Earth Faces a Sixth Mass Extinction Essay -- Exploratory Essays Resear

Earth Faces a Sixth Mass Extinction Scientists in Great Britain have been studying the distribution of birds, butterflies and plants for the past 40 years and the results from these studies suggest that the Earth is heading towards another mass extinction, and this one may have its roots in human activity. Within the four billion years that Earth has been around, it has already experienced five mass extinctions. The most recent, and most well known occurred 65 million years ago and caused the extinction of the dinosaurs. While that my have been caused by a meteor colliding with the earth, if scientists are correct, our actions, both past and present, are harming many species of organisms and we may even be causing our own demise. The ongoing studies in Great Britain covered the biodiversity (that is the amount of species of an organism within a given area) and the amount of land the plants, birds, and butterflies each occupied. It covered 1254 species of plants studied from 1954 to 1960 and again from 1987 to 1999, 201 bird species studied between 1968 and 1971 and again from 1988 to 1989, and 58 butterfly species studied between 1970 and 1982 and again between 1995 and 1999 (Thomas et al. 2004). Before this study there was only speculation into the possible population decline of insects. Since they are so abundant it had been hard to get any grasp on their actual number or the effect humans were having on them (Pennisi 2004). Over the time they were studied 3.4% of the species of butterflies went extinct compared to only .4% of the plant species. None of the species of birds that were studied went extinct during the time of the research. The extinctions that occurred were evenly spread throughout Great... ...xtinction just yet, a short period of time from a geological point of view can be hundreds of thousands of years. References Ananthaswamy, Anil. â€Å"Earth faces sixth mass extinction† NewScientist.com News Service. March 18, 2004 http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994797 Pennisi, Elizabeth. 2004 â€Å"Naturalists' Surveys Show That British Butterflies Are Going, Going ...† Science v. 303, p. 1747 Recer, Paul. â€Å"Humans blamed for march toward 6th mass extinction† Star Ledger Online. March 19, 2004 http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/index.ssf?/base/news-14/1079682723291630.xml Rincon, Paul. â€Å"UK wildlife 'heading into crisis'† BBC News Online. March 18, 2004 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3520372.stm Thomas, J. A. et al., 2004 â€Å"Comparative Losses of British Butterflies, Birds, and Plants and the Global Extinction Crisis† Science v. 303, p. 1879

Breakeven Point

The most important functionality of the breakeven point is the economic awareness that is associated with it. Through a simple equation, individuals can learn a plethora of information about the different costs which create the products of a company, the operation of that company, realistic sales goals, and the success of a company. First and foremost, the breakeven point is a necessary examination to determining whether financial success is possible with a company's given inputs and outputs. Ignorance regarding the profit margins of a company is detrimental to both internal and external users. Internal users would scratch their head, trying to figure out if their company is profitable in the short and long-term. External users cannot make educated investments and give assistance if necessary information is absent. The breakeven model dissociates the fixed and variable costs from the company's production to give the best possible impression of where the company is allocating their expenses. For example, as an investor, knowing total costs of $100,000 a year for a company offers me no concrete evidence to the management of the business. However, if I (an investor) see the differentiation of $50,000 to fixed costs and variable costs, I can begin game planning how I would differently allocate resources to create a more ideal ratio of costs. Because the breakeven point models cost versus production, internal members in a company can utilize the model to create realistic sales figures. Finally, the breakeven point can even provide insight to shifting the direction of production. This model is so important because it's the simplest way for a business to determine if what it charges for its products and services will cover what it costs to make the products or provide those services. If the amount of sales a company needs to break even is more than it can realistically achieve in a year, then the business knows its products or services may not be priced well – or it needs to work to reduce costs. The higher the fixed costs for the business, the higher the breakeven point will be, meaning the more offerings it needs to sell. Additionally, the business owner should know the total contribution each product and service generate to the company's overall profit. This step is important because it can help businesses determine products and services that aren't actually profitable, and the company can decide if it needs to raise the price, reduce the cost of offering it, or possibly discontinue it. Additionally, the business owner should know the total contribution each product and service generate to the company's overall profit. This step is important because it can help businesses determine products and services that aren't actually profitable, and the company can decide if it needs to raise the price, reduce the cost of offering it, or possibly discontinue it.

How To Guess if a Spanish Noun Is Masculine or Feminine

Although it is seldom possible to predict with certainty whether a given Spanish noun is of masculine or feminine gender, Spanish has numerous guidelines that can usually be followed. Key Takeaways: Spanish Noun Gender Nouns ending in -a, -cià ³n, -à ­a, or -dad are usually feminine.Nouns ending in -o, an accented vowel, -or, or -aje are usually masculine.Names of rivers, lakes, and oceans are usually masculine; names of mountains are usually feminine. The most well-known rule or guideline is that nouns ending in -o are masculine and those ending in -a are feminine, but there are numerous exceptions to this gender rule, especially for those ending in -a. Some of the exceptions are listed below. Following are some other guides to gender determination. Note that many words have definitions in addition to those listed: Feminine Suffixes Nouns ending in certain suffixes are usually feminine. They include -cià ³n (usually the equivalent of -tion), -sià ³n, -à ­a (usually the equivalent of -y, although not in the diminutive sense), -za, -dad (often used like -ty), and -itis (-itis). la nacià ³n (nation)la intervencià ³n (intervention)la hospitalizacià ³n (hospitalization)la ocasià ³n (occasion)la tensià ³n (tension)la economà ­a (economy)la taxonomà ­a (taxonomy)la probreza (poverty)la felicidad (happiness)la caridad (charity)la mastitis (mastitis)la meningitis (meningitis) Masculine Endings Nouns of Greek origin ending in -a, often -ma, are nearly always masculine. Most of these words have English cognates. el problema (problem)el drama (drama)el poema (poem)el tema (subject) Nouns ending in an accented vowel are usually masculine. el sofà ¡ (sofa)el tabà º (taboo)el rubà ­ (ruby) Nouns with certain other endings are usually masculine. These include -aje (usually the equivalent of -age), -ambre, and -or. An exception is la flor (flower). el coraje (courage)el mensaje (message)el espionaje (espionage)el hambre (hunger)el calambre (cramp)el calor (heat)el dolor (pain)el interior (interior) Masculine Infinitives Infinitives used as nouns are masculine. el fumar (smoking)el cantar (singing)el viajar (traveling) Months and Days Months and days of the week are masculine. el enero (January)el septiembre (September)el martes (Tuesday)el jueves (Thursday) Letters and Numbers Letters are feminine while numbers are masculine. One way to remember this is that letra is feminine while nà ºmero is masculine. la d (d)la o (o)el siete (seven)el ciento (100) Abbreviations and Shortened Words The gender of abbreviations and acronyms typically matches the gender of the main noun of what the shortened version stands for. la ONU (the O stands for Organizacià ³n, which is feminine)los EE.UU. (United States; estados (states) is masculine)las FF.AA. (armed forces; fuerzas is feminine)la NASA (NASA; the word for agency, agencia, is feminine)el FBI (FBI; burà ³, the word for bureau, is masculine) Words that are a shorter form of another word or of a phrase retain the gender of the longer word or of the main noun in the phrase. la moto (motorcycle; the word is a shortened form of la motocicleta)la disco (disco; the word is a shortened form of la discoteca)la foto (photo; the word is a shortened form of la fotografà ­a)la bici (bicycle; the word is a shortened form of la bicicleta)un Toyota (a Toyota. The masculine may be used here as a short form of un coche Toyota, as coche, the word for car, is masculine. However, una Toyota may refer to a Toyota pickup truck, because the common word for pickup is the feminine camioneta.)la Alcatraz (the word for prison, prisià ³n, is feminine) Compound and Two-Word Nouns Compound nouns formed by following a verb with a noun are masculine. el rascacielos (skyscraper)el dragaminas (minesweeper)el guardarropa (clothes closet)el tragamondedas (slot or vending machine) Two-word nouns, which are unusual in Spanish, carry the gender of the first noun. el kilowatt hora (kilowatt-hour)el sitio web (website)el aà ±o luz (light-year)la mujer objeto (sex object)la noticia bomba (bombshell news story) Chemical Elements With the exception of la plata (silver), names of the chemical elements are masculine. el flà ºor (fluorine)el cinc (zinc)el hidrà ³geno (hydrogen) Geographical Names Names of rivers, lakes and oceans are masculine because el rà ­o, el lago and el ocà ©ano, respectively, are masculine. el Danubio (the Danube)el Amazonas (the Amazon)el Titicaca (Titicaca)el Atlà ¡ntico (the Atlantic) Names of mountains are usually masculine, because el monte (mountain) is masculine. An exception is that the Rockies are usually referred to as las Rocosas or las Montaà ±as Rocosas. los Himalayas (the Himalayas)el Cervino (the Matterhorn)los Andes (the Andes) Names of islands are usually feminine because la isla (island) is feminine. las Canarias (Canary Islands)las Azores (Azores)las Antillas (West Indies) Company Names Names of companies usually are feminine, because la compaà ±Ãƒ ­a (company) is feminine, as are sociedad anà ³nima (corporation), corporacià ³n (corporation), and empresa (business). This rule is not consistently followed, however, and some well-known companies (such as Google) are referred to as either masculine or feminine. la Microsoft (Microsoft)la ExxonMobil (ExxonMobil)la Nestlà © (Nestlà ©) Imported Words The default gender for foreign words adopted into the language is masculine, but a feminine gender is sometimes acquired if theres a reason for doing so. Thus foreign nouns that end in -a sometimes become feminine, as do some words related in meaning to a Spanish feminine word. el marketing (marketing)la web (the Web or World Wide Web; the feminine is usually used because the Spanish words red and teleraà ±a, words for web and network, respectively, are feminine)el internet, la internet (both genders are used)los jeans (jeans)el rock (rock music)el software (software)el show (show)el champà º (shampoo)el bistec (beefsteak)la pizza (pizza)