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Saturday, October 3, 2009

What can every individual do to prevent climate change and flood?


The flood that has ravaged Manila recently is an eye-opener to all of us. Last year, it's here in Bangkok that had warned its people for an upcoming storm surge so most people including myself prepared for it. But never did officials in Manila warn people for this  catastrophe so the effect is enormous causing many casualties, damaged properties and countless homeless people. But it's too late for finger-pointing which may not help at all at this time. We have seen the effects but we must now ask what every individual can do to prevent the cause.  

Yahoo news states, "given the looming specter of climate change, they may have to find a way sooner rather than later. The prospect of another typhoon this week underscores environmentalists' concern that shifts in global temperatures may mean increasingly extreme weather patterns for coastal cities like Manila".
While it's true that there is nothing we can do with climate change in terms of natural factors such as solar radiation and volcanism, if all individuals reduce human activities that may worsen the greenhouse effect, we can still save the earth from destruction. Wikipedia says that "changes in atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases and aerosols, land cover and solar radiation alter the energy balance of the climate system".  According to the US Geological Survey, estimates are that human activities generate more than 130 times the amount of carbon dioxide emitted by volcanoes (Wikipedia).

Wiki also claims that "increases in anthropogenic greenhouse gas concentrations is very likely to have caused most of the increases in global average temperatures since the mid-20th century".
U.S. EPA ranks the major greenhouse gas contributing end-user sectors in the following order: industrial, transportation, residential, commercial and agricultural. Major sources of an individual's Greenhouse Gases or GHG include home heating and cooling, electricity consumption, and transportation. 

So here are simple ways we as individuals can do to help prevent climate change and its effect such as flood:
1. Save everything we can.
To help save our environment and prevent climate change which results into flood, let's save everything we can such as clothes, tissue papers, soap, food even appliances so that industrial or manufacturing companies which are the number one contributor of GHG won't produce over and over just to cater to our needs (and even to just our WANTS!). In doing this, use of fossil fuels, electricity and materials in producing anything we need will be reduced. Having too many clothes, for example, demands producers to manufacture more and changing clothes more often requires soap to wash them so it necessitates more production of clothes and soap. More demands, more gas to be consumed as well in delivering them to the outlets that sell them. It's a vicious cycle that can be cut down only by end-users. If there's less demand, there's less production. Less production, less pollutants.

2.  Use transportation less.
Transportation is next to industrial companies as major source of pollutants. As much as possible, families should own just one or fewer cars even if they can afford them. Family members or even friends should share a ride by planning a good route to their destinations. Mass transportation such as buses, trains or other public rides are a better option in saving energy, in reducing CO2 emissions and in requiring car companies to produce more.
Walk more often. Aside form the health benefits we can gain out of walking, we can also reduce carbon dioxide emission from vehicles if many of us just walk as much as we can. For example, I walk going to my workplace and back home everyday unless if I'm in real hurry. I see many people here in Thailand who use bikes in going to their workplace or the university.

3. Reduce use of air conditioners.
In the household level, CFC used in air conditioners is very harmful to our ozone layer and can contribute to climate change. At home, we just turn on the air conditioner for a few hours just to cool down the room then use electric fan most of the time. At the office, if I'm the only one working, I turn off the air conditioner a couple of hours before I leave and instead of using two units, I use only one. Air conditioners consume much energy so by doing such, we can also save energy and thus, fossil fuel which makes up 86% in primary energy production in the world. Let's remember that fossil fuel-fired electric power plants also emit carbon dioxide that may contribute to climate change.

4. Reduce, refuse and reuse plastics. 

"The raw material of plastics is oil, so the more we use plastics, the more we waste oil - a non-renewable energy source," explains Earth Day Network. Aside from this fact, plastics take decades to break down and is only 1% recyclable so they litter around. A lot of plastics have been found clogging the drains in Manila during the flood brought about by Ondoy. Had it not been for the clogged drainage due to too much plastic wastes which are not biodegradable, the flood's effect would have not been as terrible as that. So what can we do to solve the plastic bag problem? Here in Thailand, Makro doesn't provide any plastics for free so shoppers have set their mind to reuse whatever available containers they have such as fabric bags or reusing plastic bags they already have. If governments cannot pass a law such as what is done in Israel, Germany, South Africa and Ireland where plastic bag is surcharged, then we as individuals must do something. Here in Thailand where plastics are provided abundantly at supermarkets and anywhere, this is what I personally practice. I help the cashier bag my own groceries so I combine what I can in just few plastic bags and refuse doubling them. Then at home, instead of buying the black plastic bags for our garbage, we reuse the bags from the supermarkets. In going to the market, we bring our own plastic bags. We also avoid drinking bottled waters. We simply refill the old bottles we have.  





In doing these simple steps collectively and in sharing these to others, we can together help save our environment. We can prevent climate change and floods. We can save ourselves from the wrath Mother Nature may take revenge on us with all our abuses to her. 



16 comments:

kathy said...

Hello Miss A! Ur right! We all have to do our parts in every way we could to save our environment. It is sad to know what happend in the Philippines but still we could get something positive from it like the spirit of bayanihan and also lessons from it. I'm sorry I didn't visit you for a while, I was busy these past couple of days...

nice A said...

It's okay, Kandi. I was also busy the past few days. Thanks for comment.
Our government should learn its lesson most of all and we individuals next as the impact of good governance is greater if the solution is on collective scale where all citizens are doing the same things for a common goal. It should not be reactive but must be proactive. So more careful planning - looking ahead - is needed.

glee said...

Yeah, you've said it right. I might as well add - saving some trees and keeping good drainage is a must.

I tagged you at my site "A peek into my life and my thoughts..."

glee said...

this is such a good article, very informative. And yes, our government surely must have learnt from what had happenned. It will take a while, but the country will definitely survive.

Jemina said...

bongga ang blog, impressed ako. kaya lang ang layout, anong nangyari sa editor? heheehh will come back

nice A said...

thanks, gleenn. of course, the country will survive as pinoys are always resilient. we have the ability to bounce back with any calamities and misfortunes.

nice A said...

hiii scribbler!!!!! you're the blogger i've been looking for since i started blogging. why? because it's you (and another friend from palawan like you, gleenn) who first brought me to develop interest in blogging.
thanks for your comment. sure, i'm still trying to improve my layout. you know my standards in terms of quality not only in the content but also with the layout. baka pwede mo akong tulungan hehehe! sige pls always come back ha? salamat.

glee said...

thanks a lot for that wonderful critique on my 55 fiction entry te, lol. I'm glad pumasa sa standard mo ang story. A lot of my friends were puzzled with it but they liked it a lot too.

Ay, meron me copy ng song na un nakatago. I need to find from my files pa i liked it a lot kaya tinago ko tlg. ill tell u if i find it.

I discovered pala te, sira and link sa profile mo papunta sa iyong blog. If you leave comments anywhere using ur google account, people can click and go straight to your bloger profile. Kaso i found out, pag-iclick ko na ang "my blog" mo "nice thoughts..." broken link na. Paki ayos. Kasi ang URL na lumalabas ay http://wwwnicethoughtsnthrills.blogspot.com tapos broken link na. I had to click the "My webpage" sa baba ng profile mo to get on here. Most readers will not take time to try that.

Also, that's good nakalagay na ang EC banner mo. Kepp checking your EC act. at baka may nakapila na na blogs to advertise. YOu will have to approve them para maging live na sayo. Then you should also visit them and click the "drop" on their banner. That way, you'll earn points. hehehe

Thanks ulit.

nice A said...

yes, gleenn, yong work mo na yon ang isa sa mga the best mo. i always give my honest opinion lam mo na.hehehe!
thanks meron ka pala copy nong song na yon.
and salamat din for finding out what's wrong with my link.
wish you all the best, dear!

Jemina said...

Talaga? You've been looking for me? Aw touched naman ako eh. hehe. I checked your blog how old it is and I'm shocked you've been blogging since June this year. How come I never heard? you could have sent me a link through yahoo IM like I used to do when I was getting paid blogging. anyway, I don't have much time na because I just got a temporary FT job. Anyway, I'm more than happy to help you with the layout. invite me as a team member so I can have access to your blogger account. for now, check out my most fave blog: www.supersmallcars.blogspot.com and it's on google page 1 when you search for super small cars heheh

nice A said...

scribbler, ching-ching! Yes, gleenn created my blog for me in June but i just gave birth then so i didn't have much time to write. if you look back between my first post and my second, the gap was almost 2 months because my blog tutor went home to palawan then & she didn't have ready access to the internet. at hinanap ko rin links mo yng sa ezine lng ang lumabas. anyway, better late than never. sige gawin na kita team member ha? pra matulungan mo ako. gumagawa uli ako ng new blog sa wordpress. now i'll go check out your fave blog. wow, no.1 ha! galing naman!

Jemina said...

well, it depends on your search engine but at least for normal searcher my blog is on No.1 spot. heheh..
Wordpress has a more professional look. I like their themes so much better kaso lang di pwede lagay ng adsense eh don ako kumikita eh lol.

I see Glee has also just started her blog a month earlier than yours. Where did she learn it from? Anyway, it's really nice to see you both in the blogosphere. Sige update ko muna numero unong blog ko heheh. by the way, my journal is www.blogiam0.blogspot.com

nice A said...

scribbler, ang cut eng mga cars. i remember us car-watching looking for unique cars. that has become a family hobby ,actually. pati na rin si josh & jd nahawa sa amin ni nole khit saan kmi pumunta unique car hunting kmi hehehe!
oo nga, tama ka di pwede maglagay ng other features sa wordpress.napuyat tuloy ako kagabi pano ko ilagay shoutmix ko at adsense. si glee? may nagturo sa kanya na friend din na nakilala niya lng din sa cyberspace.
hay naku, if di pa ako nag-blog di pa tayo na-reconnect hehehe!!!!
cge give me pa more tips about blogging kc muntik na ako tumigil noon, lol. i know you're a pro here.

Jemina said...

Hay naku dito magsasawa ka sa unique and vintage cars. Laging busog ang mata ko heheh..but now I do my hunting on the web because of my blog, you know. That's really cute of JD and Josh doing that :-P
That's ture, the best way to keep in touch with me is read my blogs because I don't chat so much anymore. Pati FS and FB I don't spend time so much on them anymore.
I just love blogging! (two thums up)
will tell you more about wordpress later.

Anonymous said...

hi friend plz add me & drop a mesg i will add u

Anonymous said...

hi friend plz add me & drop a mesg i will add u

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