A Perfect Day for Bananafish essays

A Perfect Day for Bananafish essays Comparison Between A Perfect Day for Bananafish and For Esme With Love and Squalor J D Salinger wrote Nine Stories with the same brilliance as Catcher In The Rye. His style is so unique and complex that all of his short stories are truly enjoyable. Two of those stories are A Perfect Day for Bananafish and For Esme With Love and Squalor. The main characters in both of these stories, Seymour and Sergeant X, have served in World War II, and the fighting has taken its toll on them. Their physiological well-being was sacrificed and as a result they are no longer the same people they were before. Both feel alienated from the people in their life, the same people they had loved before the war. The isolation the war has caused is carried over into their lives, and it caused these men to search for new forms of comfort and security, in the respective forms of Sybil and Esme. In A Perfect Day for Bananafish, Muriel and her husband Seymour have different perspectives of life. Muriel is a carefree and complacent person, while her husband is quite strange and slightly paranoid. His paranoia is illustrated when he looses it in the hotel elevator, I have two normal feet and I cant see the slightest God-damned reason anyone should stare at them. Muriel, however, is unacquainted with Seymours wild breakdowns. She is rather confident that Seymour is perfectly sane as she reports to her mother on the telephone. Muriel doesnt know about this side of Seymour because he has become alienated from her after the war. Their personalities dont match anymore, if they ever did, and he is seeking some sort of understanding that he knows Muriel cannot provide. Seymours relationship with Sybil is making up for Muriels shortcomings. Seymour is looking for the understanding of a child and the love of an adult. He wants someone who will not judge him. He realizes the impossibil ity of his desires with Sybil when he ge...

Health Morality and Student Success Paper

Health Morality and Student Success Paper Health: Morality and Student Success Paper 10/2/12 mike jenkins Health 2 mike jenkins 10/2/12 Student success paper #2 Values are moral rules that we hold for our self and what we care about. I value my family, honesty, and trust. We decide what our own values are by the way we are raised. Some may value education in a certain way an instructor teaches. Not all instructors teach the same way. There are two different types of ways an instructor can teach. One is by presenting the information and taking notes, the other is getting the whole class involved in class discussions, class activities and group work. To be successful on an exam you need to follow seven basic rules to prevent exam anxiety. The first is knowing what the test covers so you can study what needs to be known and not fill your head with useless information that you class has not covered yet or that won’t be on the test. The second is the test comprehensive? Comprehensive exams include all information from the beginning of the course. What is the format of the test, true or false, matching, mult iple choice, or subjective? By knowing this you can be prepared on how to answer your questions. Next, what level of thinking will be required? Most likely you will analyze and interpret the questions you see. Knowing how much of the test counts toward your final grade will help you decide how much study time to prepare for. Be prepared with what materials you need to bring to be successful. Lastly compare how much study

How far is it true that madness before the enlightenment is understood Essay

How far is it true that madness before the enlightenment is understood in primarily religious terms - Essay Example This period was to see a great positive shift in tyranny, ignorance, superstition and to build a good reputation in the world (Macdonald, 1981). With this plan, the enlightenment had hereditary domination by aristocrats and religion as their sole targets. The logic behind the Enlightenment period is all about Christianity as far as religion is concerned. From Italy to England to France, this major vibrant religion had its ideas affect day-to-day lives of many. Ideally, there would not have been any form of enlightenment without Christianity. Churchmen almost had equal rights and powers as emperors and many other rulers that existed then with some privileges being exemption from paying taxes (J. Schmidt, 2007). Philosophers, thinkers and scholars like John Locke and Voltaire sparked the enlightenment. Other significant names during this period were Isaac Newton, who was a great physicist and later recognized as father of modern physics, and Baruch Spinoza. These are just but a few int ellectuals who saw religion as a â€Å"cage† that bared man from success and development. They also articulated scientific revolution, which would later spread overseas to the rest of the world (Jeremy Schmidt, 2007). Popularly known as the â€Å"Dark Ages,† this movement brought logical positivism to people. Life initially had been all about God and that the rupture is uncertain when the pure in heart would be live in Heaven forever. Because of this, intellects were to be the elites of their time as they acted sources of credible information (Allen, 2008). There was an overall rise in ideas based on empiricism and credible philosophy hence their application in a variety of areas like biology, physics, chemistry and political economy. All these theories attacked the church and the state directly. Christians today have the question of possibly knowing the truth as their main foundational philosophical challenge. The human mindset has taken two dimensions in our society today. Either one is of relativism or skepticism. Relativism is based on the statement that there is really no fixed truth. Skepticism on the other hand says the truth lives but we cannot know it (Midelfort, 1999). As preachers spread the word across the entire world, these two mindsets affect all the claims of truth for Christians of these days. Religious Perceptions about God Way back before Enlightenment God was like sunrise. Choosing the path of God was seen as a way of having all human questions answered and accompanied problems solved amicably. Christianity had its feet on the Bible as a way of knowing God. Bibles were Holy books from which people got the relevant knowledge they needed to stay close to their creator. The Old Testament was in its capacity a form of ‘constitution’ that had all solutions to political questions. Historical events were seen as a service to God’s will and they were understood to work according to God’s plan (Feld, 2011). S torms, floods and heavy rains were believed to be a form of â€Å"communication† from a supernatural being. Therefore, these events were not just chances. God was always involved ever since He created the world with everything in it many years before Christ with man being the highest level of His creation. Christ was the son of God who lived among the people, brought the Godly message, and later ascended to Heaven. To this there was a strong belief will be a last Judgment when Christ will return and few will be chosen for an eternal life. This, to some, made the

What caused the Great Depression of the 1930s What happened during the Essay

What caused the Great Depression of the 1930s What happened during the depression - Essay Example and during the crisis of the 1930’s, are still being debated today while the country suffers through a similar economic situation due to similar causes. Unfortunately most of what the government did then, as some would argue today, did little to help either people or business and only acted to make the situation worse. This paper examines what caused the Great Depression, its effects on the country and the results of the government’s reaction to it. Many things contributed to causing the Great Depression but there were two key reasons, the lack of financial oversight and the country’s wealth was unevenly distributed among its citizens. The 1920’s was a prosperous period for the country but a middle class, as we know it now, did not exist. Those with money kept the economy going due to their voracious consuming habits but when the rich slowed or stopped spending the economy followed suit. While businesses had significant productivity gains during the 1920’s, its employees shared a relatively small portion of the wealth they produced.   â€Å"Between 1923 and 1929, manufacturing output per person-hour increased by 32 percent, but workers’ wages grew by only 8 percent.† (Collazo, 2005). During this period, corporate profits rose by 65 percent and the government gave huge tax breaks to the wealthy allowing them to keep much of those profits. The Revenue Act of 1926 lowered the taxes of persons m aking $1 million per year by about 70 percent.    By 1929 the total earnings for the top one-tenth of one percent of American households was equal the bottom 42 percent.   The U.S. economy became more unstable as the income inequality grew. The health of the country’s economy depended on how much the rich spent but during the late 1920’s this very small portion of society began to decrease not only its spending but investment expenditures too which greased the wheels of the economic decline. â€Å"Since there were relatively few persons of great wealth, a

Temperature On The Membrane Permeability Biology Essay

Temperature On The Membrane Permeability Biology Essay Abstract The effect of various temperatures on the membrane permeability of Beta Vulgaris, more commonly known as the red beet, will be investigated in this experiment. Using seven different samples, each treated to a different temperature, it was possible to compare how temperature effects betacyanin secretion, which is not released under normal conditions. The amount of betacyanin pigments released was determined using light spectrophotometry at a wavelength of 475nm. It was found that an increase in temperature is related to the amount of betacyanin pigments which pass through the membrane. For example, at the temperatures 22 °C, 60 °C and 100 °C the values of absorbance were 0.0558, 1.285 and 1.401 respectively. This trend reinforces the belief that increases in temperature and the amount of betacyanin that is able to pass through the membrane is directly proportional because the membrane fluidity increases. Introduction Chemical structure of betanin, the most prevalent betacyanin in Beta Vulgaris (Sepà ºlveda-Jimà ©nez et al., 2004) Belonging to the Chenopodiaceae family, Beta Vulgaris, or more commonly known as the red beet is a root vegetable (Rhodes, 2008), and is red in color, due primarily to the presence of betacyanin (Czapski et al., 1988). Although there are different types of betacyanins, the main betacyanin of the red beet is betanin, which is present in high concentrations (Sepà ºlveda-Jimà ©nez, 2004). The stability of Betacyanin is susceptible to a number of factors, such as: temperature, pH, oxygen, light, water activity and certain metal ions (Czapski et al., 1988). These factors account for the amount of betacyanin released, as under normal conditions it cannot pass through the selectively permeable plasma membrane. The plasma membrane of prokaryotic cells is a selectively permeable membrane composed of an amphipathic phospholipid bilayer with embedded lipids, proteins and carbohydrates. It is described as selectively permeable because certain things can pass through the membrane without being impeded by the phospholipid bilayer, while other substances are completely blocked from passing through the membrane. These membranes must remain fluid in order to work properly. As temperature decreases a membrane becomes decreasingly permeable until the point where it finally solidifies, causing the membrane to rupture. However, as temperature increases, the membrane becomes too fluid, as the channel and carrier proteins embedded in the membrane start to deform; causing more substances to leak and pass through the membrane (Reese et al., 2011). In this experiment, we observed the effect that various temperatures had on the membrane permeability of Beta Vulgaris. Since an increase in temperature causes the membrane of prokaryotic cells to become more permeable, along with increasing the rate at which molecules diffuse, it is expected that an increase in temperature will cause more betacyanin to pass through the membrane. As temperature decreases, the membrane permeability is also expected to decrease, until the point where the membrane ruptures, allowing the contents to flow freely out of the cell (Reese et al., 2011). The primary objective of this experiment was to investigate that effect that the different temperatures had on the membrane permeability of Beta Vulgaris. Methods Six uniform cylinders of a diameter of 1.0cm and a length of 3.0cm were cut using a cork borer. These cylinders of red beet root were placed under running cold water and rinsed for approximately 5 minutes. A previously frozen (-20 °C) sample of beet root was inspected to ensure a length of 3.0cm and then thawed to room temperature. These seven samples of beet root were then put in a solution of 10mL of distilled water. Then, one solution of Beta Vulgaris was placed in the fridge at a temperature of 3 °C, the previously frozen sample along with another fresh sample were left at room (22 °C) temperature and four samples were placed in water baths of 40 °C, 60 °C, 76 °C and 100 °C. These solutions were left to incubate at the test temperatures for fifteen minutes. Once finished their incubation period, the solutions were transferred into fresh cuvettes, extracting the Beta Vulgaris core in the process. Following this, a SpectroVis Plus spectrophotometer by Vernier, using L ogger Pro 3.8.4, was used to determine the absorbance of each sample at 475nm. This process was then repeated four times (Mitchell et al., 2012). First, to analyze this data, the data was compiled into tabular form. Following this, the mean absorbance of each treatment was calculated in order to account for the different value of absorbance in each trial. Using the average value of absorbance, we were then able to calculate the standard deviation for each trial. As the data collected was sub dividable, it was deemed to be continuous. Therefore, a line graph was produced with standard deviation error bars (Mitchell et al., 2012). Results Among the different temperatures in which the beet cylinders were treated, variation observed in values of absorbance was expected. As seen in Figure 1, the highest absorbance value was 1.604, observed at a temperature of -22 °C. Comparatively, the lowest value of 0.0558 was seen at a temperature of 3 °C. Three points of interest can be seen in the graph. The first occurs in the frozen sample where the absorbance is the highest value on the graph. Second, the absorbance readings at 3 °C and 22 °C were extremely close, 0.0558 and 0.0588 respectively. Finally, the absorbance reading at 100 °C does not follow the increasing trend of absorbance value established from temperatures 3 °C to 76 °C. The value, 1.401, was in fact lower than that of 76 °C (1.438) but greater than the value observed at 60 °C. It can be noted that a general trend can be established. As the temperature of Beta Vulgaris increased, the absorbance and therefore the amount of betacyanin, also increas ed. However, the frozen and 100 °C samples did not seem to follow this trend. Figure 1. The effect of seven different temperatures on the absorbance of Beta Vulgaris, calculated using light spectrophotometry at a wavelength of 475nm. Discussion As the betacyanin pigments present in Beta Vulgaris are hydrophilic and require storage in a vacuole (Mukundan et al., 1998), it is crucial that some sort of treatment be applied to the beet root in order to ease the release of the pigments. In this case, the temperature was changed in order to make the membrane of the red beet more permeable to the release of betacyanin. However, there are more efficient ways to increase the loss of pigment. As stated by Czapski (1998), an increase in pH would have a greater effect in the changes of colour attributes, while temperature would have a smaller effect. Therefore, if pH had been varied in this experiment rather than the temperature, it would have been possible to increase the pigment loss by Beta Vulgaris. Variation in the results can be the consequence of many factors; such as the age of the beet root sample, cores from different beets were used and the amount of time the samples were treated at the test temperatures. The age of the beet would have played a large role as the proteins in the sample could already be broken down before the experiments are performed, thereby decreasing the amount of betacyanin that could be released. Furthermore, throughout the different trials, cores from different beets were used. These cores contained different concentrations of betacyanin, therefore affected the amount of betacyanin which passed through the membrane. Finally, the amount of time the samples were treated was also an important factor. These solutions were supposed to be treated for fifteen minutes; however, if left under treatment for more time, the amount of betacyanin secreted by the Beta Vulgaris would increase. It can be concluded that as temperature increases above 3 °C, the amount of pigment, betacyanin, which was initially unable to pass through the membrane, released is proportional to the increase in temperature. This is caused by the membrane becoming too fluid while the channel and carrier proteins embedded in the membrane start to deform (Reese et al., 2011), causing leakage through the membrane. In another similar experiment, the researchers concluded that the amount of betacyanin released was proportional to an increase in temperature (Thimmaraju et al., 2002); however, only the change between 40 °C, 45 °C and 50 °C Beta Vulgaris samples was studied. In the case of the frozen sample, the result can be explained in terms of the cell membrane; when frozen, the membrane of the cell ruptures (Roquebert and Bury, 1993). This results in the betacyanin passing through the membrane with relative ease. This experiment established the general trend that as temperature increases, the amount of betacyanin which passes through the membrane also increases. Although, two points of interest occur at -22 °C and 100 °C, which did not follow this trend. At -22 °C the membrane ruptured (Roquebert and Bury, 1993), which allows the pigment to be released freely. While at 100 °C a declining trend is established as the samples lost their viability (Thimmaraju et al., 2002). Further research in the area of the membrane permeability of Beta Vulgaris should focus on the effects that pH has on the amount of betacyanin released, comparing these results to those which have undergone temperature treatments. Literature Cited Czapski, J., Maksymiuk, M., Grajek, W. (1998). Analysis of biodenitrification conditions of red beet juice using the response surface method. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 46(11), 4702-4705 Mitchell, G, Roe, G., Beaulieu, G., and Creasey, D., Brand, D., Lisson, P., Marx R., and Metacalfe, R. (2012). Biology 190A Laboratory Manual. Department of Biology, University of Victoria, Victoria, B.C. Mukundan, U., Bhide, V., Singh, G., Curtis, W. (1998). pH-mediated release of betalains from transformed root cultures of beta vulgaris L. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, 50(2), 241-245. Reece, J. B., Urry, L. A., Cain, M. L., Wasserman, S. A., Minorsky, P. V., Jackson, R. B. (2011).  Campbell Biology (9th ed.). San Francisco, California: Benjamin Cummings. Roquebert, M. F., Bury, E. (1993). Effect of freezing and thawing on cell membranes of lentinus edodes, the shiitake mushroom. World Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology, 9(6), 641-647. doi: 10.1007/BF00369571 Rhodes, D. (2008, January). HORT410 Vegetable Crops.  Horticulture and Landscape Architecture Purdue University. Retrieved  October  12, 2012, from http://www.hort.purdue.edu/rhodcv/hort410/spina/sp00001.htm Sepà ºlveda-Jimà ©nez, G., Rueda-Benà ­tez, P., Porta, H., Rocha-Sosa, M. (2004). Betacyanin synthesis in red beet (beta vulgaris) leaves induced by wounding and bacterial infiltration is preceded by an oxidative burst. Physiological and Molecular Plant Pathology, 64(3), 125-133. Thimmaraju, R., Bhagyalakshmi, N., Narayan, M. S., Ravishankar, G. A. (2003). Kinetics of pigment release from hairy root cultures of beta vulgaris under the influence of pH, sonication, temperature and oxygen stress. Process Biochemistry, 38(7), 1069-1076.

Analysis of Cartoon Cultures in Walt Disney Stories

Disney and his studio do not only aim to create entertainment but present a meaningful thesis as well; â€Å"All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them† (Williams & Denney, 2004, p. 69). Usually, Disney’s stories like to present the royal romance comprising of love, courage and dream.By comparing Cinderella (Geronimi, Luske, & Jackson, 1950) and his latest princess iteration, The Princess and The Frog (Clements, 2009), we could clearly see the critical influence of Cinderella that has affected the cartoon culture of Disney’s stories, as highlighted by the appearance of the Fairy Godmother, the importance of animal characters and the narrative power of the songs. Many of Disney’s stories are concerned with a goal that the leading character has to achieve, passing obstacles along the way in order to realize his dream.As such, a correlation can be seen between Cinderella (1950) and The Princess and The Frog (2009); both the young ladie s work very hard to achieve their aspirations. Before Cinderella was transformed by Fairy Godmother with an opportunity to attend the royal ball, she was a poor girl, and seemingly under distress. Her stepmother and stepsisters take over all her benefits and mistreat her. She is abused and made to serve as the housekeeper and maid for her family. However, she does not give up on dreaming and wishing, and has faith that one day her dream will come true.On the other hand, Tiana is a poor African-American young lady who works very hard to accomplish her goal of owning a restaurant in New Orleans. Although, her dream seems big and difficult for her to achieve, she never thinks about giving up. She continues tracing her dream; her hopes remain high even after she is accidently transformed into a frog by kissing the cursed Prince Naveen. Although these two Disney princesses are coming from different nationalities and generations, they both represent the same story structure of Disney†™s fairytales.Secondly, Disney’s Cinderella has become the dominant version in Western culture, since it was the first one to be aired on the big screen. It was the first time a character like the Fairy godmother was presented straight from a Disney tale. Her task was strictly to prepareeverything for Cinderella so she could attend the royalty ball. The story of Cinderella has historically portrayed a strong character in the Fairy godmother; a prominent companion has become an important element in the life of a cheerful heroine in the follow up stories of Disney.Looking into The Princess and The Frog (Clements, 2009)Mama Odie is representing a new type of Fairy godmother as a blind voodoo priestess. She plays a guiding role in the story, full of magic and power to help the frogs transform back into humans. The Fairy godmother has thus become an iconic character since it was first presented in Cinderella. It plays an important part in shaping the cartoons’ structures, influencing many other stories to portray the same character in other forms, enriching the story with color and inspiration.Thirdly, by featuring animal characters in Cinderella, Disney and his animators have developed a new structure of cartoon culture. Animal characters have carved a niche in Disney’s animations. However, these animal characters only play supporting or minor roles in the full-length animated films. Due to the strong connection between animal characters and Disney’s animations in the public’s mind, Disney and his animators have recently inclined towards creating much more detailed versions of the animal characters found in Cinderella.As a result, the mice have gained more screen time than the step-mother and sisters, and one of the most memorable scenes in the film regarding the manufacturing process of the ball dress revolves aroundbirds and mice which work together to prepare a beautiful gown for Cinderella. This scene appears for nearly 8 m inutes in the film. It shows the importance of animals in story-telling. Moreover, those animals carry their own personality, as seen for example in the red bird who would much enjoyperforming a vocal accommodation where as the character Jaq, who was portrayed as a leader of the mice while Gus was the cute and childish one.Moreover, the relationship between Cinderella and the mice provided clues to reveal her real personality. Her kindness could be observed through her interest in making clothes and dresses for the animals, rescuing them from traps, and feeding them with enough food. As such, in the story of Cinderella, animals do not feature as minor characters. They are highlighted to be very important in the narrative. Since that story, animal characters have moved up in ranks, taking important roles as support for the main characters in reaching their goals.In The Princess and The Frog (Clements, 2009)those small animal characters follow Cinderella’s tradition in that the y play important roles as support for the frogs so they could return to their human forms, carrying their own personality and dreams. For example, Ray is a firefly, who knows Mama Odie and agrees to help the frogs find her and nearly sacrifices himself fighting with Dr. Facilier. From his lover to the star, we can see that his personality is very gentle and kind. Moreover, Louis is a friendly neurotic alligator, who dreams to become human and joins a jazz band as the trumpet player.He is not just a background image and accompanies the frogs in their adventure. Their appearances make the narratives to be more balanced, completed and interesting. Thanks to the success of theanimal characters in Cinderella, animal characters have continued to play an important role in developing plots and, in turn, have had stories revolve around them instead of the other way round. Lastly, over the years Disney’s animations have developed an indivisible relationship with songs and musical eleme nts.Songs provide a useful tool to breathe more definition into the characters. For example, in Cinderella, the song â€Å"A Dream is A Wish Your Heart Makes† (Geronimi, Luske, & Jackson, 1950), we can observe that Cinderella is faced with many obstacles, but her dream is still kept alive in her heart, thanks to her positive attitude. This way, songs contain the power of presenting deeper content, which normal speech may not effectively communicate. Besides, the audience can see and feel the threat pertaining to the character of Dr.Facilier, for example, by virtue of the song â€Å"Friends on the Other Side† (Clements, 2009). Walt Disney has seemingly pioneered the tradition of using songs and music to replace boring conversations, because the song can portray an idea in much more detail. For example, the Fairy godmother’s song â€Å"Bibidi-Bobidi-Boo† (Geronimi, Luske, & Jackson, 1950), played when she transforms the pumpkin into a coach, the mice into a horse, and Cinderella’s appearance for the ball, etc. relayed a magical element only music could provide.The song, in this context, is a much more powerful tool to present the idea than normal speech, because it gives the audience an extra vocal dimension to remember the scene with, adding to the visual impact. Moreover, the songs and music also add to the dynamics of the picture in order to present the inner meaning of the stories. By comparing the versions of â€Å"Sing Sweet Nightingale† (Geronimi, Luske, & Jackson, 1950) as sung by Cinderella and her stepsisters, we can see the difference in nature of both parties, Cinderella being the gentler much more caring personality.At another instance, we can see a deeper relationship between the frogs, through the song Never knew I Needed, instead of simply saying, I think I am falling in love with you (Clements, 2009). It surrounds the narrative with a profundity in an implicit way. Disney’s animation, hence, reall y has the ability to capture the fantasy-oriented imagination of the audience providing entertainment both for the adults and children alike. Incorporating these qualities into Disney’s cartoon culture has enabled the creation of some of the most excellent pieces of animated and other motion-picture films that history has ever seen.

Fresh Water

Water resources are sources of water that are useful or potentially useful to humans. Uses of water include agricultural, industrial, household, recreational and environmental activities. Virtually all of these human uses require fresh water. 97% of water on the Earth is salt water, and only 3% is fresh water of which slightly over two thirds is frozen in glaciers and polar ice caps. [1] The remaining unfrozen freshwater is mainly found as groundwater, with only a small fraction present above ground or in the air. 2] Fresh water is a renewable resource, yet the world's supply of clean, fresh water is steadily decreasing. Water demand already exceeds supply in many parts of the world and as the world population continues to rise, so too does the water demand. Awareness of the global importance of preserving water for ecosystem services has only recently emerged as, during the 20th century, more than half the world’s wetlands have been lost along with their valuable environmenta l services.Biodiversity-rich freshwater ecosystems are currently declining faster than marine or land ecosystems. [3] The framework for allocating water resources to water users (where such a framework exists) is known as water rights. [pic] [pic] A graphical distribution of the locations of water on Earth. |Contents | |[hide] | |1 Sources of fresh water | |1. Surface water | |1. 2 Under river flow | |1. 3 Ground water | |1. 4 Desalination | |1. 5 Frozen water | |2 Uses of fresh water | |2. 1 Agricultural | |2. Industrial | |2. 3 Household | |2. 4 Recreation | |2. 5 Environmental | |3 Water stress | |3. 1 Population growth | |3. 2 Expansion of business activity | |3. Rapid urbanization | |3. 4 Climate change | |3. 5 Depletion of aquifers | |3. 6 Pollution and water protection | |3. 7 Water and conflict | |4 World water supply and distribution | |5 Economic considerations | |5. Business response | |6 See also | |7 Further reading | |8 Notes | |9 References | |10 External links | [pic ][edit] Sources of fresh water [edit] Surface water Main article: Surface water [pic] [pic]Lake Chungara and Parinacota volcano in northern Chile Surface water is water in a river, lake or fresh water wetland. Surface water is naturally replenished by precipitation and naturally lost through discharge to the oceans, evaporation, and sub-surface seepage. Although the only natural input to any surface water system is precipitation within its watershed, the total quantity of water in that system at any given time is also dependent on many other factors. These factors include storage capacity in lakes, wetlands and artificial reservoirs, the permeability of the soil eneath these storage bodies, the runoff characteristics of the land in the watershed, the timing of the precipitation and local evaporation rates. All of these factors also affect the proportions of water lost. Human activities can have a large and sometimes devastating impact on these factors. Humans often increase storage capacity by constructing reservoirs and decrease it by draining wetlands. Humans often increase runoff quantities and velocities by paving areas and channelizing stream flow. The total quantity of water available at any given time is an important consideration.Some human water users have an intermittent need for water. For example, many farms require large quantities of water in the spring, and no water at all in the winter. To supply such a farm with water, a surface water system may require a large storage capacity to collect water throughout the year and release it in a short period of time. Other users have a continuous need for water, such as a power plant that requires water for cooling. To supply such a power plant with water, a surface water system only needs enough storage capacity to fill in when average stream flow is below the power plant's need.Nevertheless, over the long term the average rate of precipitation within a watershed is the upper bound for average consumptio n of natural surface water from that watershed. Natural surface water can be augmented by importing surface water from another watershed through a canal or pipeline. It can also be artificially augmented from any of the other sources listed here, however in practice the quantities are negligible. Humans can also cause surface water to be â€Å"lost† (i. e. become unusable) through pollution. Brazil is the country estimated to have the largest supply of fresh water in the world, followed by Russia and Canada. 4] [edit] Under river flow Throughout the course of the river, the total volume of water transported downstream will often be a combination of the visible free water flow together with a substantial contribution flowing through sub-surface rocks and gravels that underlie the river and its floodplain called the hyporheic zone. For many rivers in large valleys, this unseen component of flow may greatly exceed the visible flow. The hyporheic zone often forms a dynamic interf ace between surface water and true ground-water receiving water from he ground water when aquifers are fully charged and contributing water to ground-water when ground waters are depleted. This is especially significant in karst areas where pot-holes and underground rivers are common. [edit] Ground water Main article: Groundwater [pic] [pic] Sub-Surface water travel time [pic] [pic] Shipot, a common water source in Ukrainian villages Sub-surface water, or groundwater, is fresh water located in the pore space of soil and rocks. It is also water that is flowing within aquifers below the water table.Sometimes it is useful to make a distinction between sub-surface water that is closely associated with surface water and deep sub-surface water in an aquifer (sometimes called â€Å"fossil water†). Sub-surface water can be thought of in the same terms as surface water: inputs, outputs and storage. The critical difference is that due to its slow rate of turnover, sub-surface water sto rage is generally much larger compared to inputs than it is for surface water. This difference makes it easy for humans to use sub-surface water unsustainably for a long time without severe consequences.Nevertheless, over the long term the average rate of seepage above a sub-surface water source is the upper bound for average consumption of water from that source. The natural input to sub-surface water is seepage from surface water. The natural outputs from sub-surface water are springs and seepage to the oceans. If the surface water source is also subject to substantial evaporation, a sub-surface water source may become saline. This situation can occur naturally under endorheic bodies of water, or artificially under irrigated farmland.In coastal areas, human use of a sub-surface water source may cause the direction of seepage to ocean to reverse which can also cause soil salinization. Humans can also cause sub-surface water to be â€Å"lost† (i. e. become unusable) through p ollution. Humans can increase the input to a sub-surface water source by building reservoirs or detention ponds. [edit] Desalination Main article: Desalination Desalination is an artificial process by which saline water (generally sea water) is converted to fresh water. The most common desalination processes are distillation and reverse osmosis.Desalination is currently expensive compared to most alternative sources of water, and only a very small fraction of total human use is satisfied by desalination. It is only economically practical for high-valued uses (such as household and industrial uses) in arid areas. The most extensive use is in the Persian Gulf. [edit] Frozen water [pic] [pic] An iceberg as seen from Newfoundland Several schemes have been proposed to make use of icebergs as a water source, however to date this has only been done for novelty purposes. Glacier runoff is considered to be surface water.The Himalayas, which are often called â€Å"The Roof of the World†, contain some of the most extensive and rough high altitude areas on Earth as well as the greatest area of glaciers and permafrost outside of the poles. Ten of Asia’s largest rivers flow from there, and more than a billion people’s livelihoods depend on them. To complicate matters, temperatures are rising more rapidly here than the global average. In Nepal the temperature has risen with 0. 6 degree over the last decade, whereas the global warming has been around 0. 7 over the last hundred years. [5] edit] Uses of fresh water Uses of fresh water can be categorized as consumptive and non-consumptive (sometimes called â€Å"renewable†). A use of water is consumptive if that water is not immediately available for another use. Losses to sub-surface seepage and evaporation are considered consumptive, as is water incorporated into a product (such as farm produce). Water that can be treated and returned as surface water, such as sewage, is generally considered non-con sumptive if that water can be put to additional use. [edit] Agricultural [pic] [pic] A farm in OntarioIt is estimated that 69% of worldwide water use is for irrigation, with 15-35% of irrigation withdrawals being unsustainable. [6] In some areas of the world irrigation is necessary to grow any crop at all, in other areas it permits more profitable crops to be grown or enhances crop yield. Various irrigation methods involve different trade-offs between crop yield, water consumption and capital cost of equipment and structures. Irrigation methods such as furrow and overhead sprinkler irrigation are usually less expensive but are also typically less efficient, because much of the water evaporates, runs off or drains below the root zone.Other irrigation methods considered to be more efficient include drip or trickle irrigation, surge irrigation, and some types of sprinkler systems where the sprinklers are operated near ground level. These types of systems, while more expensive, usually offer greater potential to minimize runoff, drainage and evaporation. Any system that is improperly managed can be wasteful, all methods have the potential for high efficiencies under suitable conditions, appropriate irrigation timing and management. One issue that is often insufficiently considered is salinization of sub-surface water.Aquaculture is a small but growing agricultural use of water. Freshwater commercial fisheries may also be considered as agricultural uses of water, but have generally been assigned a lower priority than irrigation (see Aral Sea and Pyramid Lake). As global populations grow, and as demand for food increases in a world with a fixed water supply, there are efforts underway to learn how to produce more food with less water, through improvements in irrigation[7] methods[8] and technologies, agricultural water management, crop types, and water monitoring. [edit] Industrial pic] [pic] A power plant in Poland It is estimated that 22% of worldwide water use is industrial. [6] Major industrial users include power plants, which use water for cooling or as a power source (i. e. hydroelectric plants), ore and oil refineries, which use water in chemical processes, and manufacturing plants, which use water as a solvent. The portion of industrial water usage that is consumptive varies widely, but as a whole is lower than agricultural use. Water is used in power generation. Hydroelectricity is electricity obtained from hydropower.Hydroelectric power comes from water driving a water turbine connected to a generator. Hydroelectricity is a low-cost, non-polluting, renewable energy source. The energy is supplied by the sun. Heat from the sun evaporates water, which condenses as rain in higher altitudes, from where it flows down. Pressurized water is used in water blasting and water jet cutters. Also, very high pressure water guns are used for precise cutting. It works very well, is relatively safe, and is not harmful to the environment. It is also u sed in the cooling of machinery to prevent over-heating, or prevent saw blades from over-heating.Water is also used in many industrial processes and machines, such as the steam turbine and heat exchanger, in addition to its use as a chemical solvent. Discharge of untreated water from industrial uses is pollution. Pollution includes discharged solutes (chemical pollution) and discharged coolant water (thermal pollution). Industry requires pure water for many applications and utilizes a variety of purification techniques both in water supply and discharge. [edit] Household [pic] [pic] Drinking water It is estimated that 8% of worldwide water use is for household purposes. 6] These include drinking water, bathing, cooking, sanitation, and gardening. Basic household water requirements have been estimated by Peter Gleick at around 50 liters per person per day, excluding water for gardens. Drinking water is water that is of sufficiently high quality so that it can be consumed or used with out risk of immediate or long term harm. Such water is commonly called potable water. In most developed countries, the water supplied to households, commerce and industry is all of drinking water standard even though only a very small proportion is actually consumed or used in food preparation. edit] Recreation [pic] [pic] Whitewater rapids Recreational water use is usually a very small but growing percentage of total water use. Recreational water use is mostly tied to reservoirs. If a reservoir is kept fuller than it would otherwise be for recreation, then the water retained could be categorized as recreational usage. Release of water from a few reservoirs is also timed to enhance whitewater boating, which also could be considered a recreational usage. Other examples are anglers, water skiers, nature enthusiasts and swimmers. Recreational usage is usually non-consumptive.Golf courses are often targeted as using excessive amounts of water, especially in drier regions. It is, however , unclear whether recreational irrigation (which would include private gardens) has a noticeable effect on water resources. This is largely due to the unavailability of reliable data. Additionally, many golf courses utilize either primarily or exclusively treated effluent water, which has little impact on potable water availability. Some governments, including the Californian Government, have labelled golf course usage as agricultural in order to deflect environmentalists' charges of wasting water.However, using the above figures as a basis, the actual statistical effect of this reassignment is close to zero. In Arizona, an organized lobby has been established in the form of the Golf Industry Association, a group focused on educating the public on how golf impacts the environment. Recreational usage may reduce the availability of water for other users at specific times and places. For example, water retained in a reservoir to allow boating in the late summer is not available to farm ers during the spring planting season.Water released for whitewater rafting may not be available for hydroelectric generation during the time of peak electrical demand. [edit] Environmental Explicit environmental water use is also a very small but growing percentage of total water use. Environmental water usage includes artificial wetlands, artificial lakes intended to create wildlife habitat, fish ladders , and water releases from reservoirs timed to help fish spawn. Like recreational usage, environmental usage is non-consumptive but may reduce the availability of water for other users at specific times and places.For example, water release from a reservoir to help fish spawn may not be available to farms upstream. [edit] Water stress [pic] [pic] Best estimate of the share of people in developing countries with access to drinking water 1970–2000. Main articles: Water crisis and Water stress The concept of water stress is relatively simple: According to the World Business Cou ncil for Sustainable Development, it applies to situations where there is not enough water for all uses, whether agricultural, industrial or domestic.Defining thresholds for stress in terms of available water per capita is more complex, however, entailing assumptions about water use and its efficiency. Nevertheless, it has been proposed that when annual per capita renewable freshwater availability is less than 1,700 cubic meters, countries begin to experience periodic or regular water stress. Below 1,000 cubic meters, water scarcity begins to hamper economic development and human health and well-being. [edit] Population growth In 2000, the world population was 6. 2 billion. The UN estimates that by 2050 there will be an additional 3. billion people with most of the growth in developing countries that already suffer water stress. [9] Thus, water demand will increase unless there are corresponding increases in water conservation and recycling of this vital resource. [10] [edit] Expans ion of business activity Business activity ranging from industrialization to services such as tourism and entertainment continues to expand rapidly. This expansion requires increased water services including both supply and sanitation, which can lead to more pressure on water resources and natural ecosystems. edit] Rapid urbanization The trend towards urbanization is accelerating. Small private wells and septic tanks that work well in low-density communities are not feasible within high-density urban areas. Urbanization requires significant investment in water infrastructure in order to deliver water to individuals and to process the concentrations of wastewater – both from individuals and from business. These polluted and contaminated waters must be treated or they pose unacceptable public health risks.In 60% of European cities with more than 100,000 people, groundwater is being used at a faster rate than it can be replenished. [11] Even if some water remains available, it c osts more and more to capture it. [edit] Climate change Climate change could have significant impacts on water resources around the world because of the close connections between the climate and hydrological cycle. Rising temperatures will increase evaporation and lead to increases in precipitation, though there will be regional variations in rainfall. Overall, the global supply of freshwater will increase.Both droughts and floods may become more frequent in different regions at different times, and dramatic changes in snowfall and snow melt are expected in mountainous areas. Higher temperatures will also affect water quality in ways that are not well understood. Possible impacts include increased eutrophication. Climate change could also mean an increase in demand for farm irrigation, garden sprinklers, and perhaps even swimming pools [edit] Depletion of aquifers Due to the expanding human population, competition for water is growing such that many of the worlds major aquifers are becoming depleted.This is due both for direct human consumption as well as agricultural irrigation by groundwater. Millions of pumps of all sizes are currently extracting groundwater throughout the world. Irrigation in dry areas such as northern China and India is supplied by groundwater, and is being extracted at an unsustainable rate. Cities that have experienced aquifer drops between 10 to 50 meters include Mexico City, Bangkok, Manila, Beijing, Madras and Shanghai. [12] [edit] Pollution and water protection Main article: Water pollution [pic] [pic] Polluted waterWater pollution is one of the main concerns of the world today. The governments of numerous countries have strived to find solutions to reduce this problem. Many pollutants threaten water supplies, but the most widespread, especially in developing countries, is the discharge of raw sewage into natural waters; this method of sewage disposal is the most common method in underdeveloped countries, but also is prevalent in qu asi-developed countries such as China, India and Iran. Sewage, sludge, garbage, and even toxic pollutants are all dumped into the water. Even if ewage is treated, problems still arise. Treated sewage forms sludge, which may be placed in landfills, spread out on land, incinerated or dumped at sea. [13] In addition to sewage, nonpoint source pollution such as agricultural runoff is a significant source of pollution in some parts of the world, along with urban stormwater runoff and chemical wastes dumped by industries and governments. [edit] Water and conflict The only known example of an actual inter-state conflict over water took place between 2500 and 2350 BC between the Sumerian states of Lagash and Umma. 14] Yet, despite the lack of evidence of international wars being fought over water alone, water has been the source of various conflicts throughout history. When water scarcity causes political tensions to arise, this is referred to as water stress. Water stress has led most ofte n to conflicts at local and regional levels. [15] Using a purely quantitative methodology, Thomas Homer-Dixon successfully correlated water scarcity and scarcity of available arable lands to an increased chance of violent conflict. 16] Water stress can also exacerbate conflicts and political tensions which are not directly caused by water. Gradual reductions over time in the quality and/or quantity of fresh water can add to the instability of a region by depleting the health of a population, obstructing economic development, and exacerbating larger conflicts. [17] Conflicts and tensions over water are most likely to arise within national borders, in the downstream areas of distressed river basins.Areas such as the lower regions of China's Yellow River or the Chao Phraya River in Thailand, for example, have already been experiencing water stress for several years. Additionally, certain arid countries which rely heavily on water for irrigation, such as China, India, Iran, and Pakistan , are particularly at risk of water-related conflicts. [17] Political tensions, civil protest, and violence may also occur in reaction to water privatization. The Bolivian Water Wars of 2000 are a case in point. [edit] World water supply and distributionFood and water are two basic human needs. However, global coverage figures from 2002 indicate that, of every 10 people: †¢ roughly 5 have a connection to a piped water supply at home (in their dwelling, plot or yard); †¢ 3 make use of some other sort of improved water supply, such as a protected well or public standpipe; †¢ 2 are unserved; †¢ In addition, 4 out of every 10 people live without improved sanitation. [6] At Earth Summit 2002 governments approved a Plan of Action to: †¢ Halve by 2015 the proportion of people unable to reach or afford safe drinking water.The Global Water Supply and Sanitation Assessment 2000 Report (GWSSAR) defines â€Å"Reasonable access† to water as at least 20 liters per person per day from a source within one kilometer of the user’s home. †¢ Halve the proportion of people without access to basic sanitation. The GWSSR defines â€Å"Basic sanitation† as private or shared but not public disposal systems that separate waste from human contact. As the picture shows, in 2025, water shortages will be more prevalent among poorer countries where resources are limited and population growth is rapid, such as the Middle East, Africa, and parts of Asia.By 2025, large urban and peri-urban areas will require new infrastructure to provide safe water and adequate sanitation. This suggests growing conflicts with agricultural water users, who currently consume the majority of the water used by humans. Generally speaking the more developed countries of North America, Europe and Russia will not see a serious threat to water supply by the year 2025, not only because of their relative wealth, but more importantly their populations will be better aligne d with available water resources.North Africa, the Middle East, South Africa and northern China will face very severe water shortages due to physical scarcity and a condition of overpopulation relative to their carrying capacity with respect to water supply. Most of South America, Sub-Saharan Africa, Southern China and India will face water supply shortages by 2025; for these latter regions the causes of scarcity will be economic constraints to developing safe drinking water, as well as excessive population growth. 1. billion people have gained access to a safe water source since 1990. [18] The proportion of people in developing countries with access to safe water is calculated to have improved from 30 percent in 1970[19] to 71 percent in 1990, 79 percent in 2000 and 84 percent in 2004. This trend is projected to continue. [18] [edit] Economic considerations Water supply and sanitation require a huge amount of capital investment in infrastructure such as pipe networks, pumping stati ons and water treatment works.It is estimated that Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) nations need to invest at least USD 200 billion per year to replace aging water infrastructure to guarantee supply, reduce leakage rates and protect water quality. [20] International attention has focused upon the needs of the developing countries. To meet the Millennium Development Goals targets of halving the proportion of the population lacking access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation by 2015, current annual investment on the order of USD 10 to USD 15 billion would need to be roughly doubled.This does not include investments required for the maintenance of existing infrastructure. [21] Once infrastructure is in place, operating water supply and sanitation systems entails significant ongoing costs to cover personnel, energy, chemicals, maintenance and other expenses. The sources of money to meet these capital and operational costs are essentially either user f ees, public funds or some combination of the two. But this is where the economics of water management start to become extremely complex as they intersect with social and broader economic policy.Such policy questions are beyond the scope of this article, which has concentrated on basic information about water availability and water use. They are, nevertheless, highly relevant to understanding how critical water issues will affect business and industry in terms of both risks and opportunities. [edit] Business response The World Business Council for Sustainable Development in its H2OScenarios engaged in a scenario building process to: †¢ Clarify and enhance understanding by business of the key issues and drivers of change related to water. Promote mutual understanding between the business community and non-business stakeholders on water management issues. †¢ Support effective business action as part of the solution to sustainable water management. It concludes that: †¢ B usiness cannot survive in a society that thirsts. †¢ One does not have to be in the water business to have a water crisis.