.

Monday, June 28, 2010

~Extinction and endangered species~



The extinction of species has always been a natural part of evolution. The fossil record shows that since life originated about four billion years ago the vast majority of species that have existed are now extinct. Extinct species outnumber living ones by a factor of perhaps a thousand to one.

Scientists have identified five extinction events in Earth's history, with some so severe that more than 90 percent of all life forms were killed off. The last and most famous extinction was the Cretaceous-Tertiary event some 63 million years ago that killed off the dinosaurs and allowed the rise of mammals. It is thought to have been caused by an asteroid hitting Earth.

Today we are in the middle of a sixth extinction event that began about 50,000 years ago but is now accelerating in an alarming speed! This extinction event is not a natural event, but is caused directly or indirectly by humans.

Most recent extinctions extinctions have been associated with European expansion in the 15th and 16th century. However, in some parts of the world some species are known to have become extinct before the arrival of the Europeans. For example, the Polynesians who colonised the Hawaiian Island in the 4th, 5th, and 6th centuries may have been responsible for the loss of around 50 of the 100 or so species of endemic land birds in the period between their arrival and that of the Europeans.




Tuesday, June 22, 2010

the first ever assignment together :)

THE CHANGING PATTERNS OF DOMESTIC ACCESS TO MODERN TECHNOLOGY IN HOMES IN THE UK
The line graph presents data on the changing patterns of domestic access to modern technology in homes in the UK from 1996 to 2003. It is noticed that the rate of CD player is considerably higher in homes than the three others modern technologies - the mobile phone, home computer and the Internet access.
The percentage of domestic access yo modern technology was the highest for CD players in 1996 to 1997 which was 60 percents, with the least percentage of below 20 percents having accessed to mobile phone.
Between 1998 to 2001, accessibility to internet access shows a rapid increase while there was a gradual increase for CD player and home computer. Accessibility to mobile phone, on the other hand shows a rather sharp inclination but later experienced a level-off period from 1999 to 2000.
Between 2000 to 2003 accessibility to mobile phone showed a dramatic increase, compared to the rest. Internet access was only possible in 1998 and from 2000 onwards, its access rose steadily.
In conclusion, the trend of the line graph is upward. Those technologies were not remained the same for all times. However, they had some development that might be one of the factors that caused the pattern to change.