The relationship of man and his environment - Assignment Example

The relationship of man and his environment The rapid growth of economy and development in a nation helps people to think twice on how to take care of their resources and environment. The following articles show different aspects on the relationship of man and his environment and how this would impact the world in a large scale. The first article tackles biology conservation and ethics (scholarly), second about the European Union and Occupational Safety and Health (trade), the third discusses China’s plans to dissolve their one child policy (news), and the fourth is an article on why redheads considered more prone to skin cancer. Article 1: As a result of the deforestation and destruction to natural habitats, conservation biology emerged as a key field of study in and around the 1980. As such, a new movement within conservation biology emerged which can only be described as environmental ethics (David/Sakhar 2012). These environmental ethicists worked to claim that biodiversity had an “intrinsic value” on how we as human integrate with and understand the biological spectrum of life on planet earth. As such, this article goes in depth to discuss the different hierarchical taxonomic and categorization of a host of different species that are all dependent upon human actions and interests. A point of view similar to the one put forward by this article demands that a transformation take place with the level of understanding and value that humans place. In effect, the focus on biodiversity and placing a renewed emphasis on caring for, respecting, and restoring the environment has led to a new wave of ecotourism which has helped to raise the overall awareness of the problem among key shareholders the world over. Article 2: The European campaign on working together for risk has been organised by the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) and focuses on the twin concepts of management leadership and worker participation in Occupational Safety and Health (OSH). In UK the title translates more accurately as 'working together on risk management.' Judith Hackitt,Chair of HSE, introduces the Healthy Workplaces (Goldstein 2012). “Following on from the previous campaign of safe maintenance, health and safety bodies are now working together on risk prevention, or in the case of the UK, I think it would be better to describe it as working together on management of risk,” said Wendy Parry, Noise & Vibration Team, Long Latency Health Risks Division of the HSE. Wendy continues, “We’re very grateful to the European Agency for all of the resources that they have put into these campaigns and the key phrase that we are going to be working with this year is the theme of working together” (Goldstein 2012) The campaign’s focus involves two key elements One is about involving the workforce in identifying and managing the risks and findings solutions to risks in the workplace, whilst the second is about real positive leadership from the top of organizations which by its very nature means engagement with the workforce. In the UK, HSE provides the focal point for the campaign, but it’s actively supported by a number of other organizations including the Trades Union Congress, Confederation of British Industry, EEF the Manufacturers, Organization and the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health. Any organization or business can get involved with this campaign, especially if they’ve got examples of good practice that they want to share with others, or if they are looking for examples of good practice from which they can learn. Article 3: A recent determination by a Beijing government think-tank has urged Chinese leadership to begin to phase out the one-child policy that was instituted during the leadership of Mao Tse Tung. The think-tank encouraged the government to consider changing the policy as early as 2015 so that sustainment levels of the Chinese population could be achieved. The distinct problem with the approach that the think-tank has put forward is that it is too little too late as China will experience what is likely to be a debilitating demographic bubble within the next 20-30 years. As the population bubble begins to age, the demographic shift could put the strain and economic hardship of up to 4 elderly parents on 2 member families. Although bold steps should be taken to ensure that this fear does not become an eventuality, the fact of the matter is that the current trend is already manifested and working to attempt to correct it at such a late stage, although laudable, will likely have little effect on the overall issue at hand. "China has paid a huge political and social cost for the policy, as it has resulted in social conflict, high administrative costs and led indirectly to a long-term gender imbalance at birth," Xinhua claimed, citing this report (Olesen 2012). Although the policy itself is often referred to as the one-child policy, China’s actual rules and regulations surrounding this are much more complicated. Consequently, although most urban couples are limited to one child, rural families are allowed up to two children (providing that their first one is a girl). Similarly, a level of de-regulation exists with relation to foreign families and two child limits for parents who are both single. A further complicating metric is due to the fact that once every decade, the Chinese leadership transitions to a new power structure. As such, the top political leaders form what can only be described as a shakeup of many of the older and existing forms of thought that the previous regime has made over the past years. Such a shift from one party of control to another works to make a unclear transfer of policies. The government has come to recognize these problems and is attempting to address them by boosting levels of social services for the aged within their society. "It has been thirty years since our planned economy was liberalized," said Wang Yi, who owns a textile shop which sells its wares via the online marketplace. "So why do we still have to plan our population” (Olesen 2012)? Although this can be open to some debate, the policy has continued to thrive via the avenues of state media and the internet. As such, leadership has expressed the desire to maintain the status quo without instituting any rapid changes to a policy that they consider has worked well for them over the past 40 years time. Similarly, this viewpoint has been reiterated by President Hu Jintao and his advisors citing the fact that sudden change to a pre-existing regulation would create unnecessary shock to the system. Rather, Hu and his advisors put forward that the best way in which to affect the changes that the think-tank has alluded to would be gradually phase such a plan in over a longer period of time. In this way, the populace and the bureaucracy as well as the health care fields could slowly and gradually become accustomed to the new standards as a function of time. Article 4: Studies performed by such groups as the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston have suggested that the overall “fairness”(with regards to skin pigmentation or lack thereof) among natural redheads is only one of the reasons that this group is more susceptible to skin cancer. Rather, the research tends to show that the pigmentation molecule itself – melanin is a primary agent in determining the overall threat/risk that exists within a person based upon their likelihood of developing different forms of skin cancer in the future. This particular study was intended to consider the overall effects of exposure to UV radiation on both mice and other mammals. This study was meant to mimic the olive toned or ginger/albino colorings that are often evidenced in fair-skinned individuals. What was of particular interest to the researchers was the fact that half of the mice had developed melanoma prior to UV exposure. These mice that developed the melanomas prior to UV exposure were not surprisingly ginger mice. Of particular note was what the lead researcher, David Fisher, had to say with regards to the propensity of red-haired individuals to acquire various forms of skin cancer. Says Fisher, “There is something about the redhead genetic background that is behaving in a carcinogenic fashion, independent of UV. This means that simply shielding from UV itself is not enough” (Silverstein 2012)). However, one should not take this statement to mean that correctly applying SPF protection and shielding oneself from the harmful rays of the sun (especially if one has red hair) is pointless due to the fact that one is predisposed to cancer inherently. Instead, it should be taken as a precautionary warning by the individual that regardless of the steps that are taken, no matter how painstaking, the individual that has red hair is inherently predisposed to various forms of skin cancer as a function of their unique genetic makeup.   The study does not meant to frighten anyone who’d have a much lighter complexion or a much darker one or the feeling of relief that one gets because of having an even skin tone complexion. It shows that researchers and scientists are much more nearer now than before in searching how these conditions came about and from there find the cure for it. All in all despite the differences of the articles, a correlation exists. The first one state the criteria and guidelines when choosing the appropriate system or environment to conserve, while the second one is taking into consideration the working environment wherein employers and workers in order to lessen the risks of hazards and accidents work together. The third article discuss the pros and cons as well as the ethical and social issues if population is allowed to balloon and the last one talks about the abnormal physiological processes that our body undergoes when there are changes even subtle ones in our environment. References David, F., & Sakhar, S. (2012, March 5). Conservation Biology: Ethical Foundations | Learn Science at Scitable. Nature Publishing Group : science journals, jobs, and information. Retrieved November 5, 2012, from http://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/conservation-biology-ethical-foundations-46518079 Olesen, A. (2012, October 31). Chinese think tank urges end to one-child policy - Yahoo! News. Yahoo! News - Latest News & Headlines. Retrieved November 5, 2012, from http://news.yahoo.com/chinese-think-tank-urges-end-one-child-policy-074125915.html Silverstein, G. (2012, November 1). It's Not Just Their Fair Complexions—New Research Sheds Light on Why Redheads Are More Prone to Skin Cancer: Girls in the Beauty Department: Beauty: glamour.com. Glamour magazine: fashion, beauty, hair, makeup, diet, health, sex advice, dating, engagement rings, weddings, wedding dresses: glamour.com. Retrieved November 5, 2012, from http://www.glamour.com/beauty/blogs/girls-in-the-beauty-department/2012/11/its-not-just-their-fair-comple.html Zolotiy, R. (2011, October 29). EU OSHA Standards. Foundry Trade Journal. Retrieved November 5, 2012, from http://www.foundrytradejournal.com Read More