CLIMATE CHANGE - A SERIOUS ISSUE

BY: JAGTISH A/L RAJENDRAN UPPER SIX CENDEKIA Climate change refers to the variation in the Earth's global climate or in regional climates over time. It describes changes in the variability or average state of the atmosphere over time scales ranging from decades to millions of years. These changes can be caused by processes internal to the Earth, external forces or, more recently, human activities. For instance, variations in sunlight intensity in recent usage, especially in the context of environmental policy, the term "climate change" often refers to changes in modern climate which according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) are 90% to 95% likely to have been in part caused by human action. Consequently, the term anthropogenic climate change is frequently adopted; this phenomenon is also referred to in the mainstream media as global warming. In some cases, the term is also used with a presumption of human causation, as in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Climate change is an issue that is causing scientists grave concern these days as it causes great damage to the environment. We should seek efficient ways to prevent this nervebreaking phenomenon. How we, as individuals, can make a difference? We should think seriously about this question. First and foremost, there are now highly efficient compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFL) that last for years using a third of the energy of regular bulbs and actually produce more light. Remember that there are two price tags, what you pay at the register and what you pay in energy costs over the bulb's lifetime. You may pay more up front, but you will actually save hundreds of dollars in your household budget over the long term because of their long life. Here's the impact. If every household replaced a burned-out bulb with an energyefficient, qualified compact fluorescent bulb, the cumulative effect is enormous. It would prevent greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to that from nearly 800,000 cars. It would also save enough energy to light 2.5 million homes for a year. There are other, simple things with household lighting you can do to conserve. Turn off unneeded lights, dim lights when you can and bring natural sunlight into your home when it is feasible. But changing those old light bulbs and replacing them with qualified compact fluorescents that can last seven years or more is by far the best thing we can do. So, highly efficient compact fluorescent light bulbs can help to overcome drastic climate change. Furthermore, we should go organic. Even with our vast reservoir of scientific knowledge about farming, most farmers still spray a billion pounds of pesticides to protect crops each year. Now here's the kicker. When chemical pesticides are used to kill pests, they can also kill microorganisms that keep carbon contained in the soil. When the microorganisms are gone, the carbon is released into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide. When those organisms are gone, the soil is no longer naturally fertile and chemical fertilizers become a necessity,

not a luxury. But besides going organic, thereby saving the carbon release from soil, there are other simple things you can do with food that will also make a difference. We should eat locally grown food. If the food does not have to travel far, there is less carbon dioxide from the trucks that ship it. Fruits and vegetables in season should be included to our daily meal. Again, that saves the enormous transportation costs. We should plant our own vegetable garden. It's not as hard as you might think. This step indirectly cut down our cost in buying vegetables at the market. This step can make a difference in climate change. Moreover, we should buy recycled products. This may sound simple, but it takes less energy to manufacture a recycled product than a brand new one. So if every consumer buys recycled products, we will help create a market and conserve energy along the way. Because many manufacturers did not go out of their way to tout their recycled products, we should know that aluminium and tin cans, glass containers, and pulp cardboard have a fair amount of recycled content. So buy away! Recycled products can often be considerably cheaper than nonrecycled products. Most recycled paper products are of comparable quality and cost competitive with virgin paper products. Finally, before we buy, check to see if the product or its packaging can be recycled. The recyclable logo (three arrows forming a triangle) is fairly common now. We also should support the governments recycle project. The 3R concept, which is, recycle, reuse and reduce should be emphasized nationwide to avoid climate change. The sad truth is that a gas-guzzler emits as much carbon dioxide as some homes! That's the bad news. The good news is that anything we can do to improve the fuel efficiency of our car will have an impact. On average, a passenger car emits 11,400 pounds of carbon dioxide each year while a home emits 9,000 pounds of carbon per person each year in the United States. We should think of buying a fuel-efficient car like a Hybrid car. In fact, replacing our gas-guzzling car with a fuel-efficient one is by far the best thing we can do. But not all of us can do that - at least, not right now. So, in the interim, there are things we can do with the car we drive now to conserve energy and be miles than they did the year before. We should avoid this trend. Telecommuting and public transportation are great options. Leaving our car at home two days a week will reduce our carbon dioxide emissions by 1,590 pounds a year. Even piling multiple errands into one trip helps and if we can walk instead of drive, even better. We should get our car tuned up. Just a simple tune-up often improves fuel efficiency. Studies have shown that a poorly tuned engine can increase fuel consumption by as much as 10 to 20 percent. We should slow down and should not race our car's engine. All of these save on petrol and have a big impact on burning gasoline. We can save petrol by turning the engine off and restarting it again if we expect to idle for more than 30 seconds. Did you know that our friendly refrigerator has a voracious energy appetite? It is the biggest consumer of electricity among household appliances and responsible for 10 to 15 percent of the electricity we use each year. Older

refrigerators, as a rule, are far less efficient than the newest ones, as much as 50 percent less efficient. But buying a brand-new, energy-efficient refrigerator is not always in the cards for most of us. Fortunately, other things will help. We should not set the thermostat too high. Lowering the temperature even 1 degree will make a big difference. If our refrigerator is near a heating vent, or always in the sun, then we should change the location, cover up the heating vent near it or cover the window. Other than that, we should be hardworking to clean the condenser coil. This one, very simple thing can improve the efficiency of our refrigerator in reducing our annual energy. We should get rid of our second refrigerator. If we do not need it, do not waste the energy. Make sure the doors seal properly, and keep the cool in. Other than that, we should be a minimalist. We know it is difficult, but in today's consumer economy, an easy way to conserve energy is to simply use and buy less. Every time we buy something, energy has gone into getting that product to us. So the less we buy, the more we save energy- wise. It's a simple equation. Again, we know it sounds obvious, but buying less things, some of which you just don't need, changes the energy equation across the board, on every single consumer product. If everyone used less, the impact would be large indeed. So how about some specific things? We should intend to buy in bulk. In short, bulk items use less packaging, which translates into less energy. Buy one of something, not 21 of something. You do not need 21 pairs of shoes, if one pair works just as well. We should buy quality products that will last longer. Over time, obviously buy fewer products that way. We should be creative in what we use for work, play and leisure. You don't always have to buy new products for activities. Re-use in creative ways. These simple steps are really effective if we do it seriously. The other big users of energy in our household are our hot water heater, our washer and dryer and our dishwasher. Each, in its own way, can be inefficient. Either turn the hot water heater down to 120 degrees, or turn on the "energy conservation" setting. Some manufacturers set water heater thermostats at 140 degrees when most households only require them at 120 or 115 degrees. For each 10 degrees reduction in water temperature, we can save 3 to 5 percent in energy costs. We can buy insulation at a local store to insulate our hot water heater and pipes. We should install a timer on your water heater to turn off at night and on just before you wake up in the morning. We should wash clothes in warm water, not hot. Ninety percent of the energy used in operating a washing machine goes toward heating the water that washes and rinses the clothes. The clothes will be just as clean, and you will cut energy use. Besides, planting more trees will help because they essentially soak up carbon dioxide and releases oxygen that is significant to human being. Every house should have at least one tree in its surrounding area. Trees also function as windbreakers to save energy and as shade to lower cooling costs. And even the short- term help while we get our act together is a good thing. As for plants,

do everything we can in our yard and garden to create ways in which plants use less water. Choose hardier plants and we should plant things in groups that need more water and put in mulch to help keep moisture in. When we mow our grass, make sure you do it smartly; with sharp blades, and only when the grass needs cutting. Finally, make sure you water your lawn sparingly. These are some simple steps that can be done to make a difference in the climate change. . In conclusion, climate change is certainly the most important and the most urgent problem that we have to solve today. The time scale to make corrections in the way we live is short, but there are ways of achieving the required changes without diminishing our real quality of life. Although climate change presents a complex challenge, we already have the tools (conceptual and physical) and technologies to deal with it. Any new technology that does not already exist today simply cannot be developed and deployed in any useful time-scale. We may be on a knife edge between disaster and a better future, but humanity is awakening very rapidly and once people become aware, governments and organisational structures that stand in the way of necessary change will be swept away - this is already beginning to happen. In tackling climate change we will roll up a lot of other changes in the way society and the human world is organised that will be very positive in terms of rebalancing society and reconnecting us with the living planet. There is no one solution or magic bullet. Everything is needed from global action from higher levels down to individuals. We need to prioritise the quick-wins or low-hanging fruit whilst simultaneously working on the more complex seemingly intractable problems. We as individuals play a very crucial role in preventing climate change. If everyone consciously acts to prevent climate change, the earth will be a safe place for generation to come.