Comment on Randy's WA2

Randy’s essay has an abrupt start to the introduction paragraph. However he did summarize the details he would touch on later in the body paragraphs. Furthermore for every paragraph he rebutted the arguments to his stand thus supporting his stand. A lot of statistical facts have been supported with references.
However this essay is very technical, and does not touch on social or political views so it’s rather monotonous. I feel that randy can improve on his continuity and unity as some sentences do not link smoothly. Other than these his essay is fine. He touched on the points that the question is looking for and went on further to give arguments which he rebutted on to support his stand.

Comment on Jianlong WA2

Jianlong essay is fine to me except for the fact that he tends to use emotions in his essay. For example, in stating his stand to the question, he used the word 'I' which suggests emotions. This seems to the readers that the writer is not being subjective and is arguing for a cause based on emotions. Other than this, jianlong's style of writing is good and systematic. All the paragraphs are easy to follow and read. His conclusion is also good and concise, straight to the point. His essay can also be improved by adding references from research so that the arguments sound more convincing to the readers. With references, his stand will be stronger and it will also be easier for him to explain his stand.

Comment on Weber's WA2

Hey Weber, generally you have done a good job in introducing the argument of the topic as well as supporting your stand. Your body paragraphs have clear thesis statements that allow readers to grasp the content of the paragraph easily. Further elaborations are also provided to support your arguments and reiterate your stand. Summing up all the relevant points in the conclusion, reaffirms your stand in this essay and also signalling readers the end of essay.

Overall this essay is well written except for a few minor errors, with fluent writing style and minimal grammar mistakes.

Cheers,

peng chen

Comment on PC WA2

Overall, the number of paragraph PC wrote was too many. He could have combined them to form like 4-5 paragraphs which contain 1 intro 2-3 body and lastly a conclusion. He spent quite a chuck in the introduction which contributed 2 paragraphs.There are a few grammar and vocabulary mistakes made throughout the essay but are not noticeable such that it would break the flow of the reader.

His body paragraphs has clear thesis statements that allow the reading to grasp what he is trying to bring across. However, more elaboration should be made to further his stand and support his arguments. He sum up all the points he brought up in the conclusion to reaffirm the readers his points at the end of the essay.

Reference section need more work as we are still unfamiliar with the minor details APA style.

Cheers,

Weber!

Summary on SRM

Solar radiation management (SRM) introduces a geo-engineering method of reducing Earth’s absorption of solar energy by adding light-scattering aerosols to the stratosphere or lengthening the lifetime and reflectivity of the low-lying clouds. However, scientists have been debating against the research on SRM, as it will reduce the political resolve to reduce emissions of greenhouse-gas. SRM is cheap, fast and imperfect, it is estimated that it can reduce the global average rise of temperature at least 100 times more cheaply than emissions cuts. These qualities make it a promising tool against climate change, but it would result in less precipitation and less evaporation. Certain areas would have greater protection than others, hence some countries would be left vulnerable. Furthermore, SRM could weaken monsoon rains and winds, and introduces risks like delaying the recovery of the ozone hole.
With millions of dollars at stake, and the risk it poses, thorough field testing is required. We have to understand the risks involved and from there work out whether it is worth to be implemented and come up with better solutions. A vigilant climate strategy requires adaptation and deep cuts in emissions. A good management SRM carefully in such a way that while managing the associated environmental and political risks, such cuts are not compromised.

Comment on Weber's WA1

Hey Weber, generally you have done a good job in highlighting the points of the question. However, I feel there are a few points you may want to take note. First, the transitions between the paragraphs are not flowing well. You started off with "firstly" but there wasn't a "secondly" or so forth in your essay. Besides that, the example that you have quoted of china in your essay does not have a reference to it. Some figures are needed to support your arguments and convince your audience. Furthermore, I noticed that the conclusion you made concludes something what you have not mentioned in the body paragraphs. This may make your audience confused. Keep working hard, and we all can do better in WA2!

Cheers,

peng chen

Summary of SpringBoard Reading << Nuclear power's new dawn>>

The article i am summarizing on is on the new generation of Nuclear power plants to provide for the rising energy needs of the world and to fight global warming.The article starts the ball kicking by describing a scene at a nuclear power plant in the near future 2035. Describing how the nuclear power plant is run at high operating temperature of 900C and that not a meltdown emergency. Due to the high temperature, it generate hydrogen fuel while active as a power plant. This is a vision of the future from Generation IV International Forum, which is a group of ten nations that is planning nuclear reactors of tomorrow. They envision high efficiency plants, and simple safety feature that prevents any accident from happening. In short, 'meltdown proof'- deliberate actions to cause a disaster is futile, thus making nuclear reactors less of a terrorist target.
As, nuclear power do not produce carbon dioxide as a by-product,it has become alternative as a energy source amidst the rising global temperature. Mainly a few obstacles that have to be overcome to build 'envisioned reactor' are cost, efficiency , feasibility and technological constraint like coolant used in the reactors. Only after these obstacles are overcome, then nuclear power can be considered as the fuel for the future.
The most advance concept is the VHTR( Very High Temperature Reactor) which Japan's Atomic Energy Research Institute already operated a test reactor that reach operating goal of 950 C. At high operating temperature, hydrogen fuel can be obtain from water in turn could replace the dependent on oil for energy needs.
The final section of the article covers on the technical aspect of how the radioactive fuel is fed into the reactor and what designs could make it be accident-proof. Lastly , it is concluded that the current technology is still far from the envision design and considering the current cost of nuclear energy, much improvements/researches are needed. As seen from a comment made by Alain Bugat , who head the France's Atomic Commission, " if we have a working demo of some design by 2030 we will be doing well", the gap of technology to cover before VHTR can be realized is huge.

Peer review on PC WA1

PC started his essay with a general background information about climate change as a global issue then focus onto the need for a good negotiator to chair conference and traits that make a good negotiator. Very informative introduction as it set the reader to the body of the essay.

Next, he move on to mention the basic role of a negotiator and the need for certain positive attributes for him to well established and has sufficiently supported his elaboration with evidences / quotes from article. However, he ended the conclusion with "In my opinion" which should be avoid as mention in the previous eg class video as it weaken the the points a writer trying to bring across to the reader.

Overall, he made little grammatical and vocabulary mistakes, allowing the reader to read the passage with ease. Keep up the good work.

Cheers,
WeiBai

Comments on Tey Jun Hong's WA1 essay.

Rendy's opened his essay with the rough idea of what he was going to touch on in the later paragraghs and elaborated further in the introduction paragraph (1st paragrah) to re-emphasize what the question's main points.

In his body paragraphs, each of them were opened with a thesis statement, which accurately summed up what would be talked about in the paragraphs. On top of that he clearly brought up his points in an orderly and fluent manner. There were no awkward pauses as conjuctions and the links were good between sentences.

He gave his personal feelings and stated the differences between developed and developing coutries, and gave solutions and ideas on what could be done to mitigate the situation. This gives readers a better picture on the differences and ideas on what could be and should be done.

Overall this essay is well-written, with little grammar mistakes and fluent writing style, except for the a few minor errors.

Comment on Jianlong WA1

Jianlong's essay touches on the first question of writing assignment 1 which is about comparison and contrast between the developing and developed countries' role in the climate treaty. Writing assignment 1 also requires the writer to cite deciding factors of a new treaty. Jianlong has presented his ideas in a systematic manners. In the opening paragraph, he gives the readers a insight of what his essay is going to be about, by highlighting the key points in the essay. He decides to break the body of the essay and tackle the political, economical, social and environmental issues surrounding the topic. This is a clear and systematic way of presenting ideas. However, he failed to understand what the question is asking for and thus the scope of the thesis is not quite right.
He went on to present his ideas in the following paragraphs and they sound fine. The main point of each paragraph is clear to the reader as his style of opening each paragraph is easy for reader to comprehend such as "Firstly i will touch on the economical factor.". The flow of ideas in the paragraph is also easy to follow. However, probably due to the above mention point about understanding of the question, his essay is merely providing the solutions from his point of views. Instead, he should compare and contrast between the two parties(developed and developing countries) and offer solutions based on the views of the two parties. His revised essay will be a better one if he can understand the topic and present his ideas like what he did in this one, the systematic way. =)

New blog skin

How did you guys change the blogskin? Any idea where we can get a tag board so that we can talk to each other when we are online?

Climate change

No doubt, climate change is a pressing issue. The lecturers showed us in their slides that the current climate situation is no laughing matter. From the statistics that analyze the alarming rate at which the temperature increases to the evidence of the effects of global warming, the lecture reminds us that we are living in no comfort zone. Truly, the climate situation is a ticking time bomb ready to explode and create devastating effects upon mankind.

In later part of the lecture, we were told of the measures we could adopt to actually lower the carbon emission that contribute to climate changes. Ironically, facing the doom, mankind still remain selfish, ignoring all warnings and precaution necessary to curb climate changes and its effect. Just touch our heart and ask ourselves, how many measures we remembered from the lecture and how many of them are we going to start implementing into our lives? Ultimately, I feel that the problems posed by climate changes would not be solved easily if we continue to live in our own sweet world and waiting for an external hand to eradicate these problems for us. How long we are going to wait? I seriously do not know. But the time bomb is still ticking...

Climate Change and its issues.

After listening to last Friday’s insightful lecture, it has increased my awareness and understanding of the issues related with climate change (global warming) and its implications. The point that caught my attention was countries with higher GNP per capita have higher carbon footprints, as they should have the technology and money to combat global warming. Over the years the effect of global warming has become imminent and hence the need to cut down on carbon footprints is inevitable. There has been a temperature rise, which in turn cause an increase in water level, thus endangering low-lying countries. For example Tuvalu , which is among the world's lowest-lying countries, they are suffering from two kinds of damage. One is from higher sea water levels that erode their coastlines. The other is from sea water penetrating the atolls, contaminating their wells and farmland and sometime even rising up through the floors of their homes. Hence we cannot leave this problem unchecked.

Prof. Sovacool shared with us some useful means to reduce the emission of the greenhouse gases. There are a few methods which could be used or have been done by the Singapore government which I would like to highlight. In terms of transport the Singapore have done a good job in keeping the number of vehicles on the roads in check. For example the Certificate of Entitlement (COE), instituted by the government of Singapore, is a program designed to limit car ownership, and hence, the number of vehicles on the country's roads. This system, in effect, requires residents of Singapore to bid for the right to buy a motor vehicle, with the number of certificates deliberately restricted. Furthermore she has incorporated good land use regulations and infrastructure planning. However, I feel that Singaporeans tend to have high spending power, in which 95% of goods most people purchase are no longer in use after the 1st year. In my opinion, perhaps the government can educate citizens on the impact they play in fighting global warming and how they can change their daily actions to mitigate the situation, or if need be impose a limitation to the amount of goods they can buy.

I hope people realize the situation and do their part in fighting global warming and our future generations live to see a brighter future.

Summary on Friday Lecture

I am doing a summary on the first guest lecturer Prof Liong from the Tropical Marine Science Institute.

To kick start the talk, he did a quick introduction of the aspect of global warming by defining important terms like climate, climate change and the greenhouse effect. Following by presenting graphical evidence of graphs and charts that pointed out the huge contributor of the harmful green house gases are from human activities.Not forgetting to show the effects/scenarios (fossil fuel intensive ) if no measure are done to mend the harm humans have done to Earth.

Going into the main topic, he introduced the IPCC( Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) an organization that was set up to monitor and do researches on the global climate. Telling us about the GCM( Global Climate Model ), how a volume of earth is broken up into different part and readings were taken and analyst. Being a small dot on the map, the GCM could not cater to our country needs, therefore the TMSI was set up by the government to monitor the climate in the region of south-east asia. GCMs are further down size to RCM which give higher resolution and are able to simulate precipitation to a larger accuracy.

The lecture was very informative and give us a very good explanation/introduction to the Climate topic which we are to cover this semester. It was strategic to place this lecture first as the next lecturer covers more on the aspect of methods/actions that can be taken by government and us individuals to play our part against climate change.

Climate change: issues and response - based on lecture 05/02/10

From the two lecturers, we further understand the issue and response of climate change.

Climate change, also known as global warming, is the increase in the average temperature of Earth since the mid-20th century and its projected continuation. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) concludes that most of the observed temperature increase was caused by increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases resulting from human activity such as fossil fuel burning and deforestation. Global warming is expected to cause glacial retreat, long-term shrinkage of Greenland ice sheet. As a result, worldwide sea level will rise, putting low sea-level nations in danger, including Singapore.

Human creates this problem and is responsible to solve it, for sustainable development and the next generations. Measures should be taken for climate stabilization, through institutional and individual actions. Institutional actions include energy supply, transport, buildings, industry, agriculture and waste management sector. Individual can fight climate change by leading a sustainable lifestyle, from consuming sustainable food, staying in sustainable home, to recycling used items and supporting green technology. Everyone can make a difference in the fight with climate change, and the best time to do it is always today!

Hi!

Just trying this thing out, 1st time ever using this.... guide me along thx!! =)

Test Run

Hello guys,

Lets own eg1471!

Test Run

Hi everyone,
something to kick start this blog
/* woot first entry */

this is a pretty informative website that show fast fact on global warming
more interesting to read than those long long articles
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/12/1206_041206_global_warming.html.

cheers,
Weber ( SI unit of magnetic flux)