Global Warming- How has it affected us?

Articles- from THE STRAITS TIME(5/5/07)
- Road map on climate change accepted
- Hot in Beijing
- Dry in France

The phenomenon of global warming had been present for a long period of time and this is a phenomenon that can never be resolved. The rapid improvement in technology worldwide has caused a higher usage of fossil fuels used to power many of the electrical appliances and vehicles. This usage of fossil fuels is possibly unable to be stopped until another form of viable energy source is found.

Many problems have arose from this phenomenon of global warming and some of the more significant ones are the changes in temperature, sea levels, as well as the natural disasters occurring. From “Hot in Beijing”, it is said that temperature in Beijing soared to 31.9 deg C, a record high in forty years. This has even caused a forest fire in a Western Beijing nature reserve and “the skies of the capital turned a smoggy grey due to the inferno which was still smouldering.” From “Dry in France”, another problem is arising from global warming and that is the lack of rain, which could lead to a summer drought. The Farm Ministry stated that “Successive drought periods over the last few years, combined with above-normal temperatures, require vigilance and anticipation.” All these evidence showed that the problems due to global warming require our attention or the worsening of the situation could prove detrimental to our environment.

However, it is heartening to see that governments worldwide are getting together to discuss solutions to this problem. As stated from “Road map on climate change accepted,” governments are even willing to give up a percentage of their GDP to control the rise in temperature. However, the willingness to give up a percentage of the governments’ GDP is not without a cause. As stated from the article, “Global greenhouse gas emissions have grown by 70 per cent between 1970 and 2004. For carbon dioxide alone, the increase was 80per cent in the same time period.” This showed the anxiousness of governments worldwide in tackling the problems arising from global warming.

In my opinion, the phenomenon of global warming is definitely a cause for concern. Temperature has been rising due to the effects of global warming and this is leading to many more problems. Should the phenomenon of global warming be allowed to continue, the consequences could be unimaginable in years to come. Hence, the problem of global warming should be dealt with as soon as possible and the governments’ anxiousness to deal with this problem is understandable.