Learning English

The biggest problem most people face in learning a new language is their own fear. They worry that they won’t say things correctly or that they will look stupid so they don’t talk at all. Don’t do this. The fastest way to learn anything is to do it again and again until you get it right. Like anything, learning English requires practice. Don’t let a little fear stop you from getting what you want.

We can learn English by several ways. First, watch English films and television. This is not only a fun way to learn but it is also very effective. By watching English films (especially those with English subtitles) you can expand your vocabulary and hear the flow of speech from the actors. If you listen to the news you can also hear different accents.

Second way is listening to English music. Music can be a very effective method of learning English. In fact, it is often used as a way of improving comprehension. The best way to learn though is to get the words to the songs you are listening to and try to read them as the artist sings.

Finally, Learning to speak and write English well may be the best thing you can do to improve your life. By learning English you can get access to knowledge. Now a day most of the media such as the Internet, television, and the press give you almost unlimited access to knowledge about your favorite subjects are in English. Also by learning English you can communicate with people because it seems all the people in the world have agreed to use English to talk to each other.

Lebanon

Lebanon is a country in Asia and it’s in the heart of the Middle East and the nickname for the capital of Lebanon Beirut is Paris of the East. Lebanon was mention 76 times in the bible and called it the land of milk and honey. Lebanon is the country which has the most books written about it. Some of famous people came from Lebanon. For example there is Shakira who is half Lebanese also the actor Keanu Reeves was born in Lebanon.

Lebanon is located in the middle of the five countries. It’s in the north of Jordan and Israel and its in the west of Syria and in the north of Turkey and Cyprus. Lebanon is located in a very important place. Also we can notice the number between Muslims and Christians are equal. There are two things that happened of Muslims and Christians in the past in Lebanon. The first circumstance happened in 1943 after the French left. Christians held the balance of power and Muslims had little say in the running of their country. The second happened in 1948 when Palestinian Muslims refugees fuelled resentment amongst Lebanese Christians. Those two events made the increase of tensions between Muslims and Christians. Also the tension between them increased more in 1975 because a Christian’s group attacked and killed a bus full of the Palestinians .The result was that the violence began to spiral out of control. In 1982 the Israeli army invaded the city with the aim of removing the Palestinian Liberation Organisation but in 1989 the peace deal reached. The result of this conflict was 150000 to 200000 people died and 300000 were wounded. Also Beirut’s economy was paralysed.

These days Beirut has improved in economically after the conflict decreases and some social signs also became better. The signs are money is pouring in from business in the Gulf States, European Arabs and tourists love to spend time in Beirut and the Syrian soldiers left Lebanon. That air pollution and living expensive is some current problems in Lebanon.

Bibliography:

Eye on Lebanon. Royal Geographical Society. 4 June 2009 http://www.globaleye.org.uk/secondary_spring06/eyeon/index.html

Mangroves in the UAE

Mangroves are a group of trees that grow mainly in tropical and subtropical areas. They usually grow in shallow sea water. In this research I will discuss about how to prevent mangrove’s ecological decline. I will also discuss ways to preserve this natural wealth and what benefits it has on the soil erosion and desertification processes. Then, I will explain about how it preserves the marine life and finally how we can use it in our daily life.

First, Mangroves prevent soil erosion. Mangrove roots contribute to the stabilization of the soil and prevent coastal erosion, which are due to the waves and ocean currents. Also, they contribute to the formation and composition of the surface and silt solving in agriculture, which serve to contain organic compounds. (Mangrove,2009)

The second ecological problem is the loss of marine life. The mangroves are a natural appropriate place for some fish and play an important role in biodiversity. Also, it contributes significantly to the preservation of wildlife such as birds and reptiles. Mangroves’ leaves are a good source to feed livestock and animals, especially in some dry areas in the UAE. (Arabian Sea Forests)

Finally, we can benefit when we use the mangroves in the daily life. Some people use the mangroves in the construction of fishing vessels as structure and pillars. Also, they use the mangroves for wood-based industry such as the production of charcoal. Some materials derived from mangroves are used medically in the treatment of certain diseases. All these uses reduce the need to import materials such as wood from other countries. (Saenger,2009)

After looking the benefits of the mangroves for our environment and in our life we have to preserve the present mangrove areas and productivity. To maintain them we have to start from ourselves. Public education can be achieved through involvement of local communities in mangrove studies, construction of boardwalks and observation platforms which allow the public to appreciate these communities, informal education programs through field training, publications for laypersons, or through focused programs such as special stamp issues.

In the longer term, threats posed by global warming and any associated sea-level rise on the mangroves in the Gulf will also need to be addressed. Several reviews of the likely effects of climate change and sea-level rise on mangroves have been undertaken with somewhat different conclusions. Nevertheless, developing planning initiatives now for the predicted sea-level scenarios over the next century is both and cost-effective.

In conclusion, mangrove forests in UAE are believed to have contributed greatly to preserving coastal areas and coasts of islands and impoundment against erosion caused by the wave and wind action. As such they serve a crucial element in counteracting desertification processes. I hope we continue to grow mangroves in the UAE.

Bibliography:

ARABIAN SEA FORESTS. 23 May 2009
http://www.arabianwildlife.com/current/mangrove.html.

Mangrove Action Project. 27 Oct. 2008. 23 May 2009 http://www.mangroveactionproject.org/news/current_headlines/interview-alfredo-quarto-executive-director-of-the-mangrove-action-project/.

Mangroves. 7 May 2009. Wikimedia Foundation. 23 May 2009
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mangrove.

Saenger, Peter. "Mangrove." 2009. AccessScience. HCT, ADMC. 25 May 2009
http://0-www.accessscience.com.library.hct.ac.ae/content.aspx?id=403500.

Cool Cities

The most clearly things that contribute to global warming from modern cities are the transportations and building. The cool cities are one of the solutions to solve this issue, but I’m not agreeing to this suggestion. In this essay I’m going to prove my points that why Masdar is not practical to live in future.

Firstly, the increasing numbers of the population is an issue. Nowadays, the world population is more than 6 billion (World POPClock Projection). It is estimated that will increase to be around 10 billion in the next 30 years. On the other hand, Masdar city can be occupied by 50 thousand people (Cheung). By simple calculation, we need 200,000 cities which is impracticable to build.

Secondly, the huge amount of money required to build a city likes Masdar. Not most of the countries can build cool cities; especially the poor countries. It is better to put this money to help the poor and refugees from wars and the construction of housing and their children to shelter them from the cold and homelessness.

The difficulty in changing the routine of life is the third reason. It is difficult to get people riding bikes instead of cars. Moreover, it is a challenge to not use air conditioners; especially when knowing that our climate in the months of summer is too hot and humid.

In conclusion, cool cities can be one of the solutions to reduce the CO2 levels, but for some countries it is difficult to build and implement such ideas. Also, it is hard for most of the people, especially for the people living in hot countries’, to live in it and change their lifestyle.

Bibliography:

Cheung, Philip. "Masdar’s green dream is not for all." Home Page - The National Newspaper. 25 Apr. 2008. 05 May 2009 http://www.thenational.ae/article/20080424/BUSINESS/919451504

World POPClock Projection. U.S. Census Bureau. 15 Dec. 2008 http://www.census.gov/ipc/www/popclockworld.html

Carbon Footprint

Carbon footprint is a measure of the global amount of the carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases which are produced by a human. The measure of this carbon footprint is taking by asking the person how his live going in home, travel and the food he usually eats. These things are collected by his answer in some of the special calculation. In this calculation we can notice how much carbon dioxide the person create also in this result we can see how many earths we need.

I carried out measuring my carbon footprint from two sites which were www.footprint.wwf.org.uk/ and www.myfootprint.org/. After I answered my quizzes about food, Travel, home and stuff in different categories that were related to identify my footprint and I have recorded 4.64 earths (WWF) and second recorded was 6.05 earths (Myfootprint.org). These numbers means that I need more than 5 earths to live in according.

My classmates were doing the same idea, and the results were similar with some students and with the other were not. Hamad and I were having some results, so we are in the second place after Faisal who got 4.57 earths and who will encourage Ahmed Al Zaabi to reduce his carbon footprint by three earths.

The UAE footprint average is about 145.27 which make even by 31.10 earths (Myfootprint.org). When I look for the source of this huge carbon footprint I found because of the cooling.

I recommend firstly my country should start recycling to preserve the health of people and the environment we live in. Second, issue a new law to minimize the CO2 emissions whether for factories and industries or even the people, to accustom them to share the transportation. For myself, I will start to save the energy and use items that can be recycled. Furthermore, I will learn more about the footprint and how to reduce it and I will advise the people around me.

Bibliography

FOOTPRINT CALCULATOR. 23 Apr. 2009
http://footprint.wwf.org.uk/home/calculator_complete.

Productions, Kinga Dow. REDEFINING PROGRESS. 23 Apr. 2009 http://www.myfootprint.org/en/visitor_information/.

An Inconvenient Truth: Part 2

Arguments and criticisms arise for any documentary, movie, or research that discusses an important issue. The documentary An Inconvenient Truth didn’t escape that. Although it is a powerful portrayal of global warming and its impacts, there are still questions on whether it gives the complete truth. I will write about two authors who have two different views about the movie.

Mr. Hall has a negative review about the movie and Al Gore. First, All the facts presented in this movie have been proved and there is no new information in the movie. Second negative thing that Al Gore uses his family tragedies to show that he sympathetic of other. Third, Hall think that Al Gore was against global warming. He wrote that the global warming started rising in the 1990s during Al Gore and Clinton’s campaign and auto makers fought against energy standards no one tried to stop them because they benefited financially from it. Furth, There are many other acts against the environment done by Al Gore which are stated in his Wiki Blog. (Hall)

On the other hand, Mr. Vognar has a different view than Mr. Hall . First, he wrote that the movie presented many facts about the effects of global warming and the causes behind it. Second, the documentary was well presented and it has awakened many people to the fact that Global Warming is something that threaten the world. (Vognar)

In conclusion, the movie was great and the senses verbal communications were great too. I felt very convenient and I was like one of the people who were sitting with Al Gore in the movie. Finally we should take care of our planet and change our lifestyle in order to help protect the environment.

Bibliography
Hall, Phil. "AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH." 15 May 2006. http://www.filmthreat.com/index.php?section=reviews&Id=8451.

Vognar, Chris. "An Inconvenient Truth." 06 Feb. 2006. http://www.guidelive.com/portal/page?_pageid=33,97283&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL&item_id=45377.

An Inconvenient Truth

In “An Inconvenient Truth”, Al Gore outlined his involvement in the politics of fighting global warming, the scientific principles, and predictions regarding the future of global warming.

AL Gore stated that within 925 recent peer-reviewed articles journals about global warming, there was no disagreement on it happening. He explained the mechanisms of industries that try to stop the environmental movement from successfully informing the public to reduce the problem. He lays out the relationship between humanity and the problems of global warming. He showed before and after photographs taken from space; those photographs proved that glaciers are decreasing, snow is melting, and shorelines are retreating. He related the rise of the oceans to issues with humanity, endangered species, food crisis, and population control. Hurricanes increased, and water streams and CO2 levels changed.

Al Gore confirmed that the main reason behind global warming is the burning of fossil fuels. Those fossil fuels were energy stored over billions of years and were released suddenly; speeding up the process of global warming.

There is no doubt we can solve this problem. In fact, we have a moral obligation to do so. Small changes to your daily routine can add up to big differences in helping to stop global warming. The time to come together to solve this problem is now.