become artificial surgical(kiruriske) art-pieces.(KUNST STYKKER.) We can se the weirdness of the society in the story now, but then again if you had told people in the 17th century that it in the future it would be almost normal to have fat sucked out from under your skin, and having silicone implanted in your breast, el.hеrpеsжtning. I bet they would think that was pretty weird to.
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In the excerpt from the article “I’m having my wings done “ we hear about the plastic surgeon Dr. Joe Rosen who does not seem to have any scruples about fx. trough plastic surgery to give a person wings. Personally I think it is way to weird and I am downright discussed by the descriptions of the surgery in the article where they talk about stretching torso fat and rejiging rib bones and about how the patient afterwards will have full sensation in their new hanging, boned flaps of flesh.
But at the same time though I find myself being partly convinced when I read about how the brain, according to apparently respected Dr. Joe Rosen, adapt to create neural maps for new body parts, so they thereby become a “natural” part of body. But just because something is scientifically possible and explainable should therefor it be acceptable? Dr. Rosen appears to think so. And sadly the article is probably right in its comment on that if the technology and the will to experiment exist it is almost impossible for even the most overwhelming ethical qualms to prevent these surgeries from taking place. This comment leaves for me a feeling of magteslшshed and жrgrelse , the same felling I could imagine many people would get from reading the excerpt from the article “Gene cheats aim to conquer the Olympics”.
This excerpt tells about how athletes with a single injection can manipulate with their DNA in favour of their athletic abilities. I already think that it is very wrong for athletes to take steroids and such as they already do, but to mess with your DNA, that it down right sick and in this context, as the article mentions, also the end of real competition and sportsmanship as we know it, because of the fact that this can not be detected through tests. So these people are not just affecting themselves they are also ruining it for, in this case, other athletes who believe in competition through human capability, in its original sense.
Another situation where you affect others by making a use of the technological advantages is commented in the tekststykke “A modern Baby”. Here a young mother to be talks about the problematikken omkring genetic counselling and amniocentesis during a pregnancy. Should you just let the child grow on its own, and give it the “right” to life no matter what could be wrong with it, or should you use your possibilities to create as perfect a child as possible? Is it right to make discisions and take actions which affects another life in such a huge way when the human being who is the object of the whole menagerie can not stand up for itself and say no.
In “I’m having my wing done” Jim Rose, the head of a “freak show”-circus explains that people do it for the attention, because they fell overlooked and maybe have felt this way for a very long time, and that the radical change of appearance that way makes them happy because of the attention which comes along with it. Most people who do not know of this problem often come to the conclusion that these people are sick, and should find another way of dealing with their low selfasteam, take a pottery-class or something. But should we not just let these people do with there body what they wish, and if we do not like to look at it or hear about it, we should look the other way and face the fact that just because a few people find this possibility the solution to all there problems does not mean that the whole world will be running around with wings and tales by the end of next week. And you could actually use the same justification in connection with the athletes. If they feel such a huge need to win that they are willing to destroy their own body then let them. Of curse it will not be the same to watch the sports any more, but the real reason why people tager aftstand is the same as with the above mentioned. They are afraid that the tendency will spread. But just because super athletes might choose to tinker with their DNA, it does not mean that our children in the future will have to get DNA injection to be on the local sucker- team.
The last excerpt “Something New” puts the whole thing in perspective. In this science fiction story from 2000 we read about a society where people have numerous surgeries where they change the appearens of their face and body as we change our clothes, and have sex via “Virtual Reality”-equipment. Kort sagt a very superficial world in eternal stribe for perfection, where no one if ever satisfied with their looks and real touch is a shamefull thing.
Now you could imagine that the generations before the people in the story felt that they would be happier if they changed their appearance, but were does it end. When do we stop being natural human and become artificial surgical(kiruriske) art-pieces.(KUNST STYKKER.) We can se the weirdness of the society in the story now, but then again if you had told people in the 17th century that it in the future it would be almost normal to have fat sucked out from under your skin, and having silicone implanted in your breast, el.hеrpеsжtning. I bet they would think that was pretty weird to.
You can order a high-quality custom essay, term paper, research paper, thesis, dissertation, speech, book report or book review from our professional custom writing service. We have employed more than 700 highly qualified Ph.D. and Master's academic writers to provide students with professional academic writing help. Feel free to contact our company right now!
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