Environmental Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Environmental Law - Essay Example But what really has the government done in order to protect the quality and safety of drinking water? What are the relevant UK laws or legislation that have been implemented in order to provide for this basic need? This paper hopes to present the relevant UK legislation as regards the quality of drinking water, including the standard EC directives and also hopes to present some of the issues and concerns regarding the maintenance of safe drinking water in UK. Since 1848, there have been legislation regarding the quality of water and sanitation in the UK, starting with the Public Health Act (EEHC, 2007). This act gave the Boards of Health the power to improve public health through the provision of better or enhanced water supplies, drainage and sanitation (EEHC, 2007). The water management handled before by the public sector, was privatized and the responsibility then was divided between the private water companies and the regulatory body, the National Rivers Authority (Rydin, 193). The 1989 Water Act, provided for the so-called â€Å"statutory water quality objectives† and schemes by the NRA (Rydin, 1993). The said act also provided for the protection of sources of water especially of drinking water through so-called â€Å"zoning designated perimeters† where possible contaminants of human activities are prohibited (Kiss and Shelton, 1993). Furthermore, under this Act, the Government is given the authority to select areas wh ich are Nitrate Sensitive to prevent nitrate from seeping into waters as a result of the use of fertilizers (Kiss and Shelton, 1993). Aside from this, the European Commission (EC) directives that sets the standards for chemical parameters and biological measurements, must be applied and taking into regard the appropriate uses of water (Rydin, 1993). These are stringent measures which protect drinking water (Howarth, 2006). The numeric quality standards of drinking water was set by the 1980 EC drinking water directive and gave

Peat Soil Essay Example for Free

Peat Soil Essay Peat is generally found in thick layers in limited areas, has low shear strength and high compressive deformation which often results in difficulties when construction work is undertaken on the deposit. Peat represents the extreme form of soft soil. It is an organic soil which consists more than 75% of organic matters. However, the cutoff value of the percentage of organic matter necessary to classify a superficial deposit or soil as peat varies throughout the world, usually depending on the purpose of classification. This cutoff value also serves to differentiate peat from superficial deposits or soils with lesser amounts of organic content. The terms peat and organic soils, used for describing soils with an organic content, were once synonymous but term organic soils is presently used for superficial deposits or soils that contain organic matter. Figure 1 Location of Peat Soil in Malaysia PEAT SOIL SUBSIDENCE Draining of peatland lowers water table causing subsidence Rate of subsidence 20 – 50 cm per year over a period of 5 years after drainage thereafter 5 cm per year. Oxidation acidity: Peatland water is acidic once drained, peatwater causes severe damage to flora fauna habitats in adjacent areas. Compaction or shrinkage of peat soils may cause groundwater containing fertilizer or pesticide residues to flow from agricultural area to adjacent water catchment area.

The Women of Shakespeares Othello :: GCSE English Literature Coursework

The Women of Othello The women of Shakespeares Othello are put into stereotypical roles, but behind peoples backs play much stronger types. Desdemona, goes against her fathers orders and marries a moor. Bianca innocently takes part in Desdemona's death. Emilia has an opportunity to save Desdemona but sneakingly remains silent. These women are similar because they are treated like they are lower then the men in their days. But they do not let that hold them back. These women take part in anything that pleases them. In no way would they let men tell them what to do! Desdemona was the daughter of the Venetian Senator Brabantio. Against her father's wishes, she marries a moor, Othello. "The marriage seems to be monstrous- in the sense that it represents a deviation from that which is natural. How else, Brabantio asks, would Desdemona, so carefully, have brought such scandal upon herself and her father by shunning, the wealthy curled darlings of our nation"(Act 1 Scene 2 Line 68). Desdemona arrives and gently resolves the dispute by acknowledging split loyalties to her father and to her new husband, but making it clear that she now belongs to Othello. For the play being set in the late sixteenth century, Desdemona's defense of her actions is remarkably forthright, spirited, and courageous. She was aware of the great risk involved when she married a moor. She says "She remains bound to her noble father for her life and education; he remains her lord of duty, and she will always honor him as such. Now however, she has a husband, and she must recogniz e her duties to him just as her mother did to Brabantio"(Act 1 Scene 3 Line 181). Desdemona is a well-born and well educated daughter of a Venetian senator. She has been trained to adapt herself easily to any social situation. You could see how she is headstrong in her choice of a husband and in her defense of him. Desdemona's generous nature tries to help Cassio receive his spot as Liutenant back. This is when her kindness falls for weakness. Using Desdemona and her natural goodness, Iago will "turn her virtue into pitch, and make the net that shall enmesh them all"(Act2 Scene 3 Line 366). It is Desdemona's innocent attempt to reconcile Othello with Cassio that gives Iago the opportunity to wreak vengeance upon Othello, causing the murder and suicide, which bring this tragedy to its violent conclusion.

An Analysis of Foot Soldiers of the Revolutionary Army

Pyeong G. Lim Dr. Christian History 1305 March 21, 2013 Summary of â€Å"Foot Soldiers of the Revolutionary Army† In the essay â€Å"Foot Soldiers of the Revolutionary Army† by Gary B. Nash, the authors of the book tell of a Private Joseph Plumb Martin that kept a diary that details the life and hardships that the soldiers endured. Martin writes, â€Å"The army was now not only starved but naked. The greatest part were not only shirtless and barefoot but destitute of all other clothing, especially blankets. (Gary Nash 124) The blacks were involved given the chance to receive freedom, which did not follow through completely. Although the colonies needed men for the army, these two simple sentences exposed the truth that people didn’t know at the time and even now. The leadership of the army knew this would be the case, which is the main reason that the terms of enlistment were so short during the war unlike the minimal 8 years contract in the army now.Although th e life in the army improved the soldiers had to endure such environment as, â€Å"shivering with cold upon bare floors without a blanket to cover them, calling for fire, for water, for suitable food, and for medicines- calling in vain. † Having to withstand all these misfortune, the soldiers were anything but humble in their conception of rights. The soldiers warned the generals of desertion if they were not properly taken care of, so the â€Å"severest Punishment† was placed to counter threat the soldiers.However, this did not last as â€Å"even in Washington’s handpicked Life Guard, eight soldiers deserted during the war. † As the war dragged out, eventually, Washington reopened the Continental army to free blacks with congressional approval. Slaves were still forbidden, yet five hundred free black men served in the war. It started with Massachusetts than to Rhode Island. Even with the blacks joining, Mother Nature did not see lightly of them, â€Å"By early 1778, the regiments were close to disintegration, their pay in arrears, uniforms tattered, and ranks thinned by disease. In February, all blacks were able to join the army with the consent of their owners in exchange for freedom. The white men found this proposal too good to turn down since the slaves would relieve them of army duty. The war continued with victory earned by the â€Å"Black Regiement who stromed through the moat and heavily fortified redoubts. † White men and blacks had hardship through out the war, but above all, despite all the blacks who were involved in the war, â€Å"only one third of the former slaves survived to taste freedom as civilians. †

Freedom in 17th century America

During the 17th century in North America there existed several classes of people. Each class had their own varying of freedom. During this period North America rapidly evolved from an experiment of sorts to a powerful colony with a multicultural immigrant base. As the colony evolved so did the social structures of its people. Whether it was with women, Indians, indentured servants, slaves, puritans or property owners each class had their own distinct version of freedom. The backbone behind the growth of the American Colony was the labor force, which was necessary to harvest such rich and large farms and plantations.During the 17th century this labor force primarily composed of indentured servants and slaves. Many Englishmen came to the new world as indentured servants on seven-year deals where they worked to gain their place and freedom. While under contract they were treated similar to slaves of the time. Like slaves they could be acquired or sold as well as punished corporally. It wasn’t until the latter 17th century when laws were put into place to differentiate between indentured servants and slaves. These distinctions were largely based on race.Though slavery wasn’t nearly as widespread as the next two centuries it still had no bearing on a slave’s life. Slaves of in North America lived with absolutely no freedom whatsoever. Indian and women were two of the other restricted classes within 17th century Indian society. This timeframe was absolutely catastrophic for Indians across the board. The introduction of disease by the European influx of settlers had an apocalyptic effect on the population of the Indians. Many tribes sustained losses as heavy as 90% of their populace.While most Indians have individual freedoms within their specific tribes, as a whole their lands were being stolen and their very survival was at stake. While women in the colony certainly did suffer as badly from disease, that doesn’t mean life was rosy either. Based on the English common law of coverture, women couldn’t even individually own property if married. Essentially anything women owned was actually owned by their husbands by right. Along with not having the right to property they also did not have a right to vote, and were expected to be obedient in a male driven society.On the other end of the freedom spectrum from the aforementioned lie the Puritans and Landowners. While women in puritan society had a similar role as describe above, the men were closer to actual freedom. The men in good standing with their society could do what he practically wanted within the bounds of the puritan norm. However they rather took to persecution within the ranks. The most famous example being the Salem Witch Trials and the circumstances that led to one of the earliest women’s religious leaders Anne Hutchinson. Landowners, when it comes to freedom in the 17th century had the direct opposite experience of slaves.They could vote, earn , and own property at will. Many of our nations forefathers are descendants of these early landowners. Contrary to popular belief even the wealthy ones were more likely to be a hard worker with long hours than British gentlemen that most would imagine. The melting pot that is now modern North America had its roots sown in the 17th century. There were a great many classes of people seeking a new beginning either by choice or need. Whether they were indentured servants, slaves, women, Indians, puritans, or landowners each class had different grades of freedom in their life.

Compare an article from both a tabloid newspaper Essay Example

Compare an article from both a tabloid newspaper Essay Example Compare an article from both a tabloid newspaper Paper Compare an article from both a tabloid newspaper Paper As part of my media coursework I am going to compare an article from both a tabloid newspaper and a broadsheet newspaper. In preparation for this piece of coursework I studied an article about a rugby match that occurred Saturday 9th of May 1998, the papers were then written on Sunday the 10th of May, the subject was based in the Sunday Mirror and the report was on page 61, whereas the broadsheet newspaper the Sunday Times sport Supplement the subject was on the front page, the rugby match was the final of the Tetleys bitter cup so this was a very important match for both teams. The layout of the broadsheet is extremely different to that of the tabloid paper, the broadsheet paper has fifty percent of it filled with a picture, there is a small part with the two teams names and the score at full time, it also shows which individuals scored the points, there is a huge bold print which runs along the page, the rest is a complete match report. I think that all this is important to the reader because the reader will obviously be a fan of rugby and they will want to know what has happened in the match, there is a huge match report which tells us what happened from start to finish, it is very informative. One part of the layout which I find to be very important is the huge bold print, I think that this bold print is included so that it catches any passing eyes; I think that that is also why the picture is there, the picture is so big that you can hardly miss it. The type of person that buys this paper will be very interested in rugby and would enjoy reading the full match report. The layout of the tabloid is very different because it is very small; it just simply has the score in bold print and a few paragraphs and explains what happened in the match very brief, it also has a title but it is also very small. The tabloid paper is not showing this match to be as important as the broadsheet; it doesnt explain the match as graphically as the broadsheet this may be because this paper may not concentrate on rugby as much as the other paper. The people who buy this paper may not be as interested in rugby as the people that buy the broadsheet paper. The photograph used in the broadsheet newspaper is very important as it catches the readers eye and it will make the paper look more interesting to the reader would want to refer back to the picture, the photograph used is a large one it shows seven or eight fighting towards glory they are all on the floor trying to get the ball, their facial expressions are shown as if they are concentrating on winning the match, one looks angry, others look confused as if they cant see where the ball is. We can also tell what the weather was like at the time because we can see shadows on the grass; this means that it was a pleasant, sunny day. We can also see the misery in one of the players faces because the opposing team has scored a point. Having no photograph in the tabloid paper will mean the no-one will really want to pick it up to read because there is absolutely nothing to attract any rugby fans, the extract looks plain and boring to any fans as they would expect to see a nice long report with a nice picture the tabloid has none of these. Although the tabloid paper has no photo it may be better for some people, the type of person that doesnt want to read a huge long report, they might just want the key points. The main headline in the broadsheet paper reads FINAL FLING this is obviously talking about the final move of the match; it basically describes what we can see in the picture. It is printed in large white bold letters which stands out from the dark background; this is so that it catches peoples eyes and makes the article look more interesting. When a potential reader sees this paper they will want to pick it up because of the eye catching headline in the bold print. The main headline in the tabloid newspaper reads Lynagh cruises to glory this headline is talking about a specific player, this player must have been the man who won the game for his team, or he may be the captain, anyways he must of played the lead role in the game or else his name would not be printed as the headline. The headline is in rather small black writing and is very small compared to the broadsheet paper. This type of headline wouldnt have much of an effect as it is quite small and I dont think that it would stand out from other papers if you were walking past it. When we read the broadsheet newspaper, not only do we get information about this specific game but we also get some information about previous happenings such as the teams history it says that the Saracens had matched a previous record for a cup final already set by Bath in 1990, it says that the Saracens would win the cherished double if they win there next game, there is then three or four columns explaining what happened in the match, it gives detailed description and makes the game sound really exciting, he found is path blocked as he sniped into midfield, swivelled on his heel and delivered a perfect diagonal kick into touch deep in the Wasps 22. I have highlighted the descriptive words of this sentence because I think that they make it sound very realistic and makes it seem as if you are actually watching the match. The paper also shows all the details for both teams, it shows the substitutions, when they went on and off, it shows the scorers in a separate part, it shows the referees name and where hes from and it also shows the attendance for the match. There was also some points about some of the players as individuals, flipped the ball inside to Sella. Sella, with it all to do, went steaming all the way through the remnants of the cover, in this short sentence this players name has been mentioned twice this means that the paper regarded him as a key player in the Saracens win. The overall effect of this is very good to somebody who enjoys rugby and will want to know absolutely everything which happened in the match, and this broadsheet paper provides all this. The tabloid newspaper gives very limited information about the game it sometimes tells us about the players but this is scarce. The paper also gives us the score but that is it, this information just gives the main pints of the game and nothing more. The language used in the broadsheet article is once again completely different compared to the language used in the tabloid article; the broadsheet article uses lots of descriptive words to describe the match and a hot Twickenham afternoon, a devastating performance by the Saracens, I think that this adds a feel to the broadsheet article and it would be very dull to read if there wasnt descriptive words included, all these descriptive words that are in the broadsheet article add an atmosphere and an excitement to reading the broadsheet. Although it doesnt have as many descriptive words as the broadsheet newspaper the tabloid article still includes some descriptive phrases such as; signed off in style to send the sizzling Saracens storming to cup glory. This is a ************** and it makes the sentence sound more dramatic and makes the reader want to read more. I think that the tabloid article uses more dramas tic descriptive words than the broadsheet; once again this makes the article a lot more entertaining to read. There is a lot of speculation in the broadsheet article before the writer starts commentating on the match he says such things as there seemed just a chance before the match that Wasps, the fresher side, would save their season with a mighty one-off the writer includes this to make it sound like the Wasps could of beaten the Saracens but they didnt. The writer of the tabloid article does not speculate things because he is concentrating on what happens in the game and not around it, he only writes about what happened for the eighty minutes, this makes the tabloid article a lot shorter than the broadsheet paper. The broadsheet newspaper is obviously aimed at avid rugby union fans, due to the length of the article, you can also tell that it was written by an expert on rugby union due to the history that was included on both the teams and the players, he commented on retirements, injuries, positions, this proved that Stephen Jones was an expert. The tabloid paper differs a great deal it is aimed at a more open minded person who likes all sport because it is short and snappy, it sticks to the point and it is accurate about the key points, he also tells us about the record which the Saracens had equalled. The article which I would prefer to read would be the tabloid article to a certain extent, I would firstly choose this one because I am not highly interested in rugby but due to the game being the final of the cup then I would definitely read the match report on it, but I would also like to read the broadsheet newspaper because it goes into a lot more detail and explains the match a lot better, it would also give me a chance to learn a few points on rugby. The broadsheet would only be of use to somebody who firstly enjoys rugby and secondly likes to read about it, a person who doesnt like rugby will not want to read about it because they might find it boring. The tabloid article would be enjoyed by people who dont particularly like rugby but dont mind it so they would read this one, but to a keen supporter of rugby the tabloid paper would be of no use as they would find it too short and not explained in enough detail.

Plato on the soul essays

Plato on the soul essays Plato on the Immortality of the Soul Like many people today Plato held the belief that the human being was both dualistic in nature, namely comprising of two separate entities; body and soul, and possessed a soul that would survive its embodied state. Plato saw the soul as immortal through being cyclical in nature and having this cycle comprising of three states; pre natal, embodiment, and post mortem. Plato formulates three arguments to back up his claim that the soul is immortal; the theory of opposites, the theory of recollection and the theory of destruction. Plato touches on the theory of a souls immortality in many texts but the one text that deals principally with this issue is Phaedo. Although Platos arguments are very cohesive and well constructed and in the day they were written must have seemed infallible, when we look back at them today there are a few flaws which leave Platos theories and arguments somewhat unsubstantiated. In order to better understand Platos argument as a whole this essay shall ap proach each theory and its problems separately before concluding them all as a whole. The theory of opposites is the first theory that Plato offers to his compatriots in Phaedo for a proof of immortality. This theory is based on the notion that the souls of the dead must continue in existence; for from what other source could those souls come which animate the living . This statement is backed up by a couple of examples; things become bigger from having been smaller, weaker from stronger, faster from slower, worse from better . Thus if these opposites are so prevalent in life why not life itself, as if from sleep to being awake then Plato supposes the same must apply to life from death. If we come from death to be alive then it must be true that our souls pre existed this life and are thus immortal and cyclical in nature, Failing this cyclic process e ...