'Crunch year' for world's forests

Efforts to mitigate climate change could be hampered if nations do not agree to protect the world's forests by the end of the year, warn researchers.

Earthwatch says it is vital for leaders attending a key UN summit in December to find a way to halt deforestation.

Deforestation accounts for about 20% of the greenhouse gas emissions resulting from human activities, UN data shows.

The environmental charity will outline its concerns during a public lecture in central London on Thursday evening.

"This year is the crunch time for forests and climate change," Earthwatch's head of climate change research Dan Bebber told BBC News.

"We are hoping for big things from the Copenhagen climate summit at the end of 2009," he added, referring to a much anticipated UN gathering.

"Unless we tackle the question of forests as a mitigation method for climate change, then we will really have lost the battle to keep greenhouse gas concentrations below levels that many people would consider to be dangerous."

Raising awareness

Despite the measures introduced by the UN's Kyoto Protocol on climate change, global emissions of CO2 have continued to rise as a result of increasing energy consumption and the loss of forest cover.

Until now, rainforests have been worth more dead than alive

The reason why deforestation accounts for about 20% of CO2 emissions from human activities is primarily a result of old growth tropical forests being felled or burned in order to convert the fertile land into farmland.

The issue is one of the key topics on the agenda at the UN climate summit in Copenhagen, which will consider how the global climate strategy will look when Kyoto expires in 2012.

"This year is going to be critical and we feel we need to raise public awareness about this issue as much as possible," Dr Bebber said.

"There have been some very strong pressures to use forests in an unsustainable way, particularly in the tropics.

"You could probably make a thousand times more money by converting tropical forests to agricultural land to grow, for example, soya beans than you could managing it in a sustainable way.

"It is this imbalance that needs to be addressed at a global level."

Growing money on trees

Gro Harlem Brundtland, the UN secretary general's climate change envoy, said that emissions from deforestation were comparable to total annual CO2 emissions of the US or China.


"Deforestation therefore has to be included in the new climate change agreement," she told delegates at a UN Committee on Forestry meeting in Rome earlier this month.

"While forests were left out of the Kyoto Protocol, it must now find its place within the broader solution."

In order to tackle deforestation effectively, Dr Brundtland said it was necessary to develop a regime that "creates the necessary incentives for developing countries to act in the broader interest of... the planet".

In October 2008, the Eliasch Review - commissioned by UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown - concluded that an international deal to protect forests would reduce the cost of tackling climate change by up to 50% in 2030.

The report by Swedish businessman Johan Eliasch said cash put aside for carbon saving in rich countries could be transferred to nations with rainforests in need of protection.

Such a scheme could reduce deforestation rates by up to 75% in 2030, Mr Eliasch concluded.

The leading contender to cut the loss of tree cover is a scheme called Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD).

It first came to light during negotiations at the 2007 UN climate summit, hosted by the Indonesian island of Bali.

The resulting "Bali Action Plan" called for "policy approaches and positive incentives on issues relating to reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries".

This led to the formation of REDD, which states that nations "willing and able to reduce emissions from deforestation should be financially compensated for doing so".

Supporters of the scheme say it will offer the necessary financial incentive to halt large areas of tropical forests being felled.

However, critics of the scheme are sceptical about how the system of carbon credits will be regulated.

Whatever scheme is favoured, Dr Bebber, who will be one of the speakers at the Earthwatch Lecture on Thursday evening, says it is vital that delegates at the Copenhagen climate summit reach an agreement on a way to curb deforestation.

He warned: "If these types of schemes do not get up and running shortly, then we will have really missed the boat."

God 'will not give happy ending'

God will not intervene to prevent humanity from wreaking disastrous damage to the environment, the Archbishop of Canterbury has warned.

In a lecture, Dr Rowan Williams urged a "radical change of heart" to prevent runaway climate change.

At York Minster he said humanity should turn away from the selfishness and greed that leads it to ignore its interdependence with the natural world.

And God would not guarantee a "happy ending", he warned.

Dr Williams has often spoken out about environmental issues.

'Ultimate tragedy'

Speaking on Wednesday he said just as God gave humans free will to do "immeasurable damage" to themselves as individuals it seemed "clear" they had the same "terrible freedom" as a human race.

"I think that to suggest that God might intervene to protect us from the corporate folly of our practices is as unchristian and unbiblical as to suggest that he protects us from the results of our individual folly or sin," he said.

"God's faithfulness stands, assuring us that even in the most appalling disaster love will not let us go - but it will not be a safety net that guarantees a happy ending in this world."

Without a change of heart, Dr Williams warned, the world faced a number of "doomsday scenarios" including the "ultimate tragedy" of humanity gradually "choked, drowned, or starved by its own stupidity."

The poorest and most vulnerable and our children and grandchildren would pay the heaviest price for climate change, he added.

USEP's enrollment system use case diagram

[quote="rsgamboa"]Consider USEP's enrollment system, develop a use case diagram and write a brief use case description.[/quote]

http://i67.servimg.com/u/f67/13/47/09/98/usecas11.jpg

Actors:

1. student - the enrollee.
2. LC and org. treasurers - treasurers for the local council fees and organization fees.
3. Adviser- evaluates the students academic standing and status (if the student is allowed to take the subjects or if the student is allowed to be enrolled).
4. Encoder - encodes the allowed subjects of the student.
5. university cashier - collects the payment for matriculation of the student.
6. university registrar - checks if all the necessary payments (LC & org. fees & matriculation) and officially enrolls the student.
7. university librarian - validates/renew the library card of the student.

Process:

1. The Student pays local fees and other misc fess (OCSC, Headlight, etc.)
2. The student goes to the adviser for advising.
3. The student goes to the encoder for his/her subjects to be encoded.
4. The student pays matriculation to the university cashier.
5. The student goes to the university registrar for registration.
6. The student goes to the university library for the validation of his/her library card.

:geek:

data gathering techniques based on my personality

Among the data gathering techniques used in systems analysis are interviewing, document review, observation, and use of questionnaires. Considering your personality type, which of these would you be most comfortable with and why?

First of all, I am a shy person especially with strangers and depends on my mood. There are also times that I shy away when the person that I am talking to has a strong personality but if the other persons personality is just on my wavelength or below my wavelength, then I am confident.

So based on my personality, I would be more comfortable to use document review, observation and use of questionnaires in gathering data.

Document review because obviously there is no interaction between two person in this data gathering technique. So that means I will be working alone.

In observation, there is less interaction because you will be just observing the people and the things that they are doing and maybe ask some questions sometimes which is not a problem for me and again depends on the personality of the person that I will be asking.

In giving questionnaires, well you’ll just give the questionnaire anyway then give instructions and if the person does not understand then I can answer his query. So also fine with me.

Interviewing is very interactive. And im not a good interviewer. I am not good in expressing the thoughts that I have in my mind, yes I have good thoughts and questions but I am afraid to express them especially with strangers.

MY own SDLC in achieving my goals in life....

Following the SDLC model, please discuss the acitvities/steps that you will undertake in order to achieve your objective/s in life. what approach(es) would you use, predictive/adaptive?.. your own version of SDLC pls...

First of all, life is full of surprises, it is unpredictable, and it would be boring if it is predictable. But in achieving goals especially in some aspects of my life like my career, of course I should be able to make plans and be sure in the path that I will take. I should know where I should go. But on my way of achieving my goals, I should also be prepared for some events that could occur, whether it is bad or good, because, after all, it is still a part of my unpredictable life. Just like in SDLC, there is always risk management.

So in short, I will be using more of the adaptive approach and less in the predictive approach because I would like to be more spontaneous and adaptive to the changes that might occur.

I will use the modified waterfall model in my “SDLC” because it lets you correct the mistakes that you had made in your past.

I have many goals in my life because my life revolves in many things, and each goal has its own “SDLC”. But in general, here is my “SDLC” in achieving the goals in my life. This will be an abstract “SDLC” in all my goals:

Goal Setting, Planning and Analyzing

This is the phase of my SDLC where I will set the goals, determine its feasibility and of course, I should want to do it and be happy with it. I should desire it….

As humans, we always strive for perfection. And so if there are some goals that I think is not very feasible (like me taking up computer science which is not my field), I would still consider in taking the risk, because, after all we were given heart for courage, mind for knowledge and body for acting so we should use these to explore new horizons and extend our boarders.

In everything that we plan to do, we should feel that we want it and that we are happy with it in order to be successful in achieving a goal.

Learning

After setting my goal and having the courage and desire to do it, I will now learn about the things that I need and I need to do to be able to achieve my goal. For example, if my goal is to be rich, then I should learn on how to be rich. Read articles on how to be rich, if I have rich friends, I will talk to them and ask for their “SDLC” on how to be rich. Then after learning, I will go back to step one and see if I can do it or not.

In some aspects of being rich like being thrifty, which I am not. I’m sure that I can learn how to be thrifty. I can discipline my self. Being thrifty would be a change in my life that I should adapt in order to be rich.

Acting and Experiencing

After Learning, I will now put into action the things that I have learned to achieve my goal. And while acting, there will be times that I will have mistakes and so in that way, I learn from it and it would be an experience for me and a lesson learned that I will surely look back when I set a new goal.

It is thru acting that you will have experience and not thru learning…..

Assessing

After Acting and gaining some experience, I will now assess the things that I have done. I will go back to my goal and see if I am taking the right path, If I am happy with what I am doing or not? (If not, stop doing it, there’s no point of doing one thing which you are not happy with it, if yes continue until I succeed) If I can still do it or not? (if yes it would be good, if not and I still desire it then go for the gold! I have my courage with me, I can extend my boarders, I am a human and I am created to make the impossible possible) Learn from my mistakes and analyze so that I won’t be able to do those mistakes again before I act and experience again. If this is already the goal that I desired? (If not, repeat all the steps until I fulfill my goal).

Goal Achievement

Tasting the fruit of your labor, there’s nothing sweeter than this phase……..

So this is my “SDLC” in achieving my goal…..