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How Lightening is formed
How Lightening is formed
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Lightning
Even before, human beings existed on earth, lightning stroked the earth. It is even believed that the planet’s evolution is due to the effects of lightning. All over the world, the sky is usually lighted at around one hundred in terms of seconds. Furthermore, when lightning occurs, the bolts do not all reach the ground. For example, in the United States, it is estimated that lightening occurs twenty five million times. Most people associate lightning with negative aspects, but it should be known that it has its positive aspects. Lightning is known to cause extreme damage particularly for objects and people that are not well protected. It should be known that when compared to other natural disasters, lightning does not kill many people. On a yearly basis, lightning strikes at least one aircraft, which is in the sky. Luckily, modern aircrafts have been constructed in a way that they are not affected by lightning strikes. Moreover, many forest fires, as well as failure of electric power lines are caused by lightning. The advantage of lightning in forest fires is one that cannot be ignored. It helps in ensuring that the forests constantly have a life cycle that is natural (Dwyer, 2005).
Lightning is described as being an electric discharge that has an extremely high current. It then releases pulses that are in the form of energy at one hundredth millionth seconds. It is usually measured in terms of miles, and it has a diameter that measures two or one inches. Most lightning bolts have tens of thousands of peak currents in the form of amperes. They have temperatures, which are as high as 50000 Fahrenheit degrees. The heat is hotter than even the sun, as its heat is five times more deadly. Lightning columns have plasma’s, which are extremely high in temperature (Rakov & Uman, 2003). The plasma has broken atoms that exist in the form of gas and are usually particles, which are charged electrically. They also have positively charged ions and negatively charged ions. The gases are known to be ionized in nature. The charged particles movement is the one responsible for creating a lightning channel. The latter is what makes up the electrical current whereby, the electrons move.
When ice crystals and soft hail are electrically charged when in the air, lightning arises. Thereafter, negative and positive charges accumulate and in various, diverse regions. In turn, large voltage develops at the regions, which have been charged. The regions are at the ground and the charged region. The voltage then expands in size until it has a million volts ranging from fifty to five hundred. There is also a chance that ionization of the air may take place. Furthermore, a plasma column is formed, and it has a channel that is electrically conducted. This is the time people are able to see lightning in the sky. It should be known that there are various ways as well as directions through, which lightening develops. At most, in the cloud to cloud lightening that occurs globally, there is a 90% chance of it hitting the ground. The latter is due to negative charges, which are transported to the ground, from the clouds. This is referred to as negative downward lightening. The other types of lightening, which exist, are positive upward, negative upward and positive downward discharges. In some rare instances, lightning usually moves upwards even in buildings, such as the New York Empire State Building (Dwyer, 2005).
Lightning occurs at an extremely fast speed that people cannot view it well. It even becomes impossible for people to appreciate its complex structure as well as its development stages. Fortunately, it is possible to determine the lightning development direction. Most times, one can view lightning’s main channel as well as its branches. There are many individual strokes in any given lightening flash. Also, they follow a similar cloud to ground path when lightning occurs. In any given channel, the constant recreation of the plasma takes place on a regular basis. In between the strokes, there are dark intervals and they last up to many milliseconds. The latter is the reason why people often see flickering light during a lightening episode. During a flash of lightning, there are usually five or three stokes. Moreover, people can observe strokes ranging from about one even up to twenty six (Rakov & Uman, 2003).
In every stroke that is downward, there are leaders, which always move downwards. Later on, there is a return stroke that moves in an upward direction. A conducting path is created by the leader, which intersects between the ground and the cloud. Furthermore, negative charges are distributed on the route that has been created. Also, in the path, the return stroke moves to the cloud from the ground. In turn, positive charges are distributed in order to neutralize, and at the same time, make the leader become negative. In any lightning flash, there are electrical currents, and they have diverse strokes. There is usually a rapid, current rise by the return stroke, and it can even reach up to many thousand amperes. During the current’s initial phase, many amperes move and in a second, can transmit even thousandths of amperes. The channel is in turn heated up due to the return stroke that is high. In some cases, it reaches up to 50000 degrees Fahrenheit. Also, the pressure is higher than that of the usual atmospheric pressure. Later on, intense light is produced by the channel. This is what human beings view and it can even expand. Shock waves are usually produced, and people hear thunder, which is a sound wave (Rakov & Uman, 2003).
It is extremely impossible, as well as impractical, to extract energy that is useful from lightning. In every cloud to ground lightning, there is a lot of energy consumption. The flashes usually last and has energy that is 360 kilowatts in every hour. The same energy can be used in lighting light bulbs that have a 100 Watt capacity, and for one month duration. Also, energy produced by the lightning flash varies from one hundredth to one thousandth. It is then taken to a strike point, and most energy is usually lost at this stage. Moreover, other energy then exists in the form of radio waves, light and thunder, after air has been heated up. If people had the ability of containing the energy produced by lightning flashes, they would have many difficulties. The latter is because there are extremely low chances that lightning can strike the ground. An example is a lightning incident that took place in Florida. There was a tower that was sixty meters in length and lightning struck it. Ever since, lightning strikes it on a yearly basis. Florida does not have many incidents of lightning as compared to other American states. Thus, in order to capture strikes created by lightning, many towers would have to be built (Gosline, 2005).
It is possible to test and to research about lightning concerning how it can be triggered. When this is done, it can be extremely beneficial in protecting buildings and people. The most common and safest way of inducing lightning is by using a rocket. It is then charged over head where the cloud is located. The rocket usually has a grounded wire, which is thin, and it trails behind it. There are other regions other than in the atmosphere of the earth where lightning occurs. There is evidence, which shows that, in Jupiter, lightning discharges exist. Furthermore, the discharges are said to be larger than the ones, which occur during lightning on earth (Gosline, 2005). There is a lot of information regarding lightning, but more research needs to be conducted. Concerns regarding radiation that is high energy, and which is obtained from lightning needs to be known. The latter is deadly to human beings and makes them be at harm. During lightning flashes, there is the production of nitrogen oxides, and it can cause global warming. For example, ball lightning needs to be research more upon, as it is not well understood. In conclusion, lightning is a fascinating phenomenon that needs to be known. People should have knowledge on how they can protect themselves from the effects of lightning. In turn, property and human life can be saved.
References
Rakov, V. & Uman, M. (2003). Lightning: Physics and Effects. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Dwyer, R. (2005).”A Bolt Out of the Blue,” Scientific American, 292, 5, 2005, 64-71.
Gosline, Anna. (2005). HYPERLINK “http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg18624981.200” “Thunderbolts from space”. HYPERLINK “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Scientist” o “New Scientist” New Scientist 186, 2498, 30–34.
how information and news media have affected American culture.
Effects of News Media
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Introduction
The effects of the media in society have been a topic in the center of most debates today. This is because the media is known to influence people, as well as, their way of thinking regarding a particular subject matter (Curran & Gurevitch, 1991). As academicians would explain, the news media can make or break a nation owing to the high influence they have on the society. Accordingly, most have identified the need to control information passed by the media to the people, as it can be destructive, as opposed to, being constructive. Because the role of Media personnel in the world is to provide the world with all information regarding the events taking place all over the world, there is need for control of information passed to people, so as to avoid negative effects.
This paper presents a discussion of the diverse effects of the News media on the society. Specifically, the paper examines how information and news media have affected American culture and shaped political opinions. The paper also examines the media’s social responsibility and concludes by explaining how electronic media and its convergence have transformed journalism and news consumption.
Effects of Information and News Media on American Culture
Recent studies explain that the media has a great effect on public opinion as it shapes the way people think concerning the issues presented (Curran & Gurevitch, 1991). Accordingly, the effects of the media have been identified as being both positive and negative depending on the viewpoint the media takes in certain issues. Americans today tend to believe every bit of information presented in the media, which has in turn influenced the overall American Culture. The American society today is very dependent on the information presented in the media, and for that reason, each American’s daily activities are determined by what is presented in the media. Examples of how the media has influenced American culture include determining how Americans purchase goods and services, politics, and entertainment among other things. Specifically, researchers have identified the media’s influence on body image and beauty as the most significant one in modern America (Curran & Gurevitch, 1991). A thin body has been posed by the media as being the beautiful, and for that reason, most Americans are looking into ways in which they can have or maintain a thin body figure. Empirical research on the issue argues that this implausible body ideal presented by the media has had a negative effect on the thoughts and perceptions of Americans, especially women, regarding their bodies.
How Information and News Media has Shaped Politics
The influence of the media can best be seen in the field of politics, as it is clear that Americans rely on views from the media when deciding their political affiliations (London, 1993). The media is known to criticize political groups, by identifying the said groups’ failures with regards to their political achievements for the state. One show that has taken the frontline in illustrating how the media has influenced American politics is the Colbert report, a satirical news show aimed at providing a sardonic view of the politics practiced in the United States (London, 1993).
News Media’s Social Responsibility
Just like any other corporation, institution of organization, the News media has a social responsibility with which they are expected to adhere to at all times. According to Middleton (2009), there media’s social responsibility ranges from bringing to light real issues affecting the public to providing proper guidance to the people to whom the information is presented. These issues should, however, be accurate and patent, so as to, ensure that minimal negative effects to the society. The Media’s social responsibility also includes working towards the resolution of issues, as opposed to accelerating the issues in such a way that affects the public (Middleton, 2009). The media is also expected to promote social responsibility among individuals that make up a nation through creating awareness on certain social issues that are of concern to the society.
How Electronic Media and Its Convergence have Transformed Journalism and News Consumption
Owing to technological advancements, the electronic media has undergone various changes. This means that the electronic media in the modern society is much different from that of the older times. Unlike the past, where electronic media only consisted of the television and radios, the current forms of electronic media have advanced to include the internet (Curran & Gurevitch, 1991). As a result of internet news reporting, individuals today have easy access to news happening all over the world. Further still, individuals do not need to have their computers to access news from the internet. Instead, they can access news through their mobile phones, which is either sent directly as a message to the phone or through mobile internet access (Curran & Gurevitch, 1991). Notably, the current electronic media forms have transformed journalism in such a way that Journalists have an increased market with whom they report information to. This has, in turned, influenced how news is presented both positively and negatively, as more journalists seek to influence the thoughts of their audience to suit their own.
References
Curran, J. & Gurevitch, M. (1991). Mass Media and Society. London: Edward Arnold.
London, S. (1993). How The Media Frames Political Issues. Retrieved from:
http://www.scottlondon.com/reports/frames.html
Middleton, M (2009). Social Responsibility in the Media. Retrieved from:
http://www.cimethics.org/en/docs/SR_media.pdf
“Change Your Diet to Combat Climate Change
Essay 2
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Introduction
Out of the three articles, the article “Change Your Diet to Combat Climate Change” from CNN is the most credible because it does the most thorough job covering the issue it is reporting on.
The article “Change Your Diet to Combat Climate Change” from CNN mainly focuses on thinking about the whole population of human beings changing to nutrition that comprises only consumption of plant based diet, which is difficult to visualize how someone would go about applying such a radical modification. There are many reasons why individuals initially go vegetarian that either relates to their moral principles about slaying other organisms, well-being-related problems, and the most critical factor in global warming. Vegetarian and vegan foods can result in even lesser conservatory gas releases (Harwatt, 2019). Still, a vegetarian diet is the minimum severe that is equally healthy and may decrease conservatory gas releases adequate for us to live within ecological limits.
First, the article talks about being aware of a plant-based diet making someone healthier by lowering the risk for obesity, heart disease, and Type 2 diabetes. It reports on a study that was done at the University of Oxford, which is a renowned research institution. The writer caution that a global modification in nutrition and food manufacture is required as many individuals across the universe are malnourished, which consists of those people who are over and undernourished, and food manufacturing is surpassing environmental targets, controlling climate variation, biodiversity damage, and pollution.
The article establishes its credibility by inserting a statement from a licensed nutritionist known as Sharon Palmer that tells that in today’s agricultural system, we grow plants to feed animals that require resources and input like water, land, pesticides, and fertilizer to grow. And then we provide plants to animals and care for them, while they give manure and methane.
The article “Change your diet to combat climate change in 2019” is similar to the Veganism article. They both have a positive view of eating a meatless diet. This article seems the same to the Beef magazine because they both campaign for a meatless diet and focus more on a vegetarian diet. However, The CNN article is different from Beef magazine because CNN focuses more on a vegetarian diet, while Veganism focuses on the alternatives for plant protein. Beef magazine tells that scientists have long established that the alternatives can give health benefits, including helping the brain, bones, heart, and even longevity. The CNN article says that a plant-based diet can make someone healthier by lowering the risks for heart disease, diabetes, and obesity.
Out of the three articles, the article “Change your diet to combat climate change in 2019” is the most credible because it does the most thorough job covering the issue it is reporting on. The article reports on research that was done at the University of Oxford, which is a renowned research institution. It adds a statement of a licensed nutritionist Sharon Palmer who is a nutrition expert.
Even if these articles have some slight differences, the only significant difference is that CNN article does the most thorough job covering the issue it is reporting on. The article interviews and gives information on professional dietician in the field and also quotes credible sources. In contrast, the other article does not do a thorough job reporting on the issue it's reporting on and does not quotes any credible sources
Reference
Harwatt, H. (2019). Including animal to plant protein shifts in climate change mitigation policy: a proposed three-step strategy. Climate Policy, 19(5), 533-541
HYPERLINK "https://doi.org/10.1080/14693062.2018.1528965" https://doi.org/10.1080/14693062.2018.1528965
Song, G., Li, M., Fullana-i-Palmer, P., Williamson, D., & Wang, Y. (2017). Dietary changes to mitigate climate change and benefit public health in China. Science of the Total Environment, 577, 289-298.
HYPERLINK "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.10.184" https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.10.184