maripau's space

Hi 2 every1!!! You have entered my blog...it would be great if u put a comment telling me what u think of my posts or recommendations or anything so... I hope u enjoy it ;)!!!

Thursday, January 25, 2007

Global Warming in my Community

This post is in response of a question that Dustin, from Mr.Fisher class made on the Teen Life Project wiki: Do you think that global warming will harm your environment? (Dustin/Mr. Fishers class).

I believe global warming is a major problem here in Cartagena even if other people think there are a lot worst issues. To prove that global warming is an issue in Cartagena there are some things we should think of. One is the size of the city. This city is very small and this could be a disadvantage. Another thing we should think about is the amount of buildings here. A third thing you should count on is the temperature here. It is very hot and humid. These three things can make a great problem out of global warming in Cartagena.

The size of Cartagena affects global warming. Some people may believe that this city is very small to have global warming as a major problem. However, being small is actually a disadvantage. Because it is very small, the most minimum of pollution gets all concentrated. With time this pollution won't be the minimum but it will be a large amount. Because a large amount is concentrated in only one place, temperature will rise more than normal which is, obviously, global warming.

Second disadvantage is the amount of buildings in Cartagena. It rise a lot and still more are being build. You might be thinking this is only a problem because it doesn’t look nice, but because on homes there could be pollution, this is also a global warming problem. More people are moving here, or at least that is what all these buildings show. This means there are going to be a lot more refrigerators and tons more of air conditioners, which give out CFC’s. Also there would be a lot more computers which are bad for the environment, too. If more computers, refrigerators, and air conditioners are in Cartagena, the more it will get polluted. The more polluted it is, the worst the global warming is.

Finally, I could tell the original hot and humid temperature in Cartagena is also a disadvantage. I say the original because with time it has gotten warmer than what it was because of global warming. I believe this temperature indirectly pollutes because people like to stay fresh. For example, every night I turn on the air conditioner. If not I can't sleep because it is so hot. Also, sometimes I come so hot from school because I just had P.E or simply because the day was so hot that I turn on the air conditioner right away instead of waiting until night. Another example here are houses that have the central air conditioner on all day long. This gives out a lot of CFC's.

If we mix together all this the result is obvious. It's hot so the already existing homes and the future homes will have air conditioners. Also, in such a little city there are already a lot of cars, plus the ones that will come because of the new buildings. So much gases and CFC's produce damage to our ozone layer. So yes, absolutely, global warming will harm our environment.

Monday, January 15, 2007

Teen Life Project Introduction ;)




Hi to everybody that is checking out my blog right now. My name is Maria Paulina and I live in Cartagena, a city with a climate hot and humid on Colombia. Sometimes I love Cartagena because sometimes I have a really good time in places like the Rosario Island, which are about 40 minutes away from Cartagena in a motor boat. There, water is very transparent and clean, which makes it perfect for water sports and diving. However, I don’t have such a great time in the beaches of Bocagrande and Castillogrande, two neighborhoods in Cartagena. There water is very dirty because of the water it receives from one of the major rivers in Colombia, the Magdalena River. Focusing more about me, I’m telling about my family. My parents are Alonso and Maria Pia. I also have a sister called Isabella which is 18 years old and has done one semester in college. They all were also born in Cartagena. I have some hobbies, like playing soccer and basket. Even though I’m not very good in them, I have fun playing them. I also like watching TV, chatting in MSN messenger, and hearing music. My favorite music is reggaeton. In this post I’m talking to you about two issues people my age think about. Drugs and buildings in Cartagena.

Buildings in Cartagena are a problem for people living here. First of all, they are not nice for your view. This are projects that take a long time compared to the results. Let me tell you from my own experience, buildings under construction are pretty ugly and specially if you have to see them for so much time. This is also a problem because all the big and beautiful houses are being destructed to make all these buildings making Cartagena look like a little Manhattan, but a lot more ugly. Finally, this causes a problem that people that really don't care about the view, will care in the future. Cartagena may sink in the future, because here we have a bay that receives all the bathroom water. However, the pipes are not so prepare for so many toilets, so when the bay doesn't resist more, all the water will enter the streets. Sure more people will leave here, but for such a little city, over-construction of buildings is no good.

The second Issue I would like to talk about, are drugs. Drugs are a significant problem for Colombia, because, even though I hate to say so, we are known for giving the cheapest and best cocaine. This really hurts because we are always almost cruelly treated on airports whenever we go outside Colombia. They asked us a lot of strange questions and they look all over our suitcases... even in the underwear!!! Some people use drugs to be "cool". Others to be rebellious. Others just want to feel good or want to have a way of feeling free. Some are just curious and end being addicts. Drugs are not only illegal but one of the greatest harms you can do to your body.

Over-construction in Cartagena and drugs are serious subjects people my age discuss about. We like showing our point of view on everything. In the over construction problem, we know that time will pass and the view will be better, but then bathroom water will be the problem. I know we should have hope, but I really think that the drug problem can't be solve completely, even though I think it could be solve partly or most of it. For me, this two issues are some of the ones I like discussing the most. Hope things get better for Cartagena and Colombia.