Climate change…what it is? Do you feel it? Can we feel the ultimate change in our climate? For me, Yes. Now in our present times I could really say that the climate is really quite different back then during my elementary and high school days. Before, children could play in the fields with other children. Play hide and seek and flying colorful kites in the air. Compare the past with the situation of our climate in the present, children could not play too long outside in the fields because of too much heat and its burning effect to the human skin which could later result to sun-burn and could possibly cause to skin cancer. Too much sun heat exposure could also cause dehydration to our body which is bad for our health.
But what is CLIMATE CHANGE? Literally, climate change is accordingly name-explanatory. Simply, it is a serious, crucial or vast change in climate and in the atmosphere. Years back, we have not imagined that the climate could change ultimately like what it is in the present and/or today. Climate change results could be seen by the melting and disappearing icebergs in the Arctic. Inuit people are the major witnesses of that change in the North. In South America and in European countries, the climate change can be observed by the lethal storms, floods, disappearing glaciers, numerous forest fires and fatal heat waves caused by too much heat from the sun. Climate change means a change in the atmosphere, in the earth’s temperature, in the storm cycles and the sea water level. These changes are observed now-a-days because of the substantial difference between the condition of the atmosphere before and its condition recently.
According to the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change or IPCC, climatologists articulate that global warming was caused by human activities. And this articulation creates a growing fear of the possible feedbacks that this warming could generate. Human activities stated were the burning of Earth’s natural resources such as coal, oil and natural gases. Because of the said activities, billions of tons carbon dioxide was released to the air which we called the ‘greenhouse gases’. The greenhouse effect has been introduced to science for a long of time. And carbon dioxide or CO2 as we all know is a greenhouse gas that traps the Sun’s radiation in the Earth’s lower atmosphere together with the other greenhouse gases such as the methane and the chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) gases. According to Pearce, if these current activities will certainly continue, the world’s temperature will exceed double from two degree Celsius up to five degrees Celsius which eventually means that the heat we feel during daytime will double and could easily burn our skin in seconds of staying under the sun. We may suffer from heat strokes and dehydration. This condition is the cause and effect of global warming. The arising of global temperature could result to the melting of icebergs, changes in the oceans, in the water vapor cycle and the possible changes in the cycle of vegetation.
Further, according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency or EPA, these human activities have significantly contributed to the amount of these heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the Earth’s atmosphere since the dawn of agriculture and/or the start of the Industrial Era. The burning of fossil fuels and biomass such as the forest and vegetation has also contributed to the greenhouse effect by the production of aerosol entity from the burnt matter. This entity absorbs and release heat which results to reflect light. Even in the Philippines, the ‘kaingin’ system also contributes to the climate change. Aside from the fact that it destroys the natural diversity of plants and trees that live and give life to the mountains, it also make addition to the greenhouse gases present in the Earth’s atmosphere. By using of burned wood or ‘uling’ in daily cooking - three times a day, seven days a week, also means that large amount of greenhouse gases added to the atmosphere. According to the IPCC in 2007, the addition of greenhouse gases and aerosols has changed the composition of the atmosphere. The changes in the atmosphere have likely influenced temperature, precipitation, storms and sea level. It has influenced the mentioned because of the too much heat and light produced from by the heat-trapping gases. The IPCC predicted in their semi annual report that the major impacts of Climate change would be the lowered farm production, more frequent and severe droughts, floods and storms and rising of sea level. Warming is bringing other unpredictable changes. Melting glaciers in the Northern part of the world causing rivers to overflow, while in the other area evaporation cause rivers to die and empty. Diseases and illnesses are spreading even the number of death. Crops are damaged by diseases and strong typhoons and heavy rains with hurricanes; and others are destroyed by drought.
Is it possible that hunger and illnesses are caused by climate change? Well this speculation has been discussed by Joy deep Gupta in her article regarding climate change summit (Poznan Summit) and hunger and illnesses worldwide. A quote from her article says that “climate change summit is entering its final day without any sign of substantial progress, but climate change effects have progressed dramatically worldwide, adding to hunger and illnesses worldwide”. In just this year as discussed in the Poznan summit held in Poland, the drought that arises in Western Australia had been the major impact of climate change presently arising in the world. To struggle with the climate condition and in order to preserve bio-diversity, many have switched tin using bio-fuels. But the extreme change and the drought caused famine and food crisis to western Australian dwellers in this year of 2008. As a result according to Parry, a professor at the Imperial College in London and a former Co-chair of a working group at the IPCC, in this year 2008 “forty (40) million people had been added to the list of “at risk of hunger”, taking the total of 963 million or one-sixth of the world’s total population”. With the large industries causing this change, the most affected country would be the developing countries and poorest in the human population. Reduction of water supply and reduction in food production would the major effect of the changes in the climate.
In addition to the relation of hunger and sickness and climate change, Maria Niera of World Health Organization stated that ‘aside from the numerous number of people and countries at risk of hunger, many people also turn ill and/or diagnose to diseases because of the sudden change in climate’ in the Poznan Summit. She pointed out that safe water, food and clean air are all at risk to climate change. For further information, the Poznan Summit is a gathering of 3,000 negotiators of 186 countries and over 5,000 Non0government Organization representatives and scientists. The summit is held in Poznan, Poland on December 1-12, 2008 which concerns global warming and climate change, and its effect to the people and their living. Niera also pointed that public health depends on safe drinking water, sufficient food, secure shelter and safe houses, and good social condition. By the change of climate, all of the mentioned will be affected eventually and many would be ill if left unattended. And yet, the community of the poor people, which contributed least to greenhouse gas emissions, would be the much affected areas. Whenever, big pipes from the big industries released gases which largely contribute to the climate change, the poor society like us would be the first people to feel and respond to the effects of sudden rapid change.
Niera also enumerate some of the health effects made possible by climate change in the Poznan summit. Firstly, the health effects of climate change are the increasing frequencies of heat waves. Recent analyses showed that human-induced climate change significantly increased the likelihood of the European summer heat wave of 2003. In the country, I do not feel much heat wave when I stayed under the day; I could only feel that the heat of the sun is a little warmer than it used to be. Slight sunburn would later on be recognized in the skin; and if around noon and you stayed out for a long time, heat strokes might strike you down. Is that the effects of climate change? Maybe and possibly…
The second health effect is more variable rainfall patterns are likely to compromise the supply of freshwater, increasing risks of water-borne diseases. Yes, I have observed that these past few days, it always rains. If not heavy, slightly pouring the ground until wet. And rainy days could bring illnesses such as influenza, cold, coughs and even fever. Thirdly is the rising temperatures and variable rainfall are likely to decrease the production of staple foods in many of the poorest regions, increasing risks of malnutrition. This health effect is correct because food production varies on the weather condition of the atmosphere. If it rains heavily and/or if there are calamities due to typhoons, the crops would be damaged and possibly turn useless. No harvest would happen and farmers will have no food production. the affected poorest community will have no enough food supply and children could be malnourished due to lack of food.
Fourthly is the rising of sea levels could increase the risk of coastal flooding, and may necessitate population displacement. According to Niera, more than half the world's population now lives within 60 km of the sea. Some of the most vulnerable regions are the Nile delta in Egypt, the Ganga-Brahmaputra delta, and many small islands, such as the Maldives, the Marshall Islands and Tuvalu. It was in the year of 2005 or 2006 when Maldives was wiped out by a tsunami and every single pieces of island’s beauty was totally destroyed by the great wave. Great waves exist because of the change in the sea level and when it happens to a certain place, many people and business would be affected and damaged. Lastly is the changes in climate are likely to lengthen the transmission seasons of important vector-borne diseases such as malaria and chikunguniya, and to alter their geographic range, potentially bringing them to regions which lack either population immunity or a strong public health infrastructure. This last heath effect is quiet approving because whenever an area has change in climate such as unpredictable rain conditions, mosquitoes which causes malaria would eventually move out and gather. Like in our country, malaria is known because of some attacks it has made to some of the Filipinos. Our country is their likely to dwell because of the change in climate and of the vast population they can suck off blood for their food. Strange reality but yes, I could say that migration of diseases caused by pests could be possibly brought by the change in climate in their dwelling area.
Well, climate change is a really dangerous to happen. The population could suffer to calamities brought by change of weather from time to time, famine and food crisis would be recognize as an aftershock because when there are calamities, drought, floods and typhoons, lack in food supply would be rendered due to transportation and communication problem especially to the unreachable affected areas. When the time of the great flood from the rising of the sea level due to the melting of the ice in the North, everything in this world would be possibly destroyed just like what scientists predicted as the caused of the disappearance Dinosaurs. The human race would be vanished just the same as the dinosaurs. When the sun’s radiation would not be filtered by the atmosphere, we cannot go out of the house afraid of burning our skin due to too much heat. In other places, drought is much possible to worsen and no water supply might be found in water wells and rivers just like what is happening in Africa. When the change in vegetation would take place to its worse point, hunger and illnesses would possibly attack human race, and even death to the most affected.
If the climate’s temperature condition would be to the worse level, what should we do? Can we do something about it? If not totally resolve the rapid change in climate, can we do something to minimize its effect? According to Pearce in his article, the world has agreed to prevent the so called ‘dangerous’ climate change during the 1992 Earth Summit. The first action they had made was the response of 1997 Kyoto Protocol. The protocol was to bring the meek emission reductions industrialized countries like European countries, Australia, and United States. The protocol was then take place during 2005. In 2005, United States and Australia engaged to Kyoto protocol; and collaborated with other countries suggested the ‘clean fuel technologies’ as an alternative to emission cuts. But according to the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), a quick improvement in energy usage efficiency is needed and development of renewable non-carbon fuels is very significant such as wind, solar, tidal or even nuclear power. With this suggestion also means new methods of converting clean energy into motive power such as hydrogen fuel cells for cars and mobile gadgets now a days. Other solutions mentioned in the article is the idea of mega-engineering covering the planet giant mirrors in order to prevent the Sun’s rays. The so-called Giant Mirror was brought by the engineers who make the idea of cloud seeding and got the plan to warm Siberia by melting the Arctic ice. The giant mirror could shade the planet by covering it with tiny metal balloons, seeding the oceans with iron to generate algal blooms and/or burying greenhouse gases below the sea. Sounds interesting for the climate scientist but the proposal were dismissed because of the cost, effectiveness and potential ecological impact it could bring. Aside from all of this ideas and suggestions in cutting emissions, the bottom line is we need to stabilize the atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations and temperature to prevent the unbearable heat our future may BRING.
As an IT student and concern individual, I could help minimize to the emission of greenhouse gases by saving energy efficiently in my home, when I am at school or going out. I will help and contribute to the emission by saving water and energy and/or electricity usage, and by disposing garbage waste properly. But there are actions and steps to help minimize the emission of greenhouse gases present in the Web. The Environmental Protection Agency introduced some actions steps we can make to contribute to the emission cut. There action steps are the following:
Firstly are the actions we can make when we are at home:
1. Change 5 lights
2. Look for ENERGY STAR qualified products
3. Heat and cool smartly
4. Seal and insulate your home
5. Use green power
6. Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle
7. Be green in your yard
8. Use water efficiently
9. Spread the Word
With these actions in our home, we can save energy and lower the cost of our energy bills. We could also help to the environment and be the mediator of spreading the information to other people so that they will be aware of what is happening around them.
Secondly are the actions we can make when we are on the road and traveling:
1. Buy smart
2. Drive smart
3. Tune your ride
4. Check your tires
5. Give your car a break
6. Use Renewable Fuels
Smoke from the cars is one of the contributors of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. That’s the side effect of car technology that uses natural energy; the release of black smoke from the pipes causing air pollution to the air. This affects the people riding and/or walking.
Thirdly are the actions we can make when we are at the office:
1. Manage office equipment energy use better
2. Look for ENERGY STAR qualified products for the Office
3. Ask your office building manager if your office building has earned the ENERGY STAR.
4. Use less energy for your commute
5. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Offices are part of the industries and company that provide technology and contribute greenhouse gases. Workers could also help through these actions. The better is to reduce, reuse and recycle the equipments to save energy and help the environment.
Fourthly are the actions we can make when we are at school:
For the Students, we can make the following actions:
1. Bring science to life
2. High school students check your school's climate impact
3. Get involved your College or University
For the Educators, you can make the following actions:
4. Teach students about climate change and ecosystems
5. Engage middle school students in estimating emissions
6. Learn from other educators
The Administrators could also do the following actions:
7. Save money and the environment
8. Estimate your emissions and take the challenge
9. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
As a student, educator and administrator or whoever what your occupation may be, with these steps we can make a very big difference in our world today and help minimize the release of greenhouse gases and lessen the greenhouse effect. These are the steps introduced by Environmental Protection Agency for the United States population but if we apply it in the our country we could also make a contribution to the emission cut discussed in the Poznan Summit and in the Earth’s Summit. People should be aware of the changes we feel and observed in our climate and in our surroundings. If we cannot resolved the emission of greenhouse gases, we can minimize it by doing what we think is right and could help our environment. Technology and big industries will still continue to grow, produce and use energy but with precautions to prevent the unbearably hot climate of the future. Technology will always be a technology but the technology today also turn into environment friendly technology to help in the stabilization of atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration.
References:
1. Pearce, Fred. Instant Expert: Climate Change. 01 September 2006. Retrieved 12 December 2008
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn9903-instant-expert-climate-change.html
2. US Environmental Protection Agency. Recent Climate Change. 21 December 2007.
Retrieved 12 December 2008 http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/science/recentcc.html
3. Gupta, Joydeep. Climate change adding to hunger, illnesses worldwide. 2001-2008 NEWKERALA.COM. All Rights Reserved.
Retrieved 12 December 2008
http://www.newkerala.com/topstory-fullnews-59439.html
4. http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg18124403.700
5. http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/wycd/actionsteps.html
Assignment 4: December 19, 2008
But what is CLIMATE CHANGE? Literally, climate change is accordingly name-explanatory. Simply, it is a serious, crucial or vast change in climate and in the atmosphere. Years back, we have not imagined that the climate could change ultimately like what it is in the present and/or today. Climate change results could be seen by the melting and disappearing icebergs in the Arctic. Inuit people are the major witnesses of that change in the North. In South America and in European countries, the climate change can be observed by the lethal storms, floods, disappearing glaciers, numerous forest fires and fatal heat waves caused by too much heat from the sun. Climate change means a change in the atmosphere, in the earth’s temperature, in the storm cycles and the sea water level. These changes are observed now-a-days because of the substantial difference between the condition of the atmosphere before and its condition recently.
According to the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change or IPCC, climatologists articulate that global warming was caused by human activities. And this articulation creates a growing fear of the possible feedbacks that this warming could generate. Human activities stated were the burning of Earth’s natural resources such as coal, oil and natural gases. Because of the said activities, billions of tons carbon dioxide was released to the air which we called the ‘greenhouse gases’. The greenhouse effect has been introduced to science for a long of time. And carbon dioxide or CO2 as we all know is a greenhouse gas that traps the Sun’s radiation in the Earth’s lower atmosphere together with the other greenhouse gases such as the methane and the chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) gases. According to Pearce, if these current activities will certainly continue, the world’s temperature will exceed double from two degree Celsius up to five degrees Celsius which eventually means that the heat we feel during daytime will double and could easily burn our skin in seconds of staying under the sun. We may suffer from heat strokes and dehydration. This condition is the cause and effect of global warming. The arising of global temperature could result to the melting of icebergs, changes in the oceans, in the water vapor cycle and the possible changes in the cycle of vegetation.
Further, according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency or EPA, these human activities have significantly contributed to the amount of these heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the Earth’s atmosphere since the dawn of agriculture and/or the start of the Industrial Era. The burning of fossil fuels and biomass such as the forest and vegetation has also contributed to the greenhouse effect by the production of aerosol entity from the burnt matter. This entity absorbs and release heat which results to reflect light. Even in the Philippines, the ‘kaingin’ system also contributes to the climate change. Aside from the fact that it destroys the natural diversity of plants and trees that live and give life to the mountains, it also make addition to the greenhouse gases present in the Earth’s atmosphere. By using of burned wood or ‘uling’ in daily cooking - three times a day, seven days a week, also means that large amount of greenhouse gases added to the atmosphere. According to the IPCC in 2007, the addition of greenhouse gases and aerosols has changed the composition of the atmosphere. The changes in the atmosphere have likely influenced temperature, precipitation, storms and sea level. It has influenced the mentioned because of the too much heat and light produced from by the heat-trapping gases. The IPCC predicted in their semi annual report that the major impacts of Climate change would be the lowered farm production, more frequent and severe droughts, floods and storms and rising of sea level. Warming is bringing other unpredictable changes. Melting glaciers in the Northern part of the world causing rivers to overflow, while in the other area evaporation cause rivers to die and empty. Diseases and illnesses are spreading even the number of death. Crops are damaged by diseases and strong typhoons and heavy rains with hurricanes; and others are destroyed by drought.
Is it possible that hunger and illnesses are caused by climate change? Well this speculation has been discussed by Joy deep Gupta in her article regarding climate change summit (Poznan Summit) and hunger and illnesses worldwide. A quote from her article says that “climate change summit is entering its final day without any sign of substantial progress, but climate change effects have progressed dramatically worldwide, adding to hunger and illnesses worldwide”. In just this year as discussed in the Poznan summit held in Poland, the drought that arises in Western Australia had been the major impact of climate change presently arising in the world. To struggle with the climate condition and in order to preserve bio-diversity, many have switched tin using bio-fuels. But the extreme change and the drought caused famine and food crisis to western Australian dwellers in this year of 2008. As a result according to Parry, a professor at the Imperial College in London and a former Co-chair of a working group at the IPCC, in this year 2008 “forty (40) million people had been added to the list of “at risk of hunger”, taking the total of 963 million or one-sixth of the world’s total population”. With the large industries causing this change, the most affected country would be the developing countries and poorest in the human population. Reduction of water supply and reduction in food production would the major effect of the changes in the climate.
In addition to the relation of hunger and sickness and climate change, Maria Niera of World Health Organization stated that ‘aside from the numerous number of people and countries at risk of hunger, many people also turn ill and/or diagnose to diseases because of the sudden change in climate’ in the Poznan Summit. She pointed out that safe water, food and clean air are all at risk to climate change. For further information, the Poznan Summit is a gathering of 3,000 negotiators of 186 countries and over 5,000 Non0government Organization representatives and scientists. The summit is held in Poznan, Poland on December 1-12, 2008 which concerns global warming and climate change, and its effect to the people and their living. Niera also pointed that public health depends on safe drinking water, sufficient food, secure shelter and safe houses, and good social condition. By the change of climate, all of the mentioned will be affected eventually and many would be ill if left unattended. And yet, the community of the poor people, which contributed least to greenhouse gas emissions, would be the much affected areas. Whenever, big pipes from the big industries released gases which largely contribute to the climate change, the poor society like us would be the first people to feel and respond to the effects of sudden rapid change.
Niera also enumerate some of the health effects made possible by climate change in the Poznan summit. Firstly, the health effects of climate change are the increasing frequencies of heat waves. Recent analyses showed that human-induced climate change significantly increased the likelihood of the European summer heat wave of 2003. In the country, I do not feel much heat wave when I stayed under the day; I could only feel that the heat of the sun is a little warmer than it used to be. Slight sunburn would later on be recognized in the skin; and if around noon and you stayed out for a long time, heat strokes might strike you down. Is that the effects of climate change? Maybe and possibly…
The second health effect is more variable rainfall patterns are likely to compromise the supply of freshwater, increasing risks of water-borne diseases. Yes, I have observed that these past few days, it always rains. If not heavy, slightly pouring the ground until wet. And rainy days could bring illnesses such as influenza, cold, coughs and even fever. Thirdly is the rising temperatures and variable rainfall are likely to decrease the production of staple foods in many of the poorest regions, increasing risks of malnutrition. This health effect is correct because food production varies on the weather condition of the atmosphere. If it rains heavily and/or if there are calamities due to typhoons, the crops would be damaged and possibly turn useless. No harvest would happen and farmers will have no food production. the affected poorest community will have no enough food supply and children could be malnourished due to lack of food.
Fourthly is the rising of sea levels could increase the risk of coastal flooding, and may necessitate population displacement. According to Niera, more than half the world's population now lives within 60 km of the sea. Some of the most vulnerable regions are the Nile delta in Egypt, the Ganga-Brahmaputra delta, and many small islands, such as the Maldives, the Marshall Islands and Tuvalu. It was in the year of 2005 or 2006 when Maldives was wiped out by a tsunami and every single pieces of island’s beauty was totally destroyed by the great wave. Great waves exist because of the change in the sea level and when it happens to a certain place, many people and business would be affected and damaged. Lastly is the changes in climate are likely to lengthen the transmission seasons of important vector-borne diseases such as malaria and chikunguniya, and to alter their geographic range, potentially bringing them to regions which lack either population immunity or a strong public health infrastructure. This last heath effect is quiet approving because whenever an area has change in climate such as unpredictable rain conditions, mosquitoes which causes malaria would eventually move out and gather. Like in our country, malaria is known because of some attacks it has made to some of the Filipinos. Our country is their likely to dwell because of the change in climate and of the vast population they can suck off blood for their food. Strange reality but yes, I could say that migration of diseases caused by pests could be possibly brought by the change in climate in their dwelling area.
Well, climate change is a really dangerous to happen. The population could suffer to calamities brought by change of weather from time to time, famine and food crisis would be recognize as an aftershock because when there are calamities, drought, floods and typhoons, lack in food supply would be rendered due to transportation and communication problem especially to the unreachable affected areas. When the time of the great flood from the rising of the sea level due to the melting of the ice in the North, everything in this world would be possibly destroyed just like what scientists predicted as the caused of the disappearance Dinosaurs. The human race would be vanished just the same as the dinosaurs. When the sun’s radiation would not be filtered by the atmosphere, we cannot go out of the house afraid of burning our skin due to too much heat. In other places, drought is much possible to worsen and no water supply might be found in water wells and rivers just like what is happening in Africa. When the change in vegetation would take place to its worse point, hunger and illnesses would possibly attack human race, and even death to the most affected.
If the climate’s temperature condition would be to the worse level, what should we do? Can we do something about it? If not totally resolve the rapid change in climate, can we do something to minimize its effect? According to Pearce in his article, the world has agreed to prevent the so called ‘dangerous’ climate change during the 1992 Earth Summit. The first action they had made was the response of 1997 Kyoto Protocol. The protocol was to bring the meek emission reductions industrialized countries like European countries, Australia, and United States. The protocol was then take place during 2005. In 2005, United States and Australia engaged to Kyoto protocol; and collaborated with other countries suggested the ‘clean fuel technologies’ as an alternative to emission cuts. But according to the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), a quick improvement in energy usage efficiency is needed and development of renewable non-carbon fuels is very significant such as wind, solar, tidal or even nuclear power. With this suggestion also means new methods of converting clean energy into motive power such as hydrogen fuel cells for cars and mobile gadgets now a days. Other solutions mentioned in the article is the idea of mega-engineering covering the planet giant mirrors in order to prevent the Sun’s rays. The so-called Giant Mirror was brought by the engineers who make the idea of cloud seeding and got the plan to warm Siberia by melting the Arctic ice. The giant mirror could shade the planet by covering it with tiny metal balloons, seeding the oceans with iron to generate algal blooms and/or burying greenhouse gases below the sea. Sounds interesting for the climate scientist but the proposal were dismissed because of the cost, effectiveness and potential ecological impact it could bring. Aside from all of this ideas and suggestions in cutting emissions, the bottom line is we need to stabilize the atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations and temperature to prevent the unbearable heat our future may BRING.
As an IT student and concern individual, I could help minimize to the emission of greenhouse gases by saving energy efficiently in my home, when I am at school or going out. I will help and contribute to the emission by saving water and energy and/or electricity usage, and by disposing garbage waste properly. But there are actions and steps to help minimize the emission of greenhouse gases present in the Web. The Environmental Protection Agency introduced some actions steps we can make to contribute to the emission cut. There action steps are the following:
Firstly are the actions we can make when we are at home:
1. Change 5 lights
2. Look for ENERGY STAR qualified products
3. Heat and cool smartly
4. Seal and insulate your home
5. Use green power
6. Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle
7. Be green in your yard
8. Use water efficiently
9. Spread the Word
With these actions in our home, we can save energy and lower the cost of our energy bills. We could also help to the environment and be the mediator of spreading the information to other people so that they will be aware of what is happening around them.
Secondly are the actions we can make when we are on the road and traveling:
1. Buy smart
2. Drive smart
3. Tune your ride
4. Check your tires
5. Give your car a break
6. Use Renewable Fuels
Smoke from the cars is one of the contributors of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. That’s the side effect of car technology that uses natural energy; the release of black smoke from the pipes causing air pollution to the air. This affects the people riding and/or walking.
Thirdly are the actions we can make when we are at the office:
1. Manage office equipment energy use better
2. Look for ENERGY STAR qualified products for the Office
3. Ask your office building manager if your office building has earned the ENERGY STAR.
4. Use less energy for your commute
5. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Offices are part of the industries and company that provide technology and contribute greenhouse gases. Workers could also help through these actions. The better is to reduce, reuse and recycle the equipments to save energy and help the environment.
Fourthly are the actions we can make when we are at school:
For the Students, we can make the following actions:
1. Bring science to life
2. High school students check your school's climate impact
3. Get involved your College or University
For the Educators, you can make the following actions:
4. Teach students about climate change and ecosystems
5. Engage middle school students in estimating emissions
6. Learn from other educators
The Administrators could also do the following actions:
7. Save money and the environment
8. Estimate your emissions and take the challenge
9. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
As a student, educator and administrator or whoever what your occupation may be, with these steps we can make a very big difference in our world today and help minimize the release of greenhouse gases and lessen the greenhouse effect. These are the steps introduced by Environmental Protection Agency for the United States population but if we apply it in the our country we could also make a contribution to the emission cut discussed in the Poznan Summit and in the Earth’s Summit. People should be aware of the changes we feel and observed in our climate and in our surroundings. If we cannot resolved the emission of greenhouse gases, we can minimize it by doing what we think is right and could help our environment. Technology and big industries will still continue to grow, produce and use energy but with precautions to prevent the unbearably hot climate of the future. Technology will always be a technology but the technology today also turn into environment friendly technology to help in the stabilization of atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration.
References:
1. Pearce, Fred. Instant Expert: Climate Change. 01 September 2006. Retrieved 12 December 2008
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn9903-instant-expert-climate-change.html
2. US Environmental Protection Agency. Recent Climate Change. 21 December 2007.
Retrieved 12 December 2008 http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/science/recentcc.html
3. Gupta, Joydeep. Climate change adding to hunger, illnesses worldwide. 2001-2008 NEWKERALA.COM. All Rights Reserved.
Retrieved 12 December 2008
http://www.newkerala.com/topstory-fullnews-59439.html
4. http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg18124403.700
5. http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/wycd/actionsteps.html
Assignment 4: December 19, 2008
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