Violence Among Youth

Ah, welcome back mates! Hope everything has went well since last time. Everything has been pretty good since it’s cooled off a bit and I can actually enjoy the nice weather that we’re having. There have been so many things on my mind since I last left off, that I hardly know where to begin. I wish I could share everything, but unfortunately I can’t. Now that I think about it, there is one thing that has had me wondering for a few days now. Violence, one of the negative aspects of culture in my opinion, has been present for thousands of years. However, I found it quite disturbing to learn that violence has evolved to include and affect our youth, so much so that it is rapidly becoming a problem spinning out of control.

Did you know that one in every three teenagers who attend school in the states don’t feel safe at school? Moreover, were you aware that reportedly fourteen percent of high school students carry weapons to school? If you didn’t its okay, neither did I before reading an article titled Behavioral Strategies for Constructing Nonviolent Cultures With Youth: A Review. Now I’m not one to get bogged down in statistics, but you’ve got to agree that its insane that more than three-thousand youth die every year due to violence and crime towards one another, moreover each teenager by the time they are in young adulthood would have witnessed tens of thousands of simulated murders. In the past decade or so, there has been much debate about who’s to blame for violence amongst our youth. Many say that it is the violence portrayed by the media, however I beg to differ.

Violence as I mentioned earlier, has existed in our culture for thousands of years, therefore one has to acknowledge that it is a problem that is deeply embedded within culture and not just one isolated source is the cause of all the madness.
For those of you who understand what I’m telling you, there is hope. In fact, that is what the entire article focuses on, solutions to a problem that has caused much turmoil in the past thousands of years. In order to find a solution to a problem, the problem not only must be identified, but what’s not working to solve the problem must be identified as well. With that said, the article discusses ineffective approaches that were incorporated into programs aimed at solving violence among youth. Such methods included focusing in on the problem such as the child or the child’s family, viewing individuals as the source of where the violence came from, as well as not using contextual strategies wherever possible.

So, if those methods don’t work, what does work? Well according to the article, active teaching of appropriate social behavior, clear communication of rules, consistent provision of corrective consequences, as well as ongoing monitoring of data is crucial for behavior modification programs to work. One program in particular reported by the Surgeon General suggested designing programs that focus on the following; enhancing positive student behavior, attendance, and academic achievement through rewards, establishes clear rules and directions, as well as praise and approval.

Although all of the aforementioned could easily be translated into effective programs, the article readily recognizes that there is still work to be done. The article concludes by saying that there is a need for programs with realistic outcomes that could be used in everyday settings. Another good point that the article makes is the need for social validity in ecological based programs. By making such improvements, and implementing effective programs, not only the goal of eliminating violence among youth will be achieved, but something greater as well. If these programs are successful, it will prove that even a problem that is culturally embedded can still be eradicated.

Mattaini Mark, McGuire Melissa. “Behavorial Strategies for Constructing Nonviolent Cultures with Youth: A Review.” SAGE Publications. March 2006. 19 February 2007.
http://bmo.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/30/2/184

Industrial Behavior Modification

I really do love the job I have here in my restaurant on the beach. Working independently is great because I have complete freedom scheduling when and how much I will work. Even though I work under such great conditions, I still need external motivation to help me keep going. I love it when my customers compliment me or my establishment, whether it’s a direct comment, a conversation I overhear, or even something as small as a tip. This all encourages me to do more and more of what I do, and do well.

Looking at reinforcers led me to look at how they affect people with jobs similar and completely different than mine. As it turns reinforcement research in the workplace has been practiced since the 1970’s (Nelson, Raj, Rao 2).

Business owners are interested in the worker performance as its correlation connects directly with company profit. In the 1970’s the behavior case studies that dealt with workers analyzed those that did simpler work (a category I, myself, would have been put in). Specific studies observed construction workers, bank tellers, textile workers, retailers, store clerks, and mining workers. In each study the employees’ work performance was aided by reinforcement, though it manifested itself differently for each case (Nelson, Raj, Rao 2-3).

A research experiment documented in “A Study on the Effects of Some Reinforcers to Improve Performance of Employees in a Retail Industry” studies reinforcement’s effects on workers that do simple tasks and those that occupy more complex ones.

So far I have generalized all reinforcers. The most pertinent reinforcements (to this study) include monetary rewards, positive feedback, informal dress code, and flexible work hours. The article’s authors make it clear that certain kinds of reinforcement will increase performance differently for people with different jobs. Specifically, employees that work harder, more complex jobs receive more benefit from feedback (Nelson, Raj, Rao 3).

What, you might ask, qualifies a job as complex? The famous behaviorist Albert Bandura describes them as jobs that “[require] knowledge, cognitive ability, memory capacity, behavioral facility, information processing, persistence, and effort” (Nelson, Raj, Rao 3). In the social sciences operationalized definitions are given for variables, so the study defined “complex job” with Bandura’s description.

The first group the experiment focused on was the employees with more complex jobs, such as writing program code or teaching software packages to others. This group is referred to as G1. The first subgroup, G11, was given the reinforcement of either money or paid leave. The second subgroup, G12, was instead, given feedback. Feedback is positively geared work ethic evaluation, where a manager might would compliment a worker for a job well done or provide a worker with useful information concerning how to improve.

The second broad worker group, G2, consisted of employees doing simpler tasks like data entry and system maintenance. Subgroup G21 was given a more casual dress code and G22 received more flexible work hours.

As according to social scientific methodology each group’s participants were chosen randomly from the same population. G1’s working habits were observed before the first “intervention” of reinforcers then recorded again after the intervention’s administration. Final work productivity data was then collected about one month later at a time called “postinvervention.” G2’s experimentation differed slightly. There was data recorded before and at the time of the first intervention, but there was also a second intervention added for observing the diminishing ability that the reinforcers had to moderate work ethic. At each phase during this experiment observers and clients rated workers on a scale that represented the employee’s quality of work. The scale concerns a rate of how many times various productive traits were observable at each observation period (ie: 800 frequencies of behavior for a certain day) (Nelson, Raj, Rao 10-12).

It is conclusive that each group showed a tremendous productivity increase during the initial reinforcement interventions.

Subgroup G11, the group that was given financial incentive, showed an increase in mean aggregate behavior from 648.33 to 809.96. Subgroup G12, the one receiving feedback, increased its behavior from 647.5 to 832.72. An early conclusion we can make here is that feedback was slightly more effective at increasing advantageous work behaviors in employees than monetary incentive was. The postintervention period was the most interesting and revealing of all the data collected. It showed the G11 group showed an extremely sharp decrease in behaviors whereas the G12 group maintained its heightened work ethic a month later at this postintervention period. Strajkovic and Luthans were correct saying that workers exacting more mentally involved work will respond better to feedback (Nelson, Raj, Rao 11).

Subgroups G21 and G22 held more similar results than the G1 group did. G2 overall had a smaller overall increase upon the first intervention. G21 went up to 334.39 behaviors observed from 311.67. However, upon the second intervention the beneficial effects of the reinforcements were only about half of what the original intervention accomplished (Nelson, Raj, Rao 13).

There aren’t concrete stereotypes for the type of people working each kind of job, this data only reflects motivation potential for a certain job. It is important to see here how much encouragement (no matter what form it takes) affects people’s motivation. My favorite result and finding is that money doesn’t win. As it turns out, people benefit more in the workplace by the kind words of superiors rather than just a bit of extra cash. Though this study observed work behavior, I believe the findings can be a useful tool for showing universally that people function better under good social environments and that encouragement (reinforcement) can drastically help people in most circumstances.

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Nelson, John; Raj, John; Rao, K.S.P. “A Study on the Effects of Some Reinforcers to Improve Performance of Employees in a Retail Industry.” SAGE Publications. 6 November 2006. 20 February 2007. (http://bmo.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/30/6/848).

Calorie Intake for Lean, Normal, and Obese Individuals

We’re always picking on Don when he gets inebriated before anyone else. Jokes of drinking Don under the table surface at every occasion. Don is six foot four inches and weighs one hundred and sixty three pounds. When we all go out to eat, Don eats as much as anyone else. However, Don is not the only lean bloke we know that consumes so many calories and remains so awfully' thin.

Little did we know that this phenomenon was quite normal and occurs frequently in today’s society. Calorie intake does not greatly differ from a lean, normal, and obese individual, regarding the same age group. According to Dictionary.com, a calorie is a unit equal to the kilocalorie, used to express the heat output of an organism and the fuel or energy value of food.

Paul M. Cinciripini conducted a case study in Behavior Modification, where he described his observations of eating habits between different individuals of various sizes. Cinciripini is a Clinical Psychologist and Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the Universtiy of Texas Medical Branch, in Galveston, Texas. He has researched coronary prone behavior, smoking stress, behavioral management of chronic pain, and behavioral methods for risk factor reduction in coronary heart disease. His article is titled, “Food Choice and Eating Behavior Among Obese, Lean, and Normal Individuals.”

Paul Cincirpini chose to observe undergraduate students between eighteen and twenty-three years old. He studied 705 students’ calorie intake for a course of 8 weeks. This study was performed in a university cafeteria setting. Students were presented with a buffet consisting of: 3-4 entrees, 2 soups, salad bar, 2-3 vegetables dishes, grilled orders, fresh fruits, cold sandwiches, milk, fruit juices, soda, cookies, and 2-3 desserts.

The results showed that lean males did not differ from normal males in the proportion of calories from different foods. Lean females ate less dairy but more fruit and dessert calories than normal females. Males considered obese ate more red meats and less fruit and dessert calories than normal males. Females classified as obese showed the same patterns as lean females, consuming more desserts and fruit and less dairy calories than normal female.

According to the chart provided in the article, “no differences were found in total calories or menu items within sex and weight groups.” However, males consumed more calories and chose more items than females. There were no differences found among the groups in bite rate, sip rate, and total eating time. In addition, male and female leans engaged in more non-eating activity than the normal group. This observation could account for their slimmer body types.

“The results suggest that food choice, particularly saturated fat, may play a weaker role in the weight status of male lean and female obese subjects than in other groups, and that lean subjects are apt to find food and eating stimuli much less reinforcing than obese subjects.”

I remember eating in the cafeterias back at the unis! All the blokes and sheilas I knew would eat the same thing every time they went, so the variety of foods no longer seems to be important. Another factor that needs to be evaluated is observer pressure. As described, obese and normal weight individuals do not greatly differ in total calories when evaluated in the same environment. This could be due to the fact that obese individuals are self conscious of the amount of food they want to consume. Also, on the counterpart, lean males may eat more to prove they are not picky or light eaters. Females may also eat less than they normally do when they are evaluated.

After reading and evalulating this case study, I was not sure how valid it was until I read about all the other studies. A more extensive study of over 5,000 subjects in nine different settings was conducted. “No overall differences in total calories/meal were found between obese and non-obese subjects, with the exception that obese subjects tended to eat slightly more food in a fast food environment.” The same applies to dessert items; however, both groups prefer high calorie items. These are the same types of conclusions Paul Cinciripini observed.

Paul Cinciripini gives credit to 37 references towards the end of his article, pages 441-443. Each reference is credible and applies directly to his research topic. Therefore, his sources add to the overall validity and creditability of his case study and research.

Cinciripini, Paul. “Food Choice and Eating Behavior Among Obese, Lean, and Normal Individuals.” Behavior Modification. 1984. http://bmo.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/8/3/425.pdf

Decreasing Cigarette Consumption among Teens

If there is one thing I hate in this world mates are cigarettes. I can’t stand those bloody things; they make me cough all the time and smell so terrible. I don’t understand how young people think it’s cool and attractive. Well, here I found an article in the Behavior Modification Journal that may surprise many of you and will definitely give you some ideas as to how it is possible to decrease the amount of teens that start smoking every day.

The article “Monitoring and Decreasing Public Smoking Among Youth.” begins by talking about how smoking is the most preventable cause of death in the United States and the fact that most people start smoking during their teen years (681). The author acknowledges that even though the percentage of teens smoking cigarettes has decreased in the past few years, the number of new teens smoking every day is still way above the desired number of the US Department of Human Health and Services. They believe that an optimal percentage can be reached by creating programs that decrease the availability and access of cigarettes by teens. (681).

Reducing youth access to tobacco products seems like a good strategy as “higher rates of retail tobacco availability were associated with higher rates of smoking initiation among youth.” (682). Reducing the amount of cigarettes available to teens in stores however, doesn’t necessarily mean a substantial decrease in smoking as most of them will try to acquire cigarettes socially through a friend or relative.

Another good strategy stated in the article is that of increasing the bans in tobacco for minors and incrementing the fines they would have to pay if they are caught in possession of the substance. This would ultimately produce fear in teens and would encourage many of them to quit smoking or simply stop smoking in public areas, which then means less negative leaders and a decrease in smoking in teen social events. (683). This is supported by the study of Jason, Pokorny, and Schoeny carried out in 2003 in which “in an eight-town randomized study, white youth who lived in communities with strict enforcement of tobacco sales and possession laws had significantly less increases in tobacco use over time than those living in communities with only moderate enforcement of tobacco sales laws.”(684).

An experiment was carried out in which four towns within Chicago were selected and carefully examined. In each town, a place of gathering was selected. Two were shopping malls, the third was a fast food restaurant and the last was a Public Park. Scientists counted the number of teens smoking throughout a period of several days and recorded their observations. Consequently, they decided to start handing out smoking fines in one of the shopping mall locations and the fast food restaurant. After a few days, the number of teens smoking in these two areas had decreased tremendously as opposed to the other two places (the other mall and the public park) were nothing was done. (687).

The author analyzes these results by concluding that “after implementing possession law

enforcement intervention, rates of public smoking among youth decreased dramatically.” (688).
After stating the conclusions, the article goes on to say that the short term goal is not to eliminate smoking teens as it is very unrealistic, but rather decrease the amount of teens that start smoking every day. The experiment seems very simple, but carrying this out across the United States and actually enforcing the laws is very complicated, expensive and time consuming. Well mates I hope you enjoyed the article, and if any of you wish to keep your children or young siblings away from cigarettes, you know what to do. Good day lads.

“Monitoring and Decreasing Public Smoking Among Youth.” Behavior Modification Journals. Leonard A. Jason, Steven B. Pokorny, Julia R. Sanem and Monica L. Adams

Volume 30 (September 1, 2006): pages 681-692. 19 February 2007.

400 Infected with AIDS: crime or accident?

Good Day Mates. Skimming through Nature magazine, as I usually do every week, I ran across an editorial titled Lybia’s Travesty. The headline read “Six medical workers in Libya face execution. It is not too late for scientists to speak up on their behalf”. According to the article, five American nurses and a British doctor were detained in 1999 after charges of deliberately contaminating more than 400 children with the HIV virus. The group of medical workers is to be executed by firing squad later on this year. (245).

The Human Immunodefiency Virus, HIV, is an incurable virus that can be transmitted through the bloodstream by bodily liquids such as semen, tears or blood (It is practically impossible for it to be transmitted through Saliva). HIV is a common sexually transmitted disease but it can also be transmitted through the use of drugs (needles) and under extreme unhygienic circumstances where the blood of an infected person reaches the immune system of another’s.

I will not cast my opinion of whether I believe these medics are innocent or not, but I will defend the rights of the Libyan government to carry out a trial and punish them if their courts see it fit. However, I will criticize many of the points made by the author throughout this article as I see that he has no basis for what he is saying and at no point whatsoever does he provide scientific evidence of why he is so sure that these people are innocent. Furthermore, he twists this scientific issue into a political one and tries to blame the whole ordeal on the Libyan government.

In the beginning of the article the author states, “The international community and its leaders sit by, spectators of a farce of a trial, leaving a handful of dedicated volunteer humanitarian lawyers and scientists to try to secure their release.”(245). By calling this trial a “farce”, he is challenging the legitimacy of the Libyan judicial entity and its ability to bring this case into trial. He does not provides evidence to prove his point, and even if it turns out that these people are in fact innocent, that doesn’t take away the right of the Libyan government to try them and prosecute them if necessary. Bringing someone to trial for an alleged crime, however scandalous it may be is an international standard, and one that is very much used here in the United States.

Next, the author goes on to say that “Diplomacy has lamentably failed to deliver” (145), simply because the United States decided to return to regular diplomatic relations with the country of Libya this past August, without taking into account this trial. He also criticizes the European Union for welcoming the president to its summit in Brussels and says that the attitude of the EU and the US “is an affront to the basic democratic principles that the United States and the European Union espouse”. (145)

The problem with this statement, and in fact with every statement this author makes throughout the whole article, is that he does not provide evidence to support his arguments and assures the audience that these people are in fact innocent and that this whole ordeal is some sort of joke. Now I want this author to realize that diplomacy and internal judicial systems are two completely different things. If a person is caught within a country committing a crime, he is to abide by the punishable laws of that country and is to be tried in the place of the crime committed unless the crime itself takes place during a time of war or the government of the individual asks for extradition, in which case the last word rests on the government holding the trial. This government will have to decide if they wish to extradite the individual or simply judge them internally.

Well, if I were the government and 400 children in my country were suddenly infected by HIV and there were six suspects involved, I sure wouldn’t want anyone else holding trial for them but me. Could you imagine asking the United States to release their alleged terrorists so they could receive trial back home in Saudi Arabia or in some other country? Yeah right, I thought so.

Next, I will examine the next statement. “A previous assessment of the case by two prominent AIDS researchers, Luc Montagnier and Vittorio Colizzi, concluded that the charges are false, that the medics are innocent, and that the infections resulted from poor hygiene in Libya's hospitals.” (146).

As I mentioned in the earlier in this post, it is possible for HIV to be transmitted through extremely poor hygiene, but the author fails to state how these researchers obtained the conclusions regarding the sanity levels of the hospitals, as they don’t seem to have been present at the time of the incident or have traveled to the hospital following the occurrence. Nowhere does he explain how they reached that conclusion and jumps right into his own by saying that the medics are innocent because it was hygiene problem that had caused the infections. I think that if it were really a hygiene problem, it wouldn’t have taken them 400 patients to realize that something was wrong. Besides, it seems difficult for 400 children to catch a disease at the same time because of a hygiene issue, unless we are talking about little boys running around with syringes in their hand and sticking them into anyone that walks.

Going even further, lets suppose that the doctors in fact did not deliberately handed the virus to the children. They however, still have some responsibility, since they are the ones providing the health service. If you go to a doctor’s office and his chair is broken and his equipment dirty and dysfunctional, it is nobody’s fault but his own. These foreign medical workers probably had many years of schooling in the area of medicine, and know more than anyone else that one cannot treat a patient in a non-hygienic hospital where AIDS can be spread. Its true, not all the responsibility lies on them, but just the fact that they might be partially guilty definitely gives the right to the Libyan government to investigate these people and bring them to trial.

After assuming the complete innocence of these people, the author compares this case to one in which the organization “Lawyers without Borders — a volunteer organization that last year helped win the freedom of Amina Lawal, who had been sentenced to death in Nigeria for having a child outside marriage.” (146) The example has absolutely no relevance to the issue at hand, and it is not comparable since we aren’t talking about some violation or religious or moral values of the Nigerian society but rather the sudden infection of 400 children with the HIV virus.

To conclude, this author is trying to assure the audience of the innocence of these people without absolutely any scientific or documented proof. He tries to shift the issue from a scientific tragedy to a political maneuver by the Libyan government. People need to stop blaming every single incidence on politics and realize that not everyone out there is going eat whatever they are fed. Good day mates.

“Lybia's Travesty.” Nature Online Magazine. Volume 443 (September 2006): pages 245-246. EBSCO Host Research Databases. UNC- Chapel Hill. 13 February 2007.

The Battle against Global Warming

Ay mates! I’m sure that all of you have had an excellent time since the last time, especially those who have paid me a visit at my bar. Locals and tourists alike have been swarming due to the extremely hot weather that we’ve been having lately. When I say hot, I mean it’s been scorching, and not even the ocean water can cool you off. Anyhow, couple of locals and I started to talk about how hot it was and we got to talking about global warming. I’m sure you’ve heard about global warming in the news but maybe didn’t quite understand what it was, but knew that it had something to do with the earth heating up. You’d probably thought so what, it’s just getting hotter I can deal with that, but global warming has many consequences, my friend. To that end, I would like to share something with you that that I found rather interesting.

I was thumbing through yet another Nature magazine, when I came across an editorial discussing global warming entitled, Light at the End of the Tunnel. After reading it, I was bothered by what the author was implying. I thought what a load of crap. I must say that the article had been written well as far as grammatical structure is concerned, the content however was an entirely different matter.

Although the argument of the editorial seemed to be somewhat unclear, I interpreted it to be somewhere along the lines of how now that policy makers have acknowledged that global warming is a major threat to society as we know it, coming up with a solution comes with its own risks. To make his argument concrete, the author further explains that policy makers agreeing there is a problem the plan of action that they are taking in order to deal with global warming aren’t enough, and that many fail to realize that it will take significant monetary commitment to make a change. I was quick to dismiss the author’s argument. My decision to do so was primarily based on two factors, one is that the author clearly contradicts himself; the latter being that author doesn’t provide concrete evidence to back his argument, but rather his opinion. I mean how can one articulate how policy makers weren’t doing anything about global warming because they couldn’t seem to acknowledge it was a problem and then criticize them in the very next paragraph by stating that the steps that they are taking isn’t nearly enough? It is as though the author is forgetting that in his introductory paragraph he merely stated that policy makers have just came to the consensus that there is a problem, a consensus that has come after years even decades of debate.

My stance on the issue is as follows, despite the slow response of policy makers in acknowledging that global warming is indeed a major issue, now that they have done so, we need to focus on supporting them and whatever steps they take towards the problem regardless of how big or small they may be, because a little can go a long way.

Before I continue however, allow me to take a moment for those who may be confused about global warming, allow me to explain. Global warming is essentially when fossil fuels and other gases are emitted into the environment and destroy what is known as the green house effect, which is a layer of gases that acts like a shield. The destruction of the green house effect essentially allows more sunlight and heat to penetrate the earth heating up glaciers, causing them to melt. The water from the glaciers can throw the pattern of the ocean off, which can have many effects, such as causing horrendous weather.

Now that you have a better understanding of global warming, I’m sure that it has become very clear to you that this is a problem that needs to be dealt with immediately, yet efficiently. Firstly, the editorial’s claim that policy makers aren’t doing enough to help solve global warming is absurd. One would think that the author would express some appreciation that policy makers are doing anything at all considering that the last twenty years have been wasted just talking about it. The author even mentioned ways that policy makers are indeed taking steps to help. The editorial even states that such steps are being pushed through rather quickly. To this end, something is always better than nothing. Some critics may feel as though what policy makers are doing is not enough. However, I feel as though critics feel as though policy makers aren’t taking steps quickly enough, rather than doing enough. After all, due to so much criticism by policy makers, research on how to stop or at least slow down global warming was rather limited. But now with policy makers on the same page as environmentalists, things seem to be looking up for advocates of global warming and soon rather than later, perhaps large scale plans will be put into effect.

As for the other claim that the author makes about policy makers not wanting to spend the extra money in trying to solve the problem can easily be refuted by doing a simple google search. After conducting a little research myself, I found that policy makers aren’t afraid to invest today in order to save tomorrow. It’s relatively easy for people to talk about making changes for the better, but few are able to put their money where their mouth is. The state of California is not one of those types. California is one of the first in the United States to actually pass legislature reducing the amount of carbon dioxide emissions as well as other heat trapping gases. Due to California’s steps of action against global warming, other states are following suit as well as many other countries. (Global Warming & California, par. 6)

There you have it mates, an editorial that has been refuted by the great Desmond. With that said, I caution those of you who may write editorials. Furthermore, may I suggest that when writing an editorial one considers all facts, as well as back your argument with sound facts rather than your opinion. Being able to show your readers facts rather than your opinion not only makes your argument creditable, but also makes it more persuasive. Well, until next time, take care, and if you get thirsty, be sure to stop in and see me at my bar!
“Climate Change What is it.” Climate Change Kids Site. 23 October 2006. 15 February 15, 2007.

“Global Warming and California.” California Solutions for Global Warming. 15 February 2007.

“Light at the End of the Tunnel.” Nature. 08 February 2007. 15 February 2007.

A More Positive Outlook

Over the last couple of decades I have become increasingly interested and aware of a world-wide problem called “global warming.” Nature is such a large part of my life, being a surfer and having my restraint on the beach that I feel compelled to examine the way forces are at work in changing the global climate.

An online encyclopedia defines global warming as “the observed increase in the average temperature of the Earth's atmosphere and oceans in recent decades and its projected continuation” (Wikipedia). The effects of this increase in global temperature have lead to undesirable and somewhat alarming phenomenon. There have been rising ocean levels, melting arctic glaciers, and even sharp inclines in polar animal mortality rates. Many ocean islands have already lost some of their surface area to the rising oceans, and there are even specific incidences of islands becoming completely engulfed by the rising oceans (The Effects of…, 2001).

A recent editorial from the online publication of “Nature” journal expands upon the most recent enlightenment of people in all circles, including business and political ones, on the unavoidable fact that global warming is happening. This article entitled “Light at the End of the Tunnel” presents viewpoint in which there is hope for the state of the global environment but the hope is somewhat marginal or distant. It also says that arguments and debates over the subject of assessing global warming have always been quite similar until just recently. Those businesses which had once turned a blind eye to their impact in global warming may now be focusing a portion of their attention on the threat and prevention methods for this global phenomenon.

The article’s positive outlook diminishes here as the authors begin to contemplate the political involvement that the United States and Australia will have in assessing global warming. The president of the United States, George W. Bush, and the prime minister of Australia, John Howard, have been previous skeptics of initiating regulations dealing with global warming making them both relatively ignorant of the multitude of effects that global warming proposes (Light at the End of the Tunnel, 2007).

The author implies that these leaders will be less active in creating political reform due to their conservative, business oriented philosophies; the political leaders are needed to set regulations of emissions. So it looks like their conclusion may be with a leader of a party that explicitly supports financial giants and reduced government powers the outlook is bleak.

This “Nature” article continues to support its less hopeful attitude towards environmental reform as it describes the new problems arising from global warming’s standard acceptance. Their point made is that since debate was solely made over the presence of global warming, that neither side thought to seek out proposals for addressing global warming once an agreement had been reached.

Finally, the article describes the economic hurdles made by the implementation of global warming prevention. Assessing global warming by taking preventative actions, such as reducing emissions, is quite expensive on both the part of the involved businesses and governments. The view of the article is that there is reasonable cause for concern due to the economically centered nature of most governments, as they wouldn’t want to lose political stability or human dignity due to losses incurred from “greener” regulations (Light at the End of the Tunnel, 2007).

While my ideals are not fundamentally opposed to the ideals of the article, I disagree with the more pessimistic nature of describing advances made in managing global warming.

Firstly it is important to know that a movement for understanding this global phenomenon has only existed for a short period of time, being initially rejected. America serves a good example of this fact. Probably the first early account of global warming being partially accepted in the United States was as late as 1988. In the summer of 1988 there was sever heat and draught that manifest seemingly randomly and unprovoked. The sinister nature of this heat wave caused a “social scare” that allowed for environmentalists’ claims to be temporarily heralded by at least the most deeply affected citizens (Ungar 1-2).

While this event was only nineteen years ago, its lasting effects were mainly either segmented or temporary on having global warming grab the attention of Americans. This short lived environmental push is described by Sheldon Ungar as “[piggybacking] on dramatic real-world events” leading to the fact that most Americans dismissed the accusations of global warming with passing interest (Ungar 1, 14).

If the first public appearance of global warming (in the US) was only in 1988, and it was met with relatively wavering concern, then it can’t be expected for the United State’s population to be moved towards action. Greater movement towards environmental policy and reform has solely come in the past decade and so the current state of the public’s attitude is adequate given its novel nature. In order to get global support for changing policy, Americans must serve as a spear-head because of the USA’s role in the research and practice of the natural sciences (Ungar 2-4).

I firmly believe that the most recent global warming awareness movement since the new millennium, such as those led by prominent American figures such as the politician Al Gore, have changed the American population’s mind and directed concern to the issue of global warming.

The “Light at the End of the Tunnel” Nature article also talks about the unresponsive nature of the United State’s current administration to global warming as a foreboding sign. I believe that this unresponsiveness is not representative of the government’s agenda in the near future. In an article on “Addressing Global Warming” the authors explain that the government’s policy on global warming has only been a product of the democratic process. However, now that the people that make up the government’s various constituencies are personally invested in global warming, because of its potential harmful effects on the voters, politicians are going to have to make changes that reflect a more modern view of global climate change and that satisfy the desires of the voters (Kross, Vlad 2003).

There is significant evidence, however, to support the Nature articles observance that developing nations are going to be less willing to comply with agreements such as the Koyoto Protocol which is a standard for reducing green house gas emissions . “Global Warming Economics” briefly analyzes the negative economic impacts made by adhering to standards such as the Koyoto Protocol. The article concludes that observing the protocol will make little major global impact in proportion to the great cost it will place on its user (Nordhaus 2001). It is almost impossible to think that a relatively volatile nation would place its stability in jeopardy in order to adhere to a policy that is abstract and without much obvious feedback as to whether the policy is working.

While I do not agree with the less hopeful attitude towards progress with global warming, I do agree that developing nations may pose to be an important obstacle to global unity and movement towards change.

While government is the key force in exacting environmentally friendly policy, business compliance is also extremely important. The editorial presented in the “Nature” journal briefly mentions business as a retarding force as they have to directly implement the various protocols that will cost them economically (Light at the End of the Tunnel, 2007). While the author mentions that there are some businesses that have already begun to comply, I believe more companies have grasped the situation and understand that making and presenting themselves as an environmentally conscious organization is actually conducive to business rather than just a great cost to the company’s profits. A great example of this marketing strategy is presented by the British energy corporation BP. They advertise their movements towards cleaner gasoline and alternative energy (BP and Climate Change 2005). Obviously the information here is biased, but my point is that companies will use “green” advertisement as a ploy in the future, which will require them in some way to comply with environmental protocol.

While the forecast for the future of the planet with global warming is bleak I believe there is a great forecast for global climate management’s future understanding the very recent nature of the global warming movement.

“Global Warming.” Wikipedia. 2004. 10 February 2007. .

Kross, Burton; Vlad, Mariana. “Addressing Global Warming.” Environmental Health Perspectives. Volume 111, Number 3, March 2003. 14 February 2007. .

“Light at the End of the Tunnel.” Nature Publishing Group. 8 February 2007. 10 February 2007. <>.

Nordhaus, William. “Global Warming Economics.” American Association for the Advancement of Science. 9 November 2001. 14 February 2007. .

“The Effects of Global Warming.” Time Incorporated. 2001. 10 February 2007. .

Ungar, Sheldon. “The Rise and (Relative) Decline of Global Warming as a Social Problem.” The Sociological Quarterly. December 1992. 10 February 2007. .