Tourism Pollution: An Overview [Essay #2]

Now that travelling is cheaper than ever and tourism is becoming increasingly affordable and popular, some people now consider it important that we talk about "tourism pollution". (Ryall, J. (2018, September 10). Japanese complain of 'tourist pollution' as number of sightseers skyrockets. Retrieved December 20, 2019, from https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/09/10/japanese-complain-tourist-pollution-number-sightseers-skyrockets/) We hear about environmental pollution almost every day nowadays, and tourism pollution is a relatively new term. It currently has no clear definition, so I will try to create one myself. The term tourism pollution is chiefly used to describe the combination of negative consequences of mass tourism.

It is not surprising then, that it is residents of popular tourist destinations who have the most issues with tourists. Things can even get heated, like in Summer of 2017, when thousands of locals in Venice and Barcelona marched against the further increase of the tourist presence in their cities.

(Coldwell, W. (2017, August 10). First Venice and Barcelona: now anti-tourism marches spread across Europe. Retrieved December 21, 2019, from https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2017/aug/10/anti-tourism-marches-spread-across-europe-venice-barcelona)

They argued that tourists disrupt the local way of living, litter, disrespect the rules and behave in a rowdy way. No tourists were harmed, but the protesters did slash tyres of tourist coaches and rental bicycles.

And while it is easy to write off opinions and demands of locals as regressive and mildly xenophobic, they might actually have a point. Areas popular with tourists do become overcrowded and more expensive, even for the locals, and tourists' behaviour can be awful, like in Amsterdam, where tourists get drunk, are loud at night and can even damage private property in the most disgusting of ways. (Zee, R. van der. (2017, November 1). Amsterdammers v tourists: 'It's worst when they throw up in your plant box'. Retrieved December 21, 2019, from https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017/nov/01/amsterdam-tourists-worst)

As surprising as it may sound, tourism pollution affects Chernobyl as well. The number of visitors to the city nearly doubled after the hit HBO drama "Chernobyl" aired. Tourism pollution manifests itself differently here, in a more shocking and disappointing kind of way. The site of the tragedy has now become a playground of sorts, tourists draw obscene graffiti and attach love locks to various structures. Zero respect is shown to those who died or thousands of people whose lives were ruined because of the disaster. (McDowall, J. (2019, December 20). Radioactive ice-cream and penis graffiti: how toxic TV tourists took over Chernobyl. Retrieved December 22, 2019, from https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/dec/20/radioactive-ice-cream-and-penis-graffiti-how-toxic-tv-tourists-took-over-chernobyl)

I believe that tourism pollution should be acknowledged as a genuine problem that demands immediate attention. Finding solutions to this problem is incredibly important, if no appropriate measures are undertaken, it will further escalate the conflict.

Tourists in Venice, Italy

Electric Cars and the Promising Cleaner Future [Essay #1]

In our day and age, the issue of non-renewable resources and their increasing usage is one of the most prominent ones. Fossil fuel depletion in particular causes many concerns. Fossil fuel depletion is the extraction of natural gas, oil and coal reserves at a rate higher than nature replenishes them. (Fossil fuel depletion. (n.d.). Retrieved December 19, 2019, from https://app.sustainableminds.com/learning-center/methodology/fossil-fuel-depletion.) Of all the fossil fuels, petroleum is the most important.

The reason for that is simple, vehicles we use depend on fuels like petrol, jet fuel, diesel and other fuels, all of which are petroleum products derived during its refining process. (Petroleum product. (2019, December 15). Retrieved December 19, 2019, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petroleum_product) In the US alone, nearly 70% of all petroleum consumed is eventually used for transportation needs (U.S. Energy Information Administration - EIA - Independent Statistics and Analysis. (2019, October 3). Oil: crude and petroleum products explained. Use of oil. Retrieved December 19, 2019, from https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/oil-and-petroleum-products/use-of-oil.php) with around 45% of all petroleum being consumed to produce petrol for motor vehicles. (U.S. Energy Information Administration - EIA - Independent Statistics and Analysis. (2019, November 29). Refinery Yield. Retrieved December 19, 2019, from https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/pet_pnp_pct_dc_nus_pct_m.htm) In 2016, light personal vehicles consumed 8,308 thousand barrels per day in the US, while the rest of motor vehicles (including heavier trucks, motorcycles and buses) consumed 4,876 thousand barrels per day. (Davis, S. C., & Boundy, R. G. (2019). Transportation Energy Data Book (37.2 ed.). Retrieved December 20, 2019, from https://tedb.ornl.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/TEDB_37-2.pdf)

This makes electricity powered cars an especially promising development that might change the way we utilize our resources and have a positive impact on our environment. Petroleum consumption will not go away entirely should electric cars become the norm, but it will be limited to spheres where it is much lower, reducing it noticeably. For electric cars to truly make an impact on our environment though, it would require a shift towards cleaner sources of production of electricity; however, even if electricity production remains largely fossil fuel-based and electric cars are powered with "dirty" electricity, they will still emit less CO2 over their lifetime than conventional cars and less petroleum will be used. (Bannon, E. (2017, October 26). Electric cars emit less CO2 over their lifetime than diesels even. Retrieved December 20, 2019, from https://www.transportenvironment.org/press/electric-cars-emit-less-co2-over-their-lifetime-diesels-even-when-powered-dirtiest-electricity)

Unfortunately, electric cars did not find much support initially. The high cost of lithium-ion batteries that also have slow recharge times made many people question the expediency and practicality of such cars. Thankfully, everything is about to change. Battery size has been increased, and, most importantly, scientists have now found a cost-efficient way to increase the recharge rates and not damage the battery during the process, (Davis, N. (2019, October 30). Electric cars could be charged in 10 minutes in future, finds research. Retrieved December 18, 2019, from https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/oct/30/electric-cars-could-be-charged-in-10-minutes-in-future-finds-research) potentially allowing to recharge the entire battery in just 10 minutes. This is incredibly important, as it solves the chief problem many drivers had with electric cars, and will finally make them a viable alternative to conventional fuel vehicles. Many notable automobile manufacturers, like Volvo, have been considering to make a complete switch to electric cars, and the active research aimed at increasing the efficiency of electric car batteries is bound to draw more companies in.

Perhaps in the future we will see entire cities free of carbon emissions, roads with just electric cars on them and fossil fuel reserves left preserved. Time will tell.

Interesting Topic Assignment

The Internet has allowed for the creation of a never before seen type of celebrity: an Internet personality. The nature of the phenomenon might lead many people to think that their popularity, influence and outreach are limited, especially in comparison to more conventional types of celebrities; however, Internet-celebrities are, in fact, just as important.
Take this article, for example: "YouTube stars raise over $6m to plant trees around the world"
This kind of campaign wouldn't have taken off had it been supported by conventional celebrities or eco-activists alone. Through means available only to an Internet personality this campaign was quickly popularised, information about it spread across the Internet and massive amounts of people got involved.
The secret behind their success is their connection with their followers and fans, which is much more personal and genuine, especially when compared to how conventional celebrities interact with their fanbase. Internet personalities are themselves ordinary Internet users at heart, their viewers share the same interests as they do, and the Internet itself provides an easier opportunity for communication, creating a stronger bond between the two sides.
And while such optimistic stories about people being brought together for a good cause by a famous personality do instil a sense of hope, one can't help but wonder if the opposite is possible, and the same forces that unite people can be abused to cause trouble. Unfortunately, such situations aren't hypothetical, there are cases of cyberbullying and misinformation that were carried out by certain Internet personalities.
For example, there was a case of a YouTube star bullying a person with a learning disability and picking on smaller video creators. While not all of his followers approved of this kind of behaviour, many supported it, and continued to bully people he mentioned. They fell under his influence and did horrible things. Thankfully, his actions were severely criticised by fellow YouTubers, he lost a massive portion of his audience and closed his channel.
While situations like the one above are a rarity, and offensive content is not usually endorsed by people, it's important that we acknowledge the power that Internet personalities have and hopefully prevent its abuse.

Recommended Sites Assignment

Today I would like to tell you about some of my favourite Internet resources for practising and learning English. While there are many sites entirely devoted to teaching other people English, I will not be mentioning any of them, as their contents are more or less the same: plain language theory with occasional practical exercises and example sentences. Instead, I would like to focus on sites almost everybody knows and provide some advice on how they can be used to practise English and maybe some other languages.

The first site I would like to recommend is YouTube. It is one of the oldest video-sharing platforms, hosting videos belonging to many different categories and covering a wide array of topics. While used primarily as a source of entertainment, YouTube can also be a valuable tool for studying and learning languages. You can find many channels belonging to universities, professional educators and more, publishing videos of their lectures, smaller online-lessons and whatnot on many different subjects in your target language. There is also a small niche of (usually) non-professional enthusiasts who create long, detailed video-analyses of things they like, be it art, music, cinema, video games, history, languages or something else entirely. These video essays provide a great opportunity for learning more about your hobby in your target language, thus combining entertainment with education.

The second site I would like to recommend is Wikipedia. Wikipedia articles have been translated into many languages, letting you read about things you find interesting entirely in your target language. It also allows you to get acquainted with the formal format of the language and a number of useful set expressions along the way.

Reddit. It is a massive online platform for hosting smaller discussion boards where users can post and discuss various content. There is a total of 1.2 million subreddits (smaller discussion boards), with 138.000 currently being especially active. The topics being covered by various subreddits range from simple entertainment to more narrow topics, like the discussion and sharing of news on current scientific research in a particular field. Reddit is great for discovering new interesting content, learning about it in English and then discussing it with others in an informal way.

I really hope my post has been helpful and that I have managed to present some of the sites in a new light, so as to show their usefulness to us as language learners.

Blog Use Training Assignment

This is a picture of a salt mine. I have chosen it because my class was once taken to a salt mine near my home town as a part of an excursion. This salt mine began as a set of massive tunnels carved through layers of rock-salt, the ground was also covered in salt, salt was everywhere. They lead to a large, brightly lit hall with an elevated ceiling. It had many sculptures made of salt of various folk heroes, cartoon characters and famous people, ornaments carved in the walls and the like. From there it lead to an even larger hall that had an entire football field set up inside and a small two-story lounge area with a cafe. The places I've described are certainly not the entirety of this salt mine, but these are the places I was taken to and remember the best.

Video: If Junk Food Commercials Were Honest

This video is a part of "Honest Ads" series produced and published by the YouTube channel Cracked. I like this series because it is genuinely funny but also provides serious commentary on the advertisement industry and the products being advertised. The formula of these videos is to flip the usual advertisement upside down and instead "market" the downsides of the real life product. The main character and "advertiser" is Roger Horton, this character is supposed to be an archetype of a modern corporate executive: smooth-talking but cynical, affable but greedy. He condescendingly and blatantly inserts information about the many problems and schemes involved with the industry he represents or the product he advertises, because he knows he'll be able to get away with it.
This video series is unique in its presentation and content, which is why I like it.

#1 Article Summary: Roman fort discovered under Exeter bus station

The article Roman fort discovered under Exeter bus station written by PA Media and published on The Guardian website on Thursday, September 26, 2019, talks about the newly discovered Roman military outpost located in the city of Exeter, Devon, just under the city's bus station. 

We're given some general backstory of the discovery, a description of the site and the findings on its territory and an extra detail on what preceded this unexpected discovery. Then we can read a quote by Andrew Pye, an archaeology officer at Exeter city council, he talks of the historical importance of the Exeter area, supporting his claim by providing additional examples of other Roman constructions that were discovered back in the 1970s. We can then also read a small bit on these older discoveries as well.
The article ends with a quote by Derek Evans, the fieldwork project manager at Cotswold Archaeology’s Exeter office, stating that the archaeologists are looking forward to analysing the material they've gathered.