Air Pollution in San Joaquin Valley – Causes, Impacts and Mitigation Strategies
- The paper should be at least 2000 words. The word count does not include the title page, table of content and the bibliography. Any paper not meeting this requirement won’t be graded. To avoid any doubt, use the Microsoft Word count feature to check the number of words in your document and indicate it in the space provided at the lower right corner of your cover page (see below).
- You are allowed to use figures for illustrations, but they only have to be referenced in the body of the document. All supporting figures and tables should be adequately labeled and must be attached to the document as appendix
- The emphasis should be on ozone (O3) and particulate matters (PM), two of the air pollutants regulated by various local, state and federal rules that are of most concerns to the region.
- The discussion should address, at minimum, the following issues
- – sources and variation (diurnal and seasonal) of the pollutants
- – why the region ranks poorly in air quality, stressing the roles of geography, meteorology and agricultural activities in the region
- – likely impacts of climate change on the pollution level
- – economic, social and health impacts of air pollution in the region
- – existing policies in place to address the pollution problem.
- The discussion should be substantive, coherent and based on accurate presentation of facts and logic supported by appropriate and adequate references. This requires reading widely and analyzing the work of others, using as many sources as you can, synthesizing information from all the source materials and presenting it in your own words. This means quotes are not allowed.
- Your sources should, at minimum, include five journal articles. This means you can have as many references as you could get and from various sources but at least five of them have to be journal articles. You will incur ten points deduction for each journal source less than the minimum required number. This will be strictly enforced. Watch the video clip at this link
http://guides.library.cornell.edu/c.php?g=31233&p=… if you don’t know what a scholarly journal article is, and should you have problem finding relevant journals, use appropriate keywords in the Fresno State Library Database Search, Google or Google Scholar search
- Remember this is a science term paper so a scientific paper style is expected. Use APA format for in-text citations, reference section (“Works Cited” at the end of the paper) and headings/subheadings. You do NOT need to include an abstract.
- An electronic copy of the paper in a Microsoft Word format is to be submitted via Turnitin on Blackboard by October 22. A submission link will be accessible from the Term Paper Folder.
- Please note that only papers turned in as instructed and before the due date will be graded. There will be no exceptions.
- The paper will be assessed on organization, coverage of the materials, clarity and accuracy of content, consistency of style and format, ability to synthesize information from various sources and present it in a logical manner.
- A template for the cover page is provided on the next page