Issues in the Field of Engineering Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 1

Issues in the Field of Engineering - Essay Example The National Academy of Engineering has recognized 14 grand challenges to the field of engineering in the 21st century. Managing nitrogen cycle is one of those 14 challenges that require immediate intervention (University of Iowa). Although the academic literature and previous studies have paid less attention to this issue compared to other challenges like global warming or climate change, it is really a sensitive problem that can have terrible impacts on ecosystems and public health. The human-induced disruptions of the global nitrogen cycle result in serious engineering challenges. The nitrogen cycle plays a central role in the production of food, and hence it reflects a crucial aspect of energy needs. The National Academy of Engineering describes in their web article â€Å"Manage the nitrogen cycle† that Nitrogen cycle is considered as a process where the chemistry of Earth and life meets together as plants extract nitrogen from their surrounding environment to make food. Regulating the impacts of agriculture on the global nitrogen cycle turns out to be a growing challenge to the concept of sustainable development. According to the article â€Å"Manage the nitrogen cycle,† amino acids (building blocks of proteins) and nucleotides (building blocks of DNA) contain nitrogen as a major component, and hence all living things need this element. Nitrogen is supplied in inexhaustible amounts in our planet – nitrogen makes up nearly four-fifths of the earth’s atmosphere and is present in the form of nitrogen molecules (National Academy of E ngineering). However, the atmospheric nitrogen is not readily available for living organisms because nitrogen molecules rarely enter into chemical reactions. Dincer and Zamfirescu point out in their book that the large scale energy released from lightning strikes or the chemical abilities of some microbes

Role of Social Media Before, During and After Emergencies Dissertation

Role of Social Media Before, During and After Emergencies - Dissertation Example Adequate preparedness has been important in mitigation of the destructive consequences of disasters. Social media has been used to share critical information and facilitate coordination between disaster response teams when other forms of communication are unavailable. Further, due to the universal communication capabilities of social media, it has been extensively used to aid recovery following a disaster, as it is possible to appeal to people all over the world to donate towards the cause through a brief social media campaign. As it is the case with other communication technologies, usage of social media tools in disaster management is not devoid of limitations. These limitations which are centered on technological, regulatory and reliability perspectives of communication lower the quality of information in the social media, thus rendering it ineffective for crisis management. The challenges can be overcome through the enhancement of technological and regulatory frameworks underlyin g social media. Social media should not be used as the alternative to traditional media but should rather be used as a complementary media to enhance the overall communication in the disaster management cycle.Recently, the world has witnessed the myriad chain of disasters. From Hurricane Katrina in the United States, deadly earthquake and Tsunami in Japan, Katrina in U.S, earthquake in Haiti, exceedingly cold winter in Europe, and terror bombings in various parts of the world. With the rise of disasters in the past few years, it can be expected that their frequency will increase in the future years, especially with respect to natural disasters that may not be averted(Keim, 2011). Due to the frequent disasters, there has been an increased need for communication as people seek to reach their families and friends in the crisis zone, and get information concerning shelter, food and accommodation and transport. Social media has been instrumental in the dissemination of information about these crises by allowing the sharing of information and calls for help.