Summary of Hot, Flat, Crowded by Thomas L. Friedman free essay sample

He then also argues that the United States can solve its own problems and help the entire planet, by becoming a world leader in green technology. Global warming, global flattening, and global crowding are the three main elements leading up to the five big problems which are energy supply and demand, petrodictatorship, climate change, energy poverty, and biodiversity loss. Global Warming~Hot: Global warming is the problem. There’s nothing to it plain and simple. The idea that the world is becoming â€Å"hot† which is an issue for the world as a whole. This is where Friedman believes that global warming could actually be a potential source of salvation for the United States, that green energy will be the next major advancement in global economies. The need for renewable energy technology and for technologies that will reduce the need for energy will increase substantially. This is where Friedman and I have the same idea that whichever country dominates the development and production of green technology will become or remain the strongest country in the world, now this is economically speaking. We will write a custom essay sample on Summary of Hot, Flat, Crowded by Thomas L. Friedman or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Friedman also hopes that the United States will develop a national strategy that will allow it to dominate this vial sector of the future economy. Globalized Economy ~ Flat: When Friedman says the world is â€Å"flat† he means the economy is increasingly globalized, which it is. The internet and other technologies as we all know have allowed many jobs especially those that pay well to be performed by workers just about anywhere in the world. There is a major downfall to this for the United States which is jobs can be outsourced to people who will do them as well as Americans can but for a shorter amount of money. Rapidly Increasing Populations ~ Crowded: The final problem is that the world has become â€Å"crowded† meaning the world is overpopulated and the global population is increasing by becoming middle-class. What does this mean? It means that as people achieve middle-class status, they will start to demand more and more material goods, thus the production of these goods uses even more resources. Crowding is a particular problem in the United States as we all know. Friedman says that the consumption of non-renewable resources tends to enrich oil-rich countries of the Middle East and thus threatening national security. Global warming, global crowding, and global flattening are the three main factors and as results there are five key problems and they are: Energy Supply and Demand: â€Å"Growing demand for ever scarcer energy supplies and natural resources† In the periods between the Industrial Revolution up until the twentieth century, there was an illusion most people believed in and that was that all the fossil fuels humanity was using for our transportation, buildings, heating, electricity, cooking, and other industrial purposes were completely never ending, inexpensive, and both climate and political use good. However, all this began to change when humanity woke up from this illusion right into reality. It was when we entered the Energy-Climate Era that we soon realized of fossil fuels being increasingly expensive, exhaustible, and are politically, environmentally, and climatically toxic because of all the CO2 being released into the atmosphere by the fossil fuels that we increasingly consume on a daily basis. What changed is that the economy became increasingly globalized and the world is becoming overpopulated and the global population is increasingly becoming middle class; all at a fast rate than we have anticipated. So basically when your economy is globalized and world population increases (flat plus crowded), there will be a global demand for food, energy, and natural resources which of course grew at a quick pace. Philip K. Werleger Jr. , who is a well-known energy economists who also wrote in the International Economy (September 22, 2007) stated that, â€Å"History may well repeat from 2001 to 2020 as China, India, and other countries move from developing to developed nations. Consumption can be expected to increase at a pace close to the rate of the economic growth in these nations, just as it did in Europe, Japan, and the United States following the Second World War† And he also stated that, â€Å"While these countries may, through efficiency measures be able to produce more GDP growth with less energy, the fact is that they are now involved in building massive amounts of new infrastructure and â€Å"that infrastructure is energy intensive. Many more people can suddenly or are or will be living the middle-class lifestyle and not to mention that they are demand-driven. These are the forces that are fueling the Energy-Climate Era. Larry Goldstein who is an oil export at the Energy Policy Research Foundation mentions â€Å"the pivotal year that told us we were in a new era in terms of global energy supply and demand was 2004. There were two major incidents that happened that year and they were an increased demand for energy thanks to China’s growth and all the spare crude, product, and refining capacity all disappeared. Following this are three reasons such as a shortage of skilled petroleum engineers, drilling equipment’s as well as other equipment’s in the oil industry which makes expanding the oil production very difficult. Second, many countries have kicked out foreign oil producers in order to pump more oil themselves – this is exactly what the Middle East and Russia have done. This action basically discouraged the professional experienced global oil companies there and also reduced the production of oil in general. Finally, many western nations as well as America have limited the amount of acreage they were willing to offer for conservative reasons. Not only did oil prices began to soar but to there is also oven more demand for natural resources. In general, we are running out and/or a shortage of many resources such as steel, contractors, and engineers. One important factor you have to keep in mind is that with an increase in fuel prices results in an increase on agriculture which then results in an increase of grocery prices due to countries allocating more land for biofuels like ethanol so that they can be less dependent on oil. Overall, this is what happens when the world becomes both flat and crowded. Petrodictatorship: â€Å"Massive transfer of wealth to oil-rich countries and to their petro dictators† When I hear the word petrodictatorship, I come to think of those very rich Arabs, with their flowing robes and turbans on their heads who hail from oil-rich producing Middle Eastern countries such as Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Iran, and other Persian Gulf states. Petrodictatorship involves a massive transfer of wealth from energy-consuming countries to energy-producing countries which amounts to hundreds of billions of dollars a year, and the price of oil soaring at great heights. These massive amounts of wealth go directly to the hands of nondemocratic leaders preferably dictators and this is a major trend in these oil-rich producing countries. Climate Change: â€Å"Disruptive Climate Change† The rise of earth’s average temperature has caused many natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina back in 2005 or the tsunami that hit Japan last year. The reason all behind it is because CO2 stays in the atmosphere for several thousand years and the more CO2 that gets into Mother Nature’s system results in more catastrophic events from nature. As we enter the Energy-Climate Era we are leaving the perceived ideas of manageable and reversible effects of climate change such as conventional pollution, acidic rain, ozone depletion, and etc. However, as we leave that era and enter an era where we finally start to realize that these effects are becoming more and more unmanageable and irreversible. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change also known as the IPCC report told us that Hurricane Katrina gave us a sample of what unmanageable climate change could look like in the near future, when the city of New Orleans was smashed by Katrina many climatologists believed this was due to global warming. All of this is due to all the greenhouse gas emissions we humans use on a daily basis. Rajendra Pachauri who is the chairman of IPCC stated, â€Å"If there is no action before the year 2012, then it is too late. What we do in the next three years will determine our future. This is the defining moment. One must keep in mind that there is an enormous difference between a two degree temperature rise and a five degree temperature rise says Peter Gleick who is the cofounder and president of the Pacific Institute for Studies in Development, Environment, and Security. Energy Poverty: â€Å"Electricity haves and Electricity have-nots† Electricity is important in our time because o f the world increasingly becoming hot, flat, and crowded; there will also be more demands for electricity as electricity provides a wide-range of necessities such as connection to the internet and lighting. Staying connected to the internet through electricity lets you compete, connect, and collaborate both locally and globally; however, without electricity you cannot do any of these tasks. One of the many benefits of a computer is forecasting weather, which is a great tool to keep track and indicate climate changes so that one may prepare him/herself for any climate changes. Also, electricity helps you desalinize water, drill deeper wells, or use power tools to build dams and higher walls. So, there we go, we have two types of groups: first, those who cannot afford electricity or the electricity have not’s and second, those who can afford electricity or the electricity haves. Since the world is crowded, there will be a higher percentage of group two which are the electricity have not’s. Biodiversity Loss: â€Å"Plants and animals become extinct at record rates† The rapidly accelerating biodiversity loss is a major problem to our planet in general. Ever since we humans began to develop our economies, build more roads, extract natural resources, overfish, and become more and more urbanized at a very fast pace, we have come to destroying natural habitats, coral reefs, natural ecosystems, open land, spoiling rivers with toxic waste, and destroying habits thus causing the extinction of many species due tour â€Å"productive† activities. Methods Author uses: The author, Thomas L. Friedman uses a different method to write his book by splitting the book into two sections which I believe the second section is the real important part of the book and the first one is not that nteresting but informational. The first section of the book talks about all the obvious problems we face today such as pollution and energy issues. The second section is where Friedman gives us an insight of possible solutions and successfully argues the business case for going green. Looking back into the past, the United States was the leader in the manufac turing business and then the information age that followed, so how come we are not leading the green age? This is America’s chance to be a leader for a third time by taking advantage of this great opportunity of starting a green revolution within America first and then take it on from there. America has lost their attention by its many wars on terror and other third world countries and strayed away from global leadership. However, if we do not act now others will take that chance for us which makes us join the bandwagon when it is already a little too late. Developing a system in which we preserve our natural assets because the degradation of these assets will and is directly affecting the quality of our lives. Friedman mentions that each preservation system will need to be different depending on the local environment and to this there are six main components. First, is that the national government policies need to set aside areas for conservation and other areas for development. Second, is to have economic opportunities for the local community to thrive without harming the local biodiversity. Third, is have investors with an interest in keeping the biodiversity intact and make profits. Fourth, is having a local government who is able and willing to preserve and protect the areas. Fifth, is have experts with the ability to do biodiversity assessment to assess which areas should be protected and lastly educational programs for the people so it is less necessary to plunder the natural world around us. Code Green: This is Friedman’s proposed plan and solution to the dilemmas we now face. Code Green basically highlights the need for a whole new system to power our economy, keep our planet clean, and making our living styles much better. It is about how we need to replace and get rid of the â€Å"dirty fuel† with something more fresher and green wise. There are three main components to plan A also known as Code Green and they are clean energy, energy efficiency, and conservation. Also keep in mind that Code Green is plan A and there is no plan B. * Clean Energy: We need to replace the dirty fuel we are now using with something that is much cleaner, sustainable, cheap, and abundant. * Energy Efficiency: Since clean energy will not be here any time soon, we need to at least reduce the demand and usage of fossil fuels that are emitting CO2 into our ozone layer and causing global warming and climate changes. * Conservation: We need to change our lifestyles into something that is much greener and finally taking responsibility for the earth. Using less fossil fuels and other toxic products so that it can stall the ever growing problem of global warming, ozone depletion, acidic rain, and etc. Green Technology: Going green or thinking green is much more than a clean energy movement because it has to be a way of life; a new lifestyle that is. As for China who is growing tremendously and becoming industrialized at a very fast rate, needs to learn how to adopt new standards very soon. The Chinese needs to focus on being green right now and not worry about it later as they only focus on industrialization. Friedman suggests that the citizens of china should stand up for their basic right to breath in clean air since the government only focuses on putting a greater emphasis on the industrialization than being green. Green Revolution: Friedman clearly outlines the governmental policies that we will need to shed more light on the green revolution. The green revolution is a revolution of simply being green, changing the way we live, taking care of the planet we live in, and becoming smart when using technologies. He also stresses of the fact for needing a green revolution, that the citizens need to demand a green revolution, and that we also need a new generation of politicians who understand the need for a green revolution and will act upon it. Chapter Three: Our Carbon Copies (or, Too Many Americans)   This chapter begins with the portrayal of two examples of foreign cities which have rapidly transformed into American-like mega cities. One is Doha, Qatar, and the other is Dalian, China. Both are described as having high populations and massive amounts of infrastructure which have been built in response to consumer demand for technological products. Due to high levels of Carbon Dioxide pollution over a very short period, overpopulation, and industrial presence, these two cities have become hot, flat, and crowded. In the country of India, the presence of technological change and their niche of the last several years, the majority of the population has risen out of poverty to a life style of commuter traffic. Chapter Eight: Green is the New Red, White and Blue There is an importance in which all of the problems already discussed, such as the human race, or being the first nation stepping up and making a change, moving forward and leading an existence which is less harsh on the planet. We the citizens of the world need a new clean energy system as of right now; one that can reduce and eventually eliminate our carbon mess. We can no longer hide the major and sickening changes around us and there is no clear reason for anyone to turn the blind eye. The new â€Å"green lifestyle that is necessary presents the companies who pioneer the movement with great opportunities as well. It also equates to â€Å"economic, political, innovative, and reputational power† for the nation who embraces this challenge and identity (Friedman, 212). An old way of viewing individuals who care about the preservation of the environment is to refer to them with the negative terms â€Å"tree-hugger† or â€Å"hippie. † This view was popular with those who were progressive in terms of our industrial progress and goals of the last century. It is time for this way of thinking to yield to a new green movement, which Friedman adores the title â€Å"code green. Friedman wants his audience to understand that â€Å"green is the new red, white, and blue. † Chapter Ten: The Energy Internet~ When IT meets ET Chapter ten describe what real clean energy implementation would be like. The energy systems of old which are still being utilized were never designed with anyone’s wellbeing or efficiencies in mind. Instead they were designed to be efficient for the com panies who administer them to install and to yield profit. Obviously this system is outdated and represents a time when no one cared about how much coal we used and still use, or where the toxic emissions go. In the future we will need smarter technologies that respond to changes in electrical demand, rather than continually running inefficiently. By changing core IT hardware such as hard drives and other infrastructure currently utilized, we can dramatically lower our energy usage—energy which we will use more wisely and efficiently. Chapter Eleven: The Stone Age Didn’t End Because We Ran Out of Stones Chapter thirteen sends us the message that we need to act very quickly. We simply cannot wait until we run out of a given resource to worry about how to fulfill its place. Instead we need to innovate. Innovating something that is much greener, sustainable, and cleaner would be the item of choice. Therefore, we cannot regulate our use of fossil fuels, or how these fossil fuels are refined and the outcome of the final product. We need to open our eyes and look farther into the future instead of looking down on our feet. Chapter Fourteen: Out Greening Al-Queda (or, Buy One, Get Four Free) Going green or thinking green is more than a clean energy movement; people need to understand that it is a way of life. Using a lot less of energy and are sustainable off of a lot less than for example, Friedman states that the United States military, which is dependent on a lot of energy, derived from use of fossil fuels. This dependence limits the military’s ability to react quickly and helps determine the limits of what they can do and where they can do it. For the United States military to maintain power and to reflect upon our status of power as a nation, they must adapt to green technologies that are more practical such as solar power. Overall we need to change our habits and ways. Conclusions drawn by author: In his book Hot, Flat, amp; Crowded, Friedman mostly focuses on the problems and remedies of global warming. However, Friedman also identifies and gives detail descriptions and solutions of major problems facing the world, of which global warming the greatest. In the very final chapter, Friedman focuses on the businesses and technologies that we will be using to make the green revolution both come alive and work. In the eighteenth chapter of Friedman’s book, he advices the United States to come up with a green plan to make drastic changes in the near future. In others quit with all these â€Å"researches† and take action for once. His main argument is that the United States and the world could solve its own problems and help the entire world. But the question is what are we waiting for? Examples of how book relates to class: One of the most interesting elements out of Friedman’s work is its recasting of geography. The idea of geography used to encompass vast distances of worlds that are known. There was a sense of the separate that encompassed geographic study such as â€Å"X was here† and â€Å"we are there. However, Friedman recasts this in a variety of ways. Initially, because of the vast progression of information technology and the massive proliferation of technological contact between people, there is a growing interconnectedness between people and nations. Geography is being seen as a more â€Å"closely† defined realm, whereby distance is not the focal point, but rather the togetherness is shared. Geog raphic distances are now only seen as a source of amazement as to how our world is actually smaller. Borders are only made to be overcome. At the same time, geography has changed in emphasizing the interdependence that is present. In emphasizing how connected all individuals really are, Friedman makes the point that geography has to focus on how destruction of resources in one area of the overcrowded world impacts others nearby. In this recasting of geography; closeness over distance is emphasized. Personal Reaction: My personal reaction was two things the first was fascination because of how Friedman connects environmental issues and ties that into the globalization of our world. How he talks about the problems such as global warming or over population and then delivers a detail description of what he thinks is the possible solutions. Friedman is very straight through and gives hardcore evidence of the many dilemmas we humans face as well as Mother Nature. Second, I was surprised as to how much trouble this generation is in and I have to say at first I didn’t believe Friedman, thought it was some fictional scientific report; however, that was not the case. The case was that everything Friedman mentions was and still is true and he backs that up with plenty of facts from numerous sources. Honestly, I believe Friedman is one of the most brilliant people around because of his foresight to use facts from where we have been, where we currently are, and were we are heading. Upon completing this book, it has left me with an insight of the perils we face yet that we must make a change right now and take action. References: Friedman, Thomas L. Hot, flat, and crowded 2.0: Why we need a green revolutionand how it can renew America. Macmillan, 2009. Kalpakjian, Serope, and Steven R. Schmid. Manufacturing engineering and technology. Ed. KS Vijay Sekar. Upper Saddle River, NJ, USA: Pearson, 2014. Chen, B. K., P. F. Thomson, and S. K. Choi. Temperature distribution in the roll-gap during hot flat rolling. Journal of materials processing technology 30.1 (1992): 115-130. Sparling, L. G. M. Formula for ‘Spread’in Hot Flat Rolling. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers 175.1 (1961): 604-640. Ward, S. H., et al. A summary of the geology, geochemistry, and geophysics of the Roosevelt Hot Springs thermal area, Utah. Geophysics 43.7 (1978): 1515-1542. Kim, Sung Joong, et al. Surface wettability change during pool boiling of nanofluids and its effect on critical heat flux. International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 50.19 (2007): 4105-4116.