The Apocalyptic Probability Containment - Essay Example

?(Insert Outline The industrious thirst that has overtaken the world has had its merits and demerits. This paper seeks to point out the demerits that have been so far realized and the probable extent of damage that they might end up causing; that is, making the world a post-apocalyptic trash site. It also points out the possible remedies that can be implemented so that the depletion rate of the world can be reduced. The main issues that will be discussed in the paper include settlement, alternate means of public transport, provision of alternate energy sources, agriculture, and waste disposal. Introduction The world, as we know it today, is rapidly gaining on an apocalypse. The apocalypse has been depicted in films in a manner that worries us as the inhabitants of earth. Scholars researchers have also given a prediction of how the earth might look after the apocalypse. Wall-E’s film shows a world that reduces to a carcass of a planet after it has been deprived of all the oxygen that it was used to. As disturbing and farfetched as these predictions may be, there lies a sense of reality behind them all. The world today is hungry for resources and will go at any length to get a hold of such resources without having to care about the eventual impact of their actions on the planet. Since the industrial revolution in the 18th century from around 1750, the world has been on a downward spiral accelerating toward a dreaded apocalypse. The revolution cannot be downcast because it saw major changes inflicted in practically every industry. The main problem can be traced to the manner in which industrialization was conducted. No prior strategy was put in place to counter the peripherals of the revolution; the main agenda was to revolutionize the world.The revolution saw the development of urban centers, industries and factories. People were moving to the newly founded centers in such of jobs and wealth. This zeal to be a part of the revolution is what has caused problems that are slowly dragging the world and forming a post-apocalyptic trash site of our highly cherished planet.Because of the revolution, people needed to settle, energy needed to be supplied to the settlers and factories, transport needed to be availed for ferrying both goods and people, waste products needed to be disposed and food supply needed to match the population’s demand. To avoid the seemingly inevitable end of this planet as a post-apocalyptic trash site, we must review, address and reconsider the issues of settlement, provision of alternative energy sources, alternate forms of public transport, agriculture and waste disposal in every corner of the world. How Settlement Can Be Reviewed To Help Contain The Apocalyptic Probability Settlement is the most central issue of all the problems. This is because all the other factors are directly linked to settlement. The people are the driving force of the world. Their innovations and inventions are what have brought change to the world as a whole. The main issue about settlement is the fact that population is concentrated in the urban areas with the suburbs being somewhat marginalized. The technology that is being used in all sorts of settlements seems to be getting out-dated and the impact to the environment are proving to be detrimental. The best possible solution for settlement in avoiding the disastrous apocalyptic end is developing new cities. South Korea is currently building a self-sufficient city similar to Abu Dhabi’s Masdar city. The city is a high technology and one of its core functions will be learning. The city project has been dubbed the Multi-functional Administrative City-MAC (Dillow, 2010). The idea behind this innovation is to create sustainable cities through technology. This kind of a city will help curb the issue of settlement because it will help disperse or depopulate the densely populated areas. The issue with settlement today is the scarcity of resources and the arguably unmanageable waste disposal. In Portugal, a plan to build a new eco-city that is controlled by a central computer brain are underway. This innovation seeks to compare and run cities like living organisms. This is a brilliant invention because the whole system acts as a loop. This means that everything is recycled from something else and this will help curb the issue of disposal in settlements. More interestingly, the buildings in this kind of city are hexagonal in shape (Boyle, 2010). This is believed to be a strategic shape for easing congestion in the city and accommodating movement of traffic especially. If this innovation is implemented, it would ensure that resettlement is not primarily aimed at decongesting the urban centers, but also in managing the issues that are affiliated to settlement and can cause the dreaded apocalyptic end. The Role of Alternate Means of Transport Transport is a fundamental of life and it is therefore mandatory to introduce a mode of public transport that is less harmful to the environment in terms of emission. The problem with the current systems of transport is the fact that the fuels used are harmful to the environment. The combustion of fuel in vehicles causes carbon emissions which are harmful to the environment when in abundance. The carbon emissions cause the depletion of the ozone layer because they trap too much heat. This has led to the current crisis of global warming that the world is facing. The invention of cars that are not propelled by fuel has been a major milestone in revolutionizing the transport system to help save the world from ending up as a post-apocalyptic trash site. The solar powered car is an excellent invention firstly because it uses natural energy from the sun.Secondly, the solar powered car is significantly or entirely powered using solar energy. This means that the emissions of the car are not harmful to the environment (BBC News, 2010). Another invention that can help in revolutionizing the public transport sector is the hybrid and electric vehicles. A hybrid vehicle uses more than one source of power. This therefore means that the use of fuel as a power source for vehicles can be overruled. The electric vehicle is powered fully by electricity. After it has run out of electric power, it is charged and ready for use again (Motavalli, 2012) in 20 minutes. These inventions will help reduce the carbon emissions that are as a result of fuel combustion of cars. It will also reduce the amounts of produced energy that goes to waste. For example, if electric cars are fully initiated in to society, there will be little electric energy that will be going to waste; they will help in the proper utilization of resources which are available without putting the planet at harm’s way. How Other Forms of Energy Can Be Explored Energy is the back bone of today’s society. Without energy, virtually nothing can be achieved because technology has been designed to run on energy and by virtue of energy. There are many energy sources that have been discovered over the years. However, some of the energy sources have been over-exploited and this poses a risk of extinction. In relation to the post-apocalyptic trash site possibility, some of the energy sources have been proven to be hazardous to the environment. As pointed out, fuel as an energy source is harmful to the environment because of the carbon that is emitted through it. Alternative sources of energy that have minimal or no adversities to the environment have been identified. These alternative sources must be utilized if we are to avoid turning the planet in to a post-apocalyptic trash site.The environmental friendly energy is referred to as green energy. There are various forms of green energy. One such form is solar energy. The solar photovoltaic thermal system is an invention that can help in the exploitation of solar energy as an alternate source of energy. The system generates both electricity and heat. This is a fairly new invention that needs to be popularized so that solar power can be used as an alternate source of energy( sciencedaily, 2012).Wind energy is also a good source of energy that can be used as an alternate. Turbines can be installed and be pushed by wind to produce energy. High altitude areas can be the best areas to install the turbines because of the powerful wind that is experienced in these areas (Rogers, 2012). The use of green energy as an alternate source of energy will help reduce the rate of carbon emission that lead to the depletion of the environment. Furthermore, it will be efficient because green energy in most cases is renewable; it cannot face extinction. How Agriculture Can Help Avoid a Disastrous Outcome Just like the other three aspects, agriculture also needs to be reorganized so that it can help towards the avoidance of the globe ending up as a trash site. Agriculture is necessary because without it, people would starve to death. The problem with the current system of agriculture is the fact that it has caused health deteriorations among people and this has caused people to suffer from terminal illnesses. With this kind of statistics, the world cannot be able to evade an post-apocalyptic trash site scenario. This is because the mortality rate reduces while the death rate among humans increases tremendously. Agriculture should focus its energy on growing energy crops. Far from just enhancing the health aspect among people, energy crops help in increasing the environmental quality of land (Sciencedaily, 2010).Agriculturalists should also use fertilizers that contain environmental friendly chemicals. Some of the chemicals that are used to boost the growth rate of plants contain chemicals which cause deterioration of the land. Researchers from Fraunhofer have developed a process of converting wastewater and liquid manure in to harmless fertilizers that is eco-friendly and chemical free ( Sciencedaily, 2012). If these processes and technologies are adhered to, then the agricultural produce will be transformed and enhanced to promote good health among people and furthermore help in the preservation and restoration of the environmental cycle by the elimination of harmful chemicals from the practice. Waste Disposal as A Fundamental In The Avoidance Strategy Every other issue that has been discussed always has a residue referred to as waste. Waste is more often than not harmful to the environment because most of the residual waste contains harmful elements to the environment and the continued decomposition of the waste leads to the formation of more harmful elements. Over the years and throughout the industrial revolution, there has been no solid mechanism that has been put forward to help in waste management that has succeeded. Waste disposal is an issue of contention in practically every civilization and every upcoming civilization. Waste can be classified as degradable or non-degradable. One of the trickiest waste products to dispose is nuclear waste. Scientists have come up with a way of disposing of the waste. The invention that has been made in the disposal of nuclear waste is storage of the waste. It has been discovered that nuclear waste can be collected and reused to generate nuclear energy in future. The waste is stored in a waste disposal canister and is later on recycled. In America, Nevada state is the main state for collection or disposal of the country’s nuclear waste (Boyle, 2011). It has also been discovered that waste can be used to recover waste material that can be beneficial or can pose danger to the environment. Researchers in Birmingham have been able to recover uranium from the polluted waters from uranium mines. The researchers used bacteria and a chemical analogue of cheap waste material from plants known as inositol phosphate to recover the uranium. According to Professor Lynne Macaskie, this same process can be used to clean up nuclear waste (Sciencedaily, 2009). These kinds of waste disposal and management strategies will help save the planet. This is because research has proven it to be possible to use waste to recover waste. Furthermore, waste can be recycled and reused as a source of energy. Not only is this applicable in the nuclear energy field, it is also applicable in other field like agriculture. The waste generated from energy plants which have been pointed out early can be used as sources of alternative energy. Conclusion If the world is to avoid ending up as a post-apocalyptic dumping site, then the inventions and strategies that have been discussed above need to be applied. These strategies will open up the minds of society to discovering that the ability of saving the planet is in their hands and is ultimately achievable. If we as the human race fail to make these changes, then we will be left with no chance than to watch our world turn in to a desolate, oxygen deprived carcass as it has been depicted in WALL-E; we will effortlessly turn the world in to the apocalyptic trash site that we cannot bare to think of. Global trends have been set in various places and this is a motivational factor. When analyzed in depth, one will come to the realization that the whole process is not only beneficial in preservation of the globe and the environment but economic benefits can be reaped from the results that will be yielded. Works Cited BBC News Europe. Around the world in 80 days for solar powered cars. August 16, 2010. Web.November 16, 2012. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-10991491 Boyle, R. Uncle Sam Wants You To Store Our Nation’s Radioactive Waste. August 1, 2011. Web. November 16, 2012. http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2011-08/uncle-sam-wants-you-store-our -nations-radioactive-waste Boyle, R. Planned Portuguese Eco-City is Controlled By A Central Computer Brain. October 11, 2010. Web. November 16, 2012. http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2010-10/portuguese-smart-city-emulates- biology-using-computer-brain-centralized-control Dillow, C. South Korea Will Build Sustainable City of Tech and Learning by 2020. January 12, 2010. Web. November 16, 2012. http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2010-01/south-korea-will-build-sustainable-hub- commerce-and-learning-2020 Motavalli, J. Coming soon to a mall near you: 20-minute electric car charging. October 17, 2012. Web. November 16, 2012. http://www.mnn.com/green-tech/transportation/blogs/coming-soon-to-a-mall-near-you- 20-minute-electric-car-charging Rogers, S. What is green energy? July 25, 2012. Web.16 November 16, 2012. http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/energy/stories/what-is-green-energy Science Daily. Using Waste To Recover Waste Uranium. September 19, 2009. Web. 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