Fluent Essays

short response ENGL 203 Fall 2021-Response Assignment 1 ENG 203: Short Response 2 (10 points) 1. Read the article on the next pages (3-4). 2. Then write a short response paper. a. Your short response paper should be between 300 and 400 words. b. It has to include your response/reaction to two key points from the original article. c. It has to have (a) an introduction, and (b) two body paragraphs. The conclusion is optional. Writing the conclusion will not give you any extra point. d. The response should be justified with specific examples and logical analysis. e. The paper should be typed, double-spaced, left justified, in 12 pt. Times New Roman font, with 1-inch (2.54 cm) margins. Paragraphs should be indented. f. You have to type your name, QU ID, course-section, teacher’s name, and due date in the left upper corner of your paper: Mohammad Yousef 12345678 ENG 203 –10 Peter Murphy February 16, 2020 g. Your paper is due by 11:59 pm on Sunday Sep 19 for UTR sections and Monday Sep 20 for MW sections. h. You have to submit your paper to SafeAssign. Plagiarism is a serious academic offense and it would result in F for the assignment or the course. i. If the SafeAssign score is 15% or higher, your teacher will check and determine whether the high score is due to actual plagiarism or due to other reasons such as writing the title of the article. ENGL 203 Fall 2021 -Response Assignment 2 This article was adapted from its original version.   ENGL 203 Fall 2021 -Response Assignment 3 This article was adapted from its original version.   Light Pollution Laura Paddison 2021 It is estimated that between 100 million and one billion birds die every year from flying into buildings in the US, with artificial lights thought to play a major role in the death toll. Normally, migratory birds use celestial cues such as the stars to help them navigate. According to Brett Seymoure, a behavioral ecologist at Washington University in St Louis, the Sun is like a clock. The reliable rhythm of night and day gives plants and animals signals for natural cycles of feeding, mating, migrating and navigating. Humans are altering this natural rhythm by flooding the world with artificial light. The era of electric lighting, which began in the late 19th century, allowed humanity to extend days into the night with the flick of a switch. The light that beams from skyscrapers, office blocks, streetlights and homes does not just light what people need; it also spills into the habitats of animals and it scatters into the atmosphere, creating a sky glow that can extend around 150 miles (241km) from large towns and cities. The effects of light pollution on the natural world are thought to be far greater still; therefore, some measures have been taken to address it. A 2019 study found artificial light—from street lamps and car lights to enormous gas flares from oil extraction—was a key driver of the alarming decline of insect populations around the world. Most people have seen lightbulbs lure and trap moths along with other insects, which often end up being eaten by lurking predators or dying from exhaustion. Artificial light influences almost every aspect of insects’ behavior. Light pollution, for example, can change the foraging behavior of nocturnal insects, making it harder for them to find food. Artificial light can affect fish by suppressing melatonin, the hormone that controls sleep patterns by setting an internal clock for processes such as reproduction and growth. It disrupts the nesting behavior of turtles and draws newly hatched marine turtles away from the sea, increasing the risk they will die before they ever reach the water. Researchers in the Red Sea found that even coral reefs are damaged by light pollution. Humans may create light pollution, but they also do not escape its harmful effects. Artificial light affects melatonin levels, altering people’s natural circadian rhythm and disturbing sleep patterns. Exposure to artificial light at night has also been linked to diabetes, mood disorders and an increased risk of breast, prostate, and other cancers. While the problem of light pollution is complex, the solution of dimming light and using it responsibly and intelligently could be easily implemented. Not only does reducing light pollution prevent damage to wildlife and people; doing so also saves money and reduces planet-warming carbon emissions. A recently published study by biologists studying how light pollution from a building in Chicago affected birds found that turning off lights at night could have a dramatic effect. Halving the number of windows that were illuminated during the hours of darkness decreased bird collisions by 11 times during the spring migration and six times during the fall migration. Overall, the researchers estimate that dimming the building in this way cut bird deaths by 60%. ENGL 203 Fall 2021 -Response Assignment 4 This article was adapted from its original version.   An additional benefit of reducing light pollution is that it can cut costs. Tucson, Arizona finished converting nearly 20,000 sodium streetlights to dimmable, energy efficient LED lights in 2018. Since then, the city has cut its total light emissions by 7% and knocked more than $2m (£1.4m) off its annual energy bills. In some countries, awareness about artificial light and its impact translated into legislation. Slovenia passed a national law to reduce light pollution in 2007, requiring outdoor lighting to be shaded and not exceed certain levels of brightness. Puerto Rico, which has three bioluminescent bays, passed light pollution legislation in 2008. France introduced laws on outdoor lighting in 2019, leading to a 6% decrease in light pollution, and the same year Croatia passed a law restricting lighting levels. Individuals can act, too. People often do not think about the impacts of their homes. Simple measures can make a big difference. One easy fix is to close curtains at night so the light does not escape across the naturally dark realm of the back garden, and only lighting what needs to be lit and focusing security lights carefully. Getting people to actually make these changes, however, may require them to change their relationship with the night. Part of this may be down to the way people understand darkness. There is an assumption that more light is better and safer, because we lack the nighttime visual ability. Some researchers hope humans will reconsider their relationship with darkness. Planet earth is facing numerous problems, and artificial light is an additional stress to the whole ecosystem that could be taken care of immediately.