Compose a 1000 words assignment on puerto rico, chapter 13: puerto rico becomes a vast sugar plantation. Needs to be plagiarism free! Puerto Rico was under Spanish colonial rule when the US invaded. Here, it is reminded that the real reason behind a country invading another country is economic rather than political. The paradox of history that played out in Puerto Rico was unique in a sense – the very sugar trade that was the most attractive source of revenue from this colony for Spain, became a channel of communication between the Spanish-Caribbean colonies of Spain and United States as almost all the traders were from the US (Pico, 233). An interesting aspect of this sugar economy has been that it was to the benefit of the United States rather than Spain that it flourished in this Spanish colony (Pico, 233). The US invasion had become historically inevitable as US investments grew heavily in Puerto Rico (Pico, 233). For the US, Puerto Rico was a strategically important place to fulfill its military ambitions. Also, the US saw a good market in this developing economy, for its manufactured goods. This was why this island was both politically and economically important for the US. But all these factors that prompted colonialization had a negative impact on the Puerto Rican economy as well as social development (Vergne, 5). The sugar industry never grew into a full-fledged and independent national industry but remained dependent on foreign markets like the Spanish and the US markets and the export duty imposed by Spain on Puerto Rican sugar crushed the industry (Vergne, 5). And all the profit that was generated from the sugar industry was siphoned off by the US colonizers as Puerto Rico became just the producers of raw sugar for US refineries (Vergne, 31). After elaborating upon the backdrop of US invasion by discussing the socio-political-economic scenario, this chapter has come to the immediate cause of invasion and dealt with it briefly. It has to be remembered that the immediate cause of the war between Spain and the US over Puerto Rico was the accusation made by US against Spain regarding the explosion of a battleship that was stationed in Havana port. Here, the role of North American newspapers in creating public opinion in US in favor of the war is also briefly described. The secret societies and militant gangs that emerged in the Puerto Rican scene during the Spanish-American imbroglio were not looked upon by North American media as a historical happening but instead violence began to be attributed to Puerto Ricans as an inherent quality. It is also reminded that cultural exchanges under an unequal power structure is so problematic that even now those misconceptions have happened to stay intact in the US society as a whole (Pico, 233). In this way, along with the economic and political history of Puerto Rico, the author has also weaved a parallel narrative of Puerto Rico’s socio-cultural history (Pico). This narrative shows that the stereotype of the violent Puerto Rican gangster was created during this period. The strategic and military details of the invasion have also been depicted in an extensive manner. This has drawn attention to the second paradox in the United States’ Puerto Rican war.

Create a 9 pages page paper that discusses global warming: natural or man-made. Global warming has been attributed to a variety of causes, including human activities. However, global warming has also been attributed to the natural warming of the earth’s temperature which has been seen at various points in the earth’s history. Regardless of the actual cause of global warming however, man’s destructive and wasteful activities have been considered as contributory factors to global warming. There are strong indications that global warming is due to human actions. This study shall discuss this thesis and consider whether or not man is rightly to blame for this phenomenon. It shall also discuss the challenge that this phenomenon has presented to sustainable development. Body A. Global warming is due to human actions 1. Thermal pollution leads to global warming The earth’s heat flow is measured via boreholes driven several hundred meters into the earth (Nordell, 2003). In recent years, scientists were able to carry out geothermal readings of the earth and were able to establish baseline measurements. The global use of fossil energy has almost reached an equivalent of 9000 million metric ton oil (International Energy Agency, 1999). All of this energy eventually dissipates into heat and when the combusted fuel is decomposed, heat is also released. The total heat from fossil fuels therefore registers at even higher rates than is usually estimated (Nordell, 2003). This energy, when distributed over the total area of the earth, causes the earth’s temperature to rise. The earth’s mean temperature at its ground surface has been measured and deemed warmer than the effective earth temperature. This difference then “drives the global net heat flow from the Earth” (Nordell, 2003). During the daylight hours, the short wave radiation would heat the ground surface and is later cooled down by the outgoing long-wave radiation. As the incoming energy is released, the energy sources would be the thermal heat flow and thermal pollution. This heat flow is “radiated layer by layer through the atmosphere” (Nordell, 2003). With the passage of time, this higher temperature is maintained as the baseline, this higher core temperature compromises the tolerance of the earth’s natural resources and functioning. Currently, the global temperature is not considered at equilibrium because the net outgoing long-wave radiation is not as high as the heat generated. Natural cold therefore is absorbed into the ground and the water and the atmosphere reduces the effect of thermal pollution. The primary sources of natural cold are in the water and the ice and the waters of the oceans decreased global warming by getting warmer (Nordell, 2003). With the melting of the ice, no temperature increase would be seen, but the volumes of melted water would increase. The continental warming also means that out underground is warming up. This would later manifest as decreased geothermal heat flow with the geothermal gradient decreasing (Chapman, 1998). 2. Increased emission of Greenhouse gases Greenhouse gases are those which are generally considered harmful to our planet. They are gases which “can absorb and emit longwave (infrared) radiation in a planetary atmosphere” (Reay and Hogan, 2010).