The atmosphere

The atmosphere is divided into five layers. It is thickest near the surface and thins out with height until it eventually merges with space.

1) The troposphere	The troposphere is the first layer above the surface and contains half of the Earth's atmosphere. Weather occurs in this layer. Weather in this layer affects our daily life.	Between 7 to 14 kilometres.	The higher, the colder.
2) The stratosphere	Many jet aircrafts fly in the stratosphere because it is very stable. Also, the ozone layer absorbs harmful rays from the Sun.	Starts at 14 to 50 kilometres.	The higher, the hotter.
3) The mesosphere.	Meteors or rock fragments burn up in the mesosphere.	Between 50 to 85 kilometres.	The higher, the colder.
4) The thermosphere.	The thermosphere is a layer with auroras. It is also where the space shuttle orbits.	Between 85 to 640 kilometres or higher.	The higher, the hotter.
5) The exosphere.	The atmosphere merges into space in the extremely thin exosphere. This is the upper limit of our atmosphere.	640 kilometres or higher.

The water cycle

Water is essential for life as we know it. The water cycle is the cycle that water goes through on Earth. It makes the rain, clouds, and most of our weather. 

The water cycle, also known as the hydrologic cycle, describes the continuous movement of water on, above and below the surface of the Earth. Water can change states among liquid, vapour, and solid at several places in the water cycle.

The sun, which drives the water cycle, heats water in oceans and seas. Water evaporates as water vapour into the air. Rising air currents take the vapour up into the atmosphere where cooler temperatures cause it to condense into clouds. Air currents move water vapour around the globe, cloud particles fall out of the sky as precipitation. Some precipitation falls as snow or hail.

Most water falls back into the oceans or onto land as rain, where the water flows over the ground as surface runoff. A portion of runoff enters rivers in valleys in the landscape, moving water towards the oceans. Not all runoff flows into rivers, much of it soaks into the ground as infiltration. Some water infiltrates deep into the ground and replenishes aquifers, which store freshwater for long periods of time.


Over time, the water returns to the ocean, where the water cycle started.

The water cycle

1. - First, water on the earth, in lakes, in oceans and in the sea is evaporated by the heat from the Sun.
2. - Excess water from plants is also absorbed into the atmosphere, this process is called transpiration.
3. - Then, water collects as water vapor in the sky. This makes clouds.
4. - Next, the water in the clouds gets cold. This makes it become liquid again. This process is called condensation.
5. - Then, the water falls from the sky as rain, snow, sleet, or hail which is called precipitation.
6. -The water then collects into lakes, oceans, or aquifers. From there, it evaporates again and continues the cycle.

Waste segregation

Waste segregation (waste sorting) is the process by which waste is separated into different elements. 

Waste segregation means dividing waste into:

• dry waste, 
• wet waste,
• household hazardous waste,
• garden waste,
• debris and rubbish and 
• sanitary waste.

Dry waste includes: 
cartoon box, tetra packs, glass, metals and metal objects, plastic, paper, leather, rubber, rexin and tin

Wet waste includes: 
food leftovers, fruits & fruit peels, flowers, plantain leaf, greens, rotten fruits, vegetable peels, vegetable wastes, tea powder waste and coffee powder waste.

Household hazardous waste includes: 
tube lights, cfl blubs, fluorescent, cells and batteries, pesticides, insecticides, toilet cleaners, cleaning solutions oils, paints & solvents mosquito repellents, rat poison and Thermocol.

Garden waste includes:
weeds, branch trimmings, lawn trimmings, fallen leaves, coconut tree parts and roots.

Debris and rubbish and includes: 
construction waste, demolition waste, sweeping dust, drain slit, ashes and broken glass.

Sanitary waste includes:
disposable diapers, bathroom cleaning brush, sanitary napkins, human hair / nails, waxing strips and soiled cotton.

Characteristics of entrepreneurs

Here are the 10 characteristics of most entrepreneurs:

• You are driven by motivation and ambition
• Highly disciplined
• Leadership, planning, and management skills
• You are proactive and take initiative
• Learn from your mistakes and the mistakes of others
• Realize that success is the only option
• Willing to exploit new opportunities
• Knowledgeable of the subject matter and willing to learn more
• You prefer the excitement of risk
• You are committed no matter the obstacles

Attributes of Successful Entrepreneurs

To the right you will find a list of attributes that many entrepreneurs share. I believe though that although all of those can be found in many entrepreneurs, successful entrepreneurs usually have the following five attributes.

• Ambition - The desire to succeed is a key attribute determining the success of an entrepreneur. An entrepreneur must be passionate about what he/she is doing and truly believe in the success of the venture.

• A Vision - An entrepreneur doesn't just have ideas, he has a vision on how to make an idea a success - a plan for actually implementing the idea.

• Creativity - We often hear about "thinking outside the box" but as an entrepreneur, this is a particularly important concept because as an entrepreneur, you want to provide solutions beyond the ordinary ones - as an entrepreneur you strive to have extraordinary ideas.

• Intelligence - This one is a bit misleading since there are all sorts of intelligences. There's the traditional IQ intelligence which is called logical-mathematical intelligence and there's interpersonal intelligence which is the ability to interact well with others, among others. I believe that the required intelligence differs based on the industry.

• Risk taking - An entrepreneur usually has a higher risk tolerance than the average person - he takes calculated risks and this really sets him apart from the average person.

Seasons

Seasons
A season is a part of a year. In most areas of the world there are four seasons in a year: spring, summer, autumn and winter. Seasons are there because of the earth being tilted on its axis as it moves around the sun. During the different seasons that we have, the earth will lean towards the sun or away from the sun. These seasons are a reflection of how solar energy is distributed to the Earth based on its axis of rotation as well as its shape.

Earth_tilt_animation.gif

The four seasons is caused by the Earth’s 23.5 degree tilt from the line perpendicular to its orbit plane (toward the sun during summer). Thus, at any given time during summer or winter, one part of the planet is more directly exposed to the rays of the Sun (see the next figure).

Beam spreading
The increase in surface area over which radiation is distributed in response to a decrease of solar angle. The greater the spreading, the less intense the radiation (and vice versa).

Het wordt steeds drukker in Mumbai

VIDEO: Het-wordt-steeds-drukker-in-mumbai

Megacities

A megacity is usually defined as a metropolitan area with a total population in excess of ten million people. A megacity can be a single metropolitan area or two or more metropolitan areas that converge. 

In 1800, only 3% of the world's population lived in cities, a figure that rose to 47% by the end of the twentieth century. In 1950, there were 83 cities with populations exceeding one million; by 2007, this number had risen to 468. If the trend continues, the world's population as a whole will double every 45 years.

Rank	Megacity	Country	Continent	Population
1	Tokyo	Japan	Asia	34,800,000
2	Guangzhou	China	Asia	31,700,000
3	Shanghai	China	Asia	28,900,000
4	Jakarta	Indonesia	Asia	26,400,000
5	Seoul	South Korea	Asia	25,800,000
6	Delhi	India	Asia	24,000,000
7	Mexico City	Mexico	North America	23,800,000
8	Karachi	Pakistan	Asia	23,500,000
9	Manila	Philippines	Asia	22,200,000
10	New York City	United States	North America	21,600,000
11	São Paulo	Brazil	South America	21,600,000
12	Mumbai	India	Asia	21,400,000
13	Beijing	China	Asia	19,300,000
14	Los Angeles	United States	North America	17,200,000
15	Osaka	Japan	Asia	16,800,000
16	Dhaka	Bangladesh	Asia	16,300,000
17	Cairo	Egypt	Africa	16,100,000
18	Kolkata	India	Asia	16,000,000
19	London	United Kingdom	Europe	15,500,000
20	Buenos Aires	Argentina	South America	14,500,000

1975		2000		2015 Projected
Tokyo New York Shanghai Mexico City São Paolo	19.8 15.9 11.4 11.2 10	Tokyo Mexico City Mumbai São Paolo Shanghai New York Lagos Los Angeles Kolkuta Buenos Aires Dhaka Karachi Delhi Jakarta Osaka Metro Manila Beijing Rio de Janeiro Cairo	26.4 18.1 18.1 17.8 17 16.6 13.4 13.1 12.9 12.6 12.3 11.8 11.7 11 11 10.9 10.8 10.6 10.6	Tokyo Mumbai Lagos Dhaka São Paolo Karachi Mexico City New York Jakarta Kolkuta Delhi Metro Manila Shanghai Los Angeles Buenos Aires Cairo Istanbul Beijing Rio de Janeiro Osaka Tianjin Hyderabad Bangkok	26.4 26.1 23.2 21.1 20.4 19.2 19.2 17.4 17.3 17.3 16.8 14.8 14.6 14.1 14.1 13.8 12.5 12.3 11.9 11 10.7 10.5 10.1

 Source: State of the World Population 200,1 Chapter 3,  UNFPA

Challenges in megacities:

Megacities will have to face different challenges of social, economic and ecologic dimensions, and should develop new solutions and actions, to answer to citizens to all their needs.

• Buuildings, housing, slums
• Homelessness
• Traffic congestion
• Waste
• Urban sprawl (also known as suburban sprawl)
• Gentrification
• Environmental problems (air pollution)
• Energy
• Water