Frances and Americas Health Care Systems Comparison

Frances and Americas Health Care Systems Comparison Introduction The America spends around 15% of its GDP on the costs of health care, and this percentage exceeds the OECDs spending being 8.8% almost twice and the French costs, which constitute 11.2% of its GDP, in 40%. France health care spending is 11% of the national output, matched up to 15% used in America in health issues, such as infant mortality (Skinner Garber, 2008).Advertising We will write a custom critical writing sample on France’s and America’s Health Care Systems Comparison specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Health care system in the United States has received a criticism due to the absence of universal medical coverage in contrast to the universal health coverage in France. Since French insurance coverage is basically obligatory, medical expenses are more largely allocated to the whole population. Even though laws in America permit particular kinds of health care offered to the uninsured patients, they inc rease health expenses for the insured; and these greater health care expenses are borne by the people looking for health care instead of society in general. Exclusive of the situation of greatly communicable diseases, the treatment, which offers a huge social advantage, is debatable in regard to an extra earning or income. This paper discusses and compares France and the U.S. health care systems. Health Care System in the United States Health care system in the United States has brought about more polarizing discussion. Some critics state that the U.S. provides the best health care structure in the world due to directly accessible health care technology and high-tech facilities that have been the point of reference in medical care. Others criticize the system of health care in America as being ineffective and uneven due to the point that it spends more money on medical care than any other country, and there are still a lot of uncovered people, managerial waste, and unreliable qualit y. Health care providers are mainly owned and controlled by the private operators, and health coverage offered by the government in the public health care system ensures around 62% of the total, and provision is provided by programs, such as Veterans Health Administration, TRICARE, and Medicare (Himmelstein Woolhandler, 2004). Most people under the age of 65 are covered by their employers; some purchase coverage on their own, while others are uncovered.Advertising Looking for critical writing on health medicine? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More In the United States, 49.8 million people, 16.2 percent of the population, were uncovered in 2010, which showed an increase from 16 percent in 2009. In line with WHO, the U.S. allocates more on health care per capita, being $7,145; moreover, it raised the figure on health care as ratio of its GDP became 15.1 percent that was greater than of any other country surveyed in 2009. America was ranked the fourth highest level of public medical care expenditure per capita of $3, 430, following other nations with higher level of health care spending per capital, which were Monaco, Norway, and Luxembourg. In 2009, research in five states reported that health care debt made up to 46.2 percent of entire individual bankruptcies. In 2010, 62.2 percent of filers for bankruptcies declared an increased health care spending. Since then, medical expenses and the number of uncovered and underinsured became greater than before. Government Implication In 2010, President Obama passed a law, The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which supported phased implementation over four years of an inclusive arrangement of authorized health coverage with reforms intended to remove different undesirable activities of the insurance providers. These activities address the areas, such as yearly and life coverage gaps, premium loadings, and necessary screening. It also establishes a least ratio of direct health care expenditure to premium income, and price competition strengthened by the formation of three standard insurance coverage stages, to allow open assessment by end users, and online health coverage services that enable consumers to assess prices and other service plans. Health care system offers subsidy to allow the low income earners to purchase insurance and conserve private health facilities and private insurance. The law enacted by President Obama includes provision related to the health care that is to be executed over seven years, and extending Medicaid eligibility for the public translating to 135 percent of the FDL (Federal Poverty Level), offering incentives to firms to allow medical benefits, forbidding refusal of coverage and denial of claims derived from the present situations. This law also creates health care insurance exchanges and supports subsidization of coverage premiums for the public, representing 400 percent of the Federal Poverty Level in order for their highest spending for yearly premiums to descend from 2% to 10% of earnings (Skinner Garber, 2008). It also disallows the insurers from instituting annual insurance or coverage caps and focuses more on the establishment of medical research. Commencing in 2014, the law will disallow insurers to refuse insurance to sick candidates, or demand certain conditions, for instance, advanced payments or premiums. The 2010 Acts entail coverage providers to cover more expenses, requiring that not less than 80% of premiums should be used in health care or ‘quality upgrading’ and complete medical coverage for immunizations and screenings through disallowing annual and lifetime caps that provide uneven distribution. Pros and Cons Medical researches in the United States, which are carried out in some institutions, such as Cleveland Clinic, the Mayo Clinic, and Harvard Medical School, are among the best in the world, and well-known due to the developments they do in medicine, mainly, because of the latest free-market structure.Advertising We will write a custom critical writing sample on France’s and America’s Health Care Systems Comparison specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More For the people with employment and great benefits, or those who can pay for it, various American insurance programs are ranked among the best programs in the globe. Another benefit of the latest American medical care program is that taxpayers are not responsible for the cost related to giving health care insurance to all the people (Skinner Garber, 2008). Medical care expenses in the United States are more than in any country all over the globe, and its system where every person should be covered just serves to raise these expenses at the cost of the taxpayers. Most people assert that tax contributions would carry funds away from national security and education to finance newly established medical care sys tem. The noticeable drawback of the health care system in the United States is that though the taxpayers have used more of their income in the American health care, most researches report that Americans have not become healthier than people in other countries that spend less on health care than the US. There is huge amount of money used in American health care, and the government pays out more of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on medical system than any other nation. In 2008, the United States allocated almost 15% of its total GDP on health care (Skinner Garber, 2008). Another noticeable drawback of the health care system is that most people are either underinsured or uninsured, and the United States Census Bureau reported that in 2003, 65% of people were insured by health insurance controlled by the government while 15% of the population were uninsured. Health Care System in France The French government offers some series of varied and all-inclusive health care programs. For ove r 95% of the people, health care is either completely free or fully compensated (Snchez-Serrano, 2011, p. 30). The people also have the privilege to select among health care facilities, irrespective of their earning levels. Additionally, the waiting lists for surgeries, just like in the United States, are not found in France health care system. Medical care coverage in France is a section of the Social Security structure which is financed by income of the employees (60% of the accounts), imposed taxes from tobacco and alcohol, and payment provided by the revenue related to earning that composes capital revenues and retirement pensions.Advertising Looking for critical writing on health medicine? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Apparently, it seems that medical insurances repay health care facilities more in the United States than in France. However, above 80% of French citizens have supplemental medical coverage, usually offered by their employers. Government Implications In the mid 2001, a law was enacted by the government enabling the health care system to offer more support to people in need in their every day tasks. In March 2002, the government also enacted a policy creating reimbursement for every accident related to health issue, regardless whether it is their own fault or not. These new policies were added to the previous confirmed policies, such as reimbursement rights in instances of illness prevention or pregnancy, health costs for employees and students, organized screening of particular disorder, and family planning. The ‘2012 Hospital Plan’ allocated with  £10 million is to allow the implementation of fresh investments with some major concerns, such as the reinforcing compleme ntarities among health care providers situated in certain area, the improvement of security system, and the automation of health care system (Snchez-Serrano, 2011, p. 30). In 2002, a law passed by the government addressed the rights of the patients on pain relief, in line with reimbursement for severe medical accidents, patient consent, availability of communication to the patient, and dignity of the patient. Pros and Cons People benefit from the ability to choose personal medical providers or doctors, and patients with long-term disorders or illnesses are allocated with more funds or 100 percent medical insurance coverage. The less income earners are provided with universal healthcare that is funded by taxes. Moreover, the medical expenses for the people suffering from the long-term illness are fully compensated, and they can confer with different practitioners or select university, private, public, general, or private health care providers. Health care systems have a loose edition of universal health care, denoting that the government made a controlled system that enabled medical care facilities and insurance providers to insure everybody (Snchez-Serrano, 2011, p. 30). Health care system in France also allows more funds to be used in medical costs due to the structure where the patients need to consult the doctor first, which adds more expenses. Comparison of Health Care Systems France health care spending of 11 percent of the national output is lower as compared to 15% used in America in health issues, such as infant mortality. Health care systems of both France and the U.S. allow patients to have different selections when looking for medical care or providers (Budrys, 2011, p. 135). In France, patients commonly get interventions directly from a professional or consultant, while in the United States, the expansion of HMO signifies that most patients should receive the consent of a ‘primary care physician’ before looking for specific interventio ns. The U.S. system can be annoying to patients, but also preserve the spending directed to health care costs when the primary care physician considers it unimportant. Like France, America provides both the public and the private insurers, and the issue that especially concerns the system of the United States is the control of the private component over the public one. In France, being jobless signifies reduced tax funds going into Assurance Maladie’s treasury, but in the U.S., it means that a person may lose his or her coverage (Budrys, 2011, p. 135). In France, regulation also limits the medical coverage providers from appropriately pooling policies and reforms by risk group, which increases medical coverage premiums in general. Medical systems normally take advantage of reduced regulation and an inclination towards a medical arrangement where insurance assumes to a function of offering for dependent and upsetting health care emergencies among groups for which the possibili ty for these incidences is roughly the same. In the U.S. health care system, reforming the way in which practitioners and other providers are salaried is an essential aspect in providing system transition, especially, in the common payment system, and generates incentives to offer extra services, instead of improved and high-value approaches to care for conditions. Conclusion Health care systems in France and America undergo more expenses caused by the application of medical coverage for regular medical care where the key receiver does not receive the full cost of the health care. It appears that the U.S. spends more funds in health care system than any other country in the world, including France. Different measures and reforms are needed in both systems to provide satisfying services and regulate amount of the funds allocated to these systems. References Budrys, G. (2011). Our Unsystematic Health Care System. Plymouth: Rowman Littlefield. Himmelstein, D., Woolhandler, S. (2004). Administrative waste in the U.S. International Journal of Health Services, 34(1): 79–86. Snchez-Serrano, I. (2011). The World’s Health Care Crisis. Paris: Elsevier. Skinner, J., Garber, A. (2008). Is American Health Care Uniquely Inefficient? Journal of Economic Perspectives, 22(4): 34-56.

Sports Psychology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Sports Psychology - Essay Example The inches we need are everywhere around us. They are in every break of the game, every minute, every second. On this team, we fight for that inch. On this team, we tear ourselves, and everyone around us to pieces for that inch. We CLAW with our finger nails for that inch. Cause we know when we add up all those inches thats going to make the fucking difference between WINNING and LOSING between LIVING and DYING,† the character of Al Pacino in Any Given Sunday. Motivational speeches are necessary as any sports psychologist will tell you. Mental preparation allows athletes tap that extra strength that usually comes out when at the height of enthusiasm. That’s why you hear about people lifting cars to save someone or jumping at heights not even Michael Jordan could have one for a game winning shot. Sport psychology professionals use all devices to help an athlete get motivated such as imagery and, like Al Pacino, deliver a speech as if humanity’s existence depends on it. Psychologists Robert M. Yerkes and John D. Dodson developed a hypothetical law that relates arousal with performance in 1908, based on biopsychology and neuroscience research. This is called the Inverted-U hypothesis. The theory says that as the arousal of an athlete increases, so does the performance. It will continue to increase until it reaches its peak. After that, if the arousal continues, the performance deteriorates. This hypothesis explains how the person’s arousal can affect its performance. It tells that a person’s performance can be maximized on a certain level of arousal. But the relationship between the level of performance and the level of arousal comes with the condition; both too low and too high level of arousal can produce low level or poor performance, while a moderate level of arousal can produce a high positive level of performance. This theory is illustrated on a diagram with two lines representing the arousal and the performance

Treats design as art Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Treats design as art - Assignment Example She emphasizes that in the contemporary times, designs need to be evolved to incorporate the important issues and compulsions of the times. The recessive economy, environment and sustainability of resources are vital issues where the designing of objects could make a significant impact. She says that designers are creative and have the ability to effectively use any material to make a difference to the world. She has accurately summed up the role of designers as the ‘biggest synthesizer in the world who (excels) in synthesizing the human needs’. Indeed, there design, sometimes may not be understood but the wider ramifications of those designs on the contemporary issues give them the necessary impetus to continue with their work. She concludes her talk by exhorting the designers to let go of their creativity in a way where they can visualize at different scales. She declares that design is not only aesthetic but it also serves the humanity through innovative input that facilitates to meet the challenges of the time. (272

The Culture And Practices In Islam Theology

The Culture And Practices In Islam Theology The origins of Islam are from Saudi Arabia, it is a religious tradition that is monotheistic. The literal meaning of the word Islam is submission to God Julie Williams, 2008 This complete code of life is based on the divine revelations preached by Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h) it addresses all aspects of life: spiritual, social, moral, intellectual, political, economical etc. Its teachings show us how to surrender to Allahs will in every area of life, Who is the supreme creator and sustainer of this world. The sacred scripture of Islam is the Quran, which is the compilation of all the divine revelations sent to Holy Prophet (p.b.u.h) and were taught by him. The underlying principle which is the foundation of Islam is that there is only one God, Allah. He has no equal or any partner. Five Pillars of Islam are its unifying characteristic; they are the primary aspect of religion. These five pillars include Tauhid, which is the first and most important; it is faith in one true God, Allah. The second is Salah or Namaz, which is the ritual prayer Muslims are required to perform five times a day. Fasting is the third pillar of Islam where Muslims fast for a whole month. Zakat, the charity compulsory on certain wealth is the fourth pillar, the fifth pillar is Hajj, which is a pilgrimage a Muslim with enough wealth is required to take at least once in his lifetime. Apart from the five pillars of Islam, there are also six articles of faith. These include: Belief in One God Belief in all the prophets Belief in the four original Holy scriptures Belief in the angels Belief in the Hereafter and day of judgement Belief in Divine verdict Muslims are usually distinguished by their devotion to the obligation of praying fives times to Allah in a day. Another defining characteristic of Islam is pre-eminence of the sacred places, which are Makah, Medina and Jerusalem. A ritual of Muslims is to gather in a congregation at mosque to pray and worship Allah, also study the divine scripture, Quran. The distinction as to who is better in the Muslim community is based on solely the individual Muslims devotion to serving in the path of Allah. The universal aspect of Islam caused it to expand almost instantly after it evolved in Arabian Peninsula, in the present world it has spread across Africa, Europe, Asia and rest of the world. Although most of the Muslims are born into faith but Islam always welcomes the coverts too (Julie Williams, 2008). Even though Islam originated from Arab region, the Muslims are not necessarily Arab; it is a universal religion which is for everyone across the globe. There are Muslims from almost every n ationality in the world, now the Arabs are only 20% of the Muslim population across the world. The influence of Arab culture on Islam has had effects on those who belonged to other cultures but adopted Islam too. This has created a cultural bond due to similarities that they share among their societies, although these different societies do still have characteristics that clearly distinguish them. The culture of Islam inherited an Arab culture that was originated in desert, which although is simple yet not in any way unsophisticated. It has a verbal tradition founded on the broadcast of culture by means of narrative as well as poetry. Although, the largest impact on Islamic civilization is that of the written scripture, the whole civilization is based on the teachings written down and compiled in form of Holy Quran and taught by the Holy Prophet (p.b.u.h). A ts of animate beings. The focus of Islamic art is on Allahs omnipresence, which cannot be illustrate ts of animate beings. The focus of Islamic art is on Allahs omnipresence, which cannot be illustrated in any imagery. The calligraphy in Arabic is a famous art form to beautifully write Quranic verses. The Islamic art with its artistry as well as grandeur has not failed to inspire awe over the centuries.d in any imagery. The calligraphy in Arabic is a famous art form to beautifully write Quranic verses. The Islamic art with its artistry as well as grandeur has not failed to inspire awe over the centuries.n important part of the Islamic culture is its signature art and architecture (Larry A. Samovar, Richard E. Porter, Edwin R. McDaniel, 2009) which is marked by floral decorative patterns and abstract art. The fundamental aspect of Islamic art is that it is devoid of illustrations of living beings, especially humans according to the teachings of Islam, since it is forbidden in religi on to paint or draw portraits of animate beings. The focus of Islamic art is on Allahs omnipresence, which cannot be illustrated in any imagery. The calligraphy in Arabic is a famous art form to beautifully write Quranic verses. The Islamic art with its artistry as well as grandeur has not failed to inspire awe over the centuries. Critically outlines how the history and practices of Islam shape the lives of Muslims today in a short paragraph Most of the practices which are prevailing in Muslim world of today are not mentioned in The Quran. Although, the saying of Holy Prophet (p.b.u.h) and his conduct of every day life provide the Muslims of today the basis for traditions and the practices of today in form of Sunnah. The Sunnah and Hadith of holy Prophet (p.b.u.h) provides a guiding path for all the Muslims of today from every day rituals like eating with the right hand, growing beard for men and hijab to cover the head for women, greeting another Muslim with salaam etc to major issues like marriage and legal problems. In the troubled world of today however, it is crucial to be able to differentiate as to what is true to Islamic nature and what only a part of culture. Many of the customs that prevail in todays Muslim world have no roots in either Quran or Sunnah. Compare Islamic culture with other cultures Islam is one of the three Divine religions, other two being Judaism and Christianity which preceded Islam but were annulled when Allah sent the message of Islam through Holy Prophet (p.b.u.h), which was to be the last and universal religion for the entire mankind. The preceding cultures have various similarities but major differences in comparison to Islam. Lets take Judaism for instance, there are many differences among these two religions yet they all originate from one basic difference. Although they both believe in One God, they have difference in the belief of Prophet, Islam is based on the teachings that Holy Prophet (p.b.u.h) came with and believes him to be the Last Prophet. Where as Jews believe only in the prophet hood of Moses. According to Islamic belief any who denies that Holy Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h) was the last prophet would be doomed to an eternity in hell. There are other contrasting beliefs in both the religions too, for example Jews believe prophet Ismail to be an idolater where as Muslims respect him as prophet of Allah. Christianity and Islam have a lot of similarities. Both of them hold the belief in Prophets, Divine scriptures, day of judgement/resurrection, importance of religion. Many of the teachings in their scriptures are similar too, although the Original transcript of Bible has now been tampered with. Regardless of these similarities there are a lot of crucial differences too. Their Understanding of Allah is very different, in Islam God is one and only with no equals where as in Christianity they deem Jesus to be the son of God. In Christian culture, the belief of divine revelation is that God himself appeared to preach and provide redemption. Islam on the other hand looks upon revelation as a form of guidance. Aside from difference of islam with these two major religion cultures, since islam has spread across the world, its true culture has taken various changes depending on the region it exists in, for example in subcontinent, Malaysia and Indonesia. The influence of hindu culture is dominant on muslim practices too, since the people that converted to islam and formed muslim communities there were originally hindus. Practices like lighting candles on the last seven Ramadan nights has been adopted from a Hindu festival, so are many of the customs involved in marriage that require bride and groom to sit centre stage and get appraised and blessed by the crowd. These practices are contrasting to what is truly Islamic and have no origins in islam whatsoever.

Faith Ringold :: essays research papers

Who was Faith Ringold ? Born in New York , Faith Ringold was an African American artist who started school in 2nd grade . While she was at home , her mother taught her the basic skills . She knew how to read before she went to school . In her early childhood she use to be sick every so often , she could not attend school regularly ; however, her mother use to bring her drawing books and pencils . Therefore , she spent most of her time drawing . So, as she grew older and began to go to school , one day her teacher asked her to draw a mountain. Because she was born and raised in New York, she had never seen a mountain before; therefore, she could not draw the mountain properly . The professor told her " you cannot be an artist, " and she said to the professor " yes I could and I will be artist . " She had great internal locus of control and self-confidence . She believed she could do it and she did it . Her mother was a fashion designer . She was very close to her mother, and her father was a great role model for her . He also use to draw , in other words he inspired faith to become an artist . Faith Ringold was a bright artist . She benefited a scholarship in college . While in college she had the opportunity to ship her works at an inexpensive price to sell outside the country. 1960 she learned what African art was as a black artist . She also learned to mix her European training with the African art . She learned about African designs , and African American art . Faith Ringold wrote her stories and painted them on her works . She painted the tradition of African art and design she drew her family 's every day life . Faith Ringold was an artist who justify her culture and her existence with the black art . She expressed who she was through her art .

A Feminist Approach to Toni Morisson’s Beloved Essay

When hearing about Toni Morrison’s novel, â€Å"Beloved†, one may imagine it as being another story about a slave’s life. And this is not wrong. â€Å"Beloved† does tell the tales of many slaves. It tells of whippings, rape, hard work and escape. But, while drawing this image of the historical aspect of enslavement and black culture, Morrison also tells the personal story of a very strong female slave. Morrison’s novel focuses mainly on the female characters – Sethe, Baby Suggs, Denver, Beloved – and their relationships. If feminism may be defined as a major movement in western thinking in western thinking since the 1960s, which puts particular emphasis upon the importance of women’s experience, then â€Å"Beloved† can be regarded through a feminist perspective. Even though â€Å"Beloved† tells the story of many slaves, because of its focus on the proactive and independent women in the novel, it also makes a feminist statement. Morrison has a particular way of writing the female body into the discourse of slavery, motherhood, human rights and morality. She presents the exploitation of the female body in both a sensory and psychological way. There are many examples in the novel that illustrate this aspect. In the case of Sethe, one of the major characters, we can observe both ways of exploitation of the human body. The stealing of her milk during the rape she suffered writes her experience as a woman slave who has no right to her body and also her experience as a slave mother with no defense, who is used to the violation of her own body, but cannot bear the forcible extraction of her milk meant for the child in her womb. The psychological trauma left behind this experience is felt by the mother who is symbolically separated from her child. The earliest need that a child has is mother’s milk. Sethe is traumatized by the experience of having her milk stolen because it means she cannot form the symbolic bond between herself and her daughter. Sethe’s body shows nothing but suffering if one takes into consideration the chokecherry tree scar on her back caused by the cruel whipping she suffered in the same night of the rape and her attempt to escape. She also felt pain when she gave birth to Denver, thing which can be judged by the bleeding feet about which Amy sais â€Å"it hurts for something new to grow†. The only time when Sethe uses her body for her own pleasure was when she has sex with Paul D. Another example of the female body being written into discourse is illustrated through Beloved, a mysterious character thought to be the daughter Sethe murdered when the girl was only two years old. Beloved’s skin is like a baby’s skin, she sleeps a lot and her faculties of speech and movement are not well developed. Physically Beloved is the embodiment of the discourse of motherhood for a slave, of the evil. Her body is a sacrifice that saves the other children’s lives from the meanness of the schoolmaster through her death. From Sethe she feeds on the attention and the maternal guilt that has been poisoning her life. Finally the physical disappearance of her body and her death is the absolving exorcism that removes the last vestiges of torment left over from the slave days. The character of Beloved is the epitome of the past and present entwined in a consciousness. She is still a baby in terms of behavior but the body is like that of the woman she would have become if she wasn’t killed. Her supernatural manifestations are the result of the unresolved conflicts in the mother-child bond between Sethe and Beloved and its very existence is because of the non linearity of her consciousness. I see Beloved’s murdering of her child a desperate gesture of a mother who wants to protect her children from salvery. The community sees Sethe’s murder an unforgivable one. Slavery created a situation where a mother is separated from her child, leaving devastating consequences behind: a whole life suffering from a bad guilt and also a psychic trauma. Motherhood feeling is universally deep and when mothers are unable to provide maternal care for their children, or when their children are taken away from her then they feel a lost sense of self. Similarly, when a child is separated from his mother, he also looses the family identity. Sethe was never able to see her mother’s true face because her smile was distorted from having spent too much time with the â€Å"bit†, so she was not able to connect with her own mother and therefore does not know how to connect with her own children even if she longs to. Concerning the language of the novel, the way of writing, one can observe a feminine way of writing, the semiotic language that Julia Kristeva mentioned sometime. There can be observed a freeplay of language, a fluidity of words free of any control unlike the fixity and linearity of male discourse. There is a passage in the third part of the novel that best illustrates this way of writing, the fluid and poetic nature of the narrative in one of the dialogues between Beloved and Sethe. There can be observed a long flowing verse in which the mother and daughter identify eachother, establishing the long lost maternal bond and acknowledging the events that took place between them: â€Å"Why did you leave me who am you/ I will never leave you again/ I drank your blood/ I brought your milk/ You forgot to smile/ I loved you/ You hurt me/ You came back to me/ You left me†. There are no punctuation marks and one sentence runs into another, each sentence is loaded with intense feelings showing accusation, guilt, assurance, love, like a rushing river that carries all the emotions in its fierce fluidity. The depth of a maternal emotional experience is rendered throughout this novel. The other female characters, Denver and Baby Suggs had the chance to see the beauty of freedom. Baby Suggs’s freedom was bought by the sacrifice of her son Halle, while Denver is far from the tormented life in slavery thanks to her mother’s protection and estrangement from the black community.

Mountain Biomes Life At High Elevation

Mountains are a constantly changing environment, in which plant and animal life varies with changes in elevation. Climb up a mountain and you may notice that the temperatures get colder, tree species change or disappear altogether, and the plants and animal species are different than those found on lower ground. Want to learn more about the worlds mountains and the plants and animals that live there? Read on. What makes a mountain? Inside the Earth, there are masses called tectonic plates that glide over the planets mantle. When those plates crash into one another, the push the Earths crust higher and higher into the atmosphere, forming mountains.   Mountain climates While all mountain ranges are different, one thing they do have in common is temperatures that are cooler than the surrounding area thanks to higher elevation. As air rises into the Earths atmosphere, it cools down. This affects not only the temperature but also the precipitation. Winds are another factor that make mountain biomes different from the areas around them. By nature of their topography, mountains stand in the path of winds. Winds can bring with them precipitation and erratic weather changes. That means that the climate on the windward side of a mountain (facing the wind,) will likely be different from that of the leeward side (sheltered from the wind.) The windward side of a mountain will be cooler and have more precipitation, while the leeward side will be drier and warmer.   Of course, this too will vary depending upon the location of the mountain. The Ahaggar Mountains in Algerias Sahara Desert will not have much precipitation no matter which side of the mountain you are looking at. Mountains and microclimates   Another interesting characteristic of mountain biomes is the microclimates produced by the topography. Steep slopes and sunny cliffs may be home to one set of plants and animals while just a few feet away, a shallow but shaded area is home to a completely different array of flora and fauna. These microclimates may vary depending upon the steepness of the slope, the access to the sun, and the amount of precipitation that falls in a localized area. Mountain Plants and Animals The plants and animals found in mountainous areas will vary depending upon the location of the biome. But heres a general overview: Temperate zone mountains Mountains in the temperate zone, such as the Rocky Mountains in Colorado generally have four distinct seasons. They usually have conifer trees on their lower slopes that fade into alpine vegetation (such as lupins and daisies,) above the tree line. Fauna include deer, bears, wolves,  mountain lions, squirrels, rabbits, and a wide variety of birds, fish, reptiles, and amphibians.  Ã‚   Tropical mountains Tropical areas are known for their species diversity and this holds true for the mountains found there. Trees grow tall and at elevations higher than in other climate zones. In addition to evergreen trees, tropical mountains may be populated by grasses, heathers, and shrubs. Thousands of animals make their homes in tropical mountain areas. From the gorillas of Central Africa to the jaguars of South America, tropical mountains host huge numbers of animals. Desert mountains The harsh climate of a desert landscape - lack of rain, high winds, and little to no soil, makes it difficult for any plant to take root. But some, such as cacti and certain ferns, are able to carve out a home there. And animals such as big horned sheep, bobcats, and coyotes are well adapted to live in these harsh conditions. Threats to Mountain Biomes As is happening in most ecosystems, the plants and animals found in mountain regions are changing thanks to the warmer temperatures and changing precipitation brought on by climate change. Mountain biomes are also threatened by deforestation, wildfires, hunting, poaching, and urban sprawl.   Possible the biggest threat facing many mountainous regions today is that brought on by fracking - or hydraulic fracturing. This process of recovering gas and oil from shale rock can devastate mountain areas, destroying fragile ecosystems and possible polluting groundwater via by-product runoff.