Othello Play Essays - Othello, Michael Cassio, Iago, Roderigo

Othello Play The four main characters in the play Othello represent four different character traits of manhood: Roderigo, the failure; Othello, the hero, yet the insane lover; Cassio, the noblemen; and Iago, the villain, yet the strongest character of the play. Of these four characters Roderigo reveals the weakest character traits. Iago effortlessly profits from Roderigo's deficiency in a intelligence, in fact Iago himself said he would not waste time and effort on"such a snipe"(I iii 387) except for "sport and profit." Towards the end of the play Roderigo reveals some traits that might classify him as a man with a spine. He finally stands up to Iago and threatens to expose the conspiracy against Othello and Cassio, but ultimately his flaws overpower his virtuous traits and he is persuaded by Iago to kill Cassio instead. Likewise, Othello is the tragic hero of the play but his character is also weak. Jealousy is Othello's major downfall. He reveals his insecurities in the scene where he strikes Desdemona and calls her a "devil". Similarly, in the brothel scene, Othello's insecurities arise when he cruelly questions Desdemona. He condemns her as a "simple bawd" and a "whore", which he has no real proof of. Iago also easily manipulates Othello, like Roderigo, throughout the play. Othello is naive. He demonstrates that a few well-placed suggestions can alter his train of thought, such as when Iago was talking to Cassio and made Othello believe that the lieutenant was speaking of Desdemona instead of Bianca. On the whole, Othello was a weak character and a naive man. In contrast, Cassio's character is strong. He spoke about Othello with dignity and grace, which no other character in the play does. Also, Cassio showed extreme loyalty to the Moor. Cassio's only flaw is that he temporarily lost his power of reasoning when he was drunk and let himself be manipulated by Iago. All in all, Cassio is a good example of how a man should act; with dignity and honor. Likewise, Iago's character is also strong. He is an intelligent man as can seen in the soliloquy where he is hatching a plan to frame Cassio "to get his place "(I iii). In the soliloquy Iago's intelligence is revealed in the statement "How, How? - To abuse Othello's ear / That [Cassio] is too familiar with his wife."(I iii 396-39). Iago used his intelligence to think of a plan to frame Cassio and bring down Othello at the same time. Iago is also a confident man. Throughout the soliloquy Iago is confident "That the moor ...Will be tenderly led by the nose./ As asses are " (I iii 401- 404) and will be easily manipulated. However, if Iago had used his good character traits for good he would have been the hero of the play instead of Othello. On the whole, Shakespeare did an excellent job on setting the character traits for the male characters in the play: Roderigo was the "snipe"; Cassio, the noble gentleman; Othello, the fallen "noble Moor"; and Iago, the intelligent, confident and arrogant self-made villain. All the Characters in the play had some good traits but each of them had an appalling attribute that led to their downfall.

Basic Guide on How to Write a Dissertation

Basic Guide on How to Write a Dissertation How to write a really good dissertation is the question that has probably been the cause of many sleepless nights for you. Writing a thesis is not difficult at all, as long as you remember some rules and tips that guarantee an excellent dissertation for you. You may have had awful experiences while writing dissertations, but have you ever noticed why you keep getting only Cs and Ds in your dissertation assignments when the guy sitting next to you gets an A+ every time with half the effort than you? Most students spend fortnights, even months, racking their brains, and trying to squeeze as much out of it as possible. However, the reason that they get sick grades is not that they do not make an effort, but that they ignore several essential points while writing dissertations. It does not matter how many painful hours you spent in the library or how much research you did while surfing on the net, as long as you forget to think about the crux of the subject. Following points will help you write dissertations that will earn you the grades you deserve: Make sure you have understood the topic of the dissertation completely. Never miss a chance for a wee discussion with your teacher. As long as you know the topic you are writing a thesis on, you can rest assured that 40% of the task is complete. There is nothing entirely as wrong as completing a dissertation and then finding out that the Triceratops you have just written about as a musical band in your project is dinosaurs! Now that you have full knowledge of what you are going to write, let us move on. Never ever ignore the websites, books, authors etc that your teacher has given to you for research. At least 60% of the references should be from those sources. After looking at the sources, your teacher has told you to take help from, proceed to examine for other material that might help you with your dissertation. You do not have to look too much, as Internet has already done half of your research job. However, for most common topics, you will be able to find stuff from sources like Encarta, Encyclopedia Britannica, and Wikipedia, etc. For more detailed research, you can ask your subject teacher for more references to help you. Get as much information you can gather. Keep on taking everything that seems relevant to the topic you are writing your dissertation on. Once you have enough material, shape it up into a dissertation, and then spend the rest few days cutting off the additional ‘fat’ from your paper. For more information about writing a professional dissertation or thesis paper you can visit our custom writing service for buying your dissertation immediately.

Partnerships and Limited Liability Partnerships Assignment

Partnerships and Limited Liability Partnerships - Assignment Example Fiduciary implies a particular individual on whom extreme assurance and faith has been placed by another to handle and guard finance or possessions. It is referred to as an association where an individual is obliged to do something for the advantage of another individual5. It has been further added that there are three most important duties that arise where there exists such an association. The foremost is the duty or responsibility of loyalty which means the responsibility to do something on behalf and in support of the particular individual or body towards whom the responsibility is outstanding and not taking benefit of, or damaging, it or him. The second is the duty or responsibility of obedience which means the obligation and responsibility to do something inside the limits of the power of faith. The third is the duty or obligation of care which means the duty to do something cautiously. At times the obligation of disclosure of complete material information is stated as the fourt h duty6. These fiduciary duties relating to sections 33, 34 and 35 of the Partnership Act 19637. The only fiduciary responsibility for which a particular partner is indebted to the other existing partners and the partnership is the responsibility of loyalty or faithfulness and the responsibility of care. A particular partner’s responsibility or obligation of loyalty is restricted to provide accounts to the partnership regarding any kind of possessions, profit or advantage that has been obtained by that partner in carrying out the business of partnership or by using a property that is possessed by the firm and all the partners jointly and also to cease from transacting with the firm where he has been acting as a partner, as an unfavourable party or entering into a competition with the firm in the course of carrying out the business of partnership. Similarly, a partner’s obligation of care is restricted to abstaining from grossly negligent or irresponsible behavior, misb ehavior that was on purpose or for disobeying a law intentionally. These obligations might not be surrendered or disposed of in the agreement of partnership and in order to accomplish them, every individual partner ought to act time and again in relation to the responsibility of trust and fair dealing. These are pertinent to all the contracts as well as agreements of partnership. It is allowed for a partner to follow one’s own interests but it should be ensured that in the course of doing so, the above-mentioned responsibilities should not be violated8.  

The Divergence of U.S. & U.K Takeover Regulations Essay

The Divergence of U.S. & U.K Takeover Regulations - Essay Example In their article, The Divergence of U.S. and UK Takeover Regulation (2007), Armour and Skeel note that takeover is the persistent bid by one company (bidder) to acquire the business of another (target), or the process by which the bidder acquires the target company. When the term regulation is incorporated into this definition, takeover regulation denotes the practice of monitoring and controlling the bidder-target interaction so that the underlying takeover deal is fair to all stakeholders involved. This process is actually regulated by legal provisions both in the U.S and the UK. Having noted divergence in takeover regulation between the U.S and the U.K, it is important to highlight key differential areas. The key areas of divergence in the U.S and UK handling of takeover regulation is the subject matter of Armour and Skeel’s text. While in both countries the takeover process is regulated by law, there are critical variations across the applicable legal framework. In the U.S, for example, defensive tactics by managers are provided for by law. In contrast, the UK takeover system illegalizes the practice of defensive tactics in the event of a materialized takeover. These two countries are noticeably unique in the manner in which they handle takeover regulation. UK system of takeover regulation is primarily driven by self-regulation. On the other hand, self-regulation is little, if any, in the U.S. Furthermore, the application and subsequent use of Delaware laws in the U.S provides a mechanism for litigation as far as takeover regulation is concerned. For this reason, relevant courts and lawyer activities are high in the U.S relative to takeover bids. In the UK, courts and lawyer activities are little, if any. Arising matters, issues, and concerns regarding takeovers are dealt with by the Takeover Panel (Gaughan 88). This divergence informs the UK-based

Prejudice And Discrimination Against Indians Cultural Studies Essay

Prejudice And Discrimination Against Indians Cultural Studies Essay The population in Singapore is about 4.9 million people, 3.7 million people are Singaporeans and Permanent Residents while the rest are foreigners. The ethnic distribution of Singaporeans is as follows, 9.2% of Singapores population is Indians, 13.4% of Singapores population is Malays, 74.2 % of Singapores population are Chinese, while the remaining 3.2% of Singapores population are Eurasians. (http://www.singstat.gov.sg/pubn/reference/sif2010.pdf) From the above mentioned statistics Indians are one the minority groups in Singapore while the Singapore population is dominated by the Chinese race. The following paper will highlight the racism against Indians in Singapore from the majority race which is the Chinese population. This topic has been chosen because the author has experienced racism in many forms from the Chinese population in Singapore, thus the author is able to relate to this topic better and give better suggestions to solve the problem on hand. According to Nadra Kareem, one of the major causes of racism is because of the skin colour, where the minorities are rejected by the society and suffer verbal abuse because of their ethnic background. (http://racerelations.about.com/od/understandingrac1/a/internalizedracism.htm) The following are two quotes taken from interviews (conducted by me) to strengthened Nadra Kareems statement. Vinodini, 25 I was about 13 years old when this incident happened, I went to the swimming school with my female group of friends. I and my friends did not really know how to swim, we just went for the sake to try out something new. My group of friends were wearing our swimming costume and we were about to enter the pool when a Chinese man said to his wife Charcoal coming inside the pool lets go. At that point I felt so insulted. I did not know whether to scold him or just simply run away to escape the humiliation. From that day onwards I lost the interest in swimming and I have never worn a swimming costume. The following statement illustrates the point that colour is a cause of racism, naturally swimming costumes tends to show more of the body and the Chinese man had to comment on her colour as charcoal. The respondents body is shamed by being referred to as charcoal (in relation to its black colour) and on a worse note the Chinese man felt that by the respondent entering the pool it meant that the man and his wife should leave the pool and that they cannot be in the same pool together. On a whole this incident is extremely damaging to Indians confidence in their body. Thevandran, 16 During primary school there was an incident whereby a Chinese boy from my class would cover his nose and encourage other students to cover their noses because he thought I was smelly and dirty. When I confronted him he told me that it was his parents who told him that Indians dont bathe at all. That day I convinced myself that I did not want to socialize with the Chinese. In both instances it can be noted that there are actually racially-motivated racism by the Chinese against the Indians in Singapore based on their colour. The multiple disgraceful terms such charcoal and dirty is mainly to mock the Indian body as inferior to theirs. Ardis C. Martin, M.D. states that if ones culture continues to be devalued it results in low self-esteem. (http://ap.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/32/4/338) In both cases above, the respondents felt insulted by the remarks that they received. Vinodini did not ever want to swim again while Thevandran did not want to socialise with Chinese to ease his pain. Top of Form Bottom of Form Section III WHY THIS PREJUDICE AND DISCRIMINATION AFFECT SOCIETY AND IS IMPORTANT The racism of Chinese against Indians in Singapore should not be treated lightly and must be treated seriously. One only has to look back into Singapores history and remember of the two racial events that nearly tore apart Singapore The Maria-Hertogh Riots and 1964 Race Riots. On 11 of December 1950 the court decided to award custody of Maria Hertogh (who was raised by Muslims) her biological Catholic parents. Outraged Muslims protested the decision which eventually led to rioting when images showing Maria Hertogh kneeling before a statue of Mother Mary were published. Rioting in Singapore lasted 3days. Many properties were destroyed but more importantly 173 people were injured and 18 were killed. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Hertogh_riots) The 1964 Race Riots was a series of riots that took place in Singapore in July and September between Chinese and Malay racial groups. The racial violence killed 36 people and a further 556 people were injured. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1964_race_riots_in_Singapore) The following two events illustrate how racial conflicts can destroy Singapore. To deal with this situation the government has continuously and actively promoted racial harmony as the key pillar of the nation through various policies and measures emphasizing tolerance, understanding and respect among the different races and religions in Singapore. (http://www.asiaone.com/News/AsiaOne+News/Singapore/Story/A1Story20100429-213067.html) Singaporeans are also constantly regularly reminded in official speeches of the racial in events in Singapores history and how it threatened to engulf the nation in turmoil. (http://www.straitstimes.com/STI/STIMEDIA/sp/nationaldayrally2009/090817_hard_work_on_harmony.html) The situation in Britain/United Kingdom will now be discussed, whereby Indians there are one of the minority race groups and they are discriminated violently and viciously by the majority groups. Even though the situation in Singapore regarding the racism against Indians by the Chinese may be seem as tame as compared to the situation in Britain/United Kingdom, lessons has to be learnt from those countries to prevent our nations future from becoming bleak as Britain and United Kingdom. Section IV WHERE CAN WE START TO FIX THE PROBLEM Racism of Indians by the Chinese in Singapore results in marginalisation between the two groups and thus creates divide within the multi-racial society within Singapore. (http://www.asiaone.com/News/AsiaOne+News/Singapore/Story/A1Story20100429-213067.html) There are many measures put in place by the government to tackle the issue of racism between the different racial groups. During Mr Lee Hsien Loong National Day Rally speech in 2009 he mentioned about Singapores efforts at fostering harmony among the different races and religions. (http://www.straitstimes.com/STI/STIMEDIA/sp/nationaldayrally2009/090817_hard_work_on_harmony.html). The reason for doing so is to create social interaction between different races and thus promote cultural diversity among them. Examples to promote national integration between the different races include through promotion of public housing, national service, educational policies, the mass media and grassroots organizations. One such measure I suggest to tackle the issue of racism against the Indians by the Chinese is to implement a system in primary schools whereby for one day a Indian student will have to live a Chinese students house. The next day the Chinese student will have to live in the Indian students house. This thus creates the social interaction required to foster harmony between the different racial groups. The reason for implementing this system during primary school is because young children are impressionable and through interaction at this age it will continue a trend to interact with other races as they grow up. Martin Luther King once said I look to a day when people will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. I totally agree with him, through the implementation of my idea it will help Chinese in Singapore to judge Indians based on their character and nothing else, thus creating a harmonious and multi-racial Singapore for all to see. (http://changingminds.org/analysis/i_have_a_dream.htm) THE END

The Black Power Movement

The Black Power Movement During and after the days of Jim Crow, blacks in the United States were economically and socially oppressed. Blacks still faced lower wages than whites, segregation of public amenities and racial discrimination. At this time many groups were created to challenge these injusticces. The Black Power Movement and the Civil Rights movement were similar because they both fought for equal rights and equal treatment for African Americans. However, they sought to achieve different goals and implemented different forms of action to achieve change. The Civil Rights Movement fought for desegregation and believed in non-violence, while the Black Power Movement rejected integration for racial seperation (Jefferies, 2006). In this essay, I am going to further discuss the tactics used by the Black Power Movement to gain change, and the accomplishements they achieved. Emerging after the civil rights movement of the 1950's, the Black Power Movement was arguably one of the most influential and controversial movements of the 20th century. â€Å"Black Power† as a political idea originated in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committe (SNCC) n the mid 1960's (Jeffereies, 2006). At this time a leader emerged by the name of Stokley Carmichael. Upon gaining leadership, Carmichael ejected white members and believed that the only way to bring about change for blacks was to have an all black union. Stokleley Carmichael believed that Black Power would instill a fear in whites and love in blacks ( Carmichael, 1967). In 1966, Huey Newton and Bobby Seale formed the Black Panther Party for Self Defense (BPP) in Oakland California. By the late 1960's, the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee SNCC) and the Black Panther Party for Self Defense began to gain momentum. Martin Luther King Jr imitated Ghandi and his use of non-violebnce to gain India independence from Great Britain. Because of the Civil Rights Momvement, in 1964 the Civil Rights Act was passed and a year later the Voting Rights Act was passed, ending segregation and ultimately gave blacks the right to vote (Muse,1968). However, non-violent protestors were being beaten, cut with razors and knives, hot cigarettes and cigars were burnt into their arms and aces, they were spat upon and kicked to the floor, policemen locked them up by the thousands into cramped unsanitary jails (Muse,1968). Even with the obvious progress, discrimination could not be eliminated. Many members of the SNCC grew tired of the non-violent approach used by King and other groups within the Ci vil Rights Organization. Increasing members of the SNCC had come to reject the moderate path of cooperation, integration and assimilation of their elders (Ogbar,2005). Divisions grew betweeen the Civil Rights Movement and the Black Panther Movement. The eaders of the Black Power Movement argued that assimilation or integration robs blacks of their identity and dignity (Algernon, 2003). Malcom X, a member of the nation of Islam, believed that Africans historically fought to protect their lands, cultures and freedoms from European Colonists, and that to seek to integrate into a society that has stolen one’s people and their wealth is an act of treason (Algernon, 2003). As a result, aggressively more radical voices came foward to challenge racial discrimination. Black Power advocates began to insist the Blacks carry guns and receive ilitary training in order to protect themselves. Members of the Panthers openly carried weapons and made death threats towards police officers. The Black Panthers sought to oppose police brutality in African American neighborhoods. Police Officers were frequently followed by armed Black Panthers The Black Panthers staged violent protests which often resulted in the death of Panthers and Police officers. From 1967 to 1969, nine police officers were killed and 56 were wounded in confrontations with the panthers (Marine, 1969

History of Global Warming Essay

The succession of exceptional years with record high temperatures, which characterized the 1980s, helped to generate widespread popular interest in global warming and its many ramifications. The decade included six of the warmest years in the past century, and the trend continued into the 1990s, with 1991 the second warmest year on record. All of this fuelled speculation especially among the media that the earth’s temperature had begun an inexorable rise and the idea was further reinforced by the results of scientific studies which indicated that global mean temperatures had risen by about 0. Â °C since the beginning of the century. Periods of rising temperature are not unknown in the earth’s past. The most significant of these was the so-called Climatic Optimum, which occurred some 5,000-7,000 years ago and was associated with a level of warming that has not been matched since. If the current global warming continues, however, the record temperatures of the earlier period will easily be surpassed. Temperatures reached during a later warm spell in the early Middle Ages may well have been equaled already. More recently, the 1930s provided some of the highest temperatures since records began, although that decade has been relegated to second place by events in the 1980s. Such warm spells have been accepted as part of the natural variability of the earth/ atmosphere system in the past, but the current warming is viewed in a different light. It appears to be the first global warming to be created by human activity. The basic cause is seen as the enhancement of the greenhouse effect, brought on by rising levels of anthropogenically-produced greenhouse gases. It is now generally accepted that the concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere have been increasing since the latter part of the nineteenth century. The increased use of fossil fuels has released large amounts of CO2, and the destruction of natural vegetation has prevented the environment from restoring the balance. Levels of other greenhouse gases, including CH4, N2 O and CFCs have also been rising. Since all of these gases have the ability to retain terrestrial radiation in the atmosphere, the net result should be a gradual increase in global temperatures. The link between recent warming and the enhancement of the greenhouse effect seems obvious. Most of the media, and many of those involved in the investigation and analysis of global climate change, seem to have accepted the relationship as a fait accompli. There are only a few dissenting voices, expressing misgivings about the nature of the evidence and the rapidity with which it has been embraced. A survey of environmental scientists involved in the study of the earth’s changing climate, conducted in the spring of 1989, revealed that many still had doubts about the extent of the warming. More than 60 per cent of those questioned indicated that they were not completely confident that the current warming was beyond the range of normal natural variations in global temperatures (Slade 1990). The greenhouse effect is brought about by the ability of the atmosphere to be selective in its response to different types of radiation. The atmosphere readily transmits solar radiation which is mainly short-wave energy from the ultraviolet end of the energy spectrum allowing it to pass through unaltered to heat the earth’s surface. The energy absorbed by the earth is reradiated into the atmosphere, but this terrestrial radiation is long-wave infrared, and instead of being transmitted it is absorbed, causing the temperature of the atmosphere to rise. Some of the energy absorbed in the atmosphere is returned to the earth’s surface, causing its temperature to rise also. This is considered similar to the way in which a greenhouse works allowing sunlight in, but trapping the resulting heat inside hence the use of the name ‘greenhouse effect’. In reality it is the glass in the greenhouse which allows the temperature to be maintained, by preventing the mixing of the warm air inside with the cold air outside. There is no such barrier to mixing in the real atmosphere, and some scientists have suggested that the processes are sufficiently different to preclude the use of the term ‘greenhouse effect’. Anthes et al. (1980) for example, prefer to use ‘atmospheric effect’. However, the use of the term ‘greenhouse effect’ to describe the ability of the atmosphere to absorb infrared energy is so well established that any change would cause needless confusion. The demand for change is not strong, and ‘greenhouse effect’ will continue to be used widely for descriptive purposes, although the analogy is not perfect. Without the greenhouse effect, global temperatures would be much lower than they are perhaps averaging only ? 17Â °C compared to the existing average of +15Â °C. This, then, is a very important characteristic of the atmosphere, yet it is made possible by a group of gases which together make up less than 1 per cent of the total volume of the atmosphere. There are about twenty of these greenhouse gases. Carbon dioxide is the most abundant, but methane, nitrous oxide, the chlorofluorocarbons and tropospheric ozone are potentially significant, although the impact of the ozone is limited by its variability and short life span. Water vapour also exhibits greenhouse properties, but it has received less attention in the greenhouse debate than the other gases since the very efficient natural recycling of water through the hydrologic cycle ensures that its atmospheric concentration is little affected by human activities. Any change in the volume of the greenhouse gases will disrupt the energy flow in the earth/atmosphere system, and this will be reflected in changing world temperatures. This is nothing new. Although the media sometimes seem to suggest that the greenhouse effect is a modern phenomenon, it is not. It has been a characteristic of the atmosphere for millions of years, sometimes more intense than it is now, sometimes less. Three of the principal greenhouse gases—CO2, methane (CH4) and the CFCs—contain carbon, one of the most common elements in the environment, and one which plays a major role in the greenhouse effect. It is present in all organic substances, and is a constituent of a great variety of compounds, ranging from relatively simple gases to very complex derivatives of petroleum hydrocarbons. The carbon in the environment is mobile, readily changing its affiliation with other elements in response to biological, chemical and physical processes. This mobility is controlled through a natural biogeochemical cycle which works to maintain a balance between the release of carbon compounds from their sources and their absorption in sinks. The natural carbon cycle is normally considered to be self-regulating, but with a time scale of the order of thousands of years. Over shorter periods, the cycle appears to be unbalanced, but that may be a reflection of an incomplete understanding of the processes involved or perhaps an indication of the presence of sinks or reservoirs still to be discovered (Moore and Bolin 1986). The carbon in the system moves between several major reservoirs. The atmosphere, for example, contains more than 750 billion tones of carbon at any given time, while 2,000 billion tones are stored on land, and close to 40,000 billion tones are contained in the oceans (Gribbin 1978). Living terrestrial organic matter is estimated to contain between 450 and 600 billion tones, somewhat less than that stored in the atmosphere (Moore and Bolin 1986). World fossil fuel reserves also constitute an important carbon reservoir of some 5,000 billion tones (McCarthy et al. 1986). They contain carbon which has not been active in the cycle for millions of years, but is now being reintroduced as a result of the growing demand for energy in modern society being met by the mining and burning of fossil fuels. It is being reactivated in the form of CO2, which is being released into the atmospheric reservoir in quantities sufficient to disrupt the natural flow of carbon in the environment. The greatest natural flow (or flux) is between the atmosphere and terrestrial biota and between the atmosphere and the oceans. Although these fluxes vary from time to time, they have no long-term impact on the greenhouse effect because they are an integral part of the earth/atmosphere system. In contrast, inputs to the atmosphere from fossil fuel consumption, although smaller than the natural flows, involve carbon which has not participated in the system for millions of years. When it is reintroduced, the system cannot cope immediately, and becomes unbalanced. The natural sinks are unable to absorb the new CO2 as rapidly as it is being produced. The excess remains in the atmosphere, to intensify the greenhouse effect, and thus contribute to global warming. The burning of fossil fuels adds more than 5 billion tones of CO2 to the atmosphere every year, with more than 90 per cent originating in North and Central America, Asia, Europe and the republics of the former USSR. Fossil fuel use remains the primary source of anthropogenic CO2 but augmenting that is the destruction of natural vegetation which causes the level of atmospheric CO2 to increase by reducing the amount recycled during photosynthesis. Photosynthesis is a process, shared by all green plants, by which solar energy is converted into chemical energy. It involves gaseous exchange. During the process, CO2 taken in through the plant leaves is broken down into carbon and oxygen. The carbon is retained by the plant while the oxygen is released into the atmosphere. The role of vegetation in controlling CO2 through photosynthesis is clearly indicated by variations in the levels of the gas during the growing season. Measurements at Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii show patterns in which CO2 concentrations are lower during the northern summer and higher during the northern winter. These variations reflect the effects of photosynthesis in the northern hemisphere, which contains the bulk of the world’s vegetation (Bolin 1986). Plants absorb CO2 during their summer growing phase, but not during their winter dormant period, and the difference is sufficient to cause semi-annual fluctuations in global CO2 levels. The clearing of vegetation raises CO2 levels indirectly through reduced photosynthesis, but CO2 is also added directly to the atmosphere by burning, by the decay of biomass and by the increased oxidation of carbon from the newly exposed soil. Such processes are estimated to be responsible for 5-20 per cent of current anthropogenic CO2 emissions (Waterstone 1993). This is usually considered a modern phenomenon, particularly prevalent in the tropical rainforests of South America and South-East Asia (Gribbin 1978), but Wilson (1978) has suggested that the pioneer agricultural settlement of North America, Australasia and South Africa in the second half of the nineteenth century made an important contribution to rising CO2 levels. This is supported to some extent by the observation that between 1850 and 1950 some 120 billion tones of carbon were released into the atmosphere as a result of deforestation and the destruction of other vegetation by fire (Stuiver 1978). The burning of fossil fuels produced only half that much CO2 over the same time period. Current estimates indicate that the atmospheric CO2 increase resulting from reduced photosynthesis and the clearing of vegetation is equivalent to about 1 billion tones per year (Moore and Bolin 1986), down slightly from the earlier value. However, the annual contribution from the burning of fossil fuels is almost ten times what it was in the years between 1850 and 1950. Although the total annual input of CO2 to the atmosphere is of the order of 6 billion tonnes, the atmospheric CO2 level increases by only about 2. billion tonnes per year. The difference is distributed to the oceans, to terrestrial biota and to other sinks as yet unknown (Moore and Bolin 1986). Although the oceans are commonly considered to absorb 2. 5 billion tonnes of CO2 per year, recent studies suggest that the actual total may be only half that amount (Taylor 1992). The destination of the remainder has important implications for the study of the greenhouse effect, and continues to be investigated. The oceans absorb the CO2 in a variety of ways—some as a result of photosynthesis in phytoplankton, some through nutritional processes which allow marine organisms to grow calcium carbonate shells or skeletons, and some by direct diffusion at the air/ocean interface (McCarthey et al. 1986). The mixing of the ocean waters causes the redistribution of the absorbed CO2. In polar latitudes, for example, the added carbon sinks along with the cold surface waters in that region, whereas in warmer latitudes carbon-rich waters well up towards the surface allowing the CO2 to escape again. The turnover of the deep ocean waters is relatively slow, however, and carbon carried there in the sinking water or in the skeletons of dead marine organisms remains in storage for hundreds of years. More rapid mixing takes place through surface ocean currents such as the Gulf Stream, but in general the sea responds only slowly to changes in atmospheric CO2 levels. This may explain the apparent inability of the oceans to absorb more than 40-50 per cent of the CO2 added to the atmosphere by human activities, although it has the capacity to absorb all of the additional carbon (Moore and Bolin 1986). The oceans constitute the largest active reservoir of carbon in the earth/atmosphere system, and their ability to absorb CO2 is not in doubt. However, the specific mechanisms involved are now recognized as extremely complex, requiring more research into the interactions between the atmosphere, ocean and biosphere if they are to be better understood (Crane and Liss 1985). Palaeoenvironmental evidence suggests that the greenhouse effect fluctuated quite considerably in the past. In the Quaternary era, for example, it was less intense during glacial periods than during the interglacials (Bach 1976; Pisias and Imbrie 1986). Present concern is with its increasing intensity and the associated global warming. The rising concentration of atmospheric CO2 is usually identified as the main culprit, although it is not the most powerful of the greenhouse gases. It is the most abundant, however, and its concentration is increasing rapidly. As a result, it is considered likely to give a good indication of the trend of the climatic impact of the greenhouse effect, if not its exact magnitude. Svante Arrhenius, a Swedish chemist, is usually credited with being the first to recognize that an increase in CO2 would lead to global warming (Bolin 1986; Bach 1976; Crane and Liss 1985). Other scientists, including John Tyndall in Britain and T. C. Chamberlin in America (Jones and Henderson-Sellers 1990), also investigated the link, but Arrhenius provided the first quantitative predictions of the rise in temperature (Idso 1981; Crane and Liss 1985). He published his findings at the beginning of this century, at a time when the environmental implications of the Industrial Revolution were just beginning to be appreciated. Little attention was paid to the potential impact of increased levels of CO2 on the earth’s radiation climate for some time after that, however, and the estimates of CO2 -induced temperature increases calculated by Arrhenius in 1903 were not bettered until the early 1960s (Bolin 1986). Occasional papers on the topic appeared, but interest only began to increase significantly in the early 1970s, as part of a growing appreciation of the potentially dire consequences of human interference in the environment. Increased CO2 production and rising atmospheric turbidity were recognized as two important elements capable of causing changes in climate. The former had the potential to cause greater warming, whereas the latter was considered more likely to cause cooling (Schneider, 1987). For a time it seemed that the cooling would dominate (Ponte 1976), but results from a growing number of investigations into greenhouse warming, published in the early 1980s, changed that (e. g. Idso 1981; Schneider 1987; Mitchell 1983). They revealed that scientists had generally underestimated the speed with which the greenhouse effect was intensifying, and had failed to appreciate the impact of the subsequent global warming on the environment or on human activities.