Tuesday, December 31, 2019
Monday, December 23, 2019
Social Inequality in Elderly Americans - 1115 Words
Social Inequality in Elderly Americans Elderly people (women and men age sixty-five or older) (Macionis, 2005), Have many obstacles to face as they grow older, many of these obstacles involve social inequality. Not only do the elderly have to learn to deal with many forms of Ageism (the stereotyping and prejudice against individuals or groups because of their age), some also have to deal with the fact that they do not have enough savings or pension benefits to be self supporting, for most people over sixty-five, the major source of income is social security (Macionis, 2005). This forces many elderly Americans back into the workforce to continue to earn money to support themselves and or spouses. Although many elderly Americans may chooseâ⬠¦show more contentâ⬠¦Choosing a long-term care facility can be very difficult because of incidents of abuse and/or neglect reported against care facilities can be overwhelming. For example in ââ¬Å"Ending Elder Abuse: A family guideâ⬠, Diane Sandell lists many elder abuse i ncidents from her files such as: neglect of decubitis ulcers led to infection, sepsis, gangrene, and death. Facility failed to provide necessary diabetic diet; improper insulin administration, insulin overdose; dehydration and death. Resident left alone in chair in shower room fell, became paralyzed from neck down. Many reports of pinching, rough handling, slapping, yelling, threats (2000). It is believed that abuse is most likely to occur if the caregiver not only finds the work difficult but also (1) works full time, (2) cares for young children, (3) is poor, (4) feels little affection for the older person, (5) finds the elderly person very difficult, and (6) gets no support or help from others (Macionis, 2005). Although there is no excuse for abusing elderly Americans, it is still very prominent in todayââ¬â¢s society. Diane Sandell explains in Ending Elder Abuse, that her 91 year old mother was beaten by a long-term care facility employee in the middle of the night for reason s unknown. It is stated that her mother died 6 weeks after the incident, unable to recover mentally from the abuse (2000). In conclusion, elderly Americans face many obstacles as they grow in age, such as ageism, workforce discrimination, poverty,Show MoreRelatedEconomic Development Patterns Of Employment And Retirement915 Words à |à 4 Pagesmay possibly affect economic development patterns of employment and retirement, the way individuals and families operate, the capabilities of governments and communities to offer sufficient resources for the elderly population, and the commonness of chronic disease and disability. The social, economic, and demographic deviations that the United States is undergoing at the population level may perhaps have far-reaching outcomes on oneââ¬â¢s physical health and well-being. For instance, changes in householdRead MoreRace, Gender And Age Discrimination896 Words à |à 4 Pagesthat race, gender inequality and discrimination still pose issues in Americaââ¬â¢s culture and are prevalent in todayââ¬â¢s society Most people in America identify themselves as multi racial-that is having more than one ethnicity in their biological make up ââ¬Å"9.1 million people in the U.S. identify themselves as multiracialâ⬠(Pearson Education Ppt Ch 3 Slide 4, 2015). Known as the melting pot, America recognizes that the internal make up of the country comes from many different social entities. However,Read MoreRacial Inequality And Gender Inequality889 Words à |à 4 PagesIn today s world discrimination is a racial inequality when it come to different races in the United states. Discrimination has been around for years and have created a social inequality , economic crises and have lowered individuals into a group known as the ââ¬Å" racial minorities ââ¬Å".Racial minorities can be classified as older people , women , immigrants and young men and women. Women from the early 1600ââ¬â¢s to today s women have been discriminated against for years. Women have never had the sameRead MorePoverty I s A Natural Element Of Society1515 Words à |à 7 Pagesfrom incomes that hardly put food on their tables? Sadly, the answer is probably not. Societyââ¬â¢s current social structure promotes the constant financial growth of the rich and other hand, limits the growth of the poor. This current system is making poor feel worthless because of the inability to escape the cycle of poverty. Poverty is a natural element of society. It has become so open in the American culture that in order to eliminate it would require significant change from both ends of the socio-economicRead MoreSociology: Poverty and Stratification812 Words à |à 4 Pagesis the trend towards social stratification, the system by which society organizes itself into a hierarchy. In some cultures this is manifest in the form of a caste system in which people who are in poverty have little to no chance of escaping it. In the United States the system is more in the form of a class system in which there is at least some degree of social mobility, and less status consistency allows people in poverty to have the possibility of changing their social status, but rarely theRead MoreThe Four Dimensions Of Class Inequality1388 Words à |à 6 Pages1) Describe the four dimensions of class inequality in the United States. The four dimensions of inequality include wealth, income, education, and occupation. In the United States people are ranked differently from everyone based on these four dimensions. A personââ¬â¢s economic circumstance is governed by wealth and income. Wealth is a personal net worth and income is the amount of money earned. Income is annual and wealth is generational. Both are distributed unequally in society, while wealth isRead MoreBernie Sanders, A Political And Economic Theory Of Social Organization1703 Words à |à 7 Pagestitles himself as a democratic socialist. When people hear ââ¬Å"socialist.â⬠they often run in the other direction, probably because they donââ¬â¢t fully understand what that entails. The official definition of socialism is, ââ¬Å"a political and economic theory of social organization that advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole.â⬠A primary goal of socialis m is production to satisfy human needs, not as under capitalism, for sale andRead MorePoverty Of The United States : An Overview By Cliff Brown919 Words à |à 4 Pagescontradicts the notion that all americans have an equal chance to succeed in life.(p. 89) With 37 million people living below the poverty line in the US, which is about 12.5% of the total overall population, there are many people being born everyday with less opportunities than others(p.89). Poverty tends to be concentrated among children, female headed families, racial and ethnic minority groups, and regionally, in the Southern United States. Children have replaced elderly as the most vulnerable ageRead MoreThe Health Impact Of Supportive Housing For Hiv Positive Homeless Patients : A Randomized Controlled Trial1123 Words à |à 5 Pagesand Planning Consultation. Planning Theory, 284-300 Anonymous. (2006). Newly constructed affordable housing must be adaptable for use by elderly and disabled. Planning Environmental Law, 28. Buchanan, D., Kee, R., Sadowski, L. S., Garcia, D. (2009). The Health Impact of Supportive Housing for HIV Positive Homeless Patients: A Randomized Controlled Trial. American Journal of Public Health, S675-S680. Cropsey, K. L., Wexler, H. K., Melnick, G., Taxman, F. S., Young, D. W. (2007). Specialized PrisonsRead MoreElderly Senior Population779 Words à |à 4 PagesIn 2014, Americans age 65 and older represented 14.5% of the total population in the United States. Between 2004 and 2014 the senior population grew by 10 millionââ¬âconstituting a 28% increase in the senior population, far surpassing the 6.2% growth in the population under the age of 65 (US Department of Health and Human Services, 2016). It is projected that one in every five Americans will be a senior in 2030 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2013; Ortman, Velkoff Hogan, 2014). The coming
Sunday, December 15, 2019
Political Science â⬠The Cold War Free Essays
string(108) " economic recovery program provided credits to Europeans to purchase and import North American commodities\." The Cold War was a period of entrenched, ideological opposition, between the East Bloc-?the Soviet Union ND its allies-?and the West Bloc-?the united States and its allies-?in which both sides did everything to undermine one another, short of outright military conflict. As the age of empire came to its precipice in 1945 CE, the Cold War ensued and lasted for decades, to about 1989 CE. The Second World War heralded a new international system that was not based on empire; it was based on the diametrically opposed binaries of the East Bloc and West Bloc, which defined the international system for decades thenceforth. We will write a custom essay sample on Political Science ââ¬â The Cold War or any similar topic only for you Order Now The stakes On 08 August 1 945, the United States released atomic bombs in Hiroshima ND Nagasaki, Japan. For those individuals that grew up during the Cold War, the threat of nuclear war was constant. Cold war chronology: the dates Yalta conference: 04-?11 February, 1 945 Decided on the post-war division of Europe; the Cold War was not meant to occur. The great powers agreed on the unconditional surrender of Germany; the division of Germany into four zones of occupation; free and fair elections in Poland, the Baltic states, and eastern Europe; the war criminals would be punished; and Europe would be divided into two spheres of influence thence. Potsdam conference: 17 July-?02 august 1945 Participants were the Soviet union, the united States, and the United Kingdom and they agreed to work together. Germany would be demutualization, democratic, demoralized, decentralized, and identified. Agreement on persecution Of the war criminals. Germanyââ¬â¢s eastern border would be shifted west from the Odder-Noise Line, reducing its size by about 25 percent compared to its 1 937 territory. ââ¬Å"Orderly and humaneâ⬠transfer of Germans from eastern Europe and Poland; Germans would be expelled from this area. Winston Churchill iron curtain speech: march 1946 The phrase ââ¬Å"iron curtainâ⬠was coined by Churchill to describe the division of astern Europe from the west imposed by the Soviet Union. The key message was that an ââ¬Å"iron curtainâ⬠descended upon Europe, and that the great cities of Berlin, Budapest, and Prague, among others, were within the Soviet Union sphere of influence. A spirit of collaboration and cooperation quickly dissolved between the Yalta and Potsdam conferences and Churchill speech. From here, the situation declined. German currency reform: 20 June 1948 Introduced the German Deutsche Mark in the Western occupation zones. The currency reform was the acceptance that there would not be one German economic zone governed by four powers; East and West Germany would have their Own currencies and the continent would be divided into two economic blocs. The German economy, suffering from a depression, was transformed. HOW did we get from 1945 to 1948 CE? Orthodox interpretation Revisionist interpretation George Seamanââ¬â¢s thesis. Soviet Union has ingrained tendency for expansion and had to be checked; this tendency was rooted in the Soviet Unionââ¬â¢s history. Soviet Union had to treat outer world as hostile, as that hostility was key to its existence. Cold War resulted from American reaction to Soviet expansion. The fault of the Soviet Union. William Appleton Williamsââ¬â¢ thesis. The idea was to invert politics and economics. American policy was driven by a constant need for markets, explaining the constant expansion across the west in the United States, policy in Latin America, and hostility to the Soviet Union. An economic need determined American economic policy. The fault of the Americans. Political history of the cold war Stalin and Churchill: October 1944 Stalin and Churchill meet without Roosevelt and devise a ââ¬Å"percentages agreement. â⬠Europe would be divided into spheres of influence. Each power loud be given a certain percentage Of power over a jurisdiction. America protested against this plan. Stalin violated promises made to Churchill on the percentages. When Stalin went to the Yalta Conference, he had already violated the percentages agreement. Stalin agreed to democratic elections without any intention of adhering to his pledge. Stalin asserted that the Soviet Union would determine policy in any area in which the Red Army occupied. Iran and turkey After the Second World War, the Soviet Union made moves on Iran and Turkey, giving the Soviet Union sovereignty and monopoly over Turkish traits. The Soviet Union demanded territory from Turkey and pushed troops into northern Iran, and only relinquished its control when the United States took the issue to the United Nations Security Council. Under diplomatic pressure, the Soviet union withdrew from these regions. It was in this politics that George Keenan wrote his ââ¬Å"Xâ⬠article. Eastern Europe: 1945-1948 CE The Soviet Union went on to install regimes through eastern Europe, including Poland, where a communist government was imposed by force; the Baltic states; Hungary; and in Czechoslovakia, there was briefly a enigmatically elected government, which was overturned by the Soviet Union. In this politics, Germany became a line in the sand. German women were sexually assaulted across the Soviet occupied zone. The East German regime lost legitimacy; in response, the Western Allies created West Germany-?the front line of the Cold War. Western policy toward Germany was highlighted by denationalization and decentralization. In its most extreme, the plan was to restore Germany to agricultural lands-?making the Germans affluent but powerless. Germany reintegrated into the western canon as an ally. 06 September 1 946: secretary of state James f. Erne Noted in speech that the Americans wanted to assist the Germans work their way out of hardships, to rejoin the international community. A year later, the British pulled out of Greece, and the United States stepped in. ââ¬Å"Stalin has broken every one of the promises he made at Yalta. â⬠-Franklin Roosevelt ââ¬Å"All of Germany must be ours; that is, Soviet communist. â⬠-Joseph Stalin The Marshall plan: 1947 CE Mass ive destruction, starvation, and poverty across Europe necessitated an economic recovery plan. Currencies across Europe were severely devalued and raising credit was difficult. The Marshall Plan was announced by George Marshall in 1947 CE to kick-start the European economy. The economic recovery program provided credits to Europeans to purchase and import North American commodities. You read "Political Science ââ¬â The Cold War" in category "Papers" This was fundamental to reinvigorating the European economy. The Ignited States gave 13 billion dollars in rehabilitation aid. The plan was offered to the Soviet Union, but it was rejected; thus, all countries allied with the Soviet Union were forced to reject the plan as well. Stalinââ¬â¢s reaction to the Marshall plan First and foremost, Stalin rejected the Marshall Plan and prohibited all Soviet allies from participating. In September 1 947, Stalin announced the formation f the Conform, to coordinate actions be;en communist parties under Soviet direction. Orders would be dictated from Moscow to the capitals in Soviet juju restrictions. ââ¬Å"Donââ¬â¢t start throwing your weight around. In Moscow, we know better how to apply Marxism-Leninism. â⬠-Andrei Cadenza, spokesperson within the Conform In February 1948, Stalin approves a plan for a communist takeover of Czechoslovakia. Truman doctrine: 1947 CE The Truman Doctrine was a United States policy to halt the expansion of the Soviet Join during the Cold War. The policy sought to contain communism in Europe and elsewhere. Truman implored that the United States must support free peoples. The policy also provided military and economic aid to Greece and Turkey as the British pulled out. Berlin: city of binaries Berlin was deep within the Soviet bloc. Initially, in Berlin, there was some effort to collaborate between East and West Berlin. This began to break down as democratically elected officials in the Berlin Parliament were being harassed by communists. Berlin blockade: 24 June 1948 The Soviet Union decided to draw the entirety of Berlin into the Soviet zone. All land access points to West Berlin were cut off; travel was restricted and thing could be delivered. The Soviets offered to drop the blockade if the Western Allies withdrew the newly introduced Deutsche from West Berlin. Hunger was a strategic political tool. In response to this, the Western Allies arranged an airlift to carry supplies and necessities to the people Of West Berlin. The Western Allies managed to feed Berlin to get them through the winter. In early 1949, the blockade was lifted; effectively, it was a failure for Stalin and a propaganda disaster. For the Germans, the Americans became saviors and liberators; this cemented the German-American relationship. Battle lines set for the cold war On 01 October 1949, the Communist Party of China declared victory in the Chinese Civil War, and proclaimed the peopleââ¬â¢s Republic of China. Williamsââ¬â¢ thesis was that America was ideologically hostile to China; however, there was brief hope that China would be communist but independent, allied to either side-?the Soviets and Americans. Moscow sought to bring China under its control. Mao-?the Chinese Communist party leader-?allied himself with Stalin and embraced a destructive and unbending version of Marxism-Leninism, which resulted in the obscene starvation of at least 30 million people between 1959 ND 1 961 when Mayoââ¬â¢s theories of agriculture were lacking-?the Great Chinese Famine. During the Korean War, Mao-?aligned with the Soviet union and North Korea-?pitted 300,000 Chinese troops against South Korea, which was defended by the United States and the United Nations. The atomic age: the sass This period exemplifies the evolution of Cold War strategy. It was believed during the sass and sass that war could limited and conducted with nuclear weaponry. Policy was based on two ideas: cities would not be bombed, and Europe would be defended through a second Normandy. Everything would be pulled off the continent, and nuclear bombs would be dropped along the coast. Cuban missile crisis: 1962 The idea of going to war ended with the Cuban Missile Crisis. The Cuban Missile Crisis was a basic illustration of international relations: behavior which is used as defensive by one faction is viewed as offensive by the other. As defense, the Ignited States installed missiles in Turkey; when Khrushchev, the Soviet Unionââ¬â¢s leader, got word of this, he installed missiles in Cuba. The Americans took images of the missiles in Cuba, and threatened the Soviet union that if the missiles were not withdrawn, war would ensue. In the early sass, the world edged closer to nuclear war than it had to that point. The Soviet Union backed down at the last moment, and the Americans began to draw conclusions from this: no one wants a nuclear war. Paradoxically, the idea of a limited nuclear war was abandoned as an idea; rather, mutual assured destruction would occur. Thus, any one nuclear assault would result in one response: a massive counterattack, resulting in a total war. The strategy to preserve peace, therefore, would be the constant threat Of the alternative: the risk of total war. This doctrine existed from the early sass o the mid-sass, and emerged again in the 1 9805. The central point was parity: peace can only be achieved in a nuclear world when both sides have an equal number of nuclear arms. The sass and sass: dtent, parity, and eventual dissolution The nuclear bombs race was characterized by the constant need for parity, and not madness on both sides like some peace writers suggest. Richard Nixon, the united States President, and Henry Singer, the United States Secretary of State, believed in the use of ââ¬Å"carrots and sticksâ⬠to achieve dtent-?the loosening of tensions -with the Soviet Union. To achieve parity and end the ongoing nuclear race, both factions were to negotiate a reduction in nuclear arms-?they could step back together. The idea behind this was classic realism: states with contrasting interests can only achieve cooperation through international institutions, rather than recognizing inherent state interests. There was a series of arms reductions in the 1 9705, which dissolved later in the decade, prompted by the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the election of Ronald Reagan in the United States, who was ideologically hostile to the Soviet Union. Reagan believed that dtent had failed and revealed American weakness, potentially exposing America to strike by the Soviet Union. Thus, Reagan ramped up the rhetoric, called the Soviet Union an ââ¬Å"evil empire,â⬠and launched a massive American military expansion to increase defense. Soviet plans in 1979 CE The Soviet Unionââ¬â¢s plan was predicated on the assumption of a NATO attack. The plan was defensive, and in the event of an American attack, the Soviet union planned to sacrifice Poland; launch nuclear strikes on Vienna, Verona, Munich, Stuttgart, and Numerous; launch conventional attacks on Britain and France; assume Budapest destruction; and send Soviet troops to the Rhine. The intention was that the United States would negotiate and the Soviet Union would wage a nuclear war if the United States responded with a nuclear strike. On the brink of nuclear war: 1983 CE On 26 September 1 983, the threat of a total nuclear war was imminent. Ronald Reagan increased defense spending, which prompted the Yuri Android, the General Secretary of the Communist party in Soviet Union, to believe that the Americans were contemplating a preventative strike against the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union set-up new technology-?radar technology-?to detect attacks. In 1981 and 1 983, NATO launched a series of exercises. The most aggressive form was sending bombers near Soviet Union air space, and then having them keel Off. There were naval exercises near Turkey. These exercises were predominately to conduct psychological warfare and to collect intelligence data. In February 1 983, Soviet Union intelligence went into overdrive, convinced that the Americans were prepared to launch an attack. NATO began launching another series of exercises in the summer and autumn of 1983. On 01 September 1983, a Korean Airlines aircraft was shot down by the Soviet Union. Ronald Reagan launched Missile Shield System to intercept potential missiles. This convinced the Soviet Union that the United States had hostile intent. Senior members of the United States defense team participated in a mock nuclear war, further convincing the Soviet Union that the United States intended to strike. Blips equals missiles equals bomb equals war: the closest point of total nuclear war In the midst of all this, on 26 September 1 983, Satanists Petrol was monitoring the security screen for the Soviet Union. He observed five blips, representing incoming intercontinental ballistic missiles. He was to press a button which would trigger Soviet Missiles to be fired. However, he contemplated why there would only be five missiles-?if NATO were to strike, they would send more than five missiles. He paused, and the blips disappeared. This was the closest point We came to nuclear War. Two years later, Mikhail Geographer became the General Secretary of the Communist Party in the Soviet Union. He launches perestroika economically and reformed communist in order to save it; a result of this reform was a series of arms reductions strategies. The Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 , effectively ending the Cold War. The end of the cold war: different interpretations The end of the Cold War revealed the inherent weakness of the Soviet union-?the united States did not need to do anything. The Soviet union was a flawed economic model and did not produce any growth. Some argue that it was Geographer, paradoxically, while he wanted to save the Soviet Union, that led to its collapse by initiating reform, allowing dissent, and announcing the Sinatra Doctrine, allowing east European sovereignty over their affairs. A fading economy and political upheaval lead to the end of the Soviet Union. The great hero was Ronald Reagan, because he spurred the Soviet Union into ear bankruptcy by causing the Soviet Unionââ¬â¢s defense spending to surge to unsustainable levels. Cold war: varying theses as to its cause To the revisionist thesis, America was hostile to the type of government that the Soviet Union imposed on Eastern Europe. The hostility was about politics, not markets. The fundamental failure of W. Williamsââ¬â¢ argument was that 70-80 percent of Americaââ¬â¢s market was based on domestic consumption; until the sass, the American economy produced a surplus. Therefore, the United States was fundamentally and Ideologically opposed to Soviet Union communism. Nevertheless, the United States baited, bluffed, and outnumbered the Soviet union. However, this does not mean that the Cold War was the Americanââ¬â¢s fault. The Cold War could not be avoided. The revisionist, anti-American thesis is supported by their actions in Latin America, Vietnam, the Middle East. The orthodox, pro-Soviet union thesis denied the terror and believed the Soviet Union was a workers paradise. Despite the depression and absence of democracy, the Soviet Union received massive intellectual support. Imagine, if you will, someone who read only the Readerââ¬â¢s Digest between 950 and 1970, and someone in the same period who read only The Nation or the New Statesman. Which reader would have been better informed about the realities of Communism? The answer, I think, should give us pause. Can it be that our enemies were right? -?Susan Sonata Key terms War is an organized and often prolonged conflict that is carried out by state and non-state actors. Limited war is a conflict in which the belligerents participating in war do not expend all of each of the participantsââ¬â¢ available resources at their disposal. Total war is a war in which a belligerent mobiles its population for war reduction. The word total refers to the extent of manipulation, not the extent of destruction. How to cite Political Science ââ¬â The Cold War, Papers
Saturday, December 7, 2019
Solar Power vs Coal Power free essay sample
Solar energy can be converted in two ways, by Photovoltaic or ââ¬Å"solar cellsâ⬠which change sunlight directly into electricity or by concentrating solar power plants which generate electricity by using heat from solar thermal collectors. Coal powered energy has played an important role in the advancement of civilization and will continue to be a major fuel source for at least the next quarter century. It is used primarly to produce electricty and heat through a dirty process which involves mining and combustion of the fuel. The two most common types of coal mining used today are surface mining and underground mining.In the long run, solar energy has greater potential than coal powered energy. Availability of fossil fuels is a considerable factor when dealing with various energy sources. Coal is non-renewable and it is estimated that at least 40% of the worldââ¬â¢s electricity comes from coal, and in 2005 Coal power produced 49. We will write a custom essay sample on Solar Power vs Coal Power or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page 7% of the United Stateââ¬â¢s electricity supply. The consumption of coal is expected to increase 71% between 2004 and 2030, highly motivated by developing countries that use coal to generate about 75% of their power.There are limited stocks of coal remaining, they will be entirely depleted this millennium if we continue to burn coal in the future at the same rate we are today. Solar energy, on the other hand requires the use of the sun which is renewable and will potentially never run out regardless of how much it is used. Therefore, solar energy seems to be the better choice. The cost of both solar and coal energy is a contentious topic. Wether in the form of water heating solar panels or PV panels to generate electricity, the solar energy technology is relatively expensive compared to coal-fired plants.Electricity costs in the United States average 7 cents per kilowatt-hour. A currently inexpensive solar system running at an average of 30% peak capacity due to no sun at night or cloudiness which produces 3 kilowatts will cost $6,552. This system will take about 10 years before it costs less than paying for electricity which has been made from coal. However there are some cases where solar energy makes economic sense. Photovoltaics power remote data storage devices can be highly beneficial where electricity is not available such as poor developing countries.Countries such as Africa use inexpensive solar collection devices for cooking and heating water, special design of new houses and buildings can greatly reduce the cost since much of the house becomes an effective solar collector. At the moment the price of coal is relatively cheap and stable due to easy access and an abundant amount that will last up to 250 years longer. Although solar energy is at disadvantage right now, the availability of ââ¬Å"freeâ⬠sunlight will continue to contribute to the development of new ideas that can make solar power more affordable in the future.The biggest concern associated with coal energy is the affect it has on the environment. It is a dirty fuel that pollutes the air, water and land. Burning coal releases harmful waste such as carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, sulphuric acids, arsenic and ash. It also emits twice as much carbon dioxide when compared with natural gas to produce the same level of heat, which in return increases the level of harmful greenhouse gases let off into the earths atmosphere. Carbon dioxide emissions from the burning of fossil fuels are responsible for about 65% of the extra carbon dioxide in our atmosphere. Coal mining can also damage the landscape as it requires trees to be cut down, this can impact on wildlife as they have are being forced out of their natural habitat. Similarly, Cadmium, a type of conductor which is used to convert solar energy into electricity, is highly toxic and can build up in the environment even though it is used in small amounts. While coal is a huge contributing factor towards pollution, solar power produces almost no carbon emission or greenhouse gases.There is no oil being burnt nor does it produce toxic waste and its lack of moving parts reduces the chance of enviromental accidents drastically, the only possible pollution may result from the construction and transportation of its parts. The material used to make photovoltaic cells which contribute to most solar energy systems are usually made of silicon, one of the most common minerals found on Earth. This means that creating the components is extremely easy, it doesnââ¬â¢t require mining or drilling th erefore limiting the negative environmental effects.Solar energy is shown to be the obvious choice when environmental factors come into discussion. The large amount of land required for solar power plants causes a problem and is an important factor to be considered, especially where wildlife protection is a concern. Generating electricity from coal actually requires as much or more land per unit of energy delivered if the land used in mining is taken into account. It is estimated that as much as 6 million acres of solar thermal farms would be required to replace all coal fired power production in the USA (Energy Matters, 2010).However, the continuation of coal use would require 7 million acres over the next 60 years which is a significant 1 million more when compared to solar thermal farms which is obviously seen to be the better option. In conclusion, solar powered energy is much more suitable for long term use then coal powered energy, even though in short term it might cost more to develop. Coal is a non-renewable energy source so it isnt going to last forever, itââ¬â¢s negative effect on the environment is a serious issu e and can not be ignored. Therefore we must consider the future and safety of our planet and continue to move towards solar power rather than coal.
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