Practice Writing

This was my at home practice for the GRE writing portion, any opinions?

Issues of the environment transcend national boundaries to create worldwide legacies. Leaders, businessmen, and citizen alike are forced to join in unity to combat the effects of a declining environment or face the turmoil of having to gauge against the overbearing environment on their own.

Localized environmental issues can pose issues for many other nations as an after effect of that lone nation trying to repair itself from the damage that the environment has bourne upon it.

For instance, when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans it created a major economic impact on the United States. The United States had to take time away from other matters, such as peace mitigation of the war in Iraq, in order to repair the damage laid upon that large area that left many citizens homeless and many businesses closed for repairs. The money that had to go into rescue and repair in the city cuased a huge economic strain on the United States temporarily curving its ability to engage in large amounts of trade with nations outside of it’s boundaries. Travelers from outside the United States may have been trapped by downed airline terminals or because of the loss of lodging and the ability to communicate outside of their present selves. Tourists desiring to visit the casino’s laden across New Orleans could no longer spend money on attractions inside of New Orleans because the buildings had been torn down and either had to stay home or go elsewhere.

Localized food borne diseases can have an effect on the global market. A good example would be when the United States bought cows from Europe that had been fed with plants containing certain hormones that, in effect, caused the mad cow disease. The United States had to quickly ban the import of cows from Europe and Europe had to take cows off of the market in order to keeps it’s own citizens from being contaminated with the disease. This put a strain on both markets. Citizens of the United States had to look elsewhere to get beef products while Europe had to do without the income from trade.

Similar issues occurred throughout China and other Asian countries when overpopulation led to pollution in the waterbody coming from Korea into China. Fish became contaminate with high levels of mercury which, in turn, created a menace to the health of populations desiring the eat the products. Exportation of the fish soon resigned and income from fisheries went in regression.

Another global issue involves global warming caused from air pollution. This issue is globalized because the atmosphere, which is the layer of the earth closest to our visible sky and right on the edge of the planet heading into outerspace, traps chemicals from many different locations and transports them from one area to another as they cycle back to earth or out into space. Some of the chemicals remain traped in the atmosphere and cuase the rays from the sun to trap themselves inside the earth as well. It is good to have some rays trapped inside the earth, but not too many. As too many rays are trapped within the confines of the earths biodome, the earth heats up at a much faster rate and can cool at a much slower rate. This heating effect cuases glaciers to melt, waterbodies to heat up, water cycles to change more rapidly, and weather patterns to create strong wind shears and more dangerous storms more often and less dangerous storms that are needed more often to occur less often.

A pollutant from the United States could travel through the atmosphere to say Japan or England. This pollutant can cause resulting environmental effects from global warming as well as other effects such as reduced air quality which reduces the health of it’s citizens.

Politicians are currently working on different plans to create global efforts to combat emissions of these air pollutants. Plans include the Kyoto Protocol and the AP6. It is important that countries work together to rid each other of pollutants, even if it entails engaging in such acts as the transfer of pollutant reducing technologies on an international scale, because emissions of pollutants from one country can effect global warming and air quality levels in another by the chemicals transfer in the atmosphere.

Waterbodies transcend manmade boundaries as the water move from one place to each other in a constant moving cycle. This means that territory owned by one nation can have an effect on the water owned by another nation. A good example would be the water that flows between Canada and the United States. When a boat travels along the water and spills oil, the oil will disperse itself in the water the same direction that the water flows. If the water is flowing from Canada into Michigan and the oil was spilled in Canada, the oil may end up landing upon the shores of Michigan, a United States territory.

This is why politicians work together to create the International Joint Commission to work together to create policies to protect both territories and their associated waterbodies at the same time.

An example of a country that doesn’t work a lot with outside countries in combating environmental issues would be South Africa. The country was invaed yeas ago by Europeans and then left to themsevles after colonization. Citisens grew weary of allowing outside nations to aid them in rebuilding themselves from environmental disaster after experiences the poverty an turmoil brought upon them through colonization.

Currently the country is in a state where it has a desparate ned for outside aid to repair it from the damage that it made for itself in the after effects of it’s independence. Overgrazing the soils, lack of technological knowledge, and lack of scientific skill has created a land degraded of nutrients and waters full of pollution and human illness. Such pollutants travel through the water and dispese themselves along the shores of India. Citizens contaminated with illnesses such as Teburcolosis, Malaria, and AIDs make their way to the shore of other nations and pass the disease along to other citizens. Trade has becomes low and items such as rice and sugar can no longer transport itself across the borders into other countries and other countries are forced to search for other sources of these much needed resources.

There are many other issues that can effect nations on a global scale due to environmental tragedy. It is imparative for nations to work together to combat such environmental downfall because the effects of one’s nation’s tragedy can severely put a damper on trade and environmental qualities of other nations.

Lotsa love,
-Wildrose