Review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 12

Review - Essay Example Causes of this rising and falling include the thermal expansion of water as it is heated by the atmosphere, increased runoff from terrestrial glaciers that are responding to increased atmospheric temperature and increased discharge of Antarctic ice for the same reason. The first two causes are presented as being of minimal importance while the focus for the balance of the article was on the Antarctic ice. The discussion of rapid sea level rise was first introduced in 1978. In 1990, the first group of researchers went to Antarctica to specifically study the amount of ice breaking off from the ice sheets. They were astonished to see the amount of ice breaking free and made some dire predictions concerning sea level rise. This was the source of much of the alarmist reports concerning sea level rise through the 1990’s. The reality is these first findings and observations had doubt cast upon them almost immediately. Other researchers in Antarctica noted that they had not been studying the migration of ice long enough to know if what was observed by the first set of scientists was indeed out of the ordinary. They also noted that despite increased atmospheric temperatures thought the 1990’s, more than average amounts of snow were accumulating at the south pole. Much of the controversy surrounding sea level rise stems from the fact that measuring the actual amount of increase is tricky. The meters that are used to measure the sea are attached to land that is also being lifted up or is subsiding. According to measurements taken in Scandinavia, sea level has dropped by 4 mm each year for decades. In Hawaii, it has increased by 0.5 mm. New remote sensing satellites have been deployed that should give us a better idea of how much the sea level is rising, or not rising. This information should be available now because the data has been collected for the past decade. Detecting sea level rise is

Same sex marriage Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Same sex marriage - Research Paper Example Married couples also pay less in taxes and receive many other social and financial benefits. But because gay couples are legally prevented from marrying, they are excluded from receiving the same considerations that married heterosexual couples enjoy. This paper will more closely examine the benefits denied gay couples as well as the political and legal implications involved with the issue. It will conclude with a discussion involving one of the main non-religious based reasoning’s that those who oppose of gay marriage espouse, the affect of this type of living arrangement on the children of the relationship. Advocates of non-traditional marriage argue that there is no constitutional basis for denying legal matrimony to gay couples. The Constitution not only legitimizes gay marriage but implies that the government should never have considered a ban and should instead actively pursue legalizing gay marriage. As citizens of the United States, all people are guaranteed the inalie nable right to pursue happiness. It does not exclude on the basis of sexual preference. The government was originally formed as an entity meant to champion the rights of the individual whether they are on the majority or minority side of public opinion. Laws that were enacted in the South disallowed the marriage between black and white people but were struck down by the Supreme Court. In 1964, the Civil Rights Act followed the tenets of the Constitution by prohibiting this type of discrimination. The opposition to gay marriage is based on prejudice and, as time passes, the concept will become more and more accepted. It, like racial prejudice, will become socially abhorrent (Sullivan, 2000). In addition, the disallowing of gay marriage by legislation violates the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment.   According to the American Civil Liberties Union, â€Å"The law [against same-sex marriage] discriminates on the basis of sex because it makes one's ability to marry depend on o ne's gender.† The ACLU continues by saying, â€Å"Classifications which discriminate on the basis of gender must be substantially related to some important government purpose. Tradition by itself is not an important government purpose† (American Civil Liberties Union, 1996, pp. 14-15). In 1997, the General Accounting Office reported that heterosexual married couples enjoyed more than 1000 benefits and protections. These marriage incentives range from survivor benefits through Social Security, the ability to take sick leave from work to care for a sick partner, federal and state tax breaks and veteran and insurance benefits. They also include things like â€Å"family discounts, obtaining family insurance through your employer, visiting your spouse in the hospital and making medical decisions if your partner is unable to† (Belge, 2006). Following the enactment of the Defense of Marriage Acts (DOMA), an amendment added to many states’ constitutional definitio n of marriage, many lawsuits have been filed all over the country against local and state governments whether or not they offer health insurance and other benefits to their employees’ unmarried domestic partners. DOMA prohibits the state governments from providing benefits to a dependent in a relationship that does not comply with the state’