Triggers of Destruction

2021 ◽  
pp. 148-150
Author(s):  
Samuel Cohn
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Threats ◽  
Low Level ◽  
Significant Damage ◽  
The World ◽  
Ecological Hazards

This chapter assesses some of the plausible triggers that could start a process of societal devolution. The danger areas to worry about include downturns in the Mensch cycle, ecological disasters, landlessness-based violence, and increase in patriarchy. Downturns in Mensch cycles are inevitable. Ecological hazards are harder to predict, but it is unlikely that the world faces absolutely no environmental threats whatsoever. The world is already experiencing more frequent and intense low-level wars from increased landlessness. Will that lead to something more serious? Who can say? A global snapback to traditional patriarchy seems unlikely, but this process is occurring in more localized areas. In those settings, the effects of the limitation of women's activity have already led to significant damage.

A Matter of Perspective: How adults represent causal launching sequences

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deon T. Benton ◽  
David H. Rakison
Keyword(s):  
Specific Mechanism ◽  
Associative Mechanism ◽  
Low Level ◽  
Domain Specific ◽  
The World ◽  
Modular Domain ◽  
Stimulus Features

The ability to reason about causal events in the world is fundamental to cognition. Despite the importance of this ability, little is known about how adults represent causal events, what structure or form those representations take, and what the mechanism is that underpins such representations. We report four experiments with adults that examine the perceptual basis on which adults represent four-object launching sequences (Experiments 1 and 2), whether adults representations reflect sensitivity to the causal, perceptual, or causal and perceptual relation among the objects that comprise such sequences (Experiment 3), and whether such representations extend beyond spatiotemporal contiguity to include other low-level stimulus features such as an object’s shape and color (Experiment 4). Based on these results of the four experiments, we argue that a domain-general associative mechanism, rather a modular, domain-specific, mechanism subserves adults’ representations of four-object launching sequences.

Incentivizing Peace

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaroslav Tir ◽  
Johannes Karreth
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Civil Wars ◽  
Full Scale ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
East Timor ◽  
Low Level ◽  
Self Interest ◽  
The World ◽  
Economic Tools ◽  
The Impact

Civil wars are one of the most pressing problems facing the world. Common approaches such as mediation, intervention, and peacekeeping have produced some results in managing ongoing civil wars, but they fall short in preventing civil wars in the first place. This book argues for considering civil wars from a developmental perspective to identify steps to assure that nascent, low-level armed conflicts do not escalate to full-scale civil wars. We show that highly structured intergovernmental organizations (IGOs, e.g. the World Bank or IMF) are particularly well positioned to engage in civil war prevention. Such organizations have both an enduring self-interest in member-state peace and stability and potent (economic) tools to incentivize peaceful conflict resolution. The book advances the hypothesis that countries that belong to a larger number of highly structured IGOs face a significantly lower risk that emerging low-level armed conflicts on their territories will escalate to full-scale civil wars. Systematic analyses of over 260 low-level armed conflicts that have occurred around the globe since World War II provide consistent and robust support for this hypothesis. The impact of a greater number of memberships in highly structured IGOs is substantial, cutting the risk of escalation by over one-half. Case evidence from Indonesia’s East Timor conflict, Ivory Coast’s post-2010 election crisis, and from the early stages of the conflict in Syria in 2011 provide additional evidence that memberships in highly structured IGOs are indeed key to understanding why some low-level armed conflicts escalate to civil wars and others do not.

scholarly journals A 12-year long global record of optical depth of absorbing aerosols above the clouds derived from the OMI/OMACA algorithm

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 5837-5864 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hiren Jethva ◽  
Omar Torres ◽  
Changwoo Ahn
Keyword(s):  
Atlantic Ocean ◽  
Optical Depth ◽  
Frequency Of Occurrence ◽  
Cloud Optical Depth ◽  
Low Level ◽  
Aerosol Cloud ◽  
Aerosol Absorption ◽  
The World ◽  
Absorbing Aerosols

Abstract. Aerosol–cloud interaction continues to be one of the leading uncertain components of climate models, primarily due to the lack of adequate knowledge of the complex microphysical and radiative processes of the aerosol–cloud system. Situations when light-absorbing aerosols such as carbonaceous particles and windblown dust overlay low-level cloud decks are commonly found in several regions of the world. Contrary to the known cooling effects of these aerosols in cloud-free scenario over darker surfaces, an overlapping situation of the absorbing aerosols over the cloud can lead to a significant level of atmospheric absorption exerting a positive radiative forcing (warming) at the top of the atmosphere. We contribute to this topic by introducing a new global product of above-cloud aerosol optical depth (ACAOD) of absorbing aerosols retrieved from the near-UV observations made by the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) onboard NASA's Aura platform. Physically based on an unambiguous “color ratio” effect in the near-UV caused by the aerosol absorption above the cloud, the OMACA (OMI above-cloud aerosols) algorithm simultaneously retrieves the optical depths of aerosols and clouds under a prescribed state of the atmosphere. The OMACA algorithm shares many similarities with the two-channel cloud-free OMAERUV algorithm, including the use of AIRS carbon monoxide for aerosol type identification, CALIOP-based aerosol layer height dataset, and an OMI-based surface albedo database. We present the algorithm architecture, inversion procedure, retrieval quality flags, initial validation results, and results from a 12-year long OMI record (2005–2016) including global climatology of the frequency of occurrence, ACAOD, and aerosol-corrected cloud optical depth. A comparative analysis of the OMACA-retrieved ACAOD, collocated with equivalent accurate measurements from the HSRL-2 lidar for the ORACLES Phase I operation (August–September 2016), revealed a good agreement (R = 0.77, RMSE = 0.10). The long-term OMACA record reveals several important regions of the world, where the carbonaceous aerosols from the seasonal biomass burning and mineral dust originated over the continents are found to overlie low-level cloud decks with moderate (0.3 < ACAOD < 0.5, away from the sources) to higher levels of ACAOD (> 0.8 in the proximity to the sources), including the southeastern Atlantic Ocean, southern Indian Ocean, Southeast Asia, the tropical Atlantic Ocean off the coast of western Africa, and northern Arabian sea. No significant long-term trend in the frequency of occurrence of aerosols above the clouds and ACAOD is noticed when OMI observations that are free from the “row anomaly” throughout the operation are considered. If not accounted for, the effects of aerosol absorption above the clouds introduce low bias in the retrieval of cloud optical depth with a profound impact on increasing ACAOD and cloud brightness. The OMACA aerosol product from OMI presented in this paper offers a crucial missing piece of information from the aerosol loading above cloud that will help us to quantify the radiative effects of clouds when overlaid with aerosols and their resultant impact on cloud properties and climate.

Appearance of Low-level Radioactive Silver on the World Silver Market

Nature ◽  
1972 ◽  
Vol 240 (5382) ◽  
pp. 463-464 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. LINDNER ◽  
G. A. BRINKMAN ◽  
A. SCHIMMEL
Keyword(s):  
Low Level ◽  
The World

PROTECTION OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ACCESS TO NATURAL RESOURCES, ESPECIALLY WATER

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 388-406
Author(s):  
Suheir Ibrahim Hachim NKHELA
Keyword(s):  
Natural Resources ◽  
Water Levels ◽  
Future Generations ◽  
International Treaties ◽  
Environmental Threats ◽  
Global Issue ◽  
The World ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Environmental Human Rights ◽  
Groundwater Basins

Environmental hazards are not considered a national problem that stops at the state’s borders only, but has become a regional and global issue that poses a direct threat to human survival all over the world as a whole. It requires the global community to provide environmental human rights and all the ingredients for sustainable development, especially clean air, clean fresh water, healthy food, and preserving natural resources for future generations. The water problem topped the list of environmental threats, as most countries of the world suffer from a severe shortage of water levels, diminishing the share of each person in the limited quantities of water, and today the world's countries and governments fear unending regional wars due to water, and the conflict over its sources, and the sources of rivers. Therefore, the issue of water has taken on a global character, and the complete conviction that water is the first problem that will face our future generations. he water war between the riparian states is a real war, and it will continue and happen inevitably. In the World Water Forum held in Istanbul in 2009, which showed that 260 water basins are shared by two or more countries, around which 40% of the world's population live, and there are hundreds of shared groundwater basins, for example there are fourteen countries that share a river The European Danube, eleven countries share each of the Nile and Niger rivers, nine countries share the Amazon River, and four countries share the Tigris and Euphrates, and the same is the Jordan River. Differences arose between the participating countries over the sources and the distribution of water between them for a long time, and sometimes reached the stage of acute conflicts and crises, and their intensity increased day after day. Dozens of international treaties have not resolved these differences, as disputes have not stopped after the conclusion of approximately 145 international treaties, and the reason for this is the absence of cooperation between these countries, the scarcity of rainwater, and the thinking of each country in isolation from the interests and peoples of other countries with which they share river water.

Problems of development of Arctic hydrocarbon resources under the current conditions.

2021 ◽  
pp. 70-81
Author(s):  
Anna Borisovna Nikolaeva ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Economic Development ◽  
Alternative Energy ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Recovery Period ◽  
Arctic Region ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Expert Assessment ◽  
Low Level ◽  
The World ◽  
The Arctic Region

The Arctic is the richest and at the same time the most difficult region to develop in the world. Exploration and exploitation of its deposits are inevitable for Russia and mankind as a whole. The Arctic region is characterized by extreme nature-climatic conditions, with a rather low level of economic development and remoteness from industrial centers, a low level or lack of any infrastructure as well as by instability of the ecological system to anthropogenic impact and a long recovery period. Since the potential of the resources currently being developed will be exhausted within several decades, and the world economies are not yet ready for a full transition to alternative energy resources, it is necessary to search for and develop new hydrocarbon reserves that determines the relevance of the study.The aim of the study is to identify the main problems arising when exploiting hydrocarbons in the Arctic region. The set of problems identified predetermines an integrated approach to their solutions. In this case, it is about reforming legislation, increasing funding, and attracting new participants in the international cooperation. Since the export of oil and gas is traditional for the Russian Federation, exploitation of hydrocarbons in the region is a prerequisite for the further economic development of the country. A state policy aimed at development and improvement of new technologies, reducing environmental risks, and deep scientific research of the Arctic, is needed. The method of expert assessment was used, which is applied for solving complex tasks with lack of information, and impossibility of mathematical formalization of the solution process. The basis for the application of this method is the possibility and ability of experts to assess the importance of the problem under study and development prospects for a certain research direction. The expert assessments were highlighted during the study and analysis of the literature.

scholarly journals Chapter 8 Swelling and shrinking soils

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 223-242 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lee Jones ◽  
Vanessa Banks ◽  
Ian Jefferson
Keyword(s):  
Arid Environments ◽  
Local Site ◽  
Geotechnical Characterization ◽  
Significant Damage ◽  
The World ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Structural Engineers ◽  
Semi Arid ◽  
Swelling And Shrinking

AbstractSwelling and shrinking soils are soils that can experience large changes in volume due to changes in water content. This may be due to seasonal changes in moisture content, local site changes such as leakage from water supply pipes or drains, changes to surface drainage and landscaping, or following the planting, removal or severe pruning of trees or hedges. These soils represent a significant hazard to structural engineers across the world due to their shrink–swell behaviour, with the cost of mitigation alone running into several billion pounds annually. These soils usually contain some form of clay mineral, such as smectite or vermiculite, and can be found in humid and arid/semi-arid environments where their expansive nature can cause significant damage to properties and infrastructure. This chapter discusses the properties and costs associated with shrink–swell soils, their formation and distribution throughout the UK and the rest of the world, and their geological and geotechnical characterization. It also considers the mechanisms of shrink-swell soils and their behaviour, reviewing strategies for managing them in an engineering context, before finally outlining the problem of trees and shrink–swell soils.

scholarly journals PERAN ORANGTUA TERHADAP PERKEMBANGAN MORAL ANAK DALAM KELUARGA MORAL DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDREN THROUGH THE ROLE OF PARENTS IN A FAMILY

2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmad Yanizon
Keyword(s):  
Moral Development ◽  
Intellectual Development ◽  
Moral Vision ◽  
Moral Formation ◽  
Low Level ◽  
Parents And Children ◽  
The Family ◽  
The World ◽  
Role Of Parents

Perkembangan moral pada masa kanak-kanak masih dalam tingkat yang rendah. Hal ini disebabkan karena perkembangan intelektual anak-anak belum mencapai titik di mana ia dapat mempelajari atau menerapkan prinsip-prinsip abstrak tentang benar dan salah. Orang tua merupakan tempat pertama terbentuknya moral anak. Kasih sayang yang diberikan orang tua terhadap anak, membangun sistem interaksi yang bermoral antara anak dengan orang lain. Hubungan dengan orang tua yang hangat, ramah, gembira dan menunjukkan sikap kasih sayang merupakan pupuk bagi perkembangan moral anak. Dengan demikian, maka penting sekali peranan orang tua di keluarga dalam perkembangan moral anak, karena orang tua merupakan pendidik pertama yang diterima anak ketika mereka terlahir kedunia. Adapun peran orang tua dalam pembentukan moral anak dilihat dari pegembangan pandangan moral, perasaan moral dan tingkah laku moral. Ketiga unsur tersebut terbentuk dari interaksi orang tua anak dalam keluarga yang berlangsung dari anak-anak hingga dewasa. Oleh karena itu, sudah seharusnyalah orang tua berperan sebagai teladan yang baik di keluarga untuk menjadi contoh bagi anak-anaknya.Kata Kunci: Moral, Peran Orang Tua Moral development in childhood is still in a low level. It is because of the children’s intellectual development has not already reached the level where he is able to learn or apply the abstract principles about right and wrong things. Parental is the first point of children’s moral formation. Parents’ Affection toward children, build their moral interaction systems. A warm, friendly, happy relationship and affection between parents and children are children’s moral development fertilizer. Thus, parents’ roles toward children’s moral development are very essential, because parents are the first educators for children when they got born into the world. Parents’ roles toward children’s moral formation are viewed from children’s developing moral vision, a sense of morality and moral behavior. These three elements were formed from parents and children’s interaction in a family since childhood to adulthood. Therefore, it is a must for parents to figure well in the family to be as a good example for their children.Keywords: Moral, Parents’ Role  

scholarly journals Sachs, Jeffrey D.: A New Foreign Policy: Beyond American Exceptionalism.

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-4
Author(s):  
Michal Bula
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
American Exceptionalism ◽  
The United States ◽  
First Century ◽  
Environmental Threats ◽  
Political Upheaval ◽  
Mass Migration ◽  
The World ◽  
The Face ◽  
Global Economic Growth

The American Century began in 1941 and ended on January 20, 2017. While the United States remains a military giant and is still an economic powerhouse, it no longer dominates the world economy or geopolitics as it once did. The current turn toward nationalism and “America first” unilateralism in foreign policy will not make America great. Instead, it represents the abdication of our responsibilities in the face of severe environmental threats, political upheaval, mass migration, and other global challenges.In this incisive and forceful book, Jeffrey D. Sachs provides the blueprint for a new foreign policy that embraces global cooperation, international law, and aspirations for worldwide prosperity―not nationalism and gauzy dreams of past glory. He argues that America’s approach to the world must shift from military might and wars of choice to a commitment to shared objectives of sustainable development. Our pursuit of primacy has embroiled us in unwise and unwinnable wars, and it is time to shift from making war to making peace and time to embrace the opportunities that international cooperation offers. A New Foreign Policy explores both the danger of the “America first” mindset and the possibilities for a new way forward, proposing timely and achievable plans to foster global economic growth, reconfigure the United Nations for the twenty-first century, and build a multipolar world that is prosperous, peaceful, fair, and resilient.

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