VS 2A 2009 English Language Blog

hi all,

This is Daniel Kong's essay.

“The Environment: Our Future”

Discuss the likely impact of climate change on life as you know it. What is to be done?

Everyone has heard of global warming and climate change. Is it really an issue of grave importance? What are higher temperatures likely to do to us? Isn’t nature big and powerful enough to clean up after us? Wouldn’t our trees keep our air nice and clean?

Environmentalists warn us that the future looks bleak. Our planet is dying and some say that climate change poses a bigger threat to the world than terrorism. Nature’s balancing forces have been drastically altered. We can no longer rely on our oceans and forests to clean up after us. Man’s drive to invent and build has led to extraordinary advances and great technological revolution. It’s also had grave and unintended consequences. Man is the main cause of the problems and yet, governments currently lack any viable solution.

The warning signs are plain to see. Global warming is occurring because human activities, particularly burning fossil fuels, have released into the atmosphere, huge amounts of carbon dioxide and other “greenhouse gases” that are trapping more heat in the Earth’s lower atmosphere. Another important addition of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere is deforestation and other land-use changes. As a result of the build-up of gases, the temperature is rising. Average global temperatures are predicted to increase by between 1.4 degrees and 5.8 degrees over the next century. Mountain glaciers are fading on every continent and the sea ice is melting. The seas have begun a slow but menacing rise.

Climate change will pose serious threats and impact the way we live. There will be increased droughts and incidence of wildfires. Droughts have caused big crop failures and lowered global food production, leading to higher food prices. The vast sheets of bright white ice reflect nearly 80% of sunlight that falls on them. But as the ice sheets melt, they reveal dark waters or soils beneath that absorb sunlight, warm up and cause yet more melting. The risk of floods rises due to the rise in sea levels. Millions of people are at risk from coastal flooding. Climate change has also reduced the availability of fresh water. Experts have been warning that if global warming continued, it would trigger regional conflicts, poverty, famine and migration, as a result of climate change.

Climate change may also be damaging to health. It is expected to lead to diarrhoea and spread infectious diseases such as malaria and dengue fever, as a result of water shortages and poor quality. Climate change will also drive up the number of cardio-respiratory diseases. There may be more deaths from strokes and heart attacks because of the heat. The death toll in all parts of the world as a result of climate change will rise sharply.

Addressing climate change is not easy. However, we can and must act urgently if we are to limit and eventually halt the impact of global warming on human communities and natural ecosystems. We must drastically reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. We need to develop more efficient and renewable sources of energy. Since everyone uses energy, everyone can help stop global warming by using less energy and improving energy efficiency. We can take personal action to solve the climate crisis by reducing our own carbon dioxide pollution as much as we can.

Reducing our dependence on cars will help to keep emissions down. We can rely more on public transport, or better still walk and cycle. This change can help lead to a fall in obesity levels, while increasing the general health of the public. Switching to fuel efficient cars and making sure our car tyres are full of air can help to reduce wastage of fuel.

We can turn things off when we are not using them. We can use energy saver settings on our home appliances, computers and office equipment. We can switch to using more energy efficient products. Whenever we can, we must reduce, reuse and recycle. Buying a used product means avoiding the production and distribution of goods that would require energy and emit global warming gases. Before throwing something in the trash, check if it can be recycled. These are but a few of the many measures we each can adopt to contain the growing crisis.

There is a chance to save our world if we act together, NOW!

Daniel Kong Wei Ming

Secondary 1A, Victoria School

30 January 2008