Credit crunch Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Credit crunch - Essay Example The people have started to understand the real issues behind this credit crunch because it has impacted their lives in a very negative way. It has turned the rich into poor very quickly and the poor have no where to hide as well (Author Unknown 2008). In essence, the credit crunch has played absolute havoc with the people of this world and there seems to be no stopping on this premise at all. Much needs to be done and for that to happen, the world’s biggest financial and economic bodies need to sit down together and devise a way for further progress and resilience within these areas. The historic basis of this credit crunch started when some of the world’s leading banks and financial institutions came down crashing some 2 years back. It brought with it a plethora of issues and troubles for the people, be them within the small sized markets or within the big institutions that played with the economic issues of the people. The move destroyed the basis of any economic activity within the world and hence these activities came to a standstill all of a sudden. American and British companies started to see downsizing and job cuts, which meant that more people started to lose their jobs and they had to bear the direct consequences due to this credit crunch. What was worse was the fact that the established companies which were doing pretty well within the global contexts also came down crashing (Anderson 2007). The liquidity basis was therefore hit very badly and the people within the financial groups were blamed for such a situation that had arisen in the first p lace. The historic basis of credit crunch has resulted due to a number of reasons apart from these as well. The dependence of one money regime over the other has also been the root cause behind such debacle in the first place and therefore the blame must be shared amongst all concerned. What is worst is the fact that people have been at the mercy of such financial

Water and Air Pollution in Shanghai China Article

Water and Air Pollution in Shanghai China - Article Example Air and water pollution in Shanghai is caused mainly by industrialization and the rapid increase in population. Air pollution levels are through the roof and the water in most parts is not safe for drinking. Water and air pollution in Shanghai, China, has been of great concern to the government, environmentalists and the general public, as the effects continue to affect the environment while many people have gotten incurable diseases and some have died as a result of the two and addressing the issue can be of great importance to the environment, the population and the country. Causes of Air and Water Pollution in Shanghai Coal Coal has been used in China for many centuries. Historians believe that coal in China was used as early as 1000 B.C. since then, it has been a major source of energy in China. Currently, China is the largest producer of coal producing an approximately three billion tons. China consumes more than one billion tons of coal for production of energy. In fact, about 70% of Chinese energy is from coal. Energy is produced by burning the coal. This process leads to a number of by products including smog, soot, carbonaceous gases, methane, sulfur dioxides and nitrogen oxides. These gases are the major causes of air pollution in Shanghai and around China. Coal mining and combustion around Shanghai produces about 37% of air pollution (United Nations Technical Cooperation, 12). Coal use has also been associated with water pollution through several ways. Coal plants use large amounts of water for cooling the plant. Water is also used in these plants to remove impurities that may affect the combustion of coal. The water used has to be released at some point. The water may come into contact with the products and byproducts of coal for example methane, arsenic and particulates. At the same time, the rains may wash out some heavy metal compounds from coal. Coal is usually stored just outside the coal mines and is not covered in most cases (U.S Environmental Protection Agency 5). Whether water is released to a safe disposal place or not it has to find its way to the main water bodies in some way. It can be through run off after rains or through seepage through the rocks in the adjacent areas. Also, sulfur dioxides produced during the production of energy from coal forms a layer of cloud above the earth and leads to acid rain after precipitation landing on vegetat ion and water bodies. Environmentalists also believe that the particulates formed and aerosols are dispersed by wind and end up in the water bodies contaminating the water (Smil 233). Industrialization Shanghai is one of the largest industrial cities and ports in the world. There are more than 10,000 large industries in the city of varying products and services. All these industries have waste which has to be dumped off at some point. As of 1999, industrial waste in Shanghai was estimated to be at 999 million tones per year. 93% of the waste were treated by the rest remained untreated posing a possible pollutant to the environment. Domestic waste on the other hand was estimated to be 380,550 tones within the same period. The monitoring institution stated that most of the waste contained oils and dangerous chemicals which found their way into the water sources (Huizhen 3). Industrial waste and domestic waste in Shanghai has been on the increase since 1997. Many industries have been e stablished and the existing ones have to cope with the increased demand for the various products. The industrial sector has been growing at an average of 11% per year from 1978 to 2008 in China. With Shanghai being one of the major industrial cities, the growth is expected to be around the same rate if not better. The rapid growth in the sector was attributed to by the cheap