Global Warming and Carbon Credits

Global Warming and Carbon Credits Free Online Research Papers Global warming refers to the recent increase in the Earths temperature. The effects of this climate change are already being felt around the world. Scientists predict that temperatures will rise up to 6 °C further over the next century. This may cause rises in sea level, extre,e weather events such as hurricanes and heat waves, and war and disease, particularly in developing countries. It is generally agreed that global warming is caused by greenhouse gases emitted by humans into the Earths atmosphere. The biggest contributor is carbon dioxide, which is generated by burning fossil fuels such as coal, oil or gas. Every car or plane journey contributes directly to the Earths change in climate. Most of the worlds electricity is also generated from these fuels, despite renewable alternatives such as wind and solar power. The ideal solution would be an immediate and drastic drop in global carbon emissions. However this is not going to happen in our lifetimes. In fact, rapid economic development in countries such as China and India, as well as ongoing growth in the rest of the world, mean that carbon emissions are still increasing year on year. The Kyoto protocol is a first international attempt to address the issue seriously, but it has met with limited success. Enter Carbon Credits Carbon credits (or carbon offsets) offer an interim solution for companies and individuals. After calculating the quantity of carbon emitted by flying, driving and using electricity, the carbon emitter pays for a project that reduces carbon emissions by this same amount. Since greenhouse gases circulate freely in the atmosphere, this project can be located anywhere in the world. Carbon Catalog lists many different types of carbon project. Those involving solar, wind and hydroelectric power generate energy from renewable sources instead of fossil fuels. By increasing efficiency, switching fuels or generating heat and electricity together. Many projects lower energy requirements via better lighting, materials, building or public transport. After carbon dioxide, the second most important greenhouse gas is methane. While there is much less methane in the atmosphere, every tone causes 20-70 as much warming as a tone of carbon dioxide. Many projects capture industrial or agricultural methane and burn it to generate energy. The money one pays to offset one’s remaining emissions goes to projects that need funding to stop the releasing of greenhouse gases ( like supportable energy developers and rubbish heap gas capturers ) or that remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere ( like reforesters ). CO2 emissions emitted anywhere in the world contribute to global warming and climate change. The opposite is also correct, removing or reducing greenhouse gases anywhere helps stop climate change. Kyoto protocol: Launched in the winter of 1997, the protocol was designed to establish a broad agreement between countries around the world to restrict emissions of harmful greenhouse gases. Due to the too complex membership process and split ratification standards, it took until first quarter of 2005 before it became enforced. It took a long journey to its enforcement in 2005 since negotiations were not only lengthy and complex but was also factious. Merely signing up to the Kyoto Protocol did not in itself carry any real weight. When a country agreed to ratify Kyoto Protocols conditions, it is then that it would actually come into force, and merely signing it did not mean anything. Ratification ensured that the country would actively participate in reducing emissions against a specified target. Those who were unable to do so would need to engage in emissions trading, buying credits from participating countries which had been able to reduce their emissions beyond the specification. According to the Kyoto Protocol sponsor, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, this treaty aimed to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in air at a level that would not interfere with the natural climate system. To this day, 183 parties have ratified the protocol with the latest major standout to sign up being Australia. Launched in the winter of 1997, the protocol was designed to establish a broad agreement between countries around the world to restrict emissions of harmful greenhouse gases. Due to the too complex membership process and split ratification standards, it took until first quarter of 2005 before it became enforced. It took a long journey to its enforcement in 2005 since negotiations were not only lengthy and complex but were also factious. Merely signing up to the Kyoto Protocol did not in itself carry any real weight. When a country agreed to ratify Kyoto Protocols conditions, it is then that it would actually come into force, and merely signing it did not mean anything. Ratification ensured that the country would actively participate in reducing emissions against a specified target. Those who were unable to do so would need to engage in emissions trading, buying credits from participating countries which had been able to reduce their emissions beyond the specification. According to the Kyoto Protocol sponsor, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, this treaty aimed to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in air at a level that would not interfere with the natural climate system. To this day, 183 parties have ratified the protocol with the latest major standout to sign up being Australia. How does it exactly work? The goal is to stop the increase of carbon dioxide emissions. The Kyoto Protocol presents nations with the challenge of reducing greenhouse gases and storing more carbon. A nation that finds it hard to meet its target of reducing GHG could pay another nation to reduce emissions by an appropriate quantity. The carbon credit system was ratified in conjunction with the Kyoto Protocol. For example, if an environmentalist group plants enough trees to reduce emissions by one ton, the group will be awarded a credit. If a steel producer has an emissions quota of 10 tons, but is expecting to produce 11 tons, it could purchase this carbon credit from the environmental group. The carbon credit system looks to reduce emissions by having countries honor their emission quotas and offer incentives for being below them. What is Carbon Trade? An idea presented in response to the Kyoto Protocol that involves the trading of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission rights between nations. For example, if Country X exceeds its capacity of GHG and Country Y has a surplus of capacity, a monetary agreement could be made that would see Country X pay Country Y for the right to use its surplus capacity. Credits versus Taxes Credits were chosen by the signatories to the Kyoto Protocol as an alternative to Carbon taxes. A drawback of tax-raising schemes is that, they are not frequently hypothecated, and so some or all of the taxation raised by a government may be applied inefficiently or not used to benefit the environment. By treating emissions as a market commodity it becomes easier for business to understand and manage their activities, while economists and traders can attempt to predict future pricing using well understood market theories. Thus the main advantages of a tradable carbon credit over a carbon tax are: 1. The price is more likely to be perceived as fair by those paying it, as the cost of carbon is set by the market, and not by politicians. Investors in credits have more control over their own costs. 2. The flexible mechanisms of the Kyoto Protocol ensure that all investment goes into genuine sustainable carbon reduction schemes, through its internationally-agreed validation process. Key players: Bank of America is a leader in carbon-reduction strategies. The bank recently launched a $20 billion, 10-year initiative to finance emission-reduction projects, invest in green technology, and facilitate carbon-credit trading. BP is among the most well-known companies to implement an internal cap-and-trade system. The company assigned its 150 units an emissions quota and allowed them to buy and sell carbon credits among themselves. The European Union Emission Trading Scheme (EU ETS) is the mandatory cap-and-trade program for the EU. The Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX) is a U.S. carbon-trading scheme in which companies make a voluntary but legally binding commitment to meet emissions targets. Impact on the environment and society: The carbon credit system, though critical at the moment does pose a lot of advantages: The money from the purchases of carbon credits is used to create renewable energy projects and develop sources of renewable energy from wind turbines and solar panels for example. Energy saving initiatives are also created using carbon credits. People in the developing world are often given investment to help them save energy. The advantages of carbon credits mean that some of the schemes used like protecting rainforest have other environmental benefits. Though schemes like this are clearly flawed because they are not offsetting any carbon like they should be doing, but are merely stopping more being released by the cutting down of trees. Carbon credits system helps in ‘storing’ carbon in the soil which helps in green growth and purification of the atmosphere Energy saved means energy gained, saving energy will gradually put up for gaining it which will increase efficiency, plus make way for better avenues of energy The carbon credits idea greatly aids in putting a cap on the unchecked release of greenhouse gases across the world. Industries that pollute the atmosphere are penalized to do so and those who do not are incentivized. Hence companies and governments are persuaded to use eco-friendly means to ensure that unabated emissions of greenhouse gases don’t occur. An international market for carbon credits makes sure that companies can opt for and practise this system without difficulty. Trading is simple under this system as the regulations and methodologies are clear and simple, and this results in its popularity and effectiveness. More than the penalty awarded to erring companies, the rewards and appreciation given to green firms is what makes this system so popular and exclusive. This means that organizations with limited emissions will come up with strategies to further curtail emissions so that they can sell more carbon credits in the international market and thereby increase their profits. Hence, this system leads to a cleaner and greener environment. A majority of nations across the world have welcomed and embraced the method of carbon credits trading, and this is probably its most important benefit. Many projects fail because they are not able to generate widespread acceptance. By getting this aspect right, carbon credits look all set to bring about a significant improvement in the environment. trading may also allow a relocation of fuel intensive industries closer to fuel sources while maintaining or decreasing the total greenhouse gas output trading allows flexibility to innovate, develop appropriate technologies for developing countries and make technological advances in effective greenhouse gas emission reduction or carbon sinks Disadvantages: The Kyoto mechanism is the only internationally-agreed mechanism for regulating carbon credit activities, and, crucially, includes checks for additionality and overall effectiveness. Its supporting organisation, the UNFCCC, is the only organisation with a global mandate on the overall effectiveness of emission control systems, although enforcement of decisions relies on national co-operation. The Kyoto trading period only applies for five years between 2008 and 2012. The first phase of the EU ETS system started before then, and is expected to continue in a third phase afterwards, and may co-ordinate with whatever is internationally-agreed at but there is general uncertainty as to what will be agreed in Post-Kyoto Protocol negotiations on greenhouse gas emissions. As business investment often operates over decades, this adds risk and uncertainty to their plans. As several countries responsible for a large proportion of global emissions (notably USA, Australia, China) have avoided man datory caps, this also means that businesses in capped countries may perceive themselves to be working at a competitive disadvantage against those in uncapped countries as they are now paying for their carbon costs directly. The biggest drawback of carbon trading is lack of a comprehensive global structure for trading. Since majority of trade in carbon credits is conducted in the global market, it is difficult for regional enterprises to make use of this system. several small enterprises are not capable of affording the expenditure on buying the machinery or implementing sophisticated techniques that would reduce their emissions. As a result, the smaller businesses are made to repeatedly buy carbon credits in this system which leads to lowering of their capability to compete with bigger organizations. Theoretically, this scheme must bring down the overall level of carbon emissions. In reality, what credit trading does at best is to shift pollution from one place to another, in fact from one company to another. In countries where it is a lot cheaper for companies to simply shift to green technology than paying carbon/abatement taxes, companies will keep earning credit. When a substantial number of companies go green and earn credits, the value of credits in the market will go down because of increased supply. Non-green companies will enjoy this supply surplus and simply buy cheap credits. There will be less and less incentive for non-green companies to shift to green technology/practices, the preferred and ideal way to environmental protection. A lot of third parties appear in the system and a global regulatory body lacks Although theoretically, carbon credits system is supposed to reduce the atmospheric pollution by getting rid of the greenhouse gases, practically it does not. It may seem, What a cool idea! But instead of reducing our own carbon emissions, we are paying other people to reduce theirs. Carbon offsets - and emissions-trading schemes, their industrial-scale siblings - are the environmental version of subprime mortgages. They both started from some admirable premises. Developing countries like China and India need to be recruited into the fight against greenhouse gases. And markets are a better mechanism for change than command and control. But when those big ideas collide with the real world, the result is hand-waving at best, outright scams at worst. Moreover, they give the illusion that something constructive is being done. A few fun facts: All the so-called clean development mechanisms authorized by the Kyoto Protocol, designed to keep 175 million tons of CO2 out of the atmosphere by 2012, will slow the rise of carbon emissions by 6.5 days. Depressed yet? Kyoto also forces companies in developed countries to pay china for destroying HFC-23 gas, even though Western manufacturers have been scrubbing this industrial byproduct for years without compensation. And wheres the guarantee that the tree planted in Bolivia to offset $10 worth of air travel, for instance, wont be chopped down long before it absorbs the requisite carbon? Nationally managed emissions-trading schemes could do a better job than Kyotos we-are-the-world approach by adding legal enforcement and serious oversight. But many economists have a safer way: a tax on fossil fuels. A carbon tax would eliminate three classes of parasites that have evolved to fill niches created by the global climate protocol: cynical marketers intent on greenwashing, blinkered bureaucrats shoveling indulgences to powerful incumbents, and deal-happy Wall Streeters looking for a shiny new billion-dollar trading toy. So we again come to the point where we ask, credits or taxes? Taxes have the following advantages: 1. Carbon taxes will lend predictability to energy prices, whereas cap-and-trade systems will aggravate the price volatility that historically has discouraged investments in less carbon-intensive electricity generation, carbon-reducing energy efficiency and carbon-replacing renewable energy. 2. Carbon taxes can be implemented much sooner than complex cap-and-trade systems. Because of the urgency of the climate crisis, we do not have the luxury of waiting while the myriad details of a cap-and-trade system are resolved through lengthy negotiations. 3. Carbon taxes are transparent and easily understandable, making them more likely to elicit the necessary public support than an opaque and difficult to understand cap-and-trade system. 4. Carbon taxes can be implemented with far less opportunity for manipulation by special interests, while a cap-and-trade system’s complexity opens it to exploitation by special interests and perverse incentives that can undermine public confidence and undercut its effectiveness. 5. Carbon taxes address emissions of carbon from every sector, whereas some cap-and-trade systems discussed to date have only targeted the electricity industry, which accounts for less than 40% of emissions. 6. Carbon tax revenues would most likely be returned to the public through dividends or progressive tax-shifting, while the costs of cap-and-trade systems are likely to become a hidden tax as dollars flow to market participants, lawyers and consultants. How can carbon credits help improve the environment and society? Carbon credits can provide a country with both monetary and non monetary benefits. Currently, carbon credits are valued at approximately â‚ ¬ 30 per metric tone. Even if a country generates 100,000 metric tons of carbon credits a year it can generate an additional â‚ ¬ 3 million which is a quite significant amount especially for a debt ridden country like India. However, if we look at the non monetary benefits, carbon credits are a gold mine as they lead to positive changes in the soil property and environmental quality. Carbon credits, in general, leads to improved soil structure, with surface structure becoming more stable and less prone to erosion. Especially significant is the subsequent increase in soil organic matter. As soil organic matter increases, soil water and nutrient capacity increases significantly. And crops will fare better during drought because infiltration and water holding capacity have improved. Also, organic matter and the associated soil biological population will increase in vigor and numbers with more diverse crop rotations. Organic matter also may bind pesticides, suppress disease organisms, and improve crop health and vigor as soil biological activity and diversity increase. These changes could become a boon for agricultural economies. With respect to environmental changes, improvements can be expected in air quality as dust, allergens, and pathogens in the air decline; in water quality as sediment and nutrient loads decline in surface water from better soil aggregation; and in agricultural productivity. Wildlife habitat also is improved with higher residue levels. However, benefits always come at a cost and these should be analyzed before the benefits are praised. COST OF CARBON CREDITS Carbon credits is not an investment free avenue. Though generating carbon credits incur very low production costs, the subsequent costs can be high. The major challenge is in measuring the quantity of carbon in trees. A range of simple to complex techniques is available for the purpose. In general, the techniques are more reliable for plantations of species such as radiata pine and certain eucalypts, but less so for plantations of other species or of mixed ages and mixed species. Other things remaining the same, measurement of carbon with higher statistical accuracy results in higher cost for the grower. Growers also incur costs in the steps leading to the sale of the carbon credits. The steps form a lengthy and costly process. Some of the key points in the process include aggregation of individual growers’ carbon into a sizeable pool; verification of the pool; issuance of carbon credit certificates by an independent agent; registration of certificates and their lodgment with an authorized market clearing house for sale; and exchange of the certificates and the monies. Also as the cost of services and transactions associated with selling carbon are subject to economies of scale; small scale growers end up paying higher cost per unit of carbon. Recently concerns have risen over the long term effects of carbon credits. Kyoto forests consist of big trees which use a lot of water. Water use by plantations, cause a reduction of approximately 38 per cent in the stream flow. This may prove fatal in the long run, especially in populated areas. Shortage of water will start a cycle which will ultimately lead to the rotting of the forests themselves thereby defeating the purpose of the effort. In spite of the multiple problems and issues, the carbon credits market is growing at a very fast rate. WORLD CARBON CREDITS MARKET The world carbon credits market is the one fastest growing market in the world. According to estimates, the market is expected to grow to between â‚ ¬ 4.6 to â‚ ¬ 100 billion by 2010, with the former estimate based on purchases of carbon credits limited to compliance only, and the latter estimate subject to international political developments. However, the Kyoto deadline of 2012 for compliance is being pegged as the accelerator for market growth and estimates say that as end of the compliance period approaches, trading will go up exponentially with the market capable of reaching as high as â‚ ¬ 150 billion. The largest current market is the European carbon credits market (EU ETS) which opened on 1st of January 2005 and began trading at â‚ ¬ 6.7 per ton of CO2. Both, prices and volumes have gone up since then and currently carbon credits are being traded at approximately â‚ ¬ 30 per ton of CO2. The volumes are expected to rise up with massive demand coming from US, Germany, China and Japan in the near future. US which has not yet ratified the protocol is one of the largest generators of emissions, generating up to 25 per cent of the world CO2 emissions every year. INDIA’S PROSPECTS India has a huge advantage when it comes to the carbon credits market. In the new regime, the country could emerge as one of the largest beneficiaries accounting for 25 per cent of the total world carbon trade, says a recent World Bank report. The country’s dominance in carbon trading is expected to be driven, not so much by the domestic industry, but more by its huge tracts of plantation land, estimated to be over 15 million hectares, much larger than Australia which aims to be a major player in emission trading by adding 2 million hectare plantation by 2020. Seeing the importance of the prospects in the Indian market, World Bank entered into an agreement with Infrastructure Development Finance Company (IDFC) in 2002 wherein IDFC was given the task of handling carbon finance operations in the country for various carbon finance facilities. World Bank also earmarked an initial investment of $ 10 million aid carbon finance to IDFC-financed projects that meet all the required eligibility and due diligence standards. Identifying the opportunities the Indian industry has already taken proactive measures. A large number of domestic companies have initiated projects in diverse areas such as energy efficiency, co-generation, natural gas alternative fuels and hydel power. But the potential is still untapped. Currently, there are only about 225 projects in India which are moving towards taking advantage of this concept as compared to the current global requirement of 350-500 million tones of additional carbon credits. Much depends on how well India can capitalize on the current scenario. If the Indian industry and government cooperate Indian stands the chance of creating a $ 5 billion carbon credits market in the next seven years. PROTOCOLS FOR THE GENERAL PUBLIC: No matter who does what, it is advisable for general public to do small things that would definitely help fight the climate crisis and purify the environment. Drive Smart! A well-tuned car with properly inflated tires burns less gasoline- cutting pollution and saving you money at the pump. If you have two cars, drive the one with better gas mileage whenever possible. Better yet, skip the drive and take public transit, walk, or bicycle when you can. Buy Local and Organic vegetables. Did you know the average urban Indian meal travels more than 1,500 miles from the farm to your plate? Think of all the energy wasted and pollution added to the atmosphere not to mention all the pesticides and chemicals used to grow most produce! So go to your local organic farmer to get your fruits and veggies. Support clean, renewable energy. Renewable energy solutions, such as wind and solar power, can reduce our reliance on coal-burning power plants. Replace incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulb: Compact fluorescents produce the same amount of light as normal bulbs, but use about a quarter of the electricity and last ten times as long. Each switch you make helps clean the air today, curb global warming, and save our money on our electricity bill. Become a smart water consumer. Install low-flow showerheads and faucets and youll use half the water without decreasing performance. Then turn your hot water heater down to 120 °F and see hot-water costs go down by as much as 50 percent. Buy energy-efficient electronics and appliances. Replacing an old refrigerator or an air conditioner with an energy-efficient model will save you money on your electricity bill and cut global warming pollution. Look for the Energy Star label on new appliances. Plant a Tree, protect a forest. Protecting forests is a big step on the road to curbing global warming. Trees breathe in carbon dioxide, but slash-and-burn farming practices, intensive livestock production, and logging have destroyed 90 percent of the native forests in the United States. And you can take action in your own backyard - planting shade trees around your house will absorb CO2, and slash your summer air-conditioning bills. Reduce! Reuse! Recycle! Producing new paper, glass, and metal products from recycled materials saves 70 to 90 percent of the energy and pollution, including CO2 that would result if the product came from virgin materials. Recycling a stack of newspapers only 4 feet high will save a good-sized tree. Pleasebuy recycled products! As the clichà ©s go â€Å"Better late than never† and â€Å"Better safe than sorry†, think about the fact that these very banal statements were thought of for a reason in the first place and were based on common observations. Thus, it is now time to be prudent rather than judgmental. CONCLUSION: The carbon credits market is a liquid market as of now. And there is nothing to support the fact it will remain the same in the time to come. But India needs additional sources of revenue to finance its infrastructural requirements and feed its ‘100 billion’ population. Even if the market stops growing in the future or ceases to exist, the non monetary effects for an agricultural economy like ours are huge enough to make the risk worth while. Considering the environmental benefits of carbon credits system, the idea is still in smoke, there is no clear picture as there lacks a global regulatory body that would control all activities and hence monitor every trade that happens and provide a much clear picture whether results are coming out of it or not. I would say that the world should start off with carbon taxes as it would initiate the seriousness and the thought process, and in the meanwhile, create a global general regulating body omitting majority of third parties and come up with a strong regulated and networked body of the carbon credit system. If proper monitoring is done, and positive results are indicated, the carbon credit system can pave way for a great future. Research Papers on Global Warming and Carbon CreditsRelationship between Media Coverage and Social andDefinition of Export QuotasThe Project Managment Office SystemBionic Assembly System: A New Concept of SelfIncorporating Risk and Uncertainty Factor in CapitalMarketing of Lifeboy Soap A Unilever ProductGenetic EngineeringOpen Architechture a white paperAppeasement Policy Towards the Outbreak of World War 2Twilight of the UAW

The Game of Hex - An Interim Report Dissertation

The Game of Hex - An Interim Report - Dissertation Example Project Aims/Objectives The aim of the project is to implement a Hex game using NxN board, where N depicts the number of hexes in a side. The player would be able to specify the number of hexagons on a side i.e. size of board that will be used in the game. The board would be diamond shaped. The gaming mode could also be selected i.e. the two players could be two humans, a human against the system or two systems against each other with opposite sides. The player will select a side. If white is selected, then the player himself begins, else the opponent (player or system) plays the first move. Project Requirements The requirements of this project are divided into three parts: 1. Essential requirements The development language for the project would be Java (oracle JDeveloper 11). All functionalities will be developed using JDeveloper 11. AI algorithm called MCTS algorithm shall be used to support the high level of knowledge required by the Hex game. MCTS shall be implemented on the Hex game board whereon the data structures would be transferred. The game would have playing options. These options will be implemented though MCTS. The game will be played by two human players, or one human against the system. 2. Recommended requirements A new playing mode option can be added. In this playing mode, the game would be played between two systems. Adobe flash player can be used for designing a helper application to guide computer players as to how to play the Hex game. The guide would be simple enough to assist anyone in learning the game rules and playing. 3. Optional requirement: The MCTS algorithm which is used for building this game shall be compared with another... The board is rhombus shaped consisting of an array of hexagons. The optimal suggested size for rhombuses is 14x14. However, the size could vary. After choosing a one of the two colors (e.g. black or white), each player takes turn to place a piece on any one of the unoccupied hex. The goal of the game is that a player has to connect the two opposite sides of the board with an unbroken chain of his/her colored pieces. For a player that selected white, a chain of white pieces has to run from one edge to the other. Similarly, for the player with black pieces, a connected chain of pieces has to run across the other two edges (Figure 1-a). There is no predefined path for the chain. It can freely twist and turn on its path between the two edges. The player with white pieces always makes the beginning move. The strategy of Hex is such that the winning moves may be different for every player and the game never ends in a draw. One player always wins. This is due to Brouwer fixed-point theorem for 2D squares. Computer programs where a game of two players is solved generally comprise of exploration of a hierarchy of positions on the board. This hierarchy (called game tree) is a tree with a root, where its nodes represents the valid position on the board and the edges represent the valid moves. The extensive techniques for game-tree search developed over the last 3 to 4 decades are mostly aimed at programming Chess.

Homicide Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Homicide - Case Study Example This paper cover what happens in a typical homicide case, the people involved in the homicide case and the duties they carry out. The court of law also plays a major role in a homicide case as discussed in this paper. This paper emphasizes on the fact that in every homicide case what is very essential is the evidence as this will lead the investigators to track out the suspect. If an evidence sample is contaminated or destroyed by bad weather conditions, for example, sunlight and rainfall; then the evidence will be destroyed, and no case can be carried out. It is crucial in every homicide case for the evidence to be protected at all costs. Homicide is the unlawful killing or murder of a living human being committed by another human being with intent to cause major harm or to kill. Depending on the case it may or may not be a criminal action. For example in the case of a defense strategy, after a comprehensive investigation the homicide may not be ruled out as a criminal act. After ev ery homicide incident, a methodical investigation should be executed so as to know the core cause of the demise as this is also in accordance with the protocol. A crime scene is a place set aside by the police force because an illegitimate action or activity took place there. A crime scene provides evidence of the events that took place in that area, the sequence of events, the time the crime took place, evidence from the suspect in the form of personal effects of the suspect and the evidence from the scene on the suspect. The main principle of a crime scene is to find the key evidence so as to provide investigative and interpretive leads. The crime scene in this homicide case study is a major parking zone next to an isolated forest. The forest where the body was discovered also acts as a crime scene. Blood is at the parking area, and a trail leads to the forest where the body was disposed off. The blood on the described areas acts as crime scenes; they give a definite proof that th e crime took place there. From the photographic evidence; the victim was murdered at the major parking zone and later on dragged in the forest zone. Evidence that the victim was murdered in the parking area is the blood deposit as it seems some time passed before the victim was dragged in the forest; this is based on the photographs one can notice two blood stains from it. One blood stain has dried up while the other one is still fresh as compared to the first stain. From the crime scene, there is also blood splatter, seems the victim was trying to resist whatever was going on. The crime scene is as well near the victim’s residence as seen on the crime scene sketch map (Hess & Orthmann, 2010). The management for the synchronization of a homicide investigation depends on the Criminal Investigation Department/ Division. This is an agency that deals with the major crimes section. It is a division of the law enforcement force. The conclusions concerning a homicide case together w ith the proper presentation of the evidence gathered is a communal duty of the complete police force department. The investigative steps and strategies involved in this homicide investigation so as to obtain the correct evidence are described below; the people involved in the crime scene as well as the duties they perform so as to protect the crime scene are also explained in a precise manner as follows: The first person to arrive at a homicide scene is a responding police officer. The initial responding officer must be very swift in arriving at the crime scene as delays may result to fundamental observations, witnesses, evidence going unnoticed. The duties and responsibilities of the first officer at

Role of currency futures in risk management Essay

Role of currency futures in risk management - Essay Example Forward contracts have certain advantages over currency futures but their disadvantages cannot supersede the advantages provided by currency futures. Because of their standardized features and a high liquidity in the market, currency futures have gained widespread importance. Even with the advent of sophisticated derivative instruments such as options, yet the currency futures lie ahead of them because of the cost factors and their advantages in providing superior performances in covered hedges. Introduction In the contemporary world, currency risk management is gaining a widespread importance because of the globalization. Companies and individuals who are exposed to foreign exchange risk, which implies that either they have imports or exports which will cause their domestic purchasing power to decline by converting a foreign currency to a home currency will always aim to minimize this risk. These currency risks arise during certain conditions; when the firm or businesses have assets or liabilities which are expressed in terms of foreign currency. We can define foreign exchange risk more specifically as the risk faced due to fluctuating exchange rates. For instance, if a Malaysian businessman exports palm oil to one of the European countries and if he expects payments to be made in Euros, than he is exposed to considerable amount of foreign exchange risk if the Euro depreciates against the Malaysian Ringgit. In case if it happens, the Malaysian trader will get fewer amounts of Ringgits in exchange of Euros thus a successful business venture might turn out to a blunder because of poor risk management practices. The trade transactions are shelved between the countries as businesses are unwilling to bear foreign exchange risk. As the fear of foreign currency risk looms over the businesses, it can reduce its trade with these countries. But as the world has stepped ahead in the technological breakthroughs, so it has been able to develop financial tools which can hel p the traders to minimize the risk faced in the businesses. The derivatives market primarily consists of many instruments such as forwards, futures, swaps and options. The aim of this paper is to discuss about the role of currency futures and how they provide an advantage over other derivative instruments in managing foreign exchange risk. A currency futures contract is an agreement between two parties to buy a particular currency at a specific rate in the future. Future contracts are identical to forward contracts but they differ in a sense that they are traded on the exchange and are more liquid than forwards. Futures are liquid as they have a formal exchange like stocks where you can trade your legal contracts. Similarly, they are standardized contracts like shares and you can remove them from your portfolio in certain chunks. We can illustrate futures currency with the help of an example involving two parties who are exposed to foreign exchange risk. The party which is exposed t o the risk of an appreciation of value in a currency will buy futures to protect. These are usually parties who have revenues or exports and they feel that the value of their home currency appreciates making the currency in which the sales are denominated weak thus resulting in lower revenues. To hedge their position, they enter in to a futures contract and buy a certain amount of

Animal Farm: Communism Through The Eyes Of George Orwell Essay examples

Animal Farm: Communism Through The Eyes of George Orwell Throughout history, writers have written about many different subjects based on their personal experiences. George Orwell was the pen name of Eric Blair. He is one of the most famous political satirists of the twentieth century. He was born in Bengal, India in 1903 to an English Civil Servant and died in 1950. He attended Eton from 1917 to 1921, and served with the Indian Imperial Police in Burma from 1922 to 1927 before moving to Europe.Two of his most famous books, Animal Farm, written in 1946, and Nineteen Eighty-Four, written in 1949, were written about the political and social environment surrounding his life. "The driving force behind his two satires is an intense revulsion against totalitarianism, combined with an even stronger revulsion against its defenders among left-wing intellectuals."1 In most of George Orwell ¹s books and essays, there is a strong autobiographical element due to the fact that he spent many years living with Communists in northern Great Britain (a small number of people started to follow Communism in northern Great Britain when it started in Russia). George Orwell ¹s writing was affected greatly by his personal beliefs about Socialism, Communism, Fascism, and Totalitarianism, and by the revolts, wars, and revolutions going on in Europe and Russia at the time of his writings. George Orwell was a Socialist2 himself, and he despised Russian Communism3, and what it stood for. Orwell shows this hatred towards Communist Russia in a letter he wrote to Victor Gollancz saying, "For quite fifteen years I have regarded that regime with plain horror."4 Orwell wrote this letter in 1947, ten years after announcing his dislike of Communism. However, he had thought a great deal about Communism and what he disliked about if for a long time before he announced it to the public. Orwell "did not expect anything good from the Communist"5 and therefore Communism personally did not affect him, but "He was concerned with it (Communism) only because it was a problem for others."6 In Animal Farm, "an animal fable satirizing Communism,"7 Orwell uses farm animals in England to satirize Russian Communism and its leaders. One animal he uses is a pig named Napoleon, whose counterpart in the Russian Revolution is Joseph Stalin. After Napoleon takes charg... ...r, Alfred G. "Marx, Karl." World Book Encyclopedia.1988 ed. Orwell, George. Nineteen Eighty-Four. New York, NY: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc., 1949 Orwell, George. Animal Farm. New York, NY: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc., 1946 Stansky, Peter and Abraham, William. Orwell: The Transformation. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1979 Stansky,Peter. On Nineteen Eighty-Four. San Francisco, California: W.H. Freeman and Company, 1983 Wadsworth, Frank W. "Orwell, George" World Book Encyclopedia. 1988 ed. Woodcock, George. The Crystal Spirit a study of George Orwell. Boston, Massachusetts: Little, Brown and Company,1966 Voorhees, Richard J. The Paradox of George Orwell. New York, NY: Purdue Research Foundation,1961 "Stalin, Joseph." World Book Encyclopedia. 1988 ed. "Lenin, V.I." World Book Encyclopedia. 1988 ed.

Juan De Sepulveda Belittes the Indians

Juan Sepulveda was a man who strongly felt he could define a person or group as â€Å"civilized or â€Å"barbarians.† Sepulveda’s purpose in his article/primary source analysis was mainly to inform the Spanish about the Native Americans â€Å"barbaric† society and how could either try and convert them to Christianity or destroy them. His audience is mainly the Spanish royalty, and also the Christian community. Sepulveda explains what the government and activity of the Natives are like, and degrades who they are so his audience could have a feeling whether they should be enslaved or converted.During Sepulveda’s article/primary source, he mentions how he saw the government with â€Å"†¦ [No] written laws, but barbarian institutions and customs †¦ what temperance or mercy can you expect from men who are committed to all types of intemperance and base frivolity, and eat human flesh? (lines 17-20).† So far Sepulveda has had nothing positive to say about the Natives, and feels that they are far from civilized. Personally, this doesn’t seem too barbarous because everyone has a custom to something Sepulveda writes in a way that persuades that the natives are basically cavemen who know no better, compared to the Spanish norms.Although he is not lying since the natives eat human flesh, which would be barbarous, but its only safe to say that the natives are far from modern day society and the roles. Another piece of evidence that Sepulveda shares is that the natives would â€Å"wage continual and ferocious war upon one another with such fierceness that they did not consider a victory worthwhile unless they sated their monstrous hunger with the flesh of their enemies. (lines 22-24).† This time he proves a point that they would be barbarous, stating that the only reason Natives fight other Natives would be for food. As true as this may be, Sepulveda fails to tell the whole story.Indians would not fight daily for th e flesh of other humans, or else they would be extinct. And hidden to Sepulveda mind, he didn’t think about the diversity of the Natives and their different groups, so it becomes more clear that his Goal is to make them seem like savages so the Spanish would feel more bias on enslaving them rather than them being converted first. On one positive note, it is clear Sepulveda wanted to say something positive about the Natives, saying â€Å"†¦ Although some of them show a certain ingenuity  for various works of artisanship, this is no proof of human cleverness. (lines 28-29).†If all Sepulveda has been saying was negative things, and have one positive note, then it must have really caught is attention that the Natives have a thing for artisanship. This may be a key point in Sepulveda’s persuasion to converting the Natives to slavery. To say they are crafty would show that they are of use to something. This sentence he writes can be easily summarized that they have a talent, but the Spaniards will always be the superior to the Natives, as said in line 33, â€Å" [New Spain] †¦ are considered the most civilized of all.† To break down my analysis of Sepulveda’s article would be easily described in lines 57 and 58 that the â€Å"[Natives] have stated quite clearly that they have been born into slavery and not to civic and liberal life.†All that Sepulveda wants is a group of slaves that would later be converted to Christianity for the use and the good of the Spanish goals. It was clear s day Sepulveda wanted to make the Natives look bad (and good enough) to make the Spanish ruler feel they would come good use to slavery. Broken down into a nutshell, if the Indians look useless enough, but they have â€Å"artisanship,† then what better place to be than slaves. And the goals of the Spaniards are to spread their Christianity, so why not make them Christians as well.

Gender Identity Essay - 1288 Words

Gender Identity Gender identity has always been a controversial subject because everyone has a different opinion or feeling about the subject, but until everyone fully understands the immense history, the different types of identities, laws that have been passed and changed over the years, money that has been spent, bullying that takes place every single day, or the hundreds of controversies that have been argued about the issue one will never begin to understand the actual subject of gender identity. Both sexual orientation and gender identity cover the areas between the male-typical and female-typical poles. These can also be classified as the binary genders. Homosexuality can be considered to be associated with gender-atypical†¦show more content†¦Gender identity will continue to change the world, just as it has for decades. In today’s society, there are girls who play sports and boys who decide to dance. Children are no longer growing up in the same world their pa rents did, where gender roles were clearly divided. But even in today’s society, there are times when classifying as boy or girl makes a difference in how children experience the world (What’s Your†¦). Gender could be considered a sliding scale, with a wide variety of options that cover beyond just male and female. Some transgender individuals prefer the word non-binary, because it represents all levels of this scale. Other terms like genderqueer or gender nonconforming, also represent a mix of male and female, or the sense of having no gender at all (Vorenberg). People typically think about transgender as meaning gender reversal, where someone identifies as the opposite sex from their birth sex. But transgender is an umbrella term used to cover a wide variety of people whose gender identity is different from the one they were assigned at birth. One of the first Americans to fight in the courts for recognition as non-binary is Jamie Shupe. Shupe made history after a ruling made them the first Brittain person in the U. S. to be legally allowed to identify as neither male nor female. Shupe believed their gender identity was more feminine than masculine, but was not interested in changingShow MoreRelatedGender Identity Essay965 Words   |  4 PagesGender Identity Society should be more open minded with the topic of gender identity. Our society does not like rapid changes when they are publicly made; there is always a dispute or an opposition against those unexpected changes. The LGBTQIA+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and asexual) community is the â€Å"rapid change† that society finds difficult to deal with. Although, this community has always existed, but it has never been publicly recognized like it is today. 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Gender Identity Gender identity is basically the concept that gender is not easily divided into two classic genders as isRead More Gender Identity and Social Structures Essay examples1293 Words   |  6 PagesGender Identity and Social Structures What is meant by identity? Firstly this essay is going to explore what is meant by identity. Identity is made up of individual characteristics by which a person is known. Internal factors such as physical appearance, personality, mental ability and sex would have an effect on a person’s identity. Then there are the external factors such as family, class, religion, culture, occupation and nationality which would influence one’s identity. Then, even beyondRead MoreGender Identity Disorder Essays1031 Words   |  5 PagesLiving a life feeling out of place, with the wrong feelings, and in the wrong body, for a person with Gender Identity Disorder, this is how they feel day to day. According to the DSM-IV-TR, Gender Identity Disorder is characterized by a strong, persistent cross-gender identification, persistent discomfort with his or her sex or sense of inappropriateness in their gender role of that sex. According to the American Psychiatric Association (APA), children, adolescents and adults who exhibit a preoccupationRead More Psychological Positions on Gender Identity Essay1901 Words   |  8 Pagespsychological positions on gender identity. These positions are; binary gender identity and diverse gender identity. After I have explained both positions I will analyze the two and put forth my argument that diverse gender identity captures a more accurate depiction of gender. This psychologically charged debate over gender identity and its presence in society has taken the form of intuitions over social necessity. In where one side is arguing that traditional binary gender norms are no longer relevantRead MoreHow Is Gender Identity Influenced by Social Structures? 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Identity development is intrinsically linked with adolescence because, according to Santrock citing Marcia Carpendale, ...for the first time, physical, cognitive, and socio-emotional development advance to the point at which the individual can sort through and synthesize childhood identities and identifications to construct a viable path toward adult maturity. We often see the results of this