Motivation theories

The Content Theory:
I believe this theory is rather accurate when applied because humans have the tendency toward selfishness, fulfilling their own needs first. For example, in many industrial company, if profits are made,, they are willing to ignore the consequences of their actions such as dumping chemical waste into rivers and lakes. These thoughts of materialistic needs are translated into actions in this example. This theory could also be applied along with a reward based environment where individual needs could be met.


Maslow's Hierachy of needs:
In this theory, people' needs are divided into 5 categories and ranked into a pyramid of needs. If a need is met, another need becomes the next goal. However, this theory has some flaws. One of such is that people could live without lower needs but still strive for self-actualization. The mere thought of measuring people's satisfaction is rather impossible. To many, they do not even realize what they really need. This theory is not so practical.


Herzberg 2 Factor theory:
To motivation, there are 2 sides: the Hygiene factors and the Motivator factors. The theory seeks to decrease the Hygiene factors to decrease dissatisfaction and increase motivator factors to increase satisfaction. Hygiene factors do not motivate people and they are extrinsic. Without them, it will lead to dissatisfaction. On the other hand, motivator has a positive impact on people. If present, they increase motivations but if absent, they do not lead to dissatisfaction. These are intrinsic. However,
This model is limited only to engineers and accountants, as with others, the effect may be reverse. This is also mot applicable in all situations. In some, it is impossible to separate the intrinsic and extrinsic factors.

Alderfers ERG theory:

There are 3 need levels: Existence (desires for physiological and material well being), Relatedness (satisfaction of interpersonal relationships), and Growth (desires to continue psychological growth and development). There is the reactivation of a already satisfied lower need if a higher need is frustrated. All or one needs could influence a behavior at the same time. This is similar to Maslow's theory, but with only 3 steps.




McClelland's Need theory:

He theorized that people who acquired needs behave differently and that there are 3 types of needs: achievement, power, and affiliation. I really do not think behaviors of human beings could be influenced by just these broad categories of needs.




Adam's equity theory:
In here, people who are treated unfairly seek elimination of discomfort and restore a sense of equity in the situation. Motivation comes from the rejection of discomfort and the yearn for equity. It drives people to change the negative inequity by changing work inputs, rewards, situations, and comparison points. For example, oppressed African American community in the 1960s strived for Civil rights. We have seen many events like this throughout history and this theory has been able to demonstrate somewhat of the behaviors and situations.



Goal  Setting Theory:
Well managed and properly set goals could be great motivators here. Set standards for a performance or a frame of reference for feedback are examples of well set goals. Key issues here include setting specific and challenging goals which has clarified priority and rewards of accomplishments. This is great in group works and projects where people could visualize the job and its expectations clearly and are motivated to perform efficiently.


Expectancy theory: 
Victor Vroom theorized that expectancy: working hard will lead to the desire level of performance would lead to instrumentality: reward for the performance and later lead to Valence: value a person assigns to rewards and other work related outcome. The effort would increase the performance. Such as, the attitude of workers could affect their performance. However, there are more factors such as their abilities to complete the jobs or their perceptions of the jobs. Also, rewards also play an important role in determining the behaviors.

High school Group projects:
It is important for teachers to apply the Goal Setting theory where requirements for performance is addressed clearly. Students would know exactly what is expected of them. They are motivated to satisfied the said standards. Moreover, rewards from the teachers could further provide incentives for students to work together more to achieve such rewards.

Same-sex Marriage:
Adam's equity theory is best utilized here where homosexual groups who are mistreated could fight for their rights for marriage. They reject the discomfort given off  by many critics of the idea. This theory provides the motivation for people to fight for what they believe in and in this case: equity.

Lack of Clean Water:
People who individual needs are not met would definitely be motivated to satisfy such needs. In this case it's water. The content theory could help people visualize how individual needs could definitely motivate people to work toward the betterment of their situations.

Biodiversity

What is biodiversity?
It is the variety of organisms and the ecological diversity of which they exist. Diversity could be defined as the number of different items and their relative frequency. These are organized into levels, categories ranging from complete ecosystems to anatomical and chemical structures that are the basis of heredity.



Extinction:
This is a natural event where a catastrophic event devastates the species and their environments with mass destruction. Over 5 of these had happened since Earth was formed. For example, the Permian Extinction occurred about 252 million years ago. This devastated 95% of marine species, and over 70% of vertebrae. 83% of all genera became extinct. However, new species still arise to adapt to the newly introduced ecosystems.

Human Actions:
First, humans could be an important factor in accelerating the loss of species and ecosystems. The ever growing population of humans is going to hit the mark of 10 billion people. We roughly destroyed or transformed over 50% of the world's forests. Over half of these plant populations are appropriate for industrial uses. Most of the Earth's fresh water reservoir is running dry.
Second, over-hunting has been the main reason for the disappearance of many species. Whales and many large African mammals are victims to cater the needs of humans. These animals are being utilized as food, fashion, and most importantly, profit. Though sport or recreational hunting has no negative effects due to heavy regulations, poaching or illegal hunting still plays a devastating role in this crisis.
Third, the "cause" of species extinction is the destruction or alteration or degradation of natural habitats of many organisms. Deforestation is the main example for this phenomenon. Forests are being appropriated for agricultural land, wood, livestock, or urbanization. Humans are usually uninformed on how important forest habitats are. Over 50% of the world's biodiversity is harbored in forests. We humans are destroying them everyday. Originally, there are 15 million km square and currently, in 2015, we only possess about 7.5-8 million km square. Near 2% of our forests disappeared annually.

Finally, climate changes are also contributors to this crisis. We have polluted the water, air, and light sources presented in the environment. Global warming brought upon by air pollution has changed many habitats by raising their temperatures significantly. Ocean acidification has contaminated many marine habitats, killing many calcium dependent species.
What are our solutions?
We should reduce the amount of forest consumption by human beings. We should look for alternatives for wood. Urbanization, though an essential for society development, is detrimental to the biodiversity. Is it really worth it?

Moreover, finding solutions to overpopulation would directly change the cause for the protection of our bio diversity.
Since we are the main cause of biodiversity destruction, it is our duty to restore what we have done.
















































Current information:

Pollutions

Air Pollution

The situation: this kills over 2 million people each year. The amount of CO2 and methane gases in the air has developed a new disease in China called the Beijing cough. Moreover, beside health dangers, the more gases are introduced into the air, the more heat is trapped, creating global warming.
The causes: Along with the advancement of many industries all over the world, more gases are belched out of factories and industrial facilities. Many incidents such as Chernobyl further devastate the air. Increasing demands for fossil fuel for everyday lives, such as to power cars and vehicles, is also a contributor. More cars and machines that are powered by fossil fuel, more CO2 dioxide is emitted.

The solutions: We need to find better alternatives to create power such as solar and wind power. As the result, we rely less on fossil fuels, in turn, reducing the amount of CO2  and other gases being introduced into the air. As citizens, people must be aware of the situation and voluntarily join the campaign. We could reduce every person's carbon footprint by recycling, and using public transportation. The governments are taking measures to reduce CO2 emission through the Kyoto protocol.

Water pollution

The situation: Worldwide, 750 million people lack access to clean water. That's 2 1/2 times the population of the United States. More,only 2.5% of the world's reserve is fresh water. 15 million children of age five or under die because of drinking unsafe water.
The causes: 70% of industrial waste and chemicals are dumped into water bodies which later contaminate the drinking water. The lack of awareness of citizens of developing countries also contributes to this. This mostly includes littering on beaches and into water bodies such as ponds, lakes, or rivers.

The solutions: More research and studies should be conducted toward inventing technologies to purify water. Governments must enforce laws on waste process and removal.

Light Pollution:

The situation: Light pollution has a negative impact on ecology. Birds are singing at unnatural time. Sky glow, brought about by light pollution, makes it difficult for astronomers and amateurs to observe the stars. Also, plants growth, development, and flowering could be disrupted or altered by artificial light.
The causes: Human is the source of light pollution because we are the ones who introduced artificial light into the environment.
The solutions: We should improve the lighting plants. Reduction of light usages is necessary. Turn off the lights when you go out. Turn off the light when ever no one is in a room. Also, we need to upgrade the lighting technologies so that they won' disrupt the natural ecology.

Why do we need some pollution?
The CO2 pollution has turned plants into better CO2 processing machines. We could potentially introduce more aerosol into the air because it reflects sunlight back into space. This would reduce the accumulation of heat and potentially reduce global warming. Moreover, it would also promote plants growth to process CO2.

Nuclear Power

Nuclear power stands at the border between humanity's greatest hope or its greatest fear in the future.
It could be our solution to human's dependence on fossil fuel. This is a cleaner source of energy that could create drastic changes to the pollution of the environment. However, it could also create possibilities of devastation such as the quake-ruptured nuclear power plants in Japan belching out radioactive steam or the Chernobyl's incident in Russia that leaves the city quarantined to this day.
The first nuclear power plants emerged in the 1950s. Now there are 435 commercial nuclear power plants  in 31 countries. As of now, 70 are under construction.

Nuclear power originates from the energy given off when atoms are split. This energy is harvested and used to turn turbine, creating electricity to power human's everyday needs. In 2015, a research was conducted to measure the importance of Nuclear Power. 16 countries depended on nuclear power to generate at least a quarter of their electricity. For example, France produces 1/3 of its electricity using its nuclear power plants. Belgium, Hungary, Slovakia, etc. harvested over 30% of their electricity from nuclear power. This is how important nuclear power is.

No energy source is perfect. However, this is the best solution to our energy problem since nuclear power releases far less greenhouse gasses than do traditional coal and other power plants. These plants have low operating costs with known "ready" technologies on the market. Besides from emitting less CO2, it is capable of generating enough electricity to meet industrial and city needs, unlike solar energy which is only effective in providing power for residential lives but not heavy manufacture.
Though it is cheap to operated, constructing a nuclear power plant is very expensive and the process often take a long time. It is also known to have high risks when an accident happens. In March 2011, ten of thousands of Japanese citizens fled from areas near the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power plants when an earthquake hit and overheated the system. Also, nuclear power plants could be used as targets for terrorism due to their high devastating consequences. Similar to fossil fuels, uranium, the main material for nuclear power, is also finite. The known amount of uranium lies under the lands of tribes who are unwilling to allow the removal of uranium from the Earth. In addition, it costs nuclear industries a lot to compensate for potential health contamination and environmental contamination of miners and mines. Lastly, the waste product of nuclear power could last up to 500 thousand years.
Nevertheless, nuclear power has proven to be the best solution to help us detach from the usage of fossil fuels. This temporary source of electricity could buy us some time before new sources of electricity could be found.