Theory of Relativity and Pathological Science

Theory of Relativity and Pathological Science In March of 1918 Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington and his assistant E. Cottingham, went to the island of Principe off the West Coast of Africa—with a second party stationed in Sobral, Brazil—to prepare for an experiment that would observe a total eclipse of the sun, and provide conclusive proof of Einstein’s theory of relativity.[1] On 29 May 1919 they photographed a solar eclipse providing the basis for Eddington’s claims of proving Einstein’s theory. The results of the experiment caused an international sensation, with Eddington being credited as the man who finally verified Einstein’s revolutionary theory. Recently, the experiment and its results have been the subject of debate. Eddington’s methods and the nature of the experiment have cast doubt over its validity. Considered within Irving Langmuir’s notion of ‘pathological science’, this paper argues that Eddington’s canonical experiment displays many symptom s associated with pathological science, showing the danger of performing scientific experiments with predictions already in hand, and that have been derived from theory alone. Regarding the theory of relativity, it was agreed that according to both Newton and Einstein’s theories, a strong gravitational field should have an effect on light rays. If Einstein’s theory were correct, light coming from the stars should be observably more bent during a solar eclipse as they pass through the sun’s gravitational field than in Newton’s theory. Einstein believed that a star’s light would be shifted twice as much. The expected displacements were 0.87 second of an arc in Newton’s theory versus 1.74 seconds of arc for Einstein’s.[2] Since the sun’s gravitational effect is much greater on light than that of the earth, a solar eclipse was the only way of experimentally verifying Einstein’s predictions. On the day of the experiment several problems existed. Skies were cloudy when the pictures were taken, and many problems were associated with the equipment. However, Eddington was able to obtain some useable dat a and presented the results at a special joint meeting of the Royal Astronomical Society and the Royal Society of London on 6 November 1919.[3] The results from Sobral provided measurements from seven stars that gave a deflection of 1.98  ± 0.16 arc seconds, with results from Principe recorded at 1.61  ± 0.40 arc seconds.[4] As Peter Coles states, â€Å"Both were within the two standard errors of the Einstein value of 1.74 and more than two standard errors away from either zero or the Newtonian value of 0.87. Einstein had hit the jackpot.†[5] On December 18, 1953, Dr. Irving Langmuir—Nobel laureate in chemistry in 1932—gave a lecture at the Knolls Research Laboratory where he addressed, â€Å"the science of things that aren’t so†, giving examples of a problem he called ‘pathological science’.[6] Langmuir identified six ‘symptoms’ of pathological science: The maximum effect that is observed is produced by a causative agent of barely detectable intensity, and the magnitude of the effect is substantially independent of the intensity of the cause. The effect is of a magnitude that remains close to the limit of detectability; or, many measures are necessary because of the very low statistical significance of the results. Claims of great accuracy. Fantastic theories contrary to experience. Criticisms are met by ad hoc excuses thought up on the spur of the moment. Ratio of supporters to critics rises up to somewhere near 50% and then falls gradually to oblivion.[7] While a case could be made that each one of these symptoms can be found in Eddington’s experiments, this paper will focus on two of them in particular—number two and number five. Experiments that fall into symptom number two have the common characteristic that they are very near the threshold of visibility of the eyes. The solar eclipse and the evidence it produced falls directly into this category. Collins and Pinch state, â€Å"It is as though a star whose light grazed the edge of the sun would appear to be displaced by a distance equivalent to the width of a penny viewed from a mile away.†[8] Problems arising from this symptom are that data is easily rejected. According to Langmuir, â€Å"If things were doubtful at all†, scientists â€Å"discard them or not discard them depending on whether or not they fit the theory.†[9] This is exactly what Eddington did with his results from Principe. He used only two photographic plates out of a total of 26 produced. From the plates, 18 were of very poor quality. These were completely ignored in his presentation and irrelevant to the experiment. His justification for this is related to the next sym ptom of pathological science. The fifth symptom maintains that any criticisms are met by ad hoc excuses thought up at the spur of the moment. When confronted about the unused plates, Eddington justified ignoring the results by claiming they suffered from systematic error. However he was unable to produce any convincing evidence to show that this was the case. When he chose which observations to keep and which to throw away, Eddington had Einstein’s prediction very much in mind.[10] The general lessons to be learned from Eddington’s work relate to the difficulties encountered when performing an experiment to verify a prediction based off theory. In Eddington’s interpretation of the observations, he â€Å"seemed to confirm not only Einstein’s prediction about the actual displacement, but also his method of deriving the prediction from his theory—something that no experiment can do.†[11] Eddington claimed to confirm Einstein because he had used Einstein’s derivations in interpreting what his observations really were, with the further paradox that Einstein’s derivations only became accepted because Eddington’s observations appeared to confirm them—â€Å"Observation and prediction were linked in a circle of mutual confirmation rather than being independent of each other as we would expect according to the conventional idea of an experimental test.†[12] Henry H. Bauer argues that ‘pathological science’ is not scientific misconduct, and not done intentionally.[13] Eddington was not purposely misguiding the scientific community. He was victim to common problems confronted by all scientists, especially physicists. As Trevor and Pinch note, We have no reason to think that relativity is anything but the truth†¦but it is a truth which came into being as a result of decisions about how we should live our scientific lives, and how we should license our scientific observations; it was a truth brought about by agreement to agree about new things. It was not a truth forced on us by the inexorable logic of a set of crucial experiments.[14] Bibliography Bauer, Henry H. ‘Pathological Science is not Scientific Misconduct, (nor is it pathological)’, Hyle—International Journal for the History of Chemistry, 8(1), 2002, pp.5-22. Coles, Peter. Einstein and the Total Eclipse. London: Icon Books, 1999. Collins, Harry and Pinch, Trevor. The Golem: what everyone should know about science. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993. Langmuir, Iriving. ‘Pathological Science’. Trans R.N. Hall. Colloquium at the Knolls Research Laboratory, December 18, 1953. 1 Footnotes [1] Harry Collins and Trevor Pinch, The Golem: what everyone should know about science (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993), p.44. [2] Peter Coles, Einstein and the Total Eclipse (London: Icon Books, 1999), p.52. [3] Coles, p.52. [4] Coles, p.52. [5] Ibid. [6] Irving Langmuir, â€Å"Pathological Science†, trans. R.N. Hall, Colloquium at the Knolls Research Laboratory, December 18, 1953, section 3. [7] Ibid. [8] Collins and Pinch, The Golem, p.44. [9] Langmuir, ‘Pathological Science’, section 3. [10] Collins and Pinch, p.45. [11] Ibid. [12] Ibid. [13] Henry H. Bauer, ‘Pathological Science is not Scientific Misconduct, (nor is it pathological)’, Hyle—International Journal for the History of Chemistry, 8(1), 2002, p.5. [14] Collins and Pinch, p.54.

Bulimia Nervosa and Antidepressant Drugs :: Causes of Bulimia, Eating Disorders

Bulimia Nervosa and Antidepressant Drugs WHAT IS BULIMIA NERVOSA? Bulimia nervosa afflicts mostly women (about 6% of adolescent girls, and 5% of college women). Most individuals with bulimia engage in compensatory activities such as vomiting, laxative abuse, strict dieting, and vigorous exercise (Alexander). PRIMARY SYMPTOMS OF BULIMIA The primary symptoms of bulimia are recurrent episodes of binge eating and compensatory measures to purge the calories. There is an excessive influence of the importance of the body and weight on one's self-evaluation (Negri). Symptoms of bulimia can be quite invisible because the bulimic can maintain normal weight. Occasionally, patterns of behavior may signal a problem: Do they restrict certain food? Do they eat in a ritualistic way? Are they overly concerned with diet? Do they weigh themselves every day? Do large quantities of food disappear from the refrigerator? Do they visit the bathroom soon after meals or frequently? (Negri). Some bulimics have a telltale scar on the first two knuckles of their hand from inducing vomiting. Some purge themselves up to several times a day. This can lead to serious medical consequences: dental cavities, electrolyte imbalances, disturbances in heart rhythm and dangerously low blood pressure (Negri). ANTIDEPRESSANTS AND THE TREATMENT OF BULIMIA Psychiatrist Linda Gochfield, who teaches brief psychotherapies to mental-health professionals, maintains that if people have a problem that responds to medication, that can be the briefest and most effective therapy of all (Davis). While bulimia often occurs with comorbid mood disturbances, the treatment benefit found for antidepressants in bulimia may not be merely alleviation of depressive symptoms; the increased serotonin levels also help reduce food intake. Looking at results of 14 studies of treatment of bulimia with antidepressants, it has been noted that administration to bulimics agents that increase the availability of serotonin virtually always produces better results than placebo, regardless of the presence or absence of depression (Alexander). There is now compelling evidence from double-blind, placebo-controlled studies that antidepressant medication is useful in the treatment of bulimia nervosa. What is less clear is which patients are most likely to benefit from antidepressant medications and how to best sequence the various therapeutic interventions available. The utility of antidepressant medications in bulimia nervosa has led to their evaluation in binge eating disorder. The limited information currently available suggests that antidepressant treatment may be associated with a reduction in binge frequency in obese patients with binge eating disorder, but does not lead to weight reduction.

Mycobacterium Tuberculosis Evolved in Response to Antibiotic

How have Mycobacterium tuberculosis evolved in response to antibiotic use? Section 1 P1: (Words: 177) Since antibiotics has been discovered in 1920 by a Scottish microbiologist Alexander Fleming, people began to have access to treatments for infectious diseases (Bright). However, over time these M. tuberculosis has evolved and became resistant to antibiotics through constant use and incorrect usage (Bright). It is important to solve this health issue because it has created a serious problem to the people who are infected by diseases since these antibiotics are no longer effective.It is estimated that approximately 77,000 people were killed by resistant M. tuberculosis in the United States (Bright) and the medical cost to treat infections with antibiotic resistance has reached as high up to 44 billion dollars every year (Larsen). In the article of â€Å"Antibiotics Resistance† by Pushpa Larsen, roughly about 70 percent of those 2 million people in the United States who has beca me infected with diseases within a year were resistant to antibiotics that was being commonly treated in the hospitals (Larsen).With an overuse and misuse of antibiotics by the human population, it increases the chance of M. tuberculosis to evolve and have the ability to become resistant. Section 1 P2: (Words: 482) As people take antibiotics constantly and antibiotics that treats for a variety of M. tuberculosis, over a period of time it usually results in M. tuberculosis being resistant, and the only way to solve this is to change the human behavior. Since M. tuberculosis can reproduce rapidly within hours or days, the big population of the M. uberculosis causes the increase of adaptation to different environment (Bright). The ‘fast generation’ mentioned in the article of â€Å"Evolution of Antibiotic Resistance,† claimed that with such massive population, it also can rise the possibility of mutation in genes which causes variation (Bright). With having more cha nce of resulting variation among these huge quantity of population in M. tuberculosis, there will be more chance of these M. uberculosis with mutation to be selected for the environment due to natural selection. With M. tuberculosis being able to use specific tools gained from the gene, each can perform different methods of being resistance to the antibiotic’; for example, by taking ‘a gene from another bacterium’ (Bright). Scientists measure the percentage of M. Tuberculosis by using a special tool called, spectrophotometer to shoot out light and count the percentage of M. tuberculosis present in the tube. A certain amount of M.Tuberculosis will be added into the tube and place it inside the spectrophotometer to measure the percentage of population present in the tube by using a specific light of wave length with a scale pointing to how much light is being present (Ferguson, 2012). With having a higher population in the culture, the less light it will be shown i n the spectrophotometer (Ferguson, 2012). When antibiotics are added into the tube, those that are not resistant to the antibiotics are being killed, but those that are resistant survive (Ferguson, 2012).The measurement will show the amount of population being resistant to antibiotics by the scale shown in the spectrophotometer (Ferguson, 2012). There are no treatments to stop the M. tuberculosis from being resistant to antibiotics. However, we can help solve the problem of more bacteria being resistant to antibiotics by decreasing the amount use of antibiotics and taking antibiotics in the full cycle as prescribed by the doctor (Bright). The amount of antibiotics that people take is about 235 million doses a year, and approximately ‘one third to one half’ of the antibiotics being taken are not needed (Larsen).A research has found that patients have been demanding antibiotics from doctors even though the patient’s cold or other infections does not require any ant ibiotic use (Bright). The antibiotic misuse by people is that patients usually stop taking antibiotics once they feel that their cold or viral diseases is much better (Larsen). This can lead to the resistance in M. tuberculosis and ‘develop a stronger defense’(Larsen). By changing the human actions towards the use of antibiotics, it can help solve the problem of bacterium evolved in response to antibiotics.Section 2 P3 + P4 combine (Words: 407) The measurement of spectrophotometer to determine the percentage of M. Tuberculosis and the theory of natural selection both determines an effective way of observing how M. Tuberculosis evolved in response to antibiotics. By measuring the percentage of M. Tuberculosis present in a tube, the method of using spectrophotometer helps scientists to observe and witness the evolution of how M. Tuberculosis became more resistant to antibiotics overtime (Ferguson, 2012). The resistance of M. tuberculosis in ntibiotics due to evolution the ory of natural selection, those that favors in the natural selection tends to survive and reproduce to carry on their traits (Bright). As they reproduce, an immense volume of culture is being duplicated which increases more chance of variation among the tremendous population (Bright). Scientists uses tool like spectrophotometer to observe the rate of M. Tuberculosis being killed, and how those survived bacteria regained its immune towards antibiotics the next time it is being added to the culture (Ferguson, 2012).As each time an antibiotic is being added to the culture, those without resistance dies and those with, remain alive (Ferguson, 2012). Those that does live, increases and continues to grow (Ferguson, 2012). But, when an antibiotic is being added into the culture again in the next round, the rate of resistance of M. Tuberculosis increases in terms of building up a defense and using methods as in gaining a gene from a bacteria to become immune to antibiotics (Bright). Overtim e, the increase number of antibiotics added into the culture rapidly escalates and boost up the number of M.Tuberculosis being resistant (Ferguson, 2012). By looking at the theory of natural selection, those with best suited traits tends to be selected for, and reproduce in massive quantities which increases a greater possibility in variation. Either an antibiotic is being ameliorated from the former antibiotic or a completely recent developed antibiotic is invented, M. Tuberculosis will always find a solution to become more resistant to the antibiotic until it completely becomes unscathed to them (Bright). As more M. uberculosis gain further ability in building defense against the antibiotics, the more they reproduce those immune duplicates, the more difficult it will be for the human to fight against these M. Tuberculosis since they develop resistance. With the overpopulation of these cultures, the probability of variation is very high due to mutation in the gene (Bright). The met hod of measuring the increase in resistance helps benefits scientists to understand how M. Tuberculosis has evolve in response due to antibiotics and natural selection by using spectrophotometer.Section 3 P5 + P6 combine: (Words: 429) With the science application use of measurement of M. Tuberculosis percentage resistant to antibiotics and the theory of natural selection effects us socially in terms of causing chaos among the society with being unable to cure these M. Tuberculosis as they continue to become more resistant. Patients usually demands and gives pressure on doctors to provide them with antibiotics even when not needed (Bright). This usually is the reason to why M.Tuberculosis evolve and become resistant to antibiotics rapidly as more variation is present by the massive reproduction of M. Tuberculosis (Pitman, 2004). If the doctor suggests the patient to not take antibiotics, because it might cause the resistance towards antibiotics, then it is likely that patients will s till insist to take those antibiotics just to cure their infections or cold. Such aspect of the patient shows that they have no tolerance towards the future crisis of the uprising war between antibiotics and M. Tuberculosis.When a doctor insists their patients to take antibiotics as described in the instructions of the cycle, patients usually feel that their freedom of choice is being pressured and mostly they will go with their own opinion and decision making towards the use of antibiotics (Tekstiin, 2009). As patients sense that their cold or infectious disease has become better, they usually stop taking the antibiotics (Tekstiin, 2009). The reason for this is because some patients think that their immune system have the ability to fight against the bacteria present in their body.Research have found that taking antibiotics are very detrimental to the body in terms of damaging the good bacteria, as well as decreasing the competition between the harmful bacteria and the beneficial b acteria existing in your body (Tekstiin, 2009). In the future when people are infected by infectious diseases, the infection in the human body will not be effected by the antibiotics since they have evolved resistance towards antibiotics (Tekstiin, 2009).With this reason, as more people get infected with diseases, the antibiotics will be ineffective and cause turmoil among the society because doctors will be unable to cure them since the resistance in M. tuberculosis continues to rise rapidly. As a large percentage of the people becomes infected with diseases that are unable to be treated, the world could lose a massive population because more and more people are infected by the disease each day. The science application of measurement on resistance in M. Tuberculosis and the natural selection links to the factor socially with the cause of ineffectiveness of most antibiotics towards M.Tuberculosis, causing a huge loss in human population. Section 3 P7 + P8 combine: (Words: ) Scientis ts observe the measurement of percentage in M. Tuberculosis by looking at the curve of the increasing resistance in antibiotics as the natural selection provides the chance of stronger resistance due to variation of M. Tuberculosis; and with this, scientists are able to predict that it will effect the society economically in terms of medical costs to treat resistance in antibiotics. With people constantly overusing antibiotics for treating their infections or cold; overtime, those M.Tuberculosis that survived recovers by reproducing a large quantity of population and develop a defense against the antibiotics (â€Å"Antibiotic resistance,† 2008). As more antibiotics are given and added to kill the M. Tuberculosis, they become more resistant each time and soon, they will become completely resistant to antibiotics within a short period of time. As the number of resistant M. Tuberculosis increases, the more time and money scientists will have to invest on research and create anti biotics to treat the infected growing human population.With the experimentation, tools and a variety solutions of antibiotics, it all comes with a large amount of money. The healthcare system might find themselves drowning and finding difficulty in finance since a large amount of money will be spent on medical research and care (â€Å"Study on the,† 2009). Also, they will find trouble in restoring their stability in health care for the people when several people are dying since no treatment can be cured (â€Å"Study on the,† 2009). However, it is not only the scientists and the healthcare association who suffers, but also the infected patient’s families as well.To treat such infection with resistance towards antibiotics it comes to a huge cost in finance for the patient’s family (â€Å"Study on the,† 2009). The prediction of the high medical cost in the future by looking at the increasing rate of resistance of M. Tuberculosis in antibiotics by the scientists show how this problem of the uprising resistance towards antibiotics effects us economically when no cure can be treated. Section 4 P9: (Words: 309) The social limitations of the measurement in the increasing percentage of M.Tuberculosis developing into a newly developed antibiotic resistant bacteria links with the natural selection of massive reproduction in the M. Tuberculosis that increases the chance of variation among the huge population, that causes the rising probability in resistant to antibiotics, which creates a numerous number of patients to suffer severely when no treatments are to be able to completely cure the continuous developing new bacteria resistant to antibiotics. Understanding the measurement of the change in the increase rate of new evolved M. uberculosis effects not just the people but also the society in whole as well. Overtime, as people continuously take antibiotics to treat infections, those survived M. Tuberculosis develops into a new stronger bacteria resistant to the antibiotics, due to natural selection of variation among the huge population of the culture (Larsen). As scientists creates new antibiotics to treat such newly developed antibiotic-resistant M. Tuberculosis, these variation in the M. Tuberculosis will continue to become stronger and develop immune towards these new antibiotics (Bright). By applying the theory of evolution of M.Tuberculosis being more resistant to antibiotics by natural selection of variation in overpopulation, it impacts on the people socially with infections that continuously rises in population and keeps on developing into a new and stronger M. Tuberculosis that is unable to be treated, it will cause a major problem in our society where a large percent of the human population are suffering from the continuous developing new variation of M. Tuberculosis (Bright). With the huge population of culture, variation among these population is high which increases the rising rate of new developed M .Tuberculosis resistant to antibiotics that causes an issue in our society of people to be troubled by the fact of the continuous treatment to cure for unrepeated variation in M. Tuberculosis. Section 4 P10: (Words: 345) The measurement of the rising percentage of the huge population in newly developed antibiotic-resistant M. Tuberculosis, and the overpopulation in natural selection that leads to the high possibility in variation effects the people economically in terms of the difficulty in treatment necessary to cure the patient’s continuous infected disease that is antibiotic-resistant with the variation in the M.Tuberculosis, that causes billions of dollars to treat this non-stop evolution of M. Tuberculosis. As doctors treats patients with antibiotics for their infected disease, some M. Tuberculosis in the infected disease are killed and some remain alive (Pitman, 2004). Those that survives, reproduces in large quantities and in those massive population, the high probabil ity of variation that becomes immune towards antibiotics among the huge population rises (Pitman, 2004). When scientists invents new antibiotics to treat for the newly developed M.Tuberculosis, the survived M. Tuberculosis evolves and becomes more resistant to antibiotics because of natural selection (Pitman, 2004). M. Tuberculosis adapts to the antibiotics and evolve in response through the constant use of antibiotics that causes them to become more resistant (Pitman, 2004). With people spending roughly about 44 billion dollars every year on treating the continuous appearing new variation of M. Tuberculosis, it has created a burden in finance when there are no treatment to completely obliterate the variation in M.Tuberculosis since they always develop resistance to antibiotics (Larsen). In order to treat the continuous antibiotic-resistant variation in M. Tuberculosis, it will effect tremendously on the infected patient or their family and the hospital in terms of the finance in th e medical cost (â€Å"Study on the,† 2009). In the end, people will end up paying endlessly on antibiotics to treat these non-stop evolving resistant variation in M. Tuberculosis. With the continual of M.Tuberculosis in evolving into a newly antibiotic-resistant with the natural selection of variation because of the massive population that increases the possibility of mutation in gene, it will cost economically on the people to spend on the treatment to cure for the never-ending variation in M. Tuberculosis that is resistant to antibiotics. Works Cited Antibiotic resistance. (2008). Retrieved from http://www. sciencedaily. com/articles/a/antibiotic_resistance. htm Bright, K. (n. d. ). Applied evolution unit: Evolution of antibiotic resistance. Retrieved from http://evoled. dbs. umt. edu/lessons/background. htm Ferguson, D. 2012, May 14). Measuring antibiotics resistance. Personal Communication . Larsen, P. (n. d. ). Antibiotics resistance. Retrieved from http://www. naturalch oice. net/articles/antibiotics. htm Pitman, S. (2004, December). Antibiotic resistance. Retrieved from http://www. detectingdesign. com/antibioticresistance. html Study on the economic impact of antibiotic overuse and antibiotic-resistant infections. (2009, October 19). Retrieved from http://www. news-medical. net/news/20091019/Study-on-the-economic-impact-of-antibiotic-overuse-and-antibiotic-resistant-infections. aspx? page=2 Tekstiin, T. (2009, November 11).The long-term effects of antibiotics on health and immunity. Retrieved from http://inhumanexperiment. blogspot. jp/2009/11/long-term-effects-of-antibiotics-on. html Bibliography Davies, J. , & Davies, D. (n. d. ). Origins and evolution of antibiotic resistance. Retrieved from http://mmbr. asm. org/content/74/3/417. full Kunkel, D. (n. d. ). Antibiotic resistance: Delaying the inevitable. Retrieved from http://evolution. berkeley. edu/evosite/relevance/IA1antibiotics2. shtml Microevolution & antibiotic-resistant bacteria. (2012, April 18). Retrieved from http://alexa2b. edublogs. org/2012/04/18/microevolution-antibiotic-resistant-bacteria/

Sustainable Development Case Study

Executive summary Sustainable development has been defined by the World Commission on Environment as development that meets the needs of a generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. (OECD, 1987) In this age and era, the world is faced with many challenges including economic crises, global warming, poor health and loss of diversity. Sustainable development is thus employed to reconcile human developments and the earth’s ecological systems. Public policy all over the world and especially in Canada has been centered on sustainable development and environmentally centered decision making. Sustainable development is thus centered on ensuring that future quality of life is improved in Canada. Sustainable development emphasizes on the importance of quality of life and ensures that today’s decisions are taking into consideration the economic, social and environmental issues without affecting the ability of future generations to sustain itself. The concept of sustainable development is built on three pillars that are equal and mutually reinforcing. These three pillars are environmental, social and economic factors that must be considered in the development of a long term plan to meet the goals and objectives of sustainable development. Critical success factor in the federal sustainable development strategies in Canada This refers to those issues that have to be addressed for the sustainable development initiative in Canada to be successful. According to the Canadian minister for environment Jim Prentice, the countries sustainability shall be centered on the emphasis on climate change and clean water, water availability and quality, protection of the countries nature and heritage, wild life conservation, protection of ecosystem and biological resources. Climate change has been a major headache to the world in general. It’s associated with green house emissions and Canada intends to take the following steps to check climate change in its jurisdiction to reduce greenhouse emissions. Through developing a low carbon economy and making Canada a global leader in clean electricity generation. Working with the international community to implement the Copenhagen accord where Canada committed to invest 400million USD for the international climate change efforts and to reduce its carbon emissions by 17% in the year 2020. Publishing draft regulations to reduce carbon emission in vehicles and working with the United States to reduce emissions through the Canada United States Clean Energy Dialogue. (CED) Minimize the threats to air quality to make air in Canada to be clean and useful to both humans and the general ecosystem- this will reduce air related disease of the respiratory system and thus reducing the amount of money that is spent on health care treatment of these diseases. Water availability and quality- statistically, Canada has about 7% of the whole world’s renewable fresh water supply and the Canadians are the highest users of water per capita globally. Access to clean water is important and the government of Canada is committed to ensuring that every Canadian can access clean water and also that the Canadian water resources are utilized sparingly both economically and ecologically (Environment Canada, 2002) Protection of nature and world life conservation- Canada is a beautiful country. Its home for about 30% of the world’s boreal forests and thus the sustainable use of natural resources is the basis for healthy, prosperous, communities and sustainable livelihoods. Most communities in the country depend on fisheries, forestry and agriculture for employment (government of Canada, 2009) and this means that for sustainable development, these resources must be safeguarded. Characteristics of sustainable development Any strategies geared towards attaining sustainable development should have several of the following characteristics. Sustainable development policies take a long term perspective that includes present and future generations-the sustainable development strategy that is being implemented by the government of Canada. The efforts towards the sustainability of clean water, climate change, environmental conservation and quality of air are obviously implemented with the present and future generation in mind. These strategies will assist the present and future generations to live healthy lives and to be socially and economically sustainable. Sustainable development takes a systematic approach in the handling of issues. This means that for sustainable development, social, economic and environmental goals are interdependent. It would not be possible to attain long-term sustainable development without putting all the three pillars into consideration. On the other hand, these pillars should not be seen to compete with one another but should reinforce one another.   Environmental sustainability requires funds, thus the governments should ensure that such funds are availed in good time to implement these policies, care should also be taken o ensure that these policies do not negatively impact on the sociopolitical landscape of the country. Sustainable development is self regulating- for instance if you look at the element of climate change and clean air, its evident that the government will spent quite a fortune in the attainment of this goal. At the same time, the benefits that will accrue from this goal are not minimal either. According to the 2009 national health statistics, asthma, lung cancer and other respiratory illnesses have been linked to poor air quality. Acute respiratory infections, asthma and pneumonia accounted for 9.5% of the health care expenditure and this makes it the third most expensive factor in health care in Canada. In 2009, 8.1% of Canadians that are 12 years and above have been diagnosed with asthma. Despite the huge resources that will go into the attainment of this goal, the benefits that will accrue from the investment cannot be ignored. Sustainable development encourages wide consultation and cooperation amongst the many diverse stake holders and their interests. For the successful implementation of sustainable development strategies, many stakeholders are involved. Non governmental organizations, human rights activists, the government, the citizens and other international partners are important stake holders and thus their interests and cooperation is critical. In the case of Canada for instance, wide consultations have been done to come up with a method of overcoming the failures of past sustainable development attempts Sustainable development has regulatory flexibility that is based on private- public consensus and general commitment to long term goals that emphasize on sustainable outcomes, this means that sustainable development is more extensive and involving and not simply a matter of do’s and don’ts. Sustainable development rewards resource efficiency as well as financial efficiency. Well planned and implemented sustainable development will eventually yield the required results and the benefits are usually many times the initial investment since it is long term and benefits generations. For instance, Canadian future generations will enjoy clean water, quality air, a fruitful national heritage and social economic progress which are benefits of the present sustainable development efforts. Sustainable development must promote ecological progress economically.   These policies should lead to high efficiency, low waste production and consumption. All these outcomes are beneficial to the environment, business and the broader community and thus ecologically economical. Sustainable development promotes equitable solutions and equal opportunity for all. The Canadian federal sustainable development strategy will provide solutions to most of the countries environmental, social and economic problems and benefits will accrue to all the citizens of Canada, both present and future. Sustainable development strategy addresses the root cause of the problem rather than cosmetically trying to deal with the symptoms. For instance, instead of laying a lot of emphasis on finding medication to the myriad diseases caused by the poor quality of air, the government of Canada is actively involved in ensuring that the quality of air in the country is improved. It is doing this through reducing the amounts of green house emissions in its jurisdiction amongst other actions. Lessons learnt There are several lessons that the government of Canada has learnt from the failure of the previous sustainable development that was criticized from different quarters for the inability to deliver the intended results. For sustainable development to be achieved, the government has learned that there are several issues that must be addressed. From the minister for environment, Jim prentice’s message, sustainable development will not be achieved unless the following issues are addressed. The sustainable development should be a whole of government approach, cooperation and commitment by all government arms and bodies is important in the attainment of all the goals and objectives of sustainable development. For the success of sustainable development efforts, the government should link the strategy to the Canada’s planning and reporting process through the expenditure management system (EMS). This means that sustainable development should not be isolated from other government projects but should be incorporated and considered in the same vein as all the other government projects so as to capture the attention of the stake holders. The focus of sustainable development should be on the transparency of decision making outcomes rather than the processes involved in the coming up with those decisions. Since sustainable development is a costly project, the major focus should be on the sustainability of the outcomes. Unless the progress in the attainment of sustainable development is measured and corrective actions and improvements made in good time, the goals of sustainable development may not be expeditiously achieved. It is thus imperative that environmental indicators should be used in determining the progress of sustainable development strategy (Boulder, F. (2001) Conclusion The world today is experiencing many challenges ranging from environmental, economic and social political problems. Most of these problems have resulted from activities that could have been avoided or rather done in a different manner. Sustainable development is a term used to address these problems by creating a long term perspective in the mitigation measures. According to this strategy, it’s important to address the root cause of the problems and find a long-term solution that takes into consideration environmental, economic and social impacts of the governments actions. The government of Canada through the ministry of environment has taken solid steps to this end and has put in place policies to guarantee clean water and air, address issues of climate change and conserve its environment and national heritage. As a first step to this end, it has committed400 millions USD towards the Copenhagen accord and is in the process of reducing its green house emissions by about 15% (Environment Canada (2010e) References Environment Canada (2009a). News Release: Canada and the U.S. Work Together on Clean Energy Dialogue. June 30, 2009. Environment Canada (2002). Threats to Water Availability in Canada. Canada: Environment Canada, National Water Research Institute. CESD (2007). Sustainable Development Strategies. Canada: Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development. Boulder, F. (2001). Governance for Sustainable Development in Canada. Paris: Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development CIHI (2004). The cost of Acute Care Hospital Stays by Medical Condition in Canada: 2004-2005. Canada: Canadian Institute of Health Information. Environment Canada (2010e). News Release: Government of Canada Makes Major Investment to International Climate Change. Ottawa. June 23, 2010.