Global Warming- a global issue

GLOBAL warming is such a hazy concept, often complicated by contrasting opinions, that it is no wonder many people get turned off even thinking about this threat of apocalyptic proportions.

There was a report recently that said Tokyo was currently having a unique winter. Apparently, this is the first winter since records began to be kept 130 years ago, that there has been no sign of snow. Average temperatures there, too, are said to be a degree Celsius higher.

So, the world is getting warmer but what’s new for us in tropical, hot and humid Malaysia?

The current hot spell, and the threat of possible drought in a few months, naturally led me to deliberate on this rather weighty issue. Whether the warmer Tokyo winter and the current hot spell here has any causal relationship at all, I do not know.

But what I know, and believe, from reading and watching endless documentaries, is that global warming is certainly here and worrying, with potentially grave consequences for countries like Malaysia.

I tend to believe scientific findings that the rise in global temperature, even if slight, will have some impact on Earth. Melting of the polar ice caps could affect water temperature, with the impact magnified many times over when manifested in strange global weather patterns.

Deserts would expand in size, some animal species would become extinct and some vector-borne diseases could prosper in warmer climes.

The melting polar ice caps could also lead to a rise in sea levels. I read somewhere that even a few centimetres’ rise in water levels could wreak havoc to coastal areas and island nations, with water backing up rivers and swamplands resulting in cumulative water rises of a few metres.

Millions of hectares of coastlines the world over could be submerged.

Hence, a littoral state like Malaysia may lose some of its land to the sea, leading to the extinction of some indigenous species as well as the proliferation of diseases known and unknown.

It will not happen in my lifetime, but if things remain as they are now, Malaysia could be a smaller country when it celebrates its 100th or 150th birthdays. What will happen then to Penang, Langkawi or Tioman?

I am rather annoyed by this whole thing because there is not much I can do as an individual. But what bothers me most is the perceived absence of any discussions at the government or policy levels about this phenomena.

Why I say "perceived" is because I have not seen any pronouncements by our officials about global warming and its impact on us, and what we as a nation should do about it. Of course, we are a signatory to the United Nations-initiated Kyoto Protocol Treaty on climate change on how to reduce greenhouse emissions, but what’s next?

I sense, too, a general sense of obliviousness as far as global warming is concerned. I suppose there are more pressing things that need our attention now but then again, how are we as a nation to act on the matter if we are not truly aware of it?

I have not heard any leaders or ministers talking about global warming as something to be concerned about. Perhaps, it is too much of a hypothetical thing, a concept beyond the grasp of many. Or it does not concern most of the living now, so why bother?

In Europe, the issue of global warming has become national agendas in many countries, discussed at length in their houses of representatives with laws and enactments put in place to help the global efforts. Despite the gloom, a United Nations’ report suggests that there is still time to slow down global warming and lessen many of its most severe consequences if the world acts quickly.

If previously, non-governmental organisations and nature freaks were the only ones championing such abstract causes, now governments are forming high-level Cabinet committees to look into the matter.

Maybe we should, too. I have always believed that the first step to handling the situation is for each country to start talking about it. Now, only island nations are screaming for action for fear that they will be literally washed away from the face of this earth.

Perhaps, we should look at the problem of what global warming could potentially do to the country — its geography, politics, social situation and its economy.

What are its consequences for the future? While most Malaysians would not have to move to the highlands, millions could be displaced from our coastal areas and islands.

Many of our coastal infrastructure, investments and community could be displaced.

Of course, these are Dooms day-like scenarios that could be washed away with a glass of teh tarik and a sigh. But they are real enough for us to start thinking about giving our future generations, which all of us, politicians and sundry alike seem to care so much about, a chance.

dipetik dari www.nst.com