Monday, January 27, 2020

The Different Types And Effects Of Pollution

The Different Types And Effects Of Pollution Pollution is the beginning of a waste into the atmosphere making it impossible to make life on earth possible to sustain. Pollution is the introduction of a contaminant into the environment. It is created mostly by human actions, but can also be a result of natural disasters. Pollution has a detrimental effect on any living organism in an environment, making it virtually impossible to sustain life. Pollution harms the Earths environment and its people in many ways. Presence of matter (gas, liquid, solid) or energy (heat, noise, radiation) whose nature, location, or quantity directly or indirectly alters characteristics or processes of any part of the environment, and causes (or has the potential to cause) damage to the condition, health, safety, or welfare of animals, humans, plants, or property. The introduction of contaminants into a natural environment that causes instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to the ecosystem i.e. Physical systems or living organisms. Pollution can take the form of chemical substances or energy, such as noise, heat, or light. Pollutants, the elements of pollution, can be foreign substances or energies, or naturally occurring; when naturally occurring, they are considered contaminants when they exceed natural levels. Pollution is often classed as point source or nonpoint source pollution. There are two types of the cause of pollution, natural and man-made. Natural pollution occurs naturally and wont cause excessive harm to our lives due to its regeneration ability. While the man-made pollution is caused by human activities, and hard to get rid of. The backbones of man-made pollution are human population and technology. Naturally human needs contact to the environment, we get resources from nature. This is for the sake of living. By the increase of human population, the contact is getting more intensive, because needs are increasing. And by the findings and development of new technologies, human can apply them to get the resources. And its common that new technologies would bring their respective side effects besides their advantages. TYPES OF POLLUTION AIR POLLUTION WATER POLLUTION NOISE POLLUTION LIGHT POLLUTION LAND POLLUTION MARINE POLLUTION THERMAL POLLUTION SHIP POLLUTION RADIATION POLLUTION AIR POLLUTION Air pollution is the accumulation of hazardous substances into the atmosphere that danger human life and other living matter. Air pollution is the introduction of chemicals, particulate matter, or biological materials that cause harm or discomfort to humans or other living organisms, or damages the natural environment into the atmosphere. The atmosphere is a complex dynamic natural gaseous system that is essential to support life on planet Earth. Stratospheric ozone depletion due to air pollution has long been recognized as a threat to human health as well as to the Earths ecosystems. Air is the ocean we breathe. Air supplies us with oxygen which is essential for our bodies to live. Air is 99.9% nitrogen, oxygen, water vapor and inert gases. Human activities can release substances into the air, some of which can cause problems for humans, plants, and animals.There are several main types of pollution and well-known effects of pollution which are commonly discussed. These include smog, acid rain, the greenhouse effect, and holes in the ozone layer. Each of these problems has serious implications for our health and well-being as well as for the whole environment. This type of pollution is sometimes referred to as black carbon pollution. The exhaust from burning fuels in automobiles, homes, and industries is a major sourc e of pollution in the air. Some authorities believe that even the burning of wood and charcoal in fireplaces and barbeques can release significant quanitites of soot into the air. Another type of pollution is the release of noxious gases, such as sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, and chemical vapors. These can take part in further chemical reactions once they are in the atmosphere, forming smog and acid rain. Major primary pollutants produced by human activity include: Sulfur oxides (SOx) Sulfur dioxide is a chemical compound with the formula SO2. SO2 is produced by volcanoes and in various industrial processes. Since coal and petroleum often contain sulfur compounds, their combustion generates sulfur dioxide. Nitrogen oxides (NOx) Nitrogen dioxide are emitted from high temperature combustion. Nitrogen dioxide is the chemical compound with the formula NO2. It is one of the several nitrogen oxides. This reddish-brown toxic gas has a characteristic sharp, biting odor. NO2 is one of the most prominent air pollutants. Carbon monoxide It is a colourless, odourless, non-irritating but very poisonous gas. It is a product by incomplete combustion of fuel such as natural gas, coal or wood. Vehicular exhaust is a major source of carbon monoxide. Carbon dioxide (CO2) It is a greenhouse gas which is emitted from combustion but is also a gas vital to living organisms. It is a natural gas in the atmosphere. Volatile organic compounds VOCs are an important outdoor air pollutant. In this field they are often divided into the separate categories of methane (CH4) and non-methane (NMVOCs). Methane is an extremely efficient greenhouse gas which contributes to enhanced global warming. Other hydrocarbon VOCs are also significant greenhouse gases via their role in creating ozone and in prolonging the life of methane in the atmosphere, although the effect varies depending on local air quality. Toxic metals- such as lead, cadmium and copper. Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) It is harmful to the ozone layer emitted from products currently banned from use. Ammonia (NH3) -Ammonia is emitted from agricultural processes. Ammonia is a compound with the formula NH3. It is normally encountered as a gas with a characteristic pungent odor. Ammonia contributes significantly to the nutritional needs of terrestrial organisms by serving as a precursor to foodstuffs and fertilizers. Ammonia, either directly or indirectly, is also a building block for the synthesis of many pharmaceuticals. Although in wide use, ammonia is both caustic and hazardous. Odors such as from garbage, sewage, and industrial processes Radioactive pollutants which are produced by nuclear explosions, war explosives, and natural processes such as the radioactive decay of radon. Secondary pollutants include: Smog is a kind of air pollution; the word smog is a portmanteau of smoke and fog. Classic smog results from large amounts of coal burning in an area caused by a mixture of smoke and sulfur dioxide. Modern smog does not usually come from coal but from vehicular and industrial emissions that are acted on in the atmosphere by sunlight to form secondary pollutants that also combine with the primary emissions to form photochemical smog. Photochemical and chemical reactions involving it drive many of the chemical processes that occur in the atmosphere by day and by night. At abnormally high concentrations brought about by human activities (largely the combustion of fossil fuel), it is a pollutant, and a constituent of smog. Peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN) similarly formed from NOx and VOCs. Minor air pollutants include: A large number of minor hazardous air pollutants. Some of these are regulated in USA under the Clean Air Act and in Europe under the Air Framework Directive. A variety of persistent organic pollutants, which can attach to particulate matter. Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are organic compounds that are resistant to environmental degradation through chemical, biological, and photolytic processes. Because of this, they have been observed to persist in the environment, to be capable of long-range transport, bioaccumulate in human and animal tissue, biomagnify in food chains, and to have potential significant impacts on human health and the environment. SOURCES OF AIR POLLUTION Anthropogenic sources (human activity) mostly related to burning different kinds of fuel Stationary Sources include smoke stacks of power plants, manufacturing facilities (factories) and waste incinerators, as well as furnaces and other types of fuel-burning heating devices Mobile Sources include motor vehicles, marine vessels, aircraft and the effect of sound etc. Fumes from paint, hair spray, varnish, aerosol sprays and other solvents Waste deposition in landfills, which generate methane. Methane is not toxic; however, it is highly flammable and may form explosive mixtures with air. Methane is also an asphyxiant and may displace oxygen in an enclosed space. Asphyxia or suffocation may result if the oxygen concentration is reduced to below 19.5% by displacement. Military, such as nuclear weapons, toxic gases, germ warfare and rocketry Natural sources Dust from natural sources, usually large areas of land with little or no vegetation. Methane, emitted by the digestion of food by animals, for example cattle. Radon gas from radioactive decay within the Earths crust. Radon is a colorless, odorless, naturally occurring, radioactive noble gas that is formed from the decay of radium. It is considered to be a health hazard. Radon gas from natural sources can accumulate in buildings, especially in confined areas such as the basement and it is the second most frequent cause of lung cancer, after cigarette smoking. Smoke and carbon monoxide from wildfires. Volcanic activity, which produce sulfur, chlorine, and ash particulates. HOW TO CONTROL AIR POLLUTION The following items are commonly used as pollution control devices by industry or transportation devices. They can either destroy contaminants or remove them from an exhaust stream before it is emitted into the atmosphere. Particulate control Mechanical collectors Electrostatic precipitators An electrostatic precipitator (ESP), or electrostatic air cleaner is a particulate collection device that removes particles from a flowing gas (such as air) using the force of an induced electrostatic charge. Electrostatic precipitators are highly efficient filtration devices that minimally impede the flow of gases through the device, and can easily remove fine particulate matter such as dust and smoke from the air stream. Baghouses These are designed to handle heavy dust loads, a dust collector consists of a blower, dust filter, a filter-cleaning system, and a dust receptacle or dust removal system Particulate scrubbers Wet scrubber is a form of pollution control technology. The term describes a variety of devices that use pollutants from a furnace flue gas or from other gas streams. In a wet scrubber, the polluted gas stream is brought into contact with the scrubbing liquid, by spraying it with theliquid, by forcing it through a pool of liquid, or by some other contact method, so as to remove the pollutants. Scrubbers Baffle spray scrubber Cyclonic spray scrubber Mechanically aided scrubber Spray tower Wet scrubber NOx control Low NOx burners Selective catalytic reduction Selective non-catalytic reduction NOx scrubbers Catalytic converter Acid Gas/SO2 control Wet scrubbers Dry scrubbers Dont smoke Keep your car maintenance up-to-date Dont buy products that come in aerosol spray cans Avoid using lighter fluid when barbecuing outside When you drive accelerate slowly and use cruise control Always replace your cars air filter Use a push or electric lawnmower rather than a gas-powered one Dont use harsh chemical cleaners that can emit fumes Inspect your gas appliances and heaters regularly Facts about Air Pollution Almost 232 million different types of vehicles are driven by U.S. citizens every day, adding greenhouse gases into the air. U.S. vehicle emissions contribute 45% to global warming The average adult consumes 3,000 gallons of polluted air every day Vehicle exhaust contributes to 60% of carbon monoxide emissions in the U.S. and up to 95% in large cities Every year 335,000 Americans die of lung cancer, which is a direct result of air pollution SOURCES OF AIR POLLUTION Some of the main contributors to water pollution are: Factories Refineries Waste treatment facilities Mining Pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers Human sewage Oil spills Failing septic systems Soap from washing your car Oil and antifreeze leaking from cars Household chemicals Animal waste WATER POLLUTION Water pollution is the introduction of chemical, biological and physical matter into large bodies of water that degrade the quality of life that lives in it and consumes it. Oil spills, household chemicals, pesticides and fertilizers are the major sources of water pollution. The best way to prevent water pollution is to not throw trash and other harmful chemicals into our water supplies because it causes harm to the rivers and lakes. Water pollution affects plants and organisms living in these bodies of water; and, in almost all cases the effect is damaging not only to individual species and populations, but also to the natural biological communities. Water pollution occurs when pollutants are discharged directly or indirectly into water bodies without adequate treatment to remove harmful compounds. Water pollution is a major problem in the global context. It has been suggested that it is the leading worldwide cause of deaths and diseases, and that it accounts for the deaths of more than 14,000 people daily. An estimated 700 million Indians have no access to a proper toilet, and 1,000 Indian children die of diarrheal sickness every day. Some 90% of Chinas cities suffer from some degree of water pollution, and nearly 500 million people lack access to safe drinking water. In addition to the acute problems of water pollution in developing countries, industrialized countries continue to struggle with pollution problems as well. In the most recent national report on water quality in the United States, 45 percent of assessed stream miles, 47 percent of assessed lake acres, and 32 percent of assessed bay and estuarine square miles were c lassified as polluted. Facts about Water Pollution Over two-thirds of U.S. estuaries and bays are severely degraded because of nitrogen and phosphorous pollution Every year almost 25% of U.S. beaches are closed at least once because of water pollution Over 73 different kinds of pesticides have been found in the groundwater that we eventually use to drink 1.2 trillion gallons of sewage, stormwater and industrial waste are discharged into U.S. waters every year 40% of U.S. rivers are too polluted for aquatic life to survive Americans use over 2.2 billion pounds of pesticides every year, which eventually washes into our rivers and lakes How to Prevent Water Pollution The best way to prevent water pollution is to not throw trash and other harmful chemicals into our water supplies. Here are a few more ways you can prevent water pollution: Wash your car far away from any storm water drains Dont throw trash, chemicals or solvents into sewer drains Inspect your septic system every 3-5 years Avoid using pesticides and fertilizers that can run off into water systems Sweep your driveway instead of hosing it down Always pump your waste-holding tanks on your boat Use non-toxic cleaning materials Clean up oil and other liquid spills with kitty litter and sweet them up Dont wash paint brushes in the sink NOISE POLLUTION Noise pollution (or environmental noise) is displeasing human, animal or machine-created sound that disrupts the activity or balance of human or animal life. The word noise comes from the Latin word nauseas, meaning seasickness. The source of most outdoor noise worldwide is mainly construction and transportation systems, including motor vehicle noise, aircraft noise and rail noise. Poor urban planning may give rise to noise pollution, since side-by-side industrial and residential buildings can result in noise pollution in the residential area. Indoor and outdoor noise pollution sources include car alarms, emergency service sirens, mechanical equipment, fireworks, compressed air horns, grounds keeping equipment, barking dogs, appliances, lighting hum, audio entertainment systems, electric megaphones, and loud people. The fact that you cant see, taste or smell it may help explain why it has not received as much attention as other types of pollution, such as air pollution, or water pollution. The air around us is constantly filled with sounds, yet most of us would probably not say we are surrounded by noise. Though for some, the persistent and escalating sources of sound can often be considered an annoyance. Th is annoyance can have big danger. MITIGATION AND CONTROL FOR NOISE POLLUTION Here are a variety of strategies for mitigating roadway noise including: use of noise barriers, limitation of vehicle speeds, alteration of roadway surface texture, limitation of heavy vehicles, use of traffic controls that smooth vehicle flow to reduce braking and acceleration, and tire design. An important factor in applying these strategies is a computer model for roadway noise, that is capable of addressing local topography, meteorology, traffic operations and hypothetical mitigation. Costs of building-in mitigation can be modest, provided these solutions are sought in the planning stage of a roadway project. Aircraft noise can be reduced to some extent by design of quieter jet engines, which was pursued vigorously in the 1970s and 1980s. This strategy has brought limited but noticeable reduction of urban sound levels. Reconsideration of operations, such as altering flight paths and time of day runway use, has demonstrated benefits for residential populations near airports. FAA sponsored residential retrofit (insulation) programs initiated in the 1970s has also enjoyed success in reducing interior residential noise in thousands of residences across the United States. Exposure of workers to Industrial noise has been addressed since the 1930s. Changes include redesign of industrial equipment, shock mounting assemblies and physical barriers in the workplace. Noise Free America, a national anti-noise pollution organization, regularly lobbies for the enforcement of noise ordinances at all levels of government. LIGHT POLLUTION The International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) defines light pollution as: Any adverse effect of artificial light including sky glow, glare, light trespass, light clutter, decreased visibility at night, and energy waste. Such an approach confuses the cause and its result, however. Pollution is the adding-of/added light itself, in analogy to added sound, CO2 etc. Adverse consequences are multiple, some of them may be not known yet. Real definitions are to be, therefore, like: Alteration of natural light levels in the outdoor environment owing to artificial light sources. Light pollution is the alteration of light levels in the outdoor environment (from those present naturally) due to man-made sources of light. Indoor light pollution is such alteration of light levels in the indoor environment due to sources of light, which compromises human health. Light pollution is the introduction by humans, directly or indirectly, of artificial light into the environment. In spite of the scientific approach, The U.S. National Park Service, whose Night Sky Team determined that almost every park that it surveyed has noticeable light pollution, defines the term still as: Principally, the illumination of the night sky caused by artificial light sources, decreasing the visibility of stars and other natural sky phenomena. Also includes other incidental or obtrusive aspects of outdoor lighting such as glare, trespass into areas not needing lighting, use in areas where or at times when lighting is not needed, and disturbance of the natural nighttime landscape. Light pollution obscures the stars in the night sky for city dwellers, interferes with astronomical observatories, and, like any other form of pollution, disrupts ecosystems and has adverse health effects. Light pollution can be divided into two main types: (1) annoying light that intrudes on an otherwise natural or low-light setting (2) excessive light (generally indoors) that leads to discomfort and adverse health effects. Since the early 1980s, a global dark-sky movement has emerged, with concerned people campaigning to reduce the amount of light pollution. Light pollution is a side effect of industrial civilization. Its sources include building exterior and interior lighting, advertising, commercial properties, offices, factories, streetlights, and illuminated sporting venues. WAYS TO REDUCE LIGHT POLLUTION Reducing light pollution implies many things, such as reducing sky glow, reducing glare, reducing light trespass, and reducing clutter. The method for best reducing light pollution, therefore, depends on exactly what the problem is in any given instance. Possible solutions include: Utilizing light sources of minimum intensity necessary to accomplish the lights purpose. Turning lights off using a timer or occupancy sensor or manually when not needed. Improving lighting fixtures, so that they direct their light more accurately towards where it is needed, and with less side effects. Adjusting the type of lights used, so that the light waves emitted are those that are less likely to cause severe light pollution problems. Evaluating existing lighting plans, and re-designing some or all of the plans depending on whether existing light is actually needed. LAND POLLUTION Land pollution is pollution of the Earths natural land surface by industrial, commercial, domestic and agricultural activities. Land pollution is the degradation of Earths land surfaces often caused by human activities and their misuse of land resources. It occurs when waste is not disposed properly. Health hazard disposal of urban and industrial wastes, exploitation of minerals, and improper use of soil by inadequate agricultural practices are a few factors. Urbanization and industrialization are major causes of land pollution. The Industrial Revolution set a series of events into motion which destroyed natural habitats and polluted the environment, causing diseases in both humans and other species of animals. SOURCES OF LAND POLLUTION Some of the main contributors to land pollution are: Chemical and nuclear plants Industrial factories Oil refineries Human sewage Oil and antifreeze leaking from cars Mining Littering Overcrowded landfills Deforestation Construction debris FACTS ABOUT LAND POLLUTION Every year one American produces over 3285 pounds of hazardous waste Land pollution causes us to lose 24 billion tons of top soil every year Americans generate 30 billion foam cups, 220 million tires and 1.8 billion disposable diapers every year We throw away enough trash every day to fill 63,000 garbage trucks Every day Americans throw away 1 million bushels of litter out their car window Over 80% of items in landfills can be recycled, but theyre not How to Prevent Land Pollution The best way to prevent land pollution is to recycle. Here are a few other ways you can reduce land pollution: Reuse any items that you can Buy biodegradable products Store all liquid chemicals and waste in spill-proof containers Eat organic foods that are grown without pesticides Dont use pesticides Use a drip tray to collect engine oil Buy products that have little packaging Dont dump motor oil on the ground MARINE POLLUTION Marine pollution occurs when harmful effects, or potentially harmful effects, can result from the entry into the ocean of chemicals, particles, industrial, agricultural and residential waste, noise, or the spread of invasive organisms. Most sources of marine pollution are land based. The pollution often comes from nonpoint sources such as agricultural runoff and windblown debris. Many potentially toxic chemicals adhere to tiny particles which are then taken up by plankton and benthos animals, most of which are either deposit or filter feeders. In this way, the toxins are concentrated upward within ocean food chains. Many particles combine chemically in a manner highly depletive of oxygen, causing estuaries to become anoxic. When pesticides are incorporated into the marine ecosystem, they quickly become absorbed into marine food webs. Once in the food webs, these pesticides can cause mutations, as well as diseases, which can be harmful to humans as well as the entire food web. Toxic metals can also be introduced into marine food webs. These can cause a change to tissue matter, biochemistry, behaviour, reproduction, and suppress growth in marine life. Also, many animal feeds have a high fish meal or fish hydrolysate content. In this way, marine toxins can be transferred to land animals, and appear later in meat and dairy products. TERMAL POLLUTION Thermal pollution is the degradation of water quality by any process that changes ambient water temperature. A common cause of thermal pollution is the use of water as a coolant by power plants and industrial manufacturers. When water used as a coolant is returned to the natural environment at a higher temperature, the change in temperature (a) Decreases oxygen supply (b) Affects ecosystem composition. SHIP POLLUTION Ship pollution is the pollution of air and water by shipping. It is a problem that has been accelerating as trade has become increasingly globalized, posing an increasing threat to the worlds oceans and waterways as globalization continues. RADIATION POLLUTION Radiation pollution is any form of ionizing or no ionizing radiation that results from human activities. The most well-known radiation results from the detonation of nuclear devices and the controlled release of energy by nuclear-power generating plants (see nuclear energy). Other sources of radiation include spent-fuel reprocessing plants, by-products of mining operations, and experimental research laboratories. Increased exposure to medical X rays and to radiation emissions from microwave ovens and other household appliances, although of considerably less magnitude, all constitute sources of environmental radiation. Public concern over the release of radiation into the environment greatly increased following the disclosure of possible harmful effects to the public from nuclear weapons testing, the accident (1979) at the Three Mile Island nuclear-power generating plant near Harrisburg, Pa., and the catastrophic 1986 explosion at Chernobyl, a Soviet nuclear power plant. In the late 1980s, revelations of major pollution problems at U.S. nuclear weapons reactors raised apprehensions even higher. REFRENCES Pollution causes effect and control By Roy M .Harrison Air Pollution By Jeremy Coils Global effect of environmental pollution By Siegfied Fred Singer Water Wars By Vandana Shiva Pollution By Christiane Dorion www.google.com Wikipedia.org

Sunday, January 19, 2020

Part Seven Chapter 1

Relief of Poverty †¦ 13.5 Gifts to benefit the poor †¦ are charitable, and a gift for the poor is charitable even if it happens incidentally to benefit the rich †¦ Charles Arnold-Baker Local Council Administration, Seventh Edition Nearly three weeks after the sirens had wailed through sleepy Pagford, on a sunny morning in April, Shirley Mollison stood alone in her bedroom, squinting at her reflection in the mirrored wardrobe. She was making final adjustments to her dress before her now-daily drive to South West General. The belt buckle slid up a hole tighter than it had done a fortnight ago, her silver hair was in need of a trim and her grimace against the sunshine blazing into the room could have been a simple expression of her mood. When Miles accompanied her to the hospital, she could let him do all the talking to Howard, which he did, keeping up a steady monologue of Pagford news. She felt so much better – both more visible and more protected – with tall Miles walking beside her down the chilly corridors. He chatted genially to the nurses, and handed her in and out of the car, and restored to her the sense of being a rare creature, worthy of care and protection. But Miles could not come every day, and to Shirley's profound irritation he kept deputizing Samantha to accompany her. This was not the same thing at all, even though Samantha was one of the few who managed to bring a smile to Howard's purple vacant face. Nobody seemed to realize how dreadful the silence was at home either. When the doctors had told the family that recuperation would take months, Shirley had hoped that Miles would ask her to move into the spare room of the big house in Church Row, or that he might stay over, from time to time, in the bungalow. But no: she had been left alone, quite alone, except for a painful three-day period when she had played hostess to Pat and Melly. I'd never have done it, she reassured herself, automatically, in the silent night, when she could not sleep. I never really meant to. I was just upset. I'd never have done it. She had buried Andrew's EpiPen in the soft earth beneath the bird table in the garden, like a tiny corpse. She did not like knowing it was there. Some dark evening soon, the night before refuse-collection day, she would dig it up again and slip it into a neighbour's bin. Howard had not mentioned the needle to her or to anyone. He had not asked her why she had run away when she saw him. Shirley found relief in long rattling streams of invective, directed at the people who had, in her stated opinion, caused the catastrophe that had fallen on her family. Parminder Jawanda was the first of these, naturally, for her callous refusal to attend Howard. Then there were the two teenagers who, through their vile irresponsibility, had diverted the ambulance that might have reached Howard sooner. The latter argument was perhaps a little weak, but it was the enjoyable fashion to denigrate Stuart Wall and Krystal Weedon, and Shirley found plenty of willing listeners in her immediate circle. What was more, it had transpired that the Wall boy had been the Ghost of Barry Fairbrother all along. He had confessed to his parents, and they had personally telephoned the victims of the boy's spite to apologize. The Ghost's identity had leaked swiftly into the wider community, and this, coupled with the knowledge that he had been jointly responsible for the drowning of a three-year-old child, made abuse of Stuart both a duty and a pleasure. Shirley was more vehement in her comments than anybody. There was a savagery in her denunciations, each of them a little exorcism of the kinship and admiration she had felt for the Ghost, and a repudiation of that awful last post which nobody else, as yet, had admitted to seeing. The Walls had not telephoned Shirley to apologize, but she was constantly primed, in case the boy should mention it to his parents, or in case anybody should bring it up, to deliver a final crushing blow to Stuart's reputation. ‘Oh yes, Howard and I know all about it,' she planned to say, with icy dignity, ‘and it's my belief that the shock caused his heart attack.' She had actually practised saying this aloud in the kitchen. The question of whether Stuart Wall had really known something about her husband and Maureen was less urgent now, because Howard was patently incapable of shaming her in that way again, and perhaps never would be, and nobody seemed to be gossiping. And if the silence she offered Howard, when she was unavoidably alone with him, was tinged with a sense of grievance on both sides, she was able to face the prospect of his protracted incapacitation and absence from the house with more equanimity than she might have thought possible three weeks previously. The doorbell rang and Shirley hurried to open it. Maureen was there, hobbling on ill-advised high heels, garish in bright aquamarine. ‘Hello, dear, come in,' said Shirley. ‘I'll get my bag.' ‘They're saying people got up a collection,' said Maureen, brimful of gossip that Shirley had somehow missed, in her endless back and forward trips to the hospital. ‘Don't ask me who. Anyway, I wouldn't have thought the family would want it right by the river, would you?' (The dirty and foul-mouthed little boy, of whose existence few had been aware, and of whom nobody but his mother and sister had been especially fond, had undergone such a transformation in Pagford's collective mind by his drowning, that he was spoken of everywhere as a water baby, a cherub, a pure and gentle angel whom all would have embraced with love and compassion, if only they could have saved him. But the needle and the flame had had no transformative effect upon Krystal's reputation; on the contrary, they had fixed her permanently in the mind of Old Pagford as a soulless creature whose pursuit of what the elderly liked to call kicks had led to the death of an innocent child.) Shirley was pulling on her coat. ‘You realize, I actually saw them that day?' she said, her cheeks turning pink. ‘The boy bawling by one clump of bushes, and Krystal Weedon and Stuart Wall in another – ‘ ‘Did you? And were they really †¦?' asked Maureen avidly. ‘Oh yes,' said Shirley. ‘Broad daylight. Open air. And the boy was right by the river when I saw him. A couple of steps and he'd have been in.' Something in Maureen's expression stung her. ‘I was hurrying,' said Shirley with asperity, ‘because Howard had said he was feeling poorly and I was worried sick. I didn't want to go out at all, but Miles and Samantha had sent Lexie over – I think, if you want my honest opinion, they'd had a row – and then Lexie wanted to visit the cafe – I was absolutely distracted, and all I could think was, I must get back to Howard †¦ I didn't actually realize what I'd seen until much later †¦ and the dreadful thing,' said Shirley, her colour higher than ever, and returning again to her favourite refrain, ‘is that if Krystal Weedon hadn't let that child wander off while she was having her fun in the bushes, the ambulance would have reached Howard so much more quickly. Because, you know, with two of them coming †¦ things got confu – ‘ ‘That's right,' said Maureen, interrupting as they moved out towards the car, because she had heard all this before. ‘You know, I can't think why they're having the service here in Pagford †¦' She longed to suggest that they drive past the church on the way to the hospital – she had a craving to see what the Weedon family looked like en masse, and to glimpse, perhaps, that degenerate junkie mother – but could think of no way to frame the request. ‘You know, there's one comfort, Shirley,' she said, as they set off for the bypass. ‘The Fields are as good as gone. That must be a comfort to Howard. Even if he can't attend council for a while, he got that done.' Andrew Price was speeding down the steep hill from Hilltop House, with the sun hot on his back and the wind in his hair. His week-old shiner had turned yellow and green, and looked, if possible, even worse than it had when he had turned up at school with his eye almost closed. Andrew had told the teachers who enquired that he had fallen off his bike. It was now the Easter holidays, and Gaia had texted Andrew the previous evening to ask whether he would be going to Krystal's funeral the next day. He had sent an immediate ‘yes', and was now dressed, after much deliberation, in his cleanest jeans and a dark grey shirt, because he did not own a suit. He was not very clear why Gaia was going to the funeral, unless it was to be with Sukhvinder Jawanda, to whom she seemed to cling more fondly than ever, now that she was moving back to London with her mother. ‘Mum says she should never have come to Pagford,' Gaia had told Andrew and Sukhvinder happily, as the three of them sat on the low wall beside the newsagent's at lunchtime. ‘She knows Gavin's a total twat.' She had given Andrew her mobile number and told him that they would go out together when she came to Reading to see her father, and even mentioned, casually, taking him to see some of her favourite places in London, if he visited. She was showering benefits around her in the manner of a demob-happy soldier, and these promises, made so lightly, gilded the prospect of Andrew's own move. He had greeted the news that his parents had had an offer on Hilltop House with at least as much excitement as pain. The sweeping turn into Church Row, usually made with an uplift of spirits, dampened them. He could see people moving around in the graveyard, and he wondered what this funeral was going to be like, and for the first time that morning thought of Krystal Weedon in more than the abstract. A memory, long buried in the deepest recesses of his mind, came back to him, of that time in the playground at St Thomas's, when Fats, in a spirit of disinterested investigation, had handed him a peanut hidden inside a marshmallow †¦ he could still feel his burning throat closing inexorably. He remembered trying to yell, and his knees giving way, and the children all around him, watching with a strange, bloodless interest, and then Krystal Weedon's raucous scream. ‘Andiprice iz ‘avin' a ‘lurgycacshun!' She had run, on her stocky little legs, all the way to the staff room, and the headmaster had snatched Andrew up and sprinted with him to the nearby surgery, where Dr Crawford had administered adrenalin. She was the only one who had remembered the talk that their teacher had given the class, explaining Andrew's life-threatening condition; the only one to recognize his symptoms. Krystal ought to have been given a gold merit star, and perhaps a certificate at assembly as Pupil of the Week, but the very next day (Andrew remembered it as clearly as his own collapse) she had hit Lexie Mollison so hard in the mouth that she had knocked out two of Lexie's teeth. He wheeled Simon's bike carefully into the Walls' garage, then rang the doorbell with a reluctance that had never been there before. Tessa Wall answered, dressed in her best grey coat. Andrew was annoyed with her; it was down to her that he had a black eye. ‘Come in, Andy,' said Tessa, and her expression was tense. ‘We'll just be a minute.' He waited in the hallway, where the coloured glass over the door cast its paintboxy glow on the floorboards. Tessa marched into the kitchen, and Andrew glimpsed Fats in his black suit, crumpled up in a kitchen chair like a crushed spider, with one arm over his head, as if he were fending off blows. Andrew turned his back. The two boys had had no communication since Andrew had led Tessa to the Cubby Hole. Fats had not been to school for a fortnight. Andrew had sent a couple of texts, but Fats had not replied. His Facebook page remained frozen as it had been on the day of Howard Mollison's party. A week ago, without warning, Tessa had telephoned the Prices, told them that Fats had admitted to having posted the messages under the name The_Ghost_of_Barry_Fairbrother, and offered her deepest apologies for the consequences they had suffered. ‘So how did he know I had that computer?' Simon had roared, advancing on Andrew. ‘How did fucking Fats Wall know I did jobs after-hours at the printworks?' Andrew's only consolation was that if his father had known the truth, he might have ignored Ruth's protests and continued to pummel Andrew until he was unconscious. Why Fats had decided to pretend he had authored all the posts, Andrew did not know. Perhaps it was Fats' ego at work, his determination to be the mastermind, the most destructive, the baddest of them all. Perhaps he had thought he was doing something noble, taking the fall for both of them. Either way, Fats had caused much more trouble than he knew; he had never realized, thought Andrew, waiting in the hall, what it was like to live with a father like Simon Price, safe in his attic room, with his reasonable, civilized parents. Andrew could hear the adult Walls talking in quiet voices; they had not closed the kitchen door. ‘We need to leave now,' Tessa was saying. ‘He's got a moral obligation and he's going.' ‘He's had enough punishment,' said Cubby's voice. ‘I'm not asking him to go as a – ‘ ‘Aren't you?' said Cubby sharply. ‘For God's sake, Tessa. D'you think they'll want him there? You go. Stu can stay here with me.' A minute later Tessa emerged from the kitchen, closing the door firmly behind her. ‘Stu isn't coming, Andy,' she said, and he could tell that she was furious about it. ‘I'm sorry about that.'

Saturday, January 11, 2020

Customer Service Essay

1. Organisations that intend to be successful need to design products, services and product/ service bundles to meet customer needs. How can they do this and how can they ensure that the organisation’s plans achieve quality, time and cost specifications agreed with customers? What data and records might be drawn upon to make plans intended to meet customer needs? Organisations that use market research to gather feedback from consumers regarding product design and product/ service bundles tend to be more successful that those who do not use market research as a business tool. Data received from the market research records that have been collected from any market research including surveys, questionnaires, focus groups or simply speaking with customers, are drawn upon to ensure the organisation achieves quality, time and cost specifications as per the customer’s requirements. For example, the Mining Village I currently work at have designed a total accommodation bundle for its clients. Each room is equipped with Wi-Fi, a Smart TV, air conditioning, refrigerator and advanced security systems. After a hard day’s work guests can unwind around the fireplace, watch a movie in the cinema, socialise in the Tavern and recreational room or work out at the gymnasium, pool or tennis court before sitting down to a meal in the restaurant. The cost of the bundles includes 3 meals a day plus use of the facilities as mentioned above. The Owner of the Village, has done market research with Companies who would require accommodation in the area with the Coal Steam and Gas development in the Area. They drew down on the information received and purposely built the accommodation to house those working in the area. The market research provided a edge to the company over the Hotels in the area, as the Village supplied everything the market were after. 2. What monitoring and evaluation procedures might be followed to ensure that the organisation keeps up with changes in customer needs and in market conditions, obtains and distributes resources appropriately and is able to consistently meet product quality and delivery standards? Monitoring and evaluation procedures are important to keep up with changes in customer needs and in market conditions. They ensure the organisation  obtains and distributes resources appropriately, and constantly meets product quality and delivery standards. Monitoring and evaluation procedures include interviewing and communicating with customer regularly, as market conditions and customer needs often change. It is important to find out their priorities, likes, dislikes and purchasing intentions, demographics and psychographics. Procedures also include measuring progress against the organisations vision, its goals, and its predetermined performance expectations and quality standards. KPIS and KRAs should be monitored as they provide measurement criteria. Data should be compared with the forecasted or expected performance, and measured against the organisational goals and against the individual, team/section/division and organisational KPI’s. Customer feedback is vital and can be collected through customer surveys, product testing, focus groups or simply speaking with the customers during sales transactions. Speaking with sales staff is also important, as they are the ones who deal with the customer’s every day. They are able to directly observe customer responses to products and to the service they receive. 3. How can customer feedback be collected and used and why is it necessary to consult with customers (internal and external) and with other stakeholders when monitoring and assessing the organisations progress toward achieving quality targets? Customer feedback should be collected and used to investigate and identify target markets, current and emerging needs, satisfaction levels and complaints. The ways you can collect feedback are through formal surveys including mail, email and phone, questionnaires, focus groups, speaking with customer service operators and speaking to customers while they shop or customer feedback forms. It is necessary to consult with customers and other stakeholders to identify progress towards the results, the likelihood of receiving the results towards quality targets and the impact of work against the targets.  Consulting with customers and stakeholders helps to keep the work on track, and can let you know if things are going according to plan. For example The Old Spaghetti Factory has Customer Feedback forms on their dining tables. Customers are able to fill in a feedback form to comment on customer service quality, food quality, speed of service and the dining experience overall. By collecting the feedback forms the managers are able to see if the team is performing up the standard the organisation is aiming for. 4. Within the organisation there will be groups of people or teams which work toward goal achievement. How can managers and supervisors ensure that team members have the skills needed to communicate effectively with customers and to provide excellent customer service? How might they assist colleagues in overcoming difficulties with meeting customer service standards? Managers and supervisors need to ensure that team members have to skills needed to communicate effectively with customers and to provide quality customer service. For this to be done, the managers and supervisors themselves need to have a clear understanding of the goals and objectives the organisation is trying to achieve in relation to customer service standards. They need to be able to help team members understand and act towards meeting those requirements. Managers and supervisors also need to be able to communicate well with team members. To ensure the employees are fulfilling the customer service requirements of the organisation, the manager or supervisor need to make sure the team members know how the organisation expects is employees to behave and what the organisation expects the team members to achieve in the workplace. Their performance should be measured and adjusted according to the organisations goals. To assist their colleagues, if they required assistance in overcoming difficulties in customer service standards, they need to communicate with their colleagues. They should ask if there was any reason as to why they are having difficulty reaching the customer service standards of the organisation. They should reiterate the company’s customer service standards and the reasons why they need to meet and exceed customer expectations, and how it impacts on the achievement of the organisations goals. The offer of support as well as retraining, coaching or mentoring should be given by the  manager or supervisor. Kerri has noticed that Terri work performance is lacking. She is being rude to the customers and is not completing the tasks that are required to provide superior customer service. Kerri has spoken with Terri and reiterated the organisations goals and objective in relation to customer service. She can see that Terri’s performance is lacking as she is unmotivated at work. Kerri has offered Terri a series of coaching sessions to help her be motivated and work to the organisations standards. 5. What procedures might be followed to identify problems with appropriate individuals and groups to adapt customer services, products and/or service delivery so that it continues to meet customer needs? KPIs and targets can be applied at individual level or as a department. Those who do not meet their targets can be coached or placed on a performance improvement plan to assist them in achieving their targets.

Friday, January 3, 2020

Literary Analysis Jonathan Swift - 1425 Words

Joshua Diaz Mary Ellen Griffith Freshman Comp. II Oct. 27, 2015 Literary analysis The author I decided to write about is Jonathan Swift for he had a keen sense for effective sarcasm. As Jonathan Swift said â€Å"The proper words in the proper places are the true definition of style.† Though he was known in different ways, he was mostly popularized through his gift in writing, particularly his satire, or his use of humor and irony, essays. Through out swift life, there has been plenty of events where I believe shape the way he was, hence his writing style, some might even say it led to the point of insanity. Jonathan Swift was not always a writer however. He wasn’t known for any type of writing until he was around the age of thirty. Born November 30, 1667 in Dublin, Ireland he was raised by his rich uncle. Swift uncle is the one who actually paid all of the expenses for him to attend and finish his college education in 1686. Two years later began the Glorious Revolution and so he went to England to become a secretary to Sir William Temple. While working for temple he developed a disease that stayed with him upon death called Meniere s Disease, which which is a disorder of the ear which can cause problems such as nausea, effects hearing, loss of balance and memory, and more. It was not treated due to the lack of knowledge of the disease (David Cody). Between 1696 and 1699 Swift wrote A Tale of a Tub (but published in 1704), â€Å"a satire on the religious extremesShow MoreRelatedSimilarities between Martin Luther Kings Letter from Birmingham Jail and Jonathan Swifts A Modest Prop osal1358 Words   |  6 Pages Even the most cursory analysis of Letter From Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King, Jr. and A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift reveals glaring differences between the two essays. Surprisingly, a side-by-side comparison also yields many similarities between the two works. The most obvious similarity between the two essays is the overarching theme of the subject matter. In both essays, the writers address deeply-entrenched social injustices. For example, in Letter From Birmingham JailRead MoreA Modest Proposal Analysis Essay1465 Words   |  6 PagesA Modest Proposal Literary Analysis By J--- ----------- J--- ----------- Mr. H----- Period 6 2 May 2011 Jonathan Swift’s Use of Satire and Exaggeration Satire is a form of literature in which an author tries to demonstrate his or her point of view by ridiculing. The author uses heavy irony and sarcasm in order to criticize a social issue. A perfect example of a work of satire is Jonathan Swift’s A Modest Proposal. In this satirical essay, Jonathan Swift attacks on the issue of theRead More Satire in the Eighteenth Century Essay790 Words   |  4 Pagesdiscoveries that challenged the traditional dominating force of religion.   Influential figures of the age, such as Voltaire, Jonathan Swift, and William Hogarth, strove to assure human betterment and advance human thinking through truth and humorous criticism.   They employed the use of satire in order to accomplish their common goal.    According to A Handbook of Literary Terms, satire is defined as a work or manner that blends a censorious attitude with humor or wit for improving human institutionsRead MoreJonathan Swift s A Modest Proposal1809 Words   |  8 PagesJonathan Swift’s A Modest Proposal is a satirical essay that sardonically uses an outrageous solution to the massive poverty in Ireland. He proposes this lengthy idea of eating children as the solution to the society’s problems. His serious yet hyperbolic and satirical style allows Swift an approach to get people engaged in the difficulties the Irish had to do to survive their everyday life. This essay explores Swift’s ability to use literary devices and how these techniques advance his idea aboutRead MoreEffective Persuasive Techniques Used By John Donne s `` The Flea ``1480 Words   |  6 PagesEffective Argument Techniques Effective argumentative and persuasive techniques are a course of reasoning aimed at validating or falsifying the truth in an argument. With an in-depth analysis of literature, the perplex intentions of a writer that use such techniques can be revealed. Methods such as logical fallacies, rhetorical devices, and satirical devices are three approaches that construct a piece of work on a more compelling level. Behind these elements of writing, there are a multitude of purposesRead MoreHoratian and Juvenalian Satire1884 Words   |  8 PagesHoratian and Juvenalian Satire Satire has many definitions, but according to Merriam Webster satire can be defined as â€Å"A literary work holding up human vices and follies to ridicule or scorn† (Webster). This definition is likely used by many authors who exercise the application of satire. Satire has been in literature since ancient times; it is derived from the Latin satura, meaning dish of mixed fruits, (Weisgerber). Many satirists have shared a common aim: to expose foolishness in all its guisesRead MoreGulliver ´s Travels by Jonathan Swift: Biographical Summary1982 Words   |  8 PagesGulliver’s Travels – Jonathan Swift – Biographical Summary Jonathan Swift was born on November 30, 1667 in Ireland to English parents, Jonathan and Abigail. His father, Jonathan, died shortly after his birth, leaving his mother to raise him and his sister alone. In Ireland, Swift was dependent on a nanny for three years because his mother moved to England. The young man was educated because of the patronage of his Uncle, Godwin Swift. Godwin sent him to Kilkenny Grammar School at age six, whichRead MoreEssay on Jonathan Swifts A Modest Proposal1391 Words   |  6 Pages In Jonathan Swift’s essay, â€Å"A Modest Proposal†, Swift proposes that the poor should eat their own starving children during a great a famine in Ireland. What would draw Swift into writing to such lengths? When times get hard in Ireland, Swift states that the children would make great meals. The key factor to Swift’s essay that the reader must see that Swift is not literally ordering the poor to cannibalize. Swift acknowledges the fact of the scarcity of food and empathizes with the struggling andRead MoreMedia Project1616 Words   |  7 Pagesgynocriticism where women create the female characters, it debatably produces a certain pressure on women to be â€Å"feminist† in the eyes of gynocritics, believing there is only one way to be feminist, building another glass ceiling to overcome. 3. In Jonathan Swift’s A Modest Proposal, the defamiliarization of children into sustenance and women into cattle drives his original point home, being that the Irish should start taking the starvation of poor families seriously. It allows the reader to truly seeRead MoreAnalysis Of The Book Gulliver s Travels Essay1942 Words   |  8 Pages In his book, Gulliver’s Travels, it is hard to miss the various references that its author, Johnathan Swift, makes concerning bodily functions. Yet, this is more than the bawdy, juvenile toilet humor one would encounter in a cheeky T.V. show for it has a literary purpose. Scatology is used to define the literary trope of the grotesque body. Through the realist perspective, Swift employs scatology to both shock and attract. He uses it to draw attention to Gulliver’s humanity, and normalize the strangeness