Our planet is heating up!!!In the words of Al Gore (a prominent environmental activist and former forty-fifth Vice President of the United States), when he was pointing at the big screen in his presentation about global warming in the film The Inconvenient Truth, "You see that pale, blue dot(earth)? That's us. Everything that has ever happened in all of human history has happened on that pixel. All the triumphs and all the tragedies, all the wars, all the famines, all the major advances... it's our only home. And that is what is at stake, our ability to live on planet Earth, to have a future as a civilization. I believe this is a moral issue, it is your time to cease this issue, it is our time to rise again to secure our future..." (Guggenheim, 2006). Indeed, our planet is facing a threat that is very serious. That is global warming. According to the United States Environment Protection Agency (2006) Global warming refers to an average increase in the Earth's temperature, which in turn causes changes in climate.
So is our planet really warming up? Well, according to Henson (2006) in one word, “yes”. He mentioned that independent teams of scientists have laboriously combed through more than a century's worth of temperature records and all analysis points to a rise of close to 0.8 degree Celsius (1.4 degree Fahrenheit) in the average surface air temperature of earth over the last century (Henson, 2006). An increase in global temperature will lead to rise in sea level due to the melting of the polar caps and changes in weather patterns as some places suffer from severe monsoons while other places have severe droughts. Singapore, an island state is one such place. Though Singaporean are not affected by earthquakes, typhoons, hurricanes and other natural disasters, we are not spared from the effects of global warming.
Firstly, rise in sea level, Lomborg (2007) mentioned that a rise in sea level is due to two factors. First, when water gets warmer, like everything else, it expands. Second, run off from land-based glaciers has added to the global water volume over the past 40 years. In short, glaciers have contributed about 60% and water expansion 40% (Lomborg, 2007). And because of that, occurrences of erosion to areas like East Coast Park are suffering from receding shoreline. What makes it an irony is that areas along East Coast Park were once reclaimed land, but now, nature is "reclaiming" it back. Also, coastal reservoirs like Kranji are also at risk of being “reclaimed”. Rising sea level aggravates inland flooding as well. Though Singapore has a good drainage system, water will not be able to flow out as Singapore is a low lying island.
Secondly, though Singapore has NEWater plants, we are still heavily dependent on Malaysia and our reservoirs for water supply. The change in weather patterns will bring about problems in rationing our water supplies. For example, the Public Utilities Board (PUB) would normally reduce the storage of water during the December period as there are many rain days. But if the weather patterns were to change and the numbers of rainy days were to be reduced drastically, there would be shortage of the water supply. Also, many of the roadside trees and bushes planted all over Singapore would suffer either with too much water or too little. Change in rainfall patterns would also bring about dengue problems as mosquito breed better during rainy seasons.
Lastly, the lifestyle of humans and the habitat of nature will change drastically because both humans and wildlife are unable to adapt to, such changes fast enough. For example, as Singapore is located close to the equator, our average annual temperature is about 28 degree Celsius. And because of that, most Singaporeans use air-conditioning to sleep better at night. But the increase in annual temperatures would lead to increased incidents of discomfort and heat stress. It would be particularly obvious among the elderly, the sick and those without access to air-conditioning. The wildlife also would be affected by the changes in the natural environment. For example, between September and March, birds from northern areas such as Siberia stopover in Singapore’s Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve for warmer climate. But if the wetlands are not suitable, the birds might give Singapore a miss and fly to some other parts of the world. This would cause an imbalance in the ecosystem in the wetlands.
In conclusion, climate change will have very big impact on Singapore and the world as a whole but what make it worst for us is that because we are an island state we do not have any alternative areas to run to which makes us very vulnerable. If nothing is done to slow down global warming, I believe what Al Gore mentioned in the film The Inconvenient Truth, will come true. He said that "Future generations may well have occasion to ask themselves, "What were our parents thinking? Why didn't they wake up when they had a chance?" (Guggenheim, 2006).
Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve
References
Guggenheim, D. (Director). (2006). An Inconvenient Truth [Motion picture]. Hollywood, CA: Paramount Classics Home Video.
Henson, R (2006). The rough guide to climate change. New York: Rough Guides
Lomborg, B (2007). Cool it: The skeptical environment's guide to global warming. London: Marshall Cavendish.
United States Environment Protection Agency (2006, October 24). Climate change: What is it... Retrived March 7, 2008, from http://epa.gov/climatechange/kids/gw.html
