Essays

1st Essay

GLOBAL WARMING

Maybe this is the most important theme around the world at this moment, the global warming. Costa Rica is not an exception in this discussion.  At Costa Rica now are talking about, different themes like access to green energy, cheaper and cleaner. However this is not enough, we must take immediately actions to address global warming or these consequences will continue to intensify.

The main cause of the global warming is our indifferent attitude.

Until the people and the governments, think that this is a real problem that we are living, until that moment we can’t begin to solve the problem. For more than 20 years the people think that this was a joke, or invention of a crazy scientist. Now we are living a lot of effects of the global warming, and also thousands of people are displaced from her house, by the greenhouse effect, now we believe that problem is real.

What are doing Costa Rica about the global warming?

Costa Rica is often a reference in themes like conservation, renewable energy, and forest conservation.  This year Costa Rica made the 85% of electrical consumption with hydroelectrically generation.  However still lack a lot of way, because the vehicle fleet in the country is growing up to much, and this is one of principal pollution problems.   Also the waste management, is complex, and don’t have a clear politics.  Also deforestation is a most important cause of climate change; unfortunately, Costa Rica is no stranger to this issue, the control over the illegal deforestation is too weak.  If we don’t make changes soon.  We need to be prepared for the consequences. That is the sad realty. 

Lost biodiversity

At least 110 species of harlequin frogs live in Central America, also spider monkeys, jaguars, panthers and a long list of animals and plants and endless list of extinction. But people still do not understand what will happen if we lose these animals. For example: a lot of bees are being lost every day, by the elevation in temperature. This is very serious, because they are responsible for pollinating, that means that the plants will not give more fruit if these animals.

Global Warming is the most important threat, for the life in the earth, all are changing around us.  If you know that your house are in danger, for your actions you will change. Don't you?  Then, your house are in danger, just right now.  What will we do? I'm sure to be a beholder, is not an option.  Actually the change come from each people, supported for the global change. Then we need demand to our governments the radical change, and we need demand ourselves the same thing. 

“We do not inherit the earth from our fathers, we borrow it from our sons” Native American Proverb.  

By: Oscar E. Castro Herrera.

References:

·        Union of Concerned Scientists. (2011). Solutions to Global Warming in Latin America. September 27, 2015, from Union of Concerned Scientists Website: http://www.climatehotmap.org/global-warming-solutions/latin-america.html

·        Unknown. (unknown). The main cause of global warming. September 22, 2015, from timeforchange.org Website:http://timeforchange.org/main-cause-of-global-warming-solutions

2nd Essay

The two Costa Ricas, talking of education

Every year, high school results seem to confirm the supremacy of private education: high school average of those notes come from private schools is much better than those who come from public schools.

There are elements that contribute to private schools have some advantages over many public schools for example infrastructure, equipment, longer opening hours, greater involvement of families of course, in the selection of students. In addition, socioeconomic status and educational level of their homes is one of the variables most strongly associated with academic performance.

Private schools have not only a strict admission policy, but a very strict policy about who can continue in school: especially in the last years of high school, it seeks primarily to retain students who have a high probability of successfully face baccalaureate tests. The others (those who fail and repeat) is repeated often prevents them there and they are often asked out of school.

Public schools, however, are obliged to serve all who need. In fact, caring for  the majority of the student population, from large sections of the middle class to those living in extreme poverty, from those living in the downtown to those living near from the border or in areas of difficult access. In public schools are not only students with special talent and willingness to study, but also boys, for their socio-economic conditions, special educational requierement of their families and the environment in which they live, must overcome enormous difficulty coping with some success the educational challenge.

For me this is very dangerous, harmful.  Because if we strong the private model this could bring a lot of problems at future. 

By Oscar Castro Herrera

3rd Essay

World Agriculture and our future risks

Until today, world agriculture has been able to meet the growing demand for agricultural products. Although the world's population doubled between 1960 and 2000 and levels of nutrition improved markedly, prices of rice, wheat and maize (the main food products  in the world) fell by around 60 percent. The fall in prices indicates that, globally, supplies not only kept pace with demand, but even make it faster.
Globally, producers have satisfied effective market demand in the past, and is likely to continue doing it. But effective demand does not represent the total need of food and other agricultural products, as hundreds of millions of people need money to buy what they need or the resources to produce it themselves.
Food sovereignty implies prioritize the use of local resources for food production, minimizing the amount of raw materials imported for production and transportation. The food thus produced is consumed locally. It is not logical to eat rices in Costa Rica from the USA or fresh green beans coming from Kenya if we have local production.
It is very important to design and implement responsible attitudes in food consumption and to adjust our way of eating, knowing that the industrial model of production and consumption is destructive, while the based production model uses responsible energy practices.
The farmers around the world have experienced the devastating effects of free trade policies and WTO (World Trade Organization) in their lives and in local food production. So we defend the right of each country to protect their local markets, to support sustainable family farming and food in the market where they are produced.
I think we should change the model in our countries in Latin America, especially in Costa Rica. Think what would happen if countries that sell us food today can not or do not want to do more, for reasons as diverse as possible and droughts or wars. The model should be aimed at supporting farmers, ranchers, cowboys in general all food producers fururas for us and generations.

By: Oscar E. Castro Herrera.

References:

World Trade Organization. (2011). February 27, 2015, from Union of world alimentary study.  

                        https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/agric_e/agric_e.htm


Difficulties through in their writing process.

For me the the entire work was so difficult, first because the choose the theme for each essay was no easy, second develop the theme and taking up a lot of vocabulary completely unknown for me, it require to find that new vocabulary