Ecological concern and sustainability in the selected works of al gore

By combining devices such as simile, alliteration, metaphor, metonymy and rhetorical questions, Al Gore gave readers the deep awareness of environmental issues that concern the entire wo

ECOLOGICAL CONCERN AND SUSTAINABILITY

IN THE SELECTED WORKS OF AL GORE

A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School

Batangas State University

Batangas City, Philippines

In Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements for the Degree

Doctor of Philosophy in English

by

PHUNG THI THU HA (River)

November, 2014

ABSTRACT

Title : Ecological concern and sustainability in the selected works

of Al Gore Author : Phung Thi Thu Ha

Course :Doctor of Philosophy major in English language and literature Year : 2014

Adviser : : Dr Maria Luisa A Valdez

The findings of the study revealed the following main points:

1 Global warming and climate crisis have caused a major impact on the environment as ecological variables all over the world, putting the habitats of the species on Earth under serious threat

2 Earth with its bounty and inherent beauty has been the place for all things on Earth to shelter and develop, including humans

3 To cater to the needs of life, people with irresponsible actions and their lack of awareness have overexploited the resources of the world, making the 'Earth' no longer 'in Balance' as it used to be

4 The world needs to determine jointly implement environmental measures such as reducing the growth rate of world population, reducing the consumption of fossil energy, instead, using sparingly and effectively clean energy such as solar energy, wind energy; and to balance the economic development of industrial parks, agriculture, and tourism services with social benefits and environmental sustainability

5 By combining devices such as simile, alliteration, metaphor, metonymy and rhetorical questions, Al Gore gave readers the deep awareness of environmental issues that concern the entire world

6 Environmental Issues author Al Gore refers to in the two selected works are very valuable for education on environmental awareness for Vietnamese youth in particular and Vietnamese people in general

My special thanks go to Dr Matilda H Dimaano, Dr Corazon Cabrera and The Panels for their highly intellectual abilities to give me excellent advice and previous guidance during my preparation of this work

I would like to take this chance to give expressions to my gratitude to all the teachers at the Graduate School of Batangas State University of the Philippines for their valuable lectures and precious guidance that spur me

to come to the choice of carrying out this research

I also wish to acknowledge the Philippines Government which sends each time with the most skilful and qualified lecturers to Thai Nguyen University The cooperation between Vietnam and the Philippines should

be a lesson for other countries in the region to make their education better and gain integration

I am indebted to ITC, Thai Nguyen University of Agriculture and Forestry of Thai Nguyen University for accepting me as a PhD Student

and for their enthusiasm and supports during the time of my studying and writing this thesis

I greatly appreciate the sympathy and assistance and spiritual supports from my dear colleagues and students for me during my PhD study

My sincerest gratitude would go to all my dear PhD classmates for their friendliness, kindness, and big support and encouragement

I am also very grateful for the wholehearted support, encouragement and love that my parents, my husband and children, along with my sisters

Ms Tuyet, Ms Huong, and Ms Hong extended during my completion of the dissertation

Once again I would like to say thank-you to all for everything

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS vi

CHAPTER I THE PROBLEM 1

Introduction 1

Statement of the Problem 11

Scope, Delimitation and Limitation of the Study 12

Significance of the Study 15

II REVIEW OF LITERATURE: SYNTHESIS AND HYPOTHESIS 19

Conceptual Literature 19

Research Literature 31

Synthesis of the Literature Reviewed 39

Theoretical Framework 41

Conceptual Framework 44

Definition of Terms 45

III RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 51

Research Method 51

Research Procedures 52

Treatment of Materials 54

IV ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA 57

V SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION 229

Summary 229

Findings 230

Conclusions 251

BIBLIOGRAPHY

CURRICULUM VITAE

CHAPTER 1 THE PROBLEM Introduction

The world has witnessed the increasing effects of the global climate change for more than two centuries with so many disastrous calamities in the past recent decades This subject matter has become an interesting topic for many writers who are concerned with the environmental issues It has been proved that there are a variety of factors that lead to this unpleasant fact including oceanic processes (such as oceanic circulation), biotic processes, variations in solar radiation received by Earth, plate tectonics and volcanic eruptions, and human-induced alterations of the natural world; these latter effects are currently causing global warming

Among many causes leading to climate change and global warming,

‘green house effects’ and emissions of toxic gases such as carbon Dioxide (CO2) and methane are considered as the major ones (http://planetsave.com/2009/06/07/global-warming-effects-and-causes-a-top-10-list/) Global warming is one of the biggest issues that we, human beings, are facing right now In fact, the effects of the global warming on animals and on agriculture are alarming, and the effects on the human population are even more frightening The facts about global warming are often debated in politics and the media The causes are believed mainly

from us, the human race, and the effects on us will be much more severe

in the future

A warming planet thus leads to a great change in climate called climate crisis which can affect all the living things on earth Global warming brings about environmental issues that lead to serious ecological consequences for not only the generations at present but also the generations in the future Such effects include a dramatic increase of sea temperatures, high sea level, rapid decrease of sea ice, more melting glaciers, an emerging global crisis in water availability and water pollution; extinction, loss of biodiversity and long-term damage to ecosystems; pollution of the atmosphere; waste production and disposal; impacts of chemicals use and toxic substance disposal; damaged aquatic ecosystems; and deforestation and land degradation

The climate change and biodiversity has long been correlated Although throughout Earth’s history the climate has always varied with

ecosystems and species coming and going, rapid climate change has a

great influence on ecosystems and species ability to adapt and this increases biodiversity loss The United Nations’ Global Biodiversity Outlook

3 (2010) confirms that ‘Climate change is already having an impact on biodiversity, and is projected to become a progressively more significant

threat in the coming decades.’ Loss of Arctic sea ice is really threatening since it is damaging biodiversity ‘across an entire biome and beyond’ The Outlook 3 points out ‘The related pressure of ocean acidification, resulting from higher concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, is also already being observed.’ Apart from the fact that temperatures are becoming warmer, ‘more frequent extreme weather events and changing patterns of rainfall and drought can be expected to have significant impacts

on biodiversity.’

The climate crisis is believed to create more extreme and unpredictable weather patterns in the future such as: more hurricanes, super-storms and drought; longer terms of dry heat or heavy rain Scientists have figured out that Northern Europe could be seriously

affected with colder weather if climate change continues, as the Arctic

begins to melt and send fresher waters further south It would effectively cut off the Gulf Stream that brings warmth from the Gulf of Mexico, keeping countries such as Britain warmer than expected The global warming effects on the Indian subcontinent vary from the submergence of low-lying islands and coastal lands to the melting of glaciers in the Indian Himalayas, threatening the volumetric flow rate of many of the most important rivers of India and South Asia, causing water scarcity for a long period In India, such effects are projected to impact millions of lives As a

result of ongoing climate change, the climate of India has become increasingly inconsistent over the past several decades; this tendency is supposed to keep going on

Sharing the same situations with South Asia in general and India in particular, Vietnam, a small country with a population of nearly ninety million, is also facing many environmental problems related to water

pollution and loss of biodiversity and long-term damage to ecosystems

The living standard of people in industrial regions has been directly damaged by the quality of water resources under threat from dumped industrial and chemical wastes, untreated sewage, and medicinal residues and fertilizes and chemical run off These real situations make the already existing problems of water pollution in Vietnam become worse and one of the direct consequences of this matter is that there are more and more Vietnamese people suffering from such common waterborne diseases as cholera, typhoid fever, dysentery, bacterial diarrhea, and hepatitis According to WHO, the number of water, sanitation, and hygiene attributable deaths in 2004 in Viet Nam was 5938 A noticeable fact was that out of 5938 deaths, 4905 were children under five years which means that the children were the main victims of the water, sanitation and hygiene related problems

Mining industry is another factor that contributes to making environmental issues in Vietnam more serious This has been discussed in detail in many mass media; and several workshops, both on national scales and international scales, have been organized, but it seems that not many improvements have been made while many mining companies - such as coal mining companies in Quang Ninh Province, titanium mining areas, mostly located in the two districts of Phu My and Phu Cat, Ba Ria – Vung Tau province, Quang Thuan One-Member Co Ltd in Thuan Nam District, Ninh Thuan Province, and Nui Phao mining company in Thai Nguyen province - continue digging up the soils to explore and exploit metals and minerals from the underground Part of minerals and metals which are toxic is absorbed by farm land and run into water resources around Due to the unconsciousness of the exploiters and the lack of control of the related authorities, the natural resources exploitation has badly affected local people’s lives for quite a long time The residents nearby mainly suffer problems such as terrible diseases like cancers, and most of them receive nothing as compensation from those companies

Together with the global warming and climate change called the climate crisis, the rapid population growth, the irresponsibility of humans in their daily activities for the environment and their thirst for immediate economic benefits are added to the long list of factors that are seriously

damaging the ecosystem on earth, the common house of all living things including plants, animals, and humans This inconvenient truth has put the planet Earth in its unbalanced state and it has been reflected in many newspapers, magazines, journals, books and other kinds of literature

Literature is about human beings – their daily lives as well as their exceptional, towering experiences, which literary critics stress, are therefore a dissection of life (Luisa, 2006) Literature functions as a mirror

to reflect life It focuses readers on taking the world around them into consideration Literature is encyclopaedia about life It helps humans be aware of life and aware of themselves as well Literature not only enriches humans’ knowledge but it can also help arouse humans’ emotions, feelings and nurture their souls and confidence in life Through the awareness of life, humans can choose the best way to improve their life, turning their knowledge into real actions

The fact that writers use their literary works to reflect their societies has been widely known It is unlikely to find a literary work that neither expresses an attitude nor include morale and values of the society, since

no authors have the experience of being brought up completely unexposed

to the world around them Literary works are created to depict human life and action through some characters who, by their words, action and reaction, transmit certain messages for the purpose of information,

education, and entertainment The author also shows his personal implications through his work based on his own philosophy of life Literature not only reflects the society but serves as a mirror in which members of the society can look at themselves and see the need for positive change

As stated above that the planet Earth is experiencing a climate crisis and that this unpleasant reality has drawn the profound attention of many writers who concern themselves with ecological issues and Albert Arnold Al Gore or Al Gore is one of them Al Gore was born in Washington D.C on 31 March 1948 and was the son of a former Tennessee Senator father He went to school in Washington D.C He enjoyed sport and he studied quite well at school In 1965 he graduated 25th in his class of 51, then he applied for Harvard University and was accepted At university he became passionate in politics and interested in the topic of global warming after taking a course with Professor Roger Revelle, one of the first scientists to measure carbon dioxide in the atmosphere Maybe the first meeting with a famous expert in environment was a decisive factor in his successful career in great efforts to protect environment and raise people’s awareness

of the risks of climate change and global warming and ecological concerns After two years of serving in the Vietnam War as a military reporter from

1969 through 1971, Al Gore studied philosophy and law at Vanderbilt

University while working for The Tennessean Newspaper from 1971-1976

He was the 45th Vice President of the United States from 1993 to 2001 and served in various kinds of profession including: a politician, a reporter, a military journalist, an environmentalist and a writer It is likely that the knowledge, passion, interests and experience that he had gained through doing different jobs have made a perfect combination for his successes in politics and environmental activities

His first book ‘Earth in the Balance’, written while he was looking

after his son, who was recovering from a near-fatal car accident, was published in 1992 That period of time was really a turning point in his life:

he decided not to continue running into the White House but spend time for his son and sharing his deep concerns about environmental issues with his readers in a book of nearly 400 pages full of shocking and unbelievable truths about the ecological degradation on the earth This became the first book written by a sitting Senator to make The New York Times bestseller list since John F Kennedy’s Profiles in Courage

In 2006, he finished another bestseller book ‘An Inconvenient Truth:

The Planetary Emergency of Global Warming and What We Can Do About It’ In 2007 this book was filmed and won the Nobel Peace Prize and the

Oscar for the best documentary and received standing ovations at the Sundance film festival in Utah in the same year After this eventful year, Al

Gore carried out a lot of conferences, workshops, campaigns and meetings

on climate change and global warming inside the US and in many other countries In 2009 another precious award, Grammy Award, was decided

to give to ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ for Best Spoken Word Album Currently,

Al Gore is an author and an environmentalist, Chairman of Current TV, Chairman of Generation Investment Management, and a senior advisor to Google, Inc

Al Gore is one of the world’s first advocates of environmental stewardship Through his writings readers may glean that literature can be

a writer’s channel for conveying the philosophical dimension of environmentalism By providing readers with precise data illustrated by vivid images, the works by Al Gore are highly informative and persuasive The stories are presented in a combination of narrative and descriptive styles This combination is clear and natural enough for the readers to acquire the content and the objectives at which the author aims

Being a developing country in Southeast Asia, Vietnam possesses a long coast of 3,444 kilometers, which can be regarded as both the advantage and disadvantage for economic growth The long coastline gives Vietnam a lot of opportunities to develop ocean transport, sea economy and sea tourism However, in the past recent years, due to the effects of the climate change and global warming, Vietnam has suffered a

lot of natural disasters such as hurricanes, flood tides, tidal flows, marsh pollution, and coastal erosion, etc The decrease of sea animals leads to scarcity of seafood supplies to consumers, making the life of fishermen more arduous Fishermen have to move very far from the coast

salt-to catch fish and sometimes when there is an unexpected ssalt-torm coming, they are unable to come back to the shore in time, then bad consequences happen and very often they can never return home with their families

The bad effects of climate change and global warming occur not only along the coast but also inland Unpredictable landslides, floods, and drought can happen at times Air pollution, water pollution and even noise pollution in big cities and in industrial zones are causing people’s life a lot

of trouble New kinds of diseases appear such as Ebola, Sialidoses; more people suffer life-threatening sicknesses, for example cancer, and diabetes

Bearing the thought in mind that Vietnamese students, as future role models of the new generation, must be aware of what is going on globally, regionally and nationally in relation to environmental concerns and sustainability because of the fact that the environment will look after them like the way they look after their environment The researcher was deeply motivated to explore and undertake an analysis of how ecological concern

and sustainability is reflected in Al Gore’s selected works ‘Earth in the

Balance’ and ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ and gain honest implications on the

study of ecological stewardship among Vietnamese students

Statement of the Problem

This study is an analysis of the environment concerns and sustainability reflected in the selected works of Al Gore and its implication

on the study of ecological stewardship among Vietnamese’s students

Specifically, the study seeks answers to the following questions:

1 What reflections of the author on the environment may be gleaned in the selection?

Global Warming and What We Can Do About It?

2 How is ecological concern reflected in the selected works in terms of:

2.1 respecting Earth and life and all its diversity;

2.2 safeguarding Earth’s regenerative capacities;

2.3 caring for community life; and 2.4 appreciating Earth’s beauty and bounty?

3 How is sustainability is manifested in the selections with regard to reconciliation of:

3.1 environmental demands;

3.2 social equity demands;

Scope, Delimitation and Limitation of the Study

This study analyzes the environmental concerns and sustainability reflected in the selected literary works of Al Gore pointing out its implication

on the study of ecological stewardship among Vietnamese students Likewise, this paper tries to present the reflections of the author on the environment that may be gleaned from the selections; the ecological concern reflected in the works in terms of respecting Earth and life and all its diversity, safeguarding Earth’s regenerative capacities, caring for community life, and appreciation of Earth’s beauty and bounty; sustainability manifested in the selections with regard to environmental demands, social equity demands and economic demands; the literary devices used by Gore in unveiling the theme of ecological concern and

sustainability; and the literary approaches prevalent in the treatment of the selected works

This study employed the qualitative method of research in analyzing ecological concern and sustainability in the representative literary works chosen Likewise, this analysis made use of the Sociological and Philosophical Approaches as the bases for analysis Other approaches in literary criticism that may be employed in the analysis like the Formalist Criticism, Biographical Criticism, Historical Criticism, and Psychological Criticism are not part of this study

This paper also involved content analysis, which is a systematic technique in analyzing message content and message handling The data analysis in this research centered on pattern seeking and the extraction of meaning from Gore’s selected literary narrative or image data Much effort was focused on the task of recording data or making notes through concepts and categories; altering or creating new codes or more subtle categories; linking and combining abstract concepts; extracting the essence; organizing meaning; creating theory from emerging themes; writing an understanding; and drawing conclusions

The essential features in the treatment of materials were considered

by the researcher in the conduct of this study The general rules cited by Stott (2014) as regards the seven standards a piece of literature should

abide to in order to be considered literary guided in the selection of works under study

The representative literary works were analyzed: “Earth in the

Balance” and “The Inconvenient Truth: The Planetary Emergency of Global Warming and What We Can Do about it?” From these literatures, readers

will be able to see in them the seeds of all these two writers’ most important teachings The said selections were chosen because of the correlation between the aforecited themes specifically the ecological concern reflected in the works in terms of respecting Earth and life and all its diversity, safeguarding Earth’s regenerative capacities, caring for community life, and appreciation of Earth’s beauty and bounty; sustainability manifested in the selections with regard to environmental demands, social equity demands and economic demands; the literary devices used by Gore in unveiling the theme of ecological concern and sustainability; and the literary approaches prevalent in the treatment of the selected works and its implication on the study of ecological stewardship among Vietnamese students that may be drawn from the analysis These letters and oratorical speeches constituted the primary and twining sources

of the study Likewise, these specific chapters/works have been taken up in critical analysis far less frequently than Gore’s most popular books entitled

“Earth in the Balance” and “The Inconvenient Truth: The Planetary

Emergency of Global Warming and What We Can Do about it?”

Significance of the Study

The applicability of literary analysis as an indispensable part of a research study is highlighted in terms of its importance to a number of individuals Therefore, it is vital to explicate how this study is beneficial to academic managers, working professionals, college instructors of literature, students of literature, members of the community, and other researchers

Academic Managers This study will help them include

developmental priorities, programs, projects and policies in the educational institutions to ensure that environmental concern and sustainability initiatives can access the academe This will also inspire them to spawn activities related to respecting earth and life in all its diversity, safeguarding earth’s regenerative capacities, caring for community life, and appreciation

of earth’s bounty and beauty in the curricula that will educate the academic community of the beneficial outcomes of environmental concern and sustainability to all people regardless of gender, race, nationality and religious backgrounds

Working Professionals This paper will be beneficial for them in the

sense that the selected works have brought to their awareness how human

actions and decisions as authorities can endanger or safeguard the vulnerable ecosystem that sustains them and the threats that everyday choices pose to climate, water, soil, and diversity of plant and animal life Likewise, they may be inspired to organize environmental concern and sustainability workplace initiatives to nurture and challenge people of all ages working in various sectors of society to a life which sustains reconciliation of environmental demands, social equity demands, and economic demands in their workplaces These initiatives may help the working people to embrace and support the concept of environmental concern and sustainability, and address environment issues which are essential for achieving sustainable development within their workplaces

College Instructors of Literature This analysis will be helpful in

the instructor’s methodology in teaching literature as an inquiry into using the appropriate literary theories and approaches in literary analysis This will lead to treating literary criticism as a worthwhile exercise that includes, among others, the identification of a meaningful theme and the investigation of approaches to reveal such themes In addition, this will provide them with opportunities to touch the concept of environmental concern and sustainability in their literature classes and open their students’ mind and hearts to the teachings on ecological stewardship specifically, the preservation of global resources, and meeting the needs of

the current generation without compromising the ability to meet the needs

of future generation

Students of Literature Not only will this study give them an

extensive and profound outlook in life as regards environmental concern and sustainability through the lives of the characters in the selected literary pieces, it will also make them realize that global warming, loss of the earth’s ozone, the exhaustion of agricultural land and fisheries, destruction

of water supplies, pollution and acid rain, and overconsumption of natural resources are threats to survival In addition, this paper will make them treat literature as a work of art distinguished from other texts through content and form, and eventually intensify their appreciation of the different literary devices and approaches as well as prose works and inspire them to engage in literary analysis as an academic activity

Members of the Community This study will make them more

aware of their social responsibility to avert environmental catastrophe like global warming and its increasing effects This will make them understand that the planet's fragile ecosystem is under attack on many fronts as a result of industrialization and the growing transportation infrastructure and

be motivated as regards the development of alternative energy sources which is absolutely necessary Furthermore, they will become mindful of the current trends in environmental degradation which may lead to

increase human suffering on a very large scale Likewise, some of the belief systems and practices at home and the community oftentimes do not support in forming values with respect to concern for the environment, and thus should be avoided

Other Researchers Researchers will be benefitted by this study

through the analysis and treatment of materials, and through the careful investigation of both theme and form in literary genres Likewise, this paper will enlighten them on the process of drawing out literary theories and utilizing critical approaches in literary analysis

CHAPTER II REVIEW OF LITERATURE: SYNTHESIS AND HYPOTHESIS

The following review of literature is presented with the end in view of

identifying the constructs of the study

Conceptual Literature

The review of the conceptual literature yields four types of constructs, which may be used in the analysis and interpretation of the novels to be dissected These constructs include (1) Environmental Education, Issues and Concerns; (2) Ecological Management and Stewardship; (3) Al Gore, his Significant Works and Environmentalism; and (4) Sociological and Philosophical Approaches in Literary Criticism

Environmental Education, Issues and Concerns

Environmental education (EE) mentions the efforts made to teach learners about the roles of the natural environment towards humans’ life and especially about in what ways human beings can manage their behavior and ecosystems in order to live sustainably In general, the term

EE is often used to imply education within the school system, from primary

to post-secondary However, it is sometimes used more broadly to include all efforts to educate the public and other audiences through various mass

media including print materials, websites, media campaigns, etc The term related disciplines include outdoor education and experiential education

Likewise, environmental education is also regarded as a learning process that broadens people's knowledge and awareness about the environment and associated challenges, develops the necessary skills and expertise to address the challenges, and fosters attitudes, motivations, and commitments to make informed decisions and take responsible actions (UNESCO, Tbilisi Declaration, 1978

One of the principles in the action programs of environmental education is to assist students to enrich their factual knowledge about the natural world around them By providing students with deep insights into the crucial roles of the environment for humans, environmental education makes students become more responsible for what they have done and

what they intend to do in the future

Environmental education programs follow the principles: help

students develop factual knowledge about the natural environment, particularly with regard to how ecosystems work and human impacts on the natural environment; foster more positive perceptions about the value of

the natural world; develop eco-friendly habits, such as getting people to recycle and to produce less waste; engage students in environmental

rejuvenation projects and action; and develop students' psychological and

spiritual relationship with nature

On the other hand, environmental issues are harmful aspects of human activity on the biophysical environment Major current environmental issues may include climate change, pollution, environmental degradation, and resource depletion, etc The conservation movement lobbies for protection of endangered species and protection of any ecologically valuable natural areas These environmental issues are addressed at a regional, nation or international level by government organisations International non-governmental organizations include Greenpeace, Friends

of the Earth and World Wide Fund for Nature Governments enact environmental policy and enforce environmental law and this is done

to differing degrees around the world

The variety of life on Earth, its biological diversity, is commonly referred to as biodiversity, which boosts ecosystem productivity where each species, no matter how small, all have an important role to play The number of species of plants, animals, and microorganisms, the enormous diversity of genes in these species, the different ecosystems on the planet, such as deserts, rainforests and coral reefs are all part of a biologically diverse Earth Appropriate conservation and sustainable development strategies attempt to recognize this as being integral to any approach In

some way or form, almost all cultures have recognized the importance of nature and its biological diversity for their societies and have therefore understood the need to maintain it Yet, power, greed and politics have affected the precarious balance

It has long been feared that human activity is causing massive extinctions Despite increased efforts at conservation, it has not been enough and biodiversity losses continue The costs associated with deteriorating or vanishing ecosystems will be high However, sustainable development and consumption would help avert ecological problems (http://www.globalissues.org/issue/168/environmental-issues)

Ecological management and stewardship

Ecological management is focused on maintaining and enhancing

the natural values of land to conserve biological diversity Land protection alone, however, does little to preserve the character of a natural area if impacts such as the introduction of invasive alien plants, or hydrologic disturbances are not also addressed With continuing alteration of the land

by human activity, many ecosystems have become fragmented or reduced

to isolated islands surrounded by agricultural fields or developed areas Ecological management is the key to successful stewardship and can be subdivided into five general catagories: conservation planning, restoration,

prescribed management, research and monitoring

Ecological management is a process that aims to conserve major ecological services and restore natural resources while meeting the socioeconomic, political and cultural and needs of current and future generations.[1][2] The principal objective of ecosystem management is the efficient maintenance, and ethical use of natural resources.[3] [4] It is a multifaceted and holistic approach which requires a significant change in how the natural and human environments are identified Several approaches to effective ecosystem management engage conservation efforts at both a local or landscape level and involves: adaptive management,natural resource management, strategic management, and command and control management

Ecological Stewardship Ecological or Environmental stewardship

refers to responsible use and protection of the natural environment through conservation and sustainable practices Aldo Leopold (1887-1948) championed environmental stewardship based on a land ethic "dealing with man's relation to land and to the animals and plants which grow upon it

Environmental stewardship has a number of wide ranging objectives, according to These include: protection of water and soil; prevention of erosion and water pollution; flood management; wildlife conservation; protect archaeological sites and historic features; provide public access to

the countryside; and conserve rare traditional livestock breeds and varieties

There are three types of environmental stewards: doers, donors, and practitioners Doers go out and help the cause by taking action For example the doers in an oil spill would be the volunteers that go along the beach and help clean up the oil from the beaches A donor is the person that financially helps the cause They can do anything from donating their money, to having galas or other fundraisers They are typically governmental agencies Lastly there are practitioners They work on a day-to-day basis to steer governmental agencies, scientists, stakeholder groups, or any other group toward a stewardship outcome Together these

3 groups make up environmental stewards and help keep the ecosystem

running healthy Anybody can be an environmental steward by being

aware and knowledgeable of the world around them and making sure they

do as little as possible to negatively impact our world Without these groups

it would be hard to get any sort of sustainability in our increasingly technology, pollution, industrial based world

AL Gore, his Significant Works and Environmentalism Albert

Arnold "Al" Gore, is an American politician, advocate and philanthropist, who served as the 45th Vice President of the United States (1993-2001), under President Bill Clinton He was the Democratic Party's nominee for

President and lost the 2000 U.S presidential election despite winning the popular vote

He was an elected official for 24 years He was a Congressman from Tennessee from 1977-1985 and from 1985-1993 served as one of the state's Senators He served as Vice-President during the Clinton administration from 1993-2001 In the 2000 presidential election, Gore won the popular vote but lost the Electoral College to Republican George W Bush An election dispute over a vote recount in Florida was settled by the

U.S Supreme Court, which ruled 5-4 in favor of Bush

Gore is the founder and current chair of the Alliance for Climate Protection, the co-founder and chair of Generation Investment Management, the co-founder and chair of Current TV, a member of the Board of Directors of Apple Inc., and a senior adviser to Google Gore is also a partner in the venture capital firm, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, heading its climate change solutions group He has served as a visiting professor at Middle Tennessee State University, Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, Fisk University, and the University of California, Los Angeles He is also a member of the Board of Directors of

World Resources Institute

Gore has received a number of awards including the Nobel Peace Prize (joint award with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change)

(2007), a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album (2009) for his book

An Inconvenient Truth, a Primetime Emmy Award for Current TV (2007), and a Webby Award (2005) Gore was also the subject of the Academy Award-winning (2007) documentary An Inconvenient Truth in 2006 In 2007

he was named a runner-up for Time's 2007 Person of the Year

He has been involved with environmental issues since 1976, when

as a freshman congressman; he held the first congressional hearings on

the climate change, and co-sponsor[ed] hearings on toxic waste and global warming He continued to speak on the topic throughout the 1980s and

was known as one of the Atari Democrats, later called the Democrats'

Greens, politicians who see issues like clean air, clean water and global

warming as the key to future victories for their party

In 1990, Senator Gore presided over a three-day conference with legislators from over 42 countries which sought to create a Global Marshall Plan, under which industrial nations would help less developed countries grow economically while still protecting the environment In the late 1990s, Gore strongly pushed for the passage of the Kyoto Protocol, which called for reduction in greenhouse gas emissions He was opposed by the Senate, which passed unanimously (95-0) the Byrd–Hagel Resolution (S Res 98), which stated the sense of the Senate was that the United States should not be a signatory to any protocol that did not include binding

targets and timetables for developing as well as industrialized nations or

would result in serious harm to the economy of the United States

2004 he co-launched Generation Investment Management, a company for which he serves as Chair A few years later, Gore also founded The Alliance for Climate Protection, an organization which eventually founded the We Campaign Gore also became a partner in the venture capital firm, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, heading that firm's climate change solutions group He also helped to organize the Live Earth

benefit concerts

Gore wrote Earth in the Balance (which was published in 1992) while

his six-year-old son Albert was recovering from a serious accident It

became the first book written by a sitting Senator to make The New York

Times bestseller list since John F Kennedy's Profiles in Courage In 2006,

Gore also published the book An Inconvenient Truth: The Planetary

Emergency of Global Warming and What We Can Do About It, which

became a bestseller In reference to the use of nuclear power to mitigate

global warming, Gore has stated, Nuclear energy is not the panacea for

tackling global warming

Criticism

Literary analysis, or literary criticism, refers to a reader’s efforts to investigate a text to understand why it has been constructed or written the way it is as well as to understand the types of culture, social or personal assumptions or arguments it makes Although any person with a critical eye can evaluate a text, several thematic approaches to literary criticism have emerged in the past 200 years to help readers narrow their focus when engaging in literary analysis

Philosophical Approach Philosophical approach, which can also

be called moral approach, is useful for works which present obvious philosophies when the themes of works are considered (for example, man’s inhumanity to man in Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn) This approach does not view literature merely as “art” isolated from all moral implications; it recognizes that literature can effect readers, whether subtly

of directly, and that the message of a work; and not just the decorous vehicle for that message, is important Moral / philosophical critics believe that the larger purpose of literature is to teach morality and to probe philosophical issues They interpret literature based on the values it explores and encourages as well as on its effects on the readers and the world

Philosophical approaches to literary analysis evaluate either the way

a prevailing moral or religious viewpoint has influenced the content of the

text or the way a text poses and responds to pressing philosophical inquiries A moralist approach is a general philosophical approach in which

a reader evaluates the way that an author establishes ethical codes for right and wrong

Sociological Approach An approach refers to literature that

examines social groups, relationships, and values as they are manifested

in literature Sociological approaches emphasize the nature and effect of the social forces that shape power relationships between groups or classes

of people Such readings treat literature as either a document reflecting social conditions or a product of those conditions The former view brings into focus the social milieu; the latter emphasizes the work Two important form of sociological criticism are Marxist and feminist approaches

Sociological criticism starts with a conviction that art’s relation to society is vitally crucial, and that the investigation of these relationships may organize and deepen one’s aesthetic response to a work of art Taine called literature the consequence of the movement, the race and the milieu Sociological critics “place the work of art in the social atmosphere and define that relationship

Literary devices Literary devices refer to any specific aspect of

literature, or a particular wok, which can be recognize, identify, interpret

and or analyze Both literary element and literary techniques can rightly be called literary devices

Literary elements refer to aspects or characteristics of a whole text Most literary elements can be derived from any and all texts; for example, every story has a theme, every story has a setting, every story has a conflict, every story is written from a particular point of view, etc in order to

be discussed legitimately, literary elements must be specially identified for that text

Literary techniques refer to any specific, deliberate constructions of language which an author uses to convey meaning An author’s use of a literary technique usually occurs with a single word or phrase, or a particular group of words or phrases, at one single point Unlike literary elements, literary techniques are not necessarily present in every text

Literary terms refer to the words themselves with which we identify and describe literary elements and techniques They are not found in literature and they are not used by authors For example, allegory means where every aspect of a story is representative, usually symbolic, of something else, usually a larger abstract concept or important historical/geological events; characterization refers to the author’s means

of conveying to the reader a character’s personality, life history, values, physical attributes, etc and it also refers to a description directly

Research Literature

Allen (2001) stated that resource management issues continually

change over time in response to co-evolving social, economic and ecological systems Under these conditions adaptive management, or

‘learning by doing', offers an opportunity for more proactive and collaborative approaches to resolving environmental problems Effective collaborative management requires different stakeholders associated with environmental problems to develop and enact solutions co-operatively, as opposed to acting as advocates purely in their own interest However, because environmental issues are generally characterised by conflicting social perceptions, it is often difficult to ensure adequate stakeholder participation in developing and managing information to support collaborative decision making and subsequent change ‘on-the-ground'

Consistent with an action research approach, the inquiry developed

as it was influenced by the different organisational and social issues that emerged during the case studies and by the subsequent analyses that were made These included how to manage: forums that support constructive community dialogue; environmental conflict; evaluation processes that meet the needs of the different parties involved; multi-stakeholder information networks; and the integration of both ‘soft' and

‘hard' inquiry processes within research and development initiatives The

thesis concludes by showing how these different process issues are linked

in practice

Howley (2007) compared sustainability and livability by making an investigation into the implications of high-density living This thesis explored issues surrounding increasing residential densities and the liveability of urban areas Using new apartment developments in Dublin’s central city as a case study, this thesis evaluated the relationship between high-density living and quality of life concerns of residents, examining residents’ satisfaction with dwelling unit, apartment block and neighbourhood, and investigating individuals’ residential preferences Combining both quantitative and qualitative research methods, this thesis argued that the creation of high-density apartment developments has failed

to address liveability concerns of residents, thus leading to residential preferences that favour suburban and rural living

Namkyu (2007) studied the impacts of environmental supply chain

management (ESCM) on the environmental activities of Small and Medium

- sized Enterprises (SMEs) through an empirical study of the Korean electronics industry This research investigated the relations and dynamics between the ESCM approaches of large companies and the environmental activities of SMEs in the Korean electronics industry A methodological

triangulation approach adopting postal questionnaire survey and interview was used to describe these phenomena and to explore to the reasons, obstacles to implement ESCM approaches, and identify key critical factors

in ESCM approaches and SMEs beyond ESCM pressures This study found out that the ESCM approaches of large companies have positive impacts on SMEs' environmental activity, and the collaborative approach was more effective than the arm's-length approach Furthermore, when ESCM approaches fitted the internal conditions of an SME, the conduct of its environmental activities improved Appropriate compensations and the environmental awareness of a CEO could make the SMEs undertake environmental activities by going beyond the criteria suggested by customers

Woods (2007) conducted a study on human rights and environmental sustainability in the context of globalisation This thesis posited that human rights do not provide a sufficient framework in terms of which to respond to the environmental impacts of globalisation, however, a renewed understanding of human rights, informed by a sense of the social and ecological embeddedness of human life, may be a fruitful feature of an environmentally sustainable society Moreover, it is argued here that human rights and environmental sustainability share some illuminating features, in that support for each is most coherently justified in terms of a