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By Katrice Jalbuena, Reporter
One of the biggest environmental crises facing
the world today is climate change or global warming. Since the start
of the industrial revolution, average global temperature has risen
by 0.8 degrees causing the polar icecaps to shrink and extreme
weather situations—drought, floods, storms and cyclones—to
increase in frequency.
The resulting climactic upsets damage the
earth’s existing ecosystems placing the livelihood and ultimately
the lives of all the world’s people at risk.
In order to stop climate change, drastic
measures need to be taken on an individual, national and global
level by decreasing the amount of emissions—carbon dioxide and
other greenhouse gases—in the atmosphere.
The UN Climate Conference was held in Bali,
Indonesia, from December 3 to 14. The conference brought together
representatives of more than 180 countries together with observers
from intergovernmental and nongovernmental organizations and the
media.
The participants were tasked with formulating a
roadmap for a future international agreement on enhanced global
action to fight climate change in the period after 2012, the year
the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol expires.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
reports state that climate change was already having significant
negative impact around the globe, particularly in the poor,
undeveloped countries of the world. The reports claim that immediate
action is required to keep global mean temperature rise below 2
degrees Celsius in order to prevent the most catastrophic impact of
climate change.
In order to do that, mitigation efforts over the
next two to three decades would be crucial. Global emissions need to
peak by 2015 and be reduced by 50 percent by 2050.
According to the international environmental
group Greenpeace, this means industrialized countries need to cut
their emissions by at least 30 percent by 2020 and by at least 80
percent by 2050.
While all issues are priorities, Von Hernandez,
campaign director for Greenpeace Southeast Asia, said there is now
greater urgency about climate change.
The window for action to combat global warming
is shrinking fast, he said, adding that Greenpeace estimates only
100 months or eight years remain before it’s too late.
“The thing about climate change is—while it
is a global issue—the highest impacts are felt in the areas of the
world which are least responsible for the emissions that cause
it,” Hernandez said.
“The Southeast Asian region is especially
vulnerable. For example, take a rise in sea level. This can
have dramatic effects on many of the island and coastal communities,
not to mention that many are dependent on the marine ecosystem for
livelihood.”
In a statement released just before the
conference, Greenpeace urged industrialized countries to act first
as from a moral, legal and practical perspective, the initial burden
of emissions reductions fall on them.
On a personal level, each of us, every
individual, can also do our part to help prevent climate change and
bring down the amount of emissions in the atmosphere.
Some tips on how
Buy energy-saving electronic devices.
If you leave your personal computer on the whole
day, make sure the “idle” mode is activated. If you’re done
for the day, switch it off and unplug it.
Stand by or idle mode still uses energy. It’s
better to un-plug an electronic device when you’re through using
it. The same goes for chargers. Don’t leave them plugged in.
Defrost your refrigerator. Fridges and freezers
use more power when they ice up.
Take a quick shower. Install a water-saving
showerhead. Turn off the water while you soap or shampoo. Don’t
leave it running. This halves both water and energy consumption.
Hang your laundry to dry. It’s just as
effective and less energy consuming then using an electric drier.
These and other energy-saving tips can be found
on the websites of Greenpeace and other organizations promoting an
environmentally friendly lifestyle.
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