USA: Geography and Cultural Features

USA: Geography and Cultural Features Introduction The United States is one of the single most greatest countries in the world. Our relationship with this country is we all live in the United States. One interesting fact about this country is it has 50 states, is ranked 4th most largest country in the world by land, and 3rd by its population. Physical Features and Agriculture The official name of this country is the United States of America and it is the name of all the 50 states as one. It is located in the continent North America and the bordering countries are Mexico, Alaska, and Canada. The area of the United States is 3.797 square miles. The ratio of the United States compared to the United States is 1:1. The U.S. has one of the most significant   economic markets in the whole planet. Our country is in the top three importers and exporters. Billions of dollars of goods help support thousands of jobs. The United Statess landforms are the Rocky Mountains, the Appalachian Mountains, the Mississippi River, Mississippi Tributaries, the great lakes, Great Lake Ontario, Great Lake Superior, Great Lake Huron, Great Lake Erie, Great Lake Michigan, and much more. Natural resources in the United States are natural gas, iron, coal, uranium, copper, phosphates, silver, gold, mercury, zinc, lead, nickel, petroleum, bauxite, potash, molybdenum, and much more. Our countrys climate is summer are tropical and warm in the plains and in the southern states, while the southwest are extremely hot and scorching dry. All of this information is important because it tells us what natural resources are in the U.S., what the weather is like,information about the United Statess economics, what landforms are in the country, what other countries are nearby, how big this country is, and how many states are in it. Cultural Features The official language of the United States is English. Some events and holidays celebrate in the U.S. are Christmas Day, Thanksgiving, Halloween, New Years, 4th of July, Easter, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Presidents Day, Labor Day, Veterans Day, Valentines Day, Columbus Day, and Memorial Day. Education in the United States is free and children start school around the age of 3 to 5. Recreational areas in our country are national forests, national parks, national monuments, national wilderness zones, and more. Diets in the U.S. arent very healthy because most of the population eats oily and sugary foods. In addition, less than 10% of the United States eats vegetables and healthy foods. U.S. cuisine is basically mixed with European colonization cuisine. The culture of the United States is different and interesting from other cultures because it is a mix of different cultures to make one culture. This is important because it tells us what the people in the United States celebrate, eat, what their education is like, and what language they speak. Conclusion The United States of America is one of the best and most interesting countries on the planet. Anyone reading this would find out that the the U.S. celebrates many holidays. Something interesting someone would find out about our country would be the United States is ranked 3rd in the world by population. In conclusion, the Unites States is one of the most extraordinary countries in the world.

Analysis of Ceremony, by Leslie Marmon Silko :: Ceremony Essays

People often feel that their opinions do not matter, that they cannot make a difference. This is untrue, one person does have the ability to change an outcome, halt or finalize a decision, and even build or destroy a culture. In the novel Ceremony, by Leslie Marmon Silko, this is witnessed in the character Auntie, a dominating, selfish woman who will do anything to gain a respectable status in the community. In an attempt to gain acceptance from both Native and Western societies, Auntie metaphorically "kills" her own child which in turn destroys the Native American culture. Auntie has a deep desire for belonging, not only in Western civilization, but in her own Native world as well. She is constantly preoccupied with the image of which she projects to the community, often worrying that the rumors of her family will bring about shame and dishonor. Although the community has far more important issues to deal with, Auntie feels that is necessary to escape the "alleged," judgment that is derived from her sister promiscuous behavior and her brother's affair. Her belief is that if she is acknowledged in Western culture, than her past will cease to follow her. To acquire respect from Western society, Auntie strongly encourages her son, Rocky, to pursue non-traditional ways yet in the process fails to realize that she is pushing him considerably away from his heritage. Rocky is an adolescent that other students would envy; he is intelligent athletic and competitive, a perfect example illustrating the effects of Western culture. Of course his school supports his so called success, but his mother is the real culprit in stripping him of the pride he should posses toward his treasured past. Silko explains, "All that summer, while Josiah and Tayo watched the cattle and the sheep camp, and Robert worked in the fields each day, Rocky read magazines and ran laps at the baseball diamond. Auntie made it clear to everyone that it was all necessary if Rocky were to keep his football scholarship to the University.

As I Grow Older I Pay Less Attention to What Men Say :: Teaching Education School Essays

As I Grow Older I Pay Less Attention to What Men Say During our careers as students, many professors, many peers, and many mentors will try to tell us the many different ways that we â€Å"should† teach. One person is going to tell us how some thing should be done, while someone else is going to insist that it be done differently. However, if you just sit back and actually watch these professors and these mentors, you are going to find that they sometimes forget to head the words of Jesus and practice what they preach. Through out my career as a student I have came across teachers who make learning fun and have a genuine love for teaching. However, I have also encountered those teachers who make you want to pull the fire alarm, just so you can avoid their endless ramblings. It is a teacher’s responsibility to keep students interested and eager to learn. If a subject intrigues a child they will want to learn more about it, and what they learn will stay with them for a life time. Sadker and Sadker (2003) identify Idealists as teachers who: know the content very well, view teachers as role models, values each student as an individual, and who have very few discipline problems that result in trips to the principals office. The above are reasons that I would like to take and Idealist approach to teaching. I want to become a teacher because I want to be able to turn on CNN one day and say, â€Å"you see that young man boarding Apollo 45, I showed him that science could be fun.† Being a teacher is comprised of many duties and responsibilities. From day one we must take into account all of the things necessary for becoming a good teacher. The various components of an organized classroom, the different ways of motivating our students, the appropriate ways of disciplining our students, the different styles we will incorporate into the way we teach and the leadership styles necessary for being an effective mentor. First of all the organization of ones classroom is one of the most important factors that we must take into account. We must plan exactly how we want the room to look, and more importantly how we want it ran. A classroom for an elementary teacher needs to be bright and cheerful.

Inspirational ideas and thinking Essay

How can a certain story thrill our sense and especially our understanding about the real world? The Lord of the Rings is a story depicting the people’s thirst and desire for power which caused them to oppress mankind and the battle between good and evil. Tolkien created this story during the first ever made world war and continued it until the Second World War happened. Eventually, Tolkien was determined by taking the challenge of making a world symbolized by mythology. Back in his period, he loved tale telling to children and at those children that he was inspired to create the hobbit’s existence. This story is considered as better than that of the other fantasy stories because lord of the rings tells more about reality, the story was not made just to entertain nor thrill the readers and watchers of the book and movies, rather because the movie depicts more about true events. You can even see patterns of similarity in some of the world’s history in the different parts of the trilogy. The story wanted readers to realize that there are such people in earth that possesses greed of power and that greed causes them to create cruelty to mankind and destruction to other territory, nation, and to the person himself. The lord of the ring story can be like our socio-political and also economical structure which was tended to be showed by creating the film. The film was made for people to clearly envision and comprehend the world (Eaton, 2003). The lord of the ring has been successful because people appreciated its artistic way of showing the parallelism between the story itself and the reality about the world in which it is hidden. The film was said to be making everyone believe that there are really changes that had happened in the world; from a world of calmness and peace into a chaotic world of war. It showed the history when a person desired and went on chasing for the power to certainly have the authority above all people, a person who really wanted to rule the world. This part was depicted when everyone seemed to desire the ring’s power and all the troubles in the story then started in the journey of the ring bearer (Eaton, 2003). In the story of the lord of the ring, a lot of enemies were chasing the ring bearer because they wanted to have the power, battles always happen because â€Å"Frodo† the ring bearer does not want to hand the ring to those who are evil. It is showed in the reality when two countries were starving for the power, the power that will make them to be above all, which is depicted by the ring, caused them to plan for destruction to each other’s territory. And a lot of people were killed who innocently knew nothing about the war (Eaton, 2003). Like the story part of the two towers, it is seen from a certain people, in the desert country part of the earth, who wanted to conquer the middle earth through their power, but had failed from successfully doing so, they are now dead but still their aim was said to be alive because of their avid followers who continuously plan for another conquer (Eaton, 2003). The story of the twin towers of the Lord of the Rings is about the hunger for power in order to be the king that has the authority above all. The middle-earth is depicting the real world in which they both have the same characteristics of cruelty and greed for power. Another example event of this that can be seen from the events on the history is about the World War II in which a certain leader of a certain territory and a dictator of another territory merged their full power and invaded another territory to conquer. It was the history of domination of a certain continent of the world with the use of power and authority (Eaton, 2003). The story of the Lord of the Ring was based on a reality which inspired the writer of the story. It started from a true story of history about war in where the author grew up. The languages, in which the author of the book wrote, came from a place whose dialect was never listed as a part of that place’s language. The author developed it with the combination of his own styles of language and created then the language for his elves character (Society. , 1996-2007). Tolkien wrote his epic making the ring as a material thing that depicts the evilness, it is explained that the ring has its own willing power; it has the power to control the person who uses it no matter what the person do to stop it from its willing power (Novelguide.com, 1999-2007). According to the author, the ring cannot be used for good purposes but rather it is only used for doing evil things and that it controls the person no matter how strong he resist from doing something evil (Novelguide. com, 1999-2007). Tolkien said that the ring is evil in its nature which comes from both human’s inner initiative and an outer force that commands him (Novelguide. com, 1999-2007). In reality, I can say that the â€Å"ring† is the power with the combination of being greed possessed by a person; it is what makes them do evil. An over desire for power and authority makes people lose their heart in exchange for ego contentment. The ring is believed to be an evil in nature because it corrupts the person’s kindness and change it into strong desires. The ring drags the person to do extremes which is unstoppable because it has an unending power. According to Tolkien the ring is a symbol of strong power. In the trilogy of the ring Frodo sees a lot of knight riding horses only when he wears the ring and loses sight of them when he removes it from his finger (Novelguide.com, 1999-2007). It is also like the evilness that power can arise to a person’s character, that because of the privileges that the power gives that certain person that he could not see the negative side of those things he tend to do; that only if he lose his power would he understand what he had caused and only when he lose his power would he return to his true self again. Power is like a chest of gold that will make a person capable of obtaining everything that he or she desires for him or herself that’s why it can bring out the evil side of a person. It can change a person from a goodhearted one into a greed and cruel person. In reality many of the listed people in history were written because of their negative leadership or cruelty to mankind because they have in their hands an uncontrollable power. Like when an authoritative and powerful man in the World War II told his soldiers to kill all the Jews. It was an act of evilness that he was able to do because he possesses a lot of power in him that blinded him from the distinction between good and evil (Novelguide. com, 1999-2007). The author of the story said that a man who has the ring will not be able to die but will not also be able to acquire more of his life; rather he will continue his life until such time that the evilness will conquer him (Novelguide. com, 1999-2007). This statement of the author tends to explain that a person who acquired great power and used it for evilness will never die, it is because he may be written in history with all the negative things he had done. But then the darkness will conquer his soul in exchange (Novelguide. com, 1999-2007). The lord of the rings by Tolkien does not have gods; people rely on their selves as in reality which is considered the philosophy of communism by Karl Marx in which states that people rely on their capabilities and that God exist only in people’s mind because they tend to seek for someone to save them. The evilness occurs because people abuse their powers and tends to have and desire more power that that of what they already posses. In the trilogy of the lord of the ring, Frodo with his other companions such as Sam, Aragorn, and Gandalf went to a dangerous journey heading the place of Mordor where they planned to totally destroy the ring. In their journey, the ring bearer with his friends had gone through a lot of fights against the dark ones. This scene depicts how people tend to stop the true evil in this world, which they seek of a way of how to destroy the force that creates evil even in a life threatening way. The movie tended to show that it is better to lose ones life that that of to lose the life of the crowd. Another interpretation that could be made through the story in relation with the World War II is that Tolkien depicted the ring as the noxious weapon used in the war. That certain weapon is the atomic bomb which killed a lot of innocent people and ruined a lot of territories (Roch, 2005). It is said that Tolkien indeed based his work from the real war of the early ages in which it mirrors the two territories’ true event which is horrifying. The two places were said to be Mordor and the dreadful devastation of Shire in the lord of the rings trilogy (Roch, 2005). The characters of evil or the soldiers of the evil Lord Sauron whose appearance are like decaying body of dead people are also based from the authors experience during the war (Roch, 2005). When Tolkien went back to his place, the place was literally ruined and he saw a lot of corpses which no one can endure to stare at because of its decaying appearance (Roch, 2005). The place of Mordor may also be depicted to the ruined or wrecked place after the world war; the trees were all destructed, all plants are destroyed as well as the soil turned out to be black which turned to be a mud (Roch, 2005). I could say that the author depicted the ring as everyone fears to hold because it is self destructive and also it is so powerful to destroy anything and anyone else. In the World War II, people were also afraid of the bomb which Tolkien said that the ring symbolizes because in the same way, they both may lead into cruel outcome. In the story of the lord of the rings’ last part which is the return of the king, Frodo and the others succeeded in destroying the king and soon gave a new hope to all the people in their territory because they were able to have a new king in which Aragorn has portrayed. In reality with the world war II, after the cruel dictator was missing not knowingly what happened to him, the people had a new hope for a new peaceful life because the evil was already destroyed. In consideration with evilness and goodness, the trilogy of the lord of the rings has symbolized the world’s essential elements; the good and evil. The good ones are symbolized by hope, changes, and other more that results into goodness, while the evilness or darkness are symbolized by ignorance and the lost of hope. In the story the elves are covered with a white light that brightens, it is a symbol of their being the good ones that they reflect something which is the contrary of evil. The evil ones appear to be ugly like decaying bodies and their place was a wrecked one full of darkness. Tolkien made the Lord of The Ring following and basing on the patterns of the World War I and II events. Depicting his comprehension on reality and placing it in the context of a fantasy that everyone could appreciate even without understanding its real meaning. Though there are a lot of differences and distinction between his created world and the world he wanted people to understand, they were said to be fitting each other in terms of evil and good. Tolkien depicted the characters in the story, the events and other aspect basing on the good and bad side of possession of great power. Also he showed in the story how friends and comrades try to console each other in times of crisis. Tolkien tend to show how certain people tend to share each other’s difficulties in times of troubles and that in a certain world full of hidden cruelty, everyone needs help in order to get through it and in order to make through it all. Now I understand that the main meaning of the trilogy of the lord of the ring in which the original author Tolkien tended his readers to understand is the cruelty which is caused by the over possession of power. That the book explains about the possible negative effect of power to a person which had appeared in the story in a patterned way. I could also say that I believe in Tolkien when he said that great power can corrupt a person’s heart.

What to Believe In the novel Life of Pi

Jeff Ramos English101 Mr. Adams 11-21-2012 What to Believe In the novel Life of Pi, Yann Martel uses the protagonist Pi to demonstrate how faith, ritual and ones will to live save one from the barbaric and carnivorous reality. Pi Patel, lover of faith and various gods and their beliefs loses his family after a shipwreck and drifts on the Pacific Ocean with the zebra, hyena, orangutan and tiger named Richard Parker, each struggling in their own way to survive. In the end, Pi presents two different stories and leaves it up to the reader to decide which version is ultimately true.Personally, I would believe the animal story was made up by Pi because the human story was too much for him to endure. But how do we define truth? Is something true simply because it is believable? Is something untrue because it seems unrealistic? The dictionary defines truth as 1) the true or actual state of a matter; 2) conformity with fact or reality; 3) a verified or indisputable fact, proposition, principl e or the like. The relativity of truth is not emphasized as a major theme until the last part of the novel, when Pi recaps the entire story to the officials from the shipping company who are questioning him.Pi lets them choose the version they prefer, and for them that version becomes truth. In this world, people believe the version of truth that they are most comfortable with. People would rather believe a colorful version of a story, over the gruesome details of the story that actually happened. For example, as Mr. Okamoto and Mr. Chiba were interviewing Pi, he asks them â€Å"So tell me, since it makes no factual difference to you and you can’t prove the question either way, which story do you prefer? Which is the better story, the story with the animals or the story without animals? Mr. Chiba: the story with the animals.Mr. Okomoto: Yes. The story with animals is the better story. † (317). After hearing the two versions of Pi’s horrendous account, the interv iewers agree the story with the animals is the â€Å"better† story, however; never do they say they believe it is true. As humans we tend to think that something is untrue just because it is unbelievable or we just haven’t had an opportunity to experience a certain situation yet. For example, when Pi is describing the atheists and agnostics last words he says â€Å"I can well imagine an atheist’s last words: â€Å"white, white? L-L-Love! My God† – and the deathbed leap of faith.Whereas the agnostic, if he stays true to his reasonable self, if he stays beholden to dry, yeast less factuality, might try to explain the warm light bathing him by saying, â€Å"possibly a f-f-falling oxygenation of the b-b-brain,† and, to the very end, lack imagination and miss the better story. † (64). This shows how the agnostic did not believe in god because he felt that it was untrue and unbelievable. Yet when he or she experiences it, they surely would become a believer. Pi seems to be bothered by the agnostic and their decision to doubt, to lack belief in anything. Another quote from Life of Pi shows that simply because Mr. Chiba and Mr.Okomoto have never actually witnessed a floating banana they automatically believed that it is untrue and believe it would sink. â€Å"â€Å"Bananas don’t float. † â€Å"Yes they do. † â€Å"They are to heavy. † â€Å" No they are not. Here, try for yourself. I have two bananas right here. † †¦ â€Å"They’re in. † â€Å"And? † â€Å"They are floating. † â€Å"What did I tell you? †Ã¢â‚¬  (292-293). Through experience Pi knows that bananas float. Once Pi proves to the interviewers that indeed bananas do float, they believe. How do we decide what to believe? The theory of knowledge can guide us in deciding what to believe, what to ignore, what to question, and what we don’t know.It is different from assumptions, rumo rs and myths. Which version do you believe? Do you think Pi, as a young boy, comes up with the fantastical tale to cope with the ugly truth? Or, is it somehow not the point to decide what actually happened? Maybe the beauty of the first story outweighs the believability of the second? Martel spends so much time developing the first story, and not much on the second. While it might seem totally unlikely, the details are all put into the first story. Ultimately, in Life of Pi, Martel leaves the decision of what to believe up to you.

Electronic media and education Essay

Electronic media is continuously expanding and is now to the degree where it has become a part of everyone’s life, not just in the Western world, it is starting to take hold worldwide.To define electronic media, it is a type of media that reserves and disperses electrical information through sources such as television, radio, and computers. Companies advertise to make consumers acquainted with the products or services provided and the only better way of performing this is through advertising on electronic media. Thus this essay will discuss the benefits and drawbacks of advertising through electronic media. To commence with, the major drawback of advertising through electronic media is that in the marketplace sometimes, electronic advertisement method convey a negative implication. Internet users typically find the ads unwelcomed to their online experience. Text ad and banners frequently are placed in the center of content, which obstructs the reader. The user cannot view the whole page as pop – ads appear over content, thus causing them to remove the ads. Audiences are so deluged with spam email and banner ads that they have begun to ignore electronic advertising just as much as ads on traditional media. Furthermore, advertising through electronic media has another stumbling block in its path. Electronic media is rather recent in comparison to print media and traditional broadcast but despite the ability to accumulate data and track users its prime technique for dispatching electronic advertisements remains evasive. To avoid pop-ups in the mid – the 1990s, these ads were disinclined. Currently, firms attempt to seize attention with richer media implements. A common example would be streaming audio and video advertisements. Financing money in media with insufficient years of knowledge and research is a challenge faced by them. Moreover, advertising through electronic media is high-priced and does not guarantee results. This advertising is acquired by an enterprise and stationed on the World Wide Web in key spots. For example, an electronic advertisement for air conditioning equipment may pop up alongside searches for air conditioning installation firms. For per click, it is paid in a click-through advertisement. Plus, the advertisement placing business sustains a levy when someone views the ad by clicking on it and the user is taken to the business website. People access these advertisements for free, even if they are not actually interested in buying the services or products. Clicking on these ads can be costly without a promise of a sale. Furthermore, viewers accessing a page with click-through advertisements click on the ads only 1 or 2 percent. Therefore, if just clicking on the ad is paid, it can result in a huge waste of money. On the other hand, there are also some benefits of advertising through electronic media. The Internet’s tremendous reach can enable promoters to contact altogether a larger number of individuals than traditional advertising media at a small amount of the cost. Electronic advertising is perfect for organizations with a national or worldwide target market and extensive scale appropriation capacities. When in doubt, the more individuals the business serves, the most cost-proficient electronic advertising can be. This can likewise be more focused than some customary media, guaranteeing that all the messages are seen by the most pertinent groups of audiences. As indicated by an article distributed in the New York Times, 96.7 percent of American families possess TVs. This adds up to more than 300 million individuals who approach the ads. Furthermore, advertising through electronic media offers the best creative opportunity among the traditional media. It has visual components like print and sound like radio, yet it likewise has dynamic development. Promoters frequently attempt to tell stories inside their advertisements that affect the group of audiences. Innovativeness can give more meaning intending to a brand past its basic product. For example, with TV, you can target passionate associations, consolidate characters that the audience can identify with and offer multi-tangible interest. To add on, advertising through electronic media empowers advertisers to be open for business all day and all night without stressing over store opening hours or additional time installments for staff. It has a benefit of 24/7 availability. Offering advertisements on the electronic media is likewise convenient for customers. They can browse the advertisement whenever makes them free to do.

Effects of globalisation case study- China Essay

China is the world’s seventh largest economy and the largest country in terms of population size. It has also become the 8th largest world exporter of manufactured goods and the second largest economy in the world, after the United States, on the basis of purchasing power parity. The impact of globalisation on China has been profound, having an impact in a number of different areas. Government Strategies to promote economic growth and development Between 1978 to 1994 China abandoned agricultural collectivisation, replacing it with a system of household responsibility, allowing individuals to make their own production decisions. Individuals could sell their surplus output in free markets after the state quota was met. This lead to dramatic increases in food production and incomes. Surplus income was invested into privately run town and village enterprises responsible for light manufacturing. The government also increased the authority of local officials and plant managers in industry and permitted a wide variety of small-scale enterprises in services designed to increase productivity with the ‘profit incentive’. Today, non-state economies account for 40% of China’s gross domestic product (GDP). In 1980 Special Economic Zones were established in the southern coastal provinces of China as a result of its ‘Open Door’ policy, adopted towards foreign trade and investment. These zones attracted foreign investment through incentives offered such as low tax rates, exemption from import duties, cheap labour and power, and less stringent regulations. This resulted in an increase in trade from 10% of Gross National Product (GNP) in 1978 to 36% of GNP by 1996. In 1992 tariff rates were reduced from 32% to 19%, supporting China’s drive for foreign investment. Economic growth, development and quality of life China has been experiencing a high rate of economic growth above 10% per annum. It uses foreign investment funds to finance export industries, enabling it to maintain large foreign currency reserves and receive  technology transfers from industrial countries. Higher productivity and the increased flow of money entering China as a result of globalisation have been increasing development and the quality of life, reducing the number of people below the poverty line. Although incomes in China are very low, the poverty line reflects absolute poverty based on the minimum subsistence necessary to maintain life. Higher incomes have allowed for more investment for further development in the country and living standards. The life expectancy at birth has also dramatically increased from 35 in 1950 to 72 in 2002. The Human Development Index is a number less than 1 (1 being the highest) calculated to enable the comparison of standards of living across different countries. It is based on life expectancy at birth, levels of educational attainment and gross domestic product per capita. China has a Human Development Index of .721, making it a medium developed country. Global Trade, Investment and Transnational Corporations Globalisation and trade have had a great impact on China.. Nearly 400 of the top 500 Transnational Corporations (TNC’s) have opened business or invested in China. By July 1999, China had 334000 overseas-invested enterprises with actual investment of US$288.94 billion. China ranks as the top exporter of many labour intensive products such as garments, shoes, clocks and bicycles and over the past few years many TNC’s such as ‘Streets’ ice cream have moved their operations to China to take advantage of low production costs. These low costs are due to the tens of millions of young job seekers ready to work for even less than the official minimum monthly wage of 700 yuan. Although they provide employment, workers are often forced to do long shifts often under poor conditions in order to support themselves and their families. TNC’s have affected the development of local businesses that are unable to update their technology as often as large, overseas companies. Outdated  technology means that their resources are not used as efficiently, reducing productivity and forcing wages to remain low. Unable to compete with large multinational firms and wealthy nations, small businesses have been forced to do business locally, never growing and reaching their full potential. Larger businesses that have been able to keep up with changing technology, however, have greatly benefited through increased productivity as a result of the increased level of technology brought about by globalisation. Distribution of Income and Wealth Despite average incomes rising, income and social inequality in China have grown between rural and urban populations. China’s growth and development are very dependent on the Special Economic Zones in the southern provinces which are dominated by foreign investment and technology. People living in these areas earn approximately 20000 yuan a year. In contrast, the northern provinces that rely more on agricultural production for the generation of income and employment opportunities earn an average of less than 6000 yuan per year. This is the major cause for inequality in the distribution of income. The top 20% of income earners receive 42.5% of the countries GDP. By international standards, China has entered â€Å"a zone of income distribution inequity.† Environmental Consequences Globalisation has contributed to the deterioration of the environment in China due to a loss of arable land as a result of economic development. An increased population growth in urban areas as people move to be closer to factories results in the clearing of large areas of land and a strain on resources. China, unlike many developed countries does not have extremely strict standards on the disposal of waste. Factories set up by overseas companies often create a lot of pollution and dangerous waste product not always properly disposed of in order to cut production costs. Persistent organic pollutants and the exploitation of fisheries pose major threats to the environment. High levels of energy use bear a large responsibility for man made greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere. These factors contribute to  larger problems such as global warming and ozone depletion. The integration of financial markets and trade relationships has also increased the risk of ‘contagion’. Global Financial Markets and The International Business Cycle With more large businesses moving to China, there was a large demand on funds from the financial markets. China, however, does not have a financial market competitive with overseas markets. Many Chinese financial institutions are also required to lend money, under government policy, to government businesses, which are often inefficient, depleting the supply of funds. For this reason, most of the money is generally borrowed from overseas institutions. Like all economies, China acts as a part of the International Business Cycle, moving through booms and recessions. This connection to global movements is heightened as a result of globalisation. The Asian Crisis of 1997 is an example of this. As people lost confidence in Asian economies and withdrew money from investments affecting economies through lost output, rising unemployment, higher inflation and poverty. China was not as badly affected in this crisis as other Asian countries. This was because foreign investment was in the form of assets rather than shares. This meant that investors were not able to withdraw their money quickly as they were in other Asian countries.