Consumer Behaviour and Retail Marketing Strategy Essay

Consumer Behaviour and Retail Marketing Strategy - Essay Example Consumer behaviour refers to the overall attitude, preference, intention as well as the decision made by a consumer concerning the purchase of products or services in the market. The study of consumer behaviour aims at establishing the path that consumers follow in arriving at the decision to buy or not to buy a particular product from a range of similar products available in the market (Strack, Werth & Deutsch 2006). This knowledge is very important for any marketer in formulating the marketing strategy of his products and be able to predict what will happen in the future especially in a market environment chareacterised by stiff competition. This research will first demonstrate a clear understanding of consumer buying process and then propose a retail marketing strategy based on the theories of consumer behaviour. There are various factors that influence the decision making process of consumers ranging from internal, external, individual as well as environmental. However, these factors generally fall into three major classes; sociological, behavioural and economic factors (Strack, Werth & Deutsch 2006). It is very vital for any marketer to have a good knowledge of all these determinants to be able to predict the performance of his products in the market before introduction. Therefore, the best marketing strategy will come after a good understanding of the factors that influence consumers to buy, since the marketer will then know whether his products possess the characteristics that will influence consumers to buy his products or not. This refers to the influence of the members of the family, influence from group references and leaders opinions, influence from the social class as well as the culture of the people on the buying behaviour of consumers (Moutinho 1987). It is common knowledge that in every family there is the idea of specialisation and every family

Jesus Christ and Miracles Essay Example for Free

Jesus Christ and Miracles Essay A miracle is basically an event that cannot be fully explained by science and sometimes defies logic and reasoning. Generally, miracles are attributed to positive things such as a person suddenly being cured from devastating or a person waking from a deep coma after a lot of years. However, miracles are also attributed to persons and possibly the best person whom miracles are associated with is Jesus Christ. According to Wikipedia, Jesus Christ performed many miracles which include curing the sick, exorcising demons from people, controlling nature, and raising dead people, among others. Moreover, possibly the most popular miracles that Jesus performed based on Wikipedia are the turning of water into wine, the exorcism of seven evil spirits from Mary Magdalene, the healing of the mute, the blind, the deaf, and the leper, walking on water, the multiplication of small amounts of fish and bread, the raising of Lazarus from the dead, the transubstantiation of bread and wine, and his own resurrection from the dead, among many others. Basically, according to Wikipedia, Jesus performed miracles in order to show everyone that the divine power of God, His Father is real. In addition, the general view of the Catholic Church according to Wikipedia is that Jesus mainly performed miracles not only to help those who are in need but to convert non-believers into believers. However, according to Wikipedia, modern analysts of the Bible claim that miracles that Jesus performed were merely symbols and metaphors. For example, healing the blind served as a symbol for people who could not see the truth even though it is presented clear on their faces and healing the dead was a metaphor for people who could not or refused to listen to the truth. Nevertheless, the prevailing perception still is that miracles are the good, yet improbable things that happen in a person’s life and that Jesus Christ is the main performer of these miracles Works Cited Wikipedia. org. 2008. â€Å"Jesus. † 12 April 2008 http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Jesus.

Cloud Point Extraction Experiment

Cloud Point Extraction Experiment Bromothymol blue (also known as bromothymol sulfone phthalein, BTB) (Figure 2.1.1) is a pH indicator (yellow at pH 6.0 and blue at pH 7.6). Its chemical name is: 4,40-(1,1-dioxido-3H-2,1-benzoxathiole-3,3-diyl)bis(2-bromo-6-isopropyl-3-methylphenol (The Merck Index, 13th edition, 2007)[1]. pKa of BTB is 7.1. This dye is the most appropriate pH indicator dye in physiological tissue and also used in the investigation of the interaction of lipid with protein (Puschett and Rao 1991; Gorbenko 1998; Sotomayor et al. 1998)[2,3,4]. It is widely applied in biomedical, biological, and chemical engineering applications (Schegg and Baldini 1986; Ibarra and Olivares-Perez 2002)[5,6]. BTB in protonated or deprotonated form is yellow or blue in color, respectively, while its solution is bluish green in neutral solution. It is sometimes used to define cell walls or nuclei under the microscope. BTB is mostly used for the evaluation and estimation of the pH of pools and fish tanks and the determinatio n of the presence of carbonic acid in liquid. There are several treatment procedures for dyes from waste materials, including adsorption (Nandi, Goswami, and Purkait 2009)[8], coagulation–flocculation, oxidation–ozonation, reverse osmosis, membrane filtration, biological degradation, and electrochemical processes (Shen et al. 2001; Kim et al. 2004; Chatterjee, Lee, and Woo 2010)[9,10,11]. 2.1.2 EXPERIMENTAL 2.1.2.1 Materials: All the solutions were prepared with double-distilled water. 2.1.2.1.1 Triton X – 100 (0.1M): Triton X-100 was purchased from Qualigens Analytical grade. The TX-100 was cleared of any low-boiling impurities by exposure to vaccum for 3h at 700C following the procedure given by Kumar and Balasubrahmanium[19]. 31.4 g of TX-100 liquid is dissolved 500 ml volumetric flask and made up to the mark to obtain 0.1 mol/dm3 solution. The critical micellar concentration and Cloud point of TX-100 are 2.8Ãâ€"10−4 [20] 65à ¢- ¦C [21] respectively. 2.1.2.1.2 Bromothymol Blue (BTB) : 1.0 g of BTB dye Merck India was dissolved in 5.0 ml of ethanol (99.8%) for dissolution then dilution are made with double distilled water into a 1000 ml volumetric flask up to the mark to obtain an concentration of 1000 mg/dm3(Babak Samiey, Kamal Alizadeh et.al 2004)[22]. In order to avoid fading stock solution was wrapped black color paper. The working solutions of BTB were prepared by appropriate dilutions of the stock solution immediately prior to their use. 2.1.2.1.3 Acetic acid (0.5M). 28.5 ml glacial acetic acid (A.R.grade) Qualigens was diluted with distilled water in a 1000 ml volumetric flask to give 0.5M Acetic acid solution. The solution obtained was diluted to required concentration and standardized as per the procedure (Vogel et. al. 1989)[23] with standard NaOH solution. 2.1.2.1.4 Sodium acetate (0.5M): 13.6 g sodiumacetate.trihydrate, (CH3COONa.3H2O) of Analytical grade Qualigens is dissolved in 100 ml volumetric flask and made up to the mark (Vogel et. al. 1978)[24]. 2.1.2.1.5 NaCl (0.1M): 2.922 g pure dry salt of sodiumchloride of analytical grade Qualigens is weighing out and dissolved in 500 ml volumetric flask to give 0.1M NaCl solution(Vogel et. al. 1989)[25]. 2.1.2.1.6 Na2SO4 (0.5M): 16.1 g of sodiumsulphate decahydrate,(Na2SO4.10H2O) A.R.grade from Merck (India), is dissolved in 100 ml volumetric flask and made up to the mark to give 0.5M Na2SO4 solution(Vogel et. al. 1989)[26]. 2.1.2.1.7 KH2PO4(1.0M): 34.02 g of KH2PO4 of Analytical grade Qualigens is dissolved in 250 ml volumetric flask and made up to the mark (Vogel et. al. 1978)[27]. 2.1.2.1.8 Na2HPO4 (1.0M): A.R. grade disodium hydrogen phosphate, Na2HPO4.2H2O, is taken in porcelain crucible and heated until no more water is liberated. Then 17.8 g of this cold residue is taken in 100 ml volumetric flask and made up to the make to give 1.0 M of Na2HPO4 solution (Vogel et. al. 1978)[28]. The reagent is prepared freshly each time. 2.1.2.1.9 Buffer solution of pH4.0( ±0.05): 5 ml of 4M sodium acetate (A.R. grade) Qualigens and 20 ml of 4M acetic acid (A.R. grade) Qualigens are mixed in an 100ml volumetric flask and made up to the mark which has resultant pH of 4.0( ±0.05) (Vogel et. al. 1989)[29] . 2.1.2.1.10 Buffer solution of pH5.0( ±0.05):: 17.5 ml of 4M sodium acetate (A.R. grade) Qualigens and 10 ml of 4M acetic acid (A.R. grade) Qualigens are mixed in an 100ml volumetric flask and made up to the mark which has resultant pH of 5.0( ±0.05) (Vogel et. al. 1989)[30] . 2.1.2.1.11 Buffer solution of pH6.0( ±0.05): 13.2 ml of1M KH2PO4 (A.R.grade) Qualigens and 86.8 ml of 1M Na2HPO4 (A.R.grade) Qualigens are mixed in 100ml volumetric flask which has resultant pH of 6.0( ±0.05) (Vogel et. al. 1989)[31]. 2.1.2.1.12 Buffer solution of pH7.0( ±0.05): 61.5 ml of 1M KH2PO4 (A.R.grade) Qualigens and 38.5 ml of 1M Na2HPO4 (A.R.grade) Qualigens are mixed in 100ml volumetric flask which has resultant pH of 7.0( ±0.05) (Vogel et. al. 1989)[31]. 2.1.2.1.13 Buffer solution of pH8.0( ±0.05): 94.0 ml of 1M KH2PO4 (A.R.grade) Qualigens and 6.0 ml of 1M Na2HPO4 (A.R.grade) Qualigens are mixed in 100ml volumetric flask which has resultant pH of 8.0( ±0.05) (Vogel et. al. 1989)[31]. 2.1.2.1.14 Buffer solution of pH9.2( ±0.05): 1.905g of Na2B4O7.10.H2O of (A.R.grade) Qualigens is dissolved in 100ml volumetric flask and made up to the mark to obtain 0.05 M of borax solution.The resultant pH of the solution is 9.2( ±0.05) (Vogel et. al. 1989)[32]. 2.1.2.2 Methodology for cloud point extraction: 2.1.2.2.1 Procedure: The cloud point temperature was determined by literature method reported by Carvalho et al. [33]. This is based on the ‘visual observation of the separation of phases’ in the micellar solution. The solution was heated gradually in the water bath until turbidity appeared. To verify the results, the opposite process was carried out by cooling gradually with constant stirring and the cloud point was considered as the temperature at which the solution became clear. The reported value was the average of these two determinations; in most cases, these two temperatures were identical, within + 0.5oC. Cloud point extraction experiment was conducted by using a 10 ml centrifuge tube with a screw cap containing different concentrations of Triton X-100 and BTB and sonicated for 2 minutes for proper mixing. The solution is heated up to 80ËÅ ¡C in a thermostatic temperature bath for 20 min. The turbid solution was then centrifuged at 3500 rpm for 5 min and cooled in an ice bath for 2 minutes in order to separate the phases. Both the phases are separated and the volumes of surfactant rich phase (coacervate phase) and dilute phases were measured. Average of three determinations is reported in all cases. The concentration of dye in both the phases has been measured by using PerkinElmer lamda-25 UV-Visible spectrophotometer. In order to determine the influence of the reagents added to the surfactant phase, cloud point determinations were performed with the additions of buffer, dye and inorganic salts. The procedure for the determination of critical temperature was the same as above, bu t using only a fixed surfactant concentration. The phase diagram for Triton X-100 was obtained by measuring the cloud point temperature of aqueous surfactant solutions at different concentrations. 2.1.2.2.2 Spectra and calibrated graph The concentration of the dye was determined by U.V-visible spectrophotometer (PerkinElmer lamda-25). Pure BTB was initially calibrated separately for different concentrations in terms of absorbance units, which were recorded at wavelength 430 nm, at which maximum absorption takes place (Figure 2.1.2, 2.1.3). No significant change in the absorbance has been observed even in the presence of TX-100. Therefore all the absorbance measurements were performed at this wave length. Figure 2.1.2 Spectra of BTB dye Figure 2.1.3 Calibration curve of BTB dye 2.1.2.2.3 Determination of Phase volume Ratio, Fractional coacervate phase volume and pre-concentration factor The volumes of the respective surfactant-rich and aqueous phases obtained after the separation of phases were determined using calibrated centrifuge tubes for calculating the pre concentration factor. Surfactant solutions containing typical amounts of the BTB were extracted using the CPE procedure, followed by the measurement of the respective phase volumes. The results reported are the average of three determinations. The phase volume ratio is defined as the ratio of the volume of the surfactant-rich phase to that of the aqueous phase. It is calculated using the following formula. (2.1.1) Where RV is the phase volume ratio, VS and VW are volumes of surfactant-rich phase and aqueous phase respectively. The pre-concentration factor, (fC) is defined as the ratio of the volume of bulk solution before phase separation (Vt) to that of the surfactant-rich phase after phase separation (Vs). (2.1.2) Where Vt and VS are the volumes of the bulk solution before phase separation and the surfactant-rich phase respectively. The fractional coacervate phase volume with the feed surfactant concentration is calculated by using the relationship: (2.1.3) Where FC is the fractional coacervate volume and Cs is the molar concentration of the feed surfactant solution, for fixed feed dye concentration, the parameters a and b vary linearly with temperature. The value of Fc lies in between 0.04-0.23 for various operating conditions. Surfactant partition coefficient (m) is defined as the ratio of concentration of surfactant in coacervate and dilute phase. - (2.1.4) The efficiency of extraction is defined as - (2.1.5) 2.1.4 Discussion: This section is divided into four parts. In first part, factors influencing the extraction efficiency (e.g., concentrations of non-ionic surfactants, dye and salt, temperature and pH of the solution), fractional coacervate phase volume have been discussed. The nature of solubilization isotherm at different temperature has been presented in the second part. In the third and fourth parts, thermodynamic parameters and a calculation procedure for the determination of surfactant requirement for the dye removal to a desired level is briefly discussed. 2.1.4.1 Factors influencing efficiency: For ionizable solutes, the charge of the solute can greatly influence its extent of binding to a micellar assembly [34]. The ionic form of a molecule normally does not interact with and bind the micellar aggregate as strongly as does its neutral form. Thus adjustment of the solution pH for maximum extractability is of special importance when controlling experimental variables in CPE. With increasing pH, the efficiency of extraction increases up to pH 8.0 and then decreases. This is in accordance with the decrease in cloud point till pH 8.0 and a sudden increase at pH 9.2. Further, the pK value of BTB is 7.1. In the absence of any buffer solution, pH of the dye solution is 7.0 and there is no change in pH event after the extraction process is completed. Hence, all the parameters were optimized at this fixed pH of the medium. No significant increase in efficiency is observed with increasing [Dye] since the cloud point is not altered much with increasing the concentration of dye. The extraction efficiency of dye increases with the increase of surfactant concentration. The concentration of the micelle increases with the surfactant concentration, resulting in more solubilisation of dye in micelles. The surfactant concentration in the dilute phase remains constant (and equal to around CMC); the surfactant concentration along with the solubilised dye in the coacervate phase (micellar phase) increases to maintain the material balance[42-46]. The extraction of dye with TX-100 solution is due to hydrophobic interaction between BTB and hydrophobic micelles in the solution. However, with the increase of TX-100 concentration, the analytical signal becomes weak due to the increase in the final volume of the surfactant rich phase that causes pre concentration factor (phase volume ratio) to decrease [35]. In view of these observations, a 0.04 mol/dm3 triton X- 100 is used throughout. It has been shown that the presence of electrolyte can change the CP in different ways[36]. Salting out electrolyte such as NaCl, decreases the cloud point temperature. They can promote the dehydration of ethoxy groups on the outer surface of the micelles, enhancing the miceller concentration leading to solubilisation of more dye and resulting in a more efficient extraction [37] and reduce the time required for phase separation. A lower salt concentration gives a smaller pre concentration factor, due to the larger volume in the surfactant-rich phase at lower salt concentrations [38]. As shown in the fig the ability of salts to enhance extraction efficiency of the dye was in the order of Na2SO4>NaCl. Temperature has pronounced effect on the extraction of solute. (i) At high temperature, CMC of non-ionic surfactant decreases. (ii) the non-ionic surfactant becomes more hydrophobic due to dehydration of ether oxygen [39] and increase in micellar concentration and solubilization. A general preconcentration factor of 20-60 was obtained with this CPE method and similar pre concentration has been reported for other analytes (40). Typical preconcentration factors reported in the literature[41] varà ¯ed fiom 10 to 100. The CPE method gives a better preconcentration factor compared to conventional solvent extraction methods. In general, high pre concentration factors in CPE can be achieved using small amounts of surfactants which have large capacity to accommodate dye molecules. The hydrated nature and relative polarity of micelles, on the other hand, limit the extraction of dye into the surfactant-rich phase. From the viewpoint of concentrating the analytes present in aqueous solutions, the larger pre concentration factor, e.g., the smaller phase volume in the surfactant-rich phase is desired. A lower surfactant concentration gives a higher pre concentration factor. However, it becomes very difficult for sampling and accurate analysis with a very small volume of the surfactant-rich phase. On the contrary, excessive amount of added salt of â€Å"salting-out† effect can give the higher pre concentration factor, but it is likely forming the very viscous liquid crystalline phase, instead of the fluidic Liquid phase, in the system, making it difficult to separate the surfactant-rich phase. Therefore, optimization of the pre concentration factor is very critical in a feasible CPE technique. Hence, surfactant concentration of 0.04 mol/dm3 was chosen to conduct CPE experiments in this research. 2.1.4.2 Solubilization isotherm: The adsorption isotherm relating moles of solute solubilized per mole of surfactant[50] are presented in Figure2.1.8. The isotherm can be expressed according to Langmuir type expression: (2.1.6) Where, both m and n are functions of temperature. Figure 2.1.8 Solubilisation curve of BTB dye Assuming a homogeneous monolayer adsorption, the linearized Langmuir sorption model of equation (2.1.6) can be written as: (2.1.7) Plot of 1/qe vs. 1/Ce over the entire dye concentrations was linear with a correlation coefficient of 0.983 as shown in Figure 2.1.9. Thus, the solubilization of dye obeys the Langmuir adsorption model. The calculated values of Langmuir parameters m and n from the slope and intercept of the linear plot of 1/qe vs. 1/Ce were found equal to 4.29X 10-3 (mol/mol) and 2.04X104 dm3 /mol, respectively. Figure 2.1.9 Langmuir isotherm of BTB dye 2.1.4.3 Thermodynamic parameters: The overall thermodynamic parameters ΔG0, ΔS0 and ΔH0 were calculated using equations (2.1.8, 2.1.9) [48,49]as follows. (2.1.8) - (2.1.9) Where T is the temperature in (K), qe/Ce is called the solubilization affinity. ΔS0 and ΔH0 are obtained from a linear plot of log (qe/Ce) versus (1/T), from Eq. (2.1.8) and. Once these two parameters are obtained, ΔG0 is determined from Eq. (2.1.9) and presented in Table 2.1.6. Plot of log (qe/Ce) versus (1/T) is shown in Figure 2.1.10. Table 2.1.6 : Thermodynamic parameters Temp = 80 ±0.1ËÅ ¡c; [BTB]initial =12.8010-5 mol/dm3 ; [TX-100] =4.010-2 mol/dm3 pH (  ±0.05) -à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬  G ( KJ/mole ) à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬  S ( KJ/mole/K ) à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬  H ( KJ/mole ) 353 343 333 6.0 19.57 16.93 14.28 0.27 73.92 7.0 22.11 18.75 15.38 0.34 96.76 8.0 21.10 18.63 16.16 0.25 66.06 Figure 2.1.10 log (qe/Ce) versus (1/T) 2.1.4.4 Design of experiment: The amount of surfactant required can be evaluated from the residual dye present in the dilute phase of the solution after conducting cloud point extraction can be determined [45]. qe is the mole of dye solubilized per mole of non-ionic surfactant. (2.1.10) Moles of dye solubilized can be obtained from mass balance equation, (2.1.11) (2.1.12) Where, A is the moles of dye solubilized in the micelles, V0 and Vd are the volume of the feed solution and that of the dilute phase after CPE, C0 and Ce are concentration of the BTB dye after CPE respectively; Cs is the concentration of surfactant in feed. From the equation 2.1.10, 2.1.11 and 2.1.12 we can write, (2.1.13) Moles of dye solubilized can be obtained from mass balance equation, Where, qe is the mole of dye solubilized per mole of non-ionic surfactant, x is moles TX-100 used, A is the moles of dye solubilized in the micelles, V0 and Vd are the volume of the feed solution and that of the dilute phase after CPE, C0 and respectively; Cs is the concentration of surfactant in feed. (2.1.14) Now, by involving the definition of fractional coavervate volume in the above equation we get, (2.1.15) - (2.1.16) Where a,b are the parameters a and b which are functions of temperature. Substituting the above equation in equation (8) we get, - (2.1.17) Substituting the above equation in equation (1) and rearranging we get, (2.1.18) From the above equation the desired surfactant required (Cs) can be obtained knowing the value of m and n the Langmuir constants, a and b the operating temperature constants, Ce the amount of dye in dilute phase after cloud point extraction. By using the above equation experiments which are conducted were compared for surfactant used and required are shown in Table 2.1.8. Table 2.1.8: Comparison data of required and used TX-100 at 80ËÅ ¡C 105 [BTB]initial mol/dm3 105[ BTB]dilute mol/dm3 102[ TX-100 ]used mol/dm3 102[ TX-100 ]Required mol/dm3 3.20 1.11 4.00 2.64 6.40 1.87 4.00 3.82 8.00 2.22 4.00 4.32 9.60 3.19 4.00 3.79 12.80 4.09 4.00 4.46 16.00 6.72 4.00 3.74 8.00 3.60 3.00 2.42 8.00 1.73 4.50 4.32 8.00 1.18 5.00 5.60

Feminist Theory - There is No One Definition of Woman Essay -- Femini

Feminist Theory - There is No One Definition of Woman When posed with the question â€Å"What is woman?† it seems a daunting task to lay an umbrella statement to describe an entire gender. Upon further reflection, however, it seems that this overwhelming inability to answer the question, may in fact, be the answer to the question itself. Within the past two decades Maria Lugones and Elizabeth Spelman, Caroline Whitbeck, Geraldine Finn, and Helene Cixous have addressed the meaning of woman. There is not a concrete answer to â€Å"What is woman?† either produced by women or produced through men’s perceptions of women. The message of Lugones and Spelman in Have We Got a Theory for You! Feminist Theory, Cultural Imperialism and the Demand for â€Å"The Woman’s Voice,† is that the entire worldwide experience of women cannot be universally articulated. Blanket definition of woman is impossible due to the many characteristics of women that make the gender so diverse, specifically race and economic status in society. â€Å"The women’s voices most likely to come forth and the women’s voices mostly likely to be heard are, in the United States anyway, those of white, middle-class, heterosexual Christian women† (Lugones and Spelman 21). Since â€Å"feminist theory† has been established without encompassing the inherently different experiences of non-white/non-Anglo women â€Å"much of the theory has failed to be relevant to the lives of women who are not white or middle class† (Ibid. 21). This displacement of a large population of the worldâ⠂¬â„¢s women from feminist theory is extremely threatening to the development of a woman’s voice, in so far as this voice is key to fighting the battles that feminism sets out to fight: the end of re... ...a Cohen. The Signs Reader: Women, Gender and Scholarship. Edited by Elizabeth and Emily Abel. University of Chicago Press: Chicago. 1983. 279-297. Finn, Geraldine. On the Oppression of Women in Philosophy – Or, Whatever Happened to Objectivity?. Feminism in Canada: From Pressure to Politics. Edited by Angela R. Miles and Geraldine Finn. Black Rose Books: Montreal. 1982. 145-173. Lugones, Maria C. and Elizabeth V. Spelman. Have We Got a Theory for You! Feminist Theory, Cultural Imperialism and the Demand for â€Å"The Woman’s Voice.† Women and Values: Readings in Recent Feminist Philosophy. Edited by Marilyn Pearsall. Wadsworth Publishing Company: California. 1986. 19-31. Whitbeck, Caroline. Theories of Sex Difference. Women and Values: Readings in Recent Feminist Philosophy. Edited by Marilyn Pearsall. Wadsworth Publishing Company: California. 1986. 34-51.

How serious is Global Warming?

This report will cover Global Warming and its effects on people. Also this report will look at different ways that Global Warming affects humans as well as animals. This research report will cover climate change, greenhouses gases and evidence to support Global Warming. Evidence There is a lot of evidence to support the Global Warming; however the significance of the source depends on the reliability of the source. One of the most reliable methods of collecting data to show Global Warming is ice-core dating. Ice cores are samples dag up from accumulation of snow and ice over a period of time that recrystallized and trapped air bubbles[1]. Measuring temperature of the Earth's surface with thermometer can only provide data for past two or three centuries. Another sources of information about the past, is studying peat bogs or dendrochronology. Plants produce pollen in vast amounts, and each species of plants has a distinctive type of pollen. When looking at peat bogs. Differences between species and between the ecological conditions needed to flourish best, their pollen allows scientists to determine temperature and humidity levels of past years. Tree ring analysis is also used by scientists when looking at Climate change. Each year, tree produces new layer of xylem vessels. The diameter of xylem depends on the season2. The width of the tree ring can tell the scientists about the growth of the tree. This evidence is reliable as tree is dependent on the environment, the temperature and the humidity. All methods produce reliable data, however validity of the evidence can be questioned. The validity depends on whoever carries out the research. If the research is carried out by a private company (e.g. (BP) British Petroleum) will show only some of the data the most reliable to the question or to prove a certain point. The most reliable researches are carried out by independent companies or universities. What is Global Warming? The solar radiation in form of light waves passes through the atmosphere. Most of it is absorbed by the earth and warms it. Some of the waves are reradiated back into space in form of infrared waves. However, some of the Infrared radiation is trapped by the Earth's atmosphere and it warms it. As the composition of atmosphere changes and it thickens, more infrared radiation is trapped causing the raise in global temperatures. In natural cycle the concentration of CO2 in the air should equal the composition of carbon dioxide in the soil. However human activity changed that by releasing extra CO2 from the fossil fuels into atmosphere. The natural cycle is out of equilibrium and can not get rid of the excess of the gas. Causes of global warming One of the main causes for the Global Warming is human activity. The human needs and populations becoming lazy caused everything to be computerized and the energy use is great. To supply great deals of energy more fossil fuels are burned and more greenhouse gases are given off to the atmosphere. Also the lack of commitment of human race to healthy life styles caused the car manufacturers to increase the car production in recent years. Everyone wants to own at least one car, but they don't think about consequences of that. Many more cars cause a lot of emission of CO2 into the atmosphere. Greenhouse Gas Formula Contribution (%) Water Vapour H2O 36-70 Carbon Dioxide CO2 9-26 Methane CH4 4-9 Ozone O3 3-7 The raising temperature causes more water to vaporise, which leads to more UV light being trapped by the atmosphere, therefore the increase in the average temperature. As the graph above shows over a period of hundred years there is a positive skew, which indicated the increases in temperature. The increase is around 1oC, which could suggest a fast increases in surface temperatures. Environmental implications The increases in the concentration of greenhouses gases in the atmosphere, the possibility of acidic rains increases. Acid rains are caused by emissions of compounds of ammonia, carbon, nitrogen, and sulphur which react with the water molecules in the atmosphere to produce acids.[5] The below diagram shows the damage to the European Forests caused by Acid rain and Air pollution. The data shows on the above diagram was collected in 1988, which means that by now there would be more damage made to the European forests over the past 20 years as the concentration of gases increases in the atmosphere. Economic Implications As the climate changes and the surface temperature increases, the food companies may find it tricky to grow crops in certain parts of the world where they did before. This means that rice for example may not grow in Asia and this may lead to big scale starvation. This could also be seen as a social implication to the Global warming. On the other hand, car industries may have planned rises in sales. There are two reasons for that. One of them is the fact that everyone now want to own a car, however that will only increase the concentration of carbon dioxide in air. Car industries are coming with new ways of overcoming the CO2 emission and are producing hydrogen powered cars. Many hybrids have been designed by many different car manufactures, however they are not widely available for public use as they are more expensive than the petrol powered cars. Prevention of Global Warming To help prevent Global Warming, the emission of Carbon Dioxide has to be lowered and emission of other greenhouse gases. One of the ways in which gas emission can be lowered is use of renewable energy sources. One of the powers that we could use is solar power or wind power, however in England there is a problem with solar powering as there is not a lot of sun and it is not reliable. Many hot countries in the developing world, for example countries of South America could use sun light as their source of energy. However when using sun light energy, back up batteries or generators are essential as sunlight is not a reliable source of energy. In the UK not many houses are solar powered as the installation of PV cells is very expensive. It is important that the developing countries lower their gases emission and start to use renewable sources of energy as the consumption is going up along with the CO2 emission. The industrialized countries are around 24% of world population and use about 75% of energy. Along with that they account for 73% of CO2emission in the combustion of fossil fuels. Meanwhile, it is projected that energy consumption will increase primarily in the developing world related to the population growth and the ongoing industrialization in the future. Another way of lowering carbon emission was introduced by the car industries which introduced hydrogen powered cars. In hydrogen combustion water is given out when hydrogen is used as a fuel. It can be seen that Global Warming is a serious issue even to the government, as the mayor of London decided to have 8 hydrogen powered buses by 2012. It sound like it is not a lot but still developing hydrogen powered engines are very expensive.

Which Place Do You Prefer to Live?

Which place do you prefer to leave: in a small town or in a big city ? Small towns and big cities both have their good sides. First big cities have unlimited choices of things you can do. There is always a lot to do and visit. Living in a big city is more comfortable because there are cinemas, theaters, museums, shops, malls, lots of restaurants to choose. There are a lot of possibilities of shopping. Secondly the standard of education is also very high in big cities. People have many oportunities and it’s also much easier to find a well paid job.Teenagers can receive a good education in big cities because universities have different subjects. So, an argument in favour of living in a big city is that students can have more choices for their future careers. In a big city there are many people that you don't know and you can make many friends comparative to a small town where people always know something about you. Also famous singers or personalities come in big cities so you c an meet your favourite singer and take an autograph. Lastly big cities have other conveniences like airports and good hospitals.I think that to many teenagers big cities are exciting while the small towns are boring. Coming down to me I prefer living in a small town than in a big city because I don’t like noise and crowded places. I stayed in Bucharest for 2 weeks and it was too long for me. I had never ever been so tired than that time. Every night I had heard motorcycles, cars, dogs, horns, people talking very loudly. The first advantage of living in a small town is a healthy life. One of the conditions that helps us to be healthy is good weather and less population that exist in a small town.Also, in a small town there are less crowded and less traffic. Living in a place with less pollution such as air pollution or sound pollution helps us to have a healthier life and one of the main consequences is less stress and more happiness. In addition, in a small town foods and mat erials we need are healthier than in big cities. Therefore living in small towns is healthier than in big cities. Secondly, another advantage of small towns is living costs which is cheaper than in big cities.In particular, in a small town we can live in big houses with beautiful landscapes. Transportation cost is less than in big cities and we have less traffic so that we can save time and money. In conclusion, I prefer to live in a small town and I think it has some advantages such as less stress. In small town people know each other and have better relationships together than big cities therefore, in my opinion, in big cities people feel alone and depress. And it is obvious that people in small town have more happiness and friendships and less illness.