In our lifetime
Today I am going to write something that we all should be paying attention to. Global warming.According to a front page article in The Australian (similarly in the Straits Times), "Nearly a third of the world's plants and animals face extinction, billions of people will be affected by water shortages, and countries across Asia and Africa will be racked by disease and starvation under alarming global warming forecasts made last night by the world's leading climate experts." What's scary is that many of the things discussed will happen in our lifetime. This includes:
1. Millions of people would suffer malnutrition, disease, and increased death rates due to heat waves, floods, storms and fire.
2. "By 2080, it is likely that 1.1 (billion) to 3.2 billion people will be experiencing water scarcity."
3. Global warming thawing glaciers that feed rivers from India to China and bring heat waves to Europe and America.
4. Add 1 dec C to the earth's average temperatures and between 400 million and 1.7 billion more people cannot get enough water.
5. Add another 1.8 dec C and as many as two billion people could be without water and about 20-30% of the world's species face extinction.
Source: Asiaone.com
You may argue that the figures are probably exaggerated. That's hardly the point at all. No matter where you live, it's quite obvious that the world is changing climatically. Flip any newspaper and you'll come across articles on disasters, deaths and more. In case you were wondering about how reliable and credible the report is, more than 100 scientists from around the world contributed.
The biggest culprit? Us. The worst thing about this phenomenon? The poorest will be the hardest hit. Probably the most innocent group of humans will have to bear the brunt caused mostly by the rich nations. The developed countries. The countries who apparently "cares". Ironic.
The time to take is now. The time to discuss and come up with viable solution has passed. If we do not do anything now our children will be the ones who will suffer.
Put aside selfishness. Put aside greediness. Put aside thinking just about yourself.
Think about what you do.
We all do things everyday that affects our environment and we all can make a difference.
The time to take action is now.
posted by Inconspicuous @ 1:20 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home