Chapter 2

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Natural+finding+favour+markets/2080714/story.html

Summary:
This article talks about the natural gas prices going back up. One month ago, their value was at 40%, since then the prices went up to 60%, though still 30% below its crude-equivalent. The economic forecasts have been updated for 2010, helping the industrial production which in the end will lead to help of oil and natural gas. There has been talk about low production because of the wells being closed, but since winter is coming, it might change that. It is expected that the demand for natural gas will increase due to the lack of supply. Traders are betting that the supply/demand trend will lead to falling inventory levels.

Connection:
The connection between the article and chapter 2 is the supply and demand factors. The reason of the increase in demand for natural gas is because the lack of supply they have. The factor involving would be weather. The weather changiing to winter means the hurricane season is over and the cold weather is coming back again. This will create a increase in demand, however there has been many wells shut-off because of the low prices. It seems that there is low inventory expected, making the demands even higher. If we were to make a supply/demand curve, the demand curve would be shifted right and the supply curve would shifted left.

Reflection:
I think that we missed a great chance on investing into natural gas. From August on, the stocks for natural gas companies have been going up and nearing its peak. I think that the prices for natural gas will continue to rise because of the lack of supply. What I don't understand is that, why the supply is a problem. The wells that have been shut-off could easily be reopened, therefore, creating no problems at all. Finally, for those people investing in natural gas companies, they should have gained quite a lot by the new years.

Chapter 1

http://www.physorg.com/news170519675.html

Summary:

The article talks about our most valuable resource, water. The article states that water first began to diminish in Australia, between 1993 and 1996. They have had low rainfall the past several years, and the drought is caused by both historical trend and climate change predictions. Dr van Dijk, senior CSIRO researcher, has been researching Australia's water resource with the first ever national and comprehensive analysis of 30 years of on-ground and satellite observations. He says that what makes the situation worse than it is, is that the sixties and the seventies were way wetter than it is now. They are afraid Australia might run out of water resource.

Connection:

The connection between the article and chapter 1 in our textbook is scarcity. Chapter 1 talks about scarcity and what scarcity really is. Because everything is scarce, we have to make a decision on how the commodity will be used. Water is most important thing in our life, and now water is becoming scarce. The demands for water are way too high with the supply being limited. On average, each Canadian uses 7100 litres of water a day. The demands for water will continue to rise as the supply for water continues to fall, we have to find a way to get our supply of water back up or else we'll run out of water.

Reflection:

Canada has 14% of the world's lakes and 9% of the world's river flow, yet water is becoming scarce in Canada. I think that water is the most important thing in our life. Without water, we cannot live. With the supply of water continuing to diminish, we have to cherish our water supply. We can do that by not wasting water, and also not polluting the water that once used to be clean. With the demand for water continues to rise, we must seek a way to save our water, that is, perhaps finding a way to make the undrinkable water drinkable. The question now is, how long do we have before the drinkable water is depleted.