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  Today Online 30 Mar 07
Let's act before it's too late
People need to be shaken out of their apathy towards environmental issues
Letter from Preeti Athavle

Today Online 28 Mar 07
A hot topic ... and it's not going to go away
David Shukman

I SEE it in their faces, the puzzled look from friends, family and colleagues as they ask why I keep subjecting myself to the coldest, most remote, least hospitable corners of the planet to report on global warming--seven times, at the last count.

The answer is simple: Some years ago scientists predicted that the climate would change fastest in the polar regions and that is exactly what is happening. The Arctic and parts of Antarctica have warmed more rapidly than anywhere else on earth and we can all feel the consequences.

At first sight I could not believe that the icy wastes could ever change. My first glimpse of Antarctica left me stunned. The great white continent, 60 times the size of Britain and twice that of Australia, seemed immovable. From the cockpit of a Chilean Navy patrol plane, the endless kilometres of ice were dazzling.

But a team of the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) scientists was on board and, using lasers and imaging to see through the 1.6-km-thick ice, they made a crucial discovery: That the ice is far more flexible, more responsive to change than previously thought.

This matters. Even a slight warming could trigger a rush of ice towards the ocean. And the more ice melts, the more the sea-level rises, and the more the world's great coastal cities will be threatened.

I wondered if this was just an anomaly. Sadly not. At the other end of the world, in Greenland, I found a similar story with another Nasa team.

Their research also overturned traditional thinking. They found the ice-sheet actually accelerates downhill towards the sea during the warmer months of summer.

The implications in a warmer world are staggering. If the entire Greenland ice-sheet were to melt, the sea-level would rise by 7m. Even a fraction of that could overwhelm defences.

And if you really want to scare yourself, look at past climate records.

One feature stands out: Changes can occur very rapidly. Clearly there are thresholds or tipping points which, when crossed, could unleash even faster warming.

One example is in Siberia, the world's largest expanse of so-called permafrost--soil that's frozen solid. I made the long trek to the remote science station at Cherskii, 11 time zones east of London. Scientists there have found that ground that has been frozen for up to 40,000 years is now thawing, releasing vast quantities of the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide and the more potent methane.

The danger, I was told, is of a vicious cycle of change, in which the warming unlocks more gases and causes further warming.

These risks, and others, have been detailed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Its last report in 2001 has, until now, been the benchmark for all discussions about global warming.

Its new definitive guide to the latest science has resulted in an inevitable surge in concern about the future weather. Last year saw climate change shoot up the agenda like never before.

But we're witnessing a curious paradox. Internationally, progress on securing an agreement for a new round of limits on greenhouse gases is painfully slow.

I was one of the journalists at the last round of United Nations talks on climate change in Nairobi last November. The words "stalemate" and "deadlock" appeared in all our reports.

But at the same time, we're suddenly seeing the boards of major banks and supermarkets waking up to the issue. Individual US states like California and cities like Seattle are committed to taking action. Newspapers previously dismissive of global warming as just another green bandwagon are changing their approach. Investment in green energy technologies has never been so intense.

And all that brings us closer to the trickiest question of all: Whether any of us, wherever we are, is prepared to change our lifestyle for the sake of minimising global warming.

Given what the scientists are telling us, is it right for tens of millions of us to fly off on holiday? Is it reasonable to expect the people of developing countries not to want the cars, television and travel that have become integral to the energy-intensive industrialised world?

Acknowledging that climate change is a threat is the easy part. Choosing what we do about it is far harder.

But this year, the need for decisions will become all the more urgent.

David Shukman is an environment and science correspondent with BBC World. This article first appeared in the BBC's international journal, World Agenda (www.bbcworldservice.com/worldagenda).

Today Online 30 Mar 07
Let's act before it's too late
People need to be shaken out of their apathy towards environmental issues
Letter from Preeti Athavle

The article by David Shukman on global warming and the cascading effect that the melting of the ice caps will have, while not new, still sends a shiver down my spine ("A hot topic … and it's not going to go away", March 28).

I feel scared and worried because of the general level of apathy that the educated and wealthy people of the world have towards environmentalism. For most, convenience is a fact of life and anyone who dares to think and act differently is summarily dismissed as being stingy or backward (old-fashioned) or both.

As Mr Shukman has rightly pointed out, to acknowledge that climate change is a threat is the easy part, but to make lifestyle changes is difficult.

In the last seven years that I've lived in Singapore, there has been a positive change towards "going green". While earlier, most staff at check-out counters of supermarkets looked at me with disdain and contempt when I brought my own bags, many today actually thank me for thinking about the environment. Yet, at individual shops in Tekka market and elsewhere, shopkeepers are unable to fathom why I do not wish to take their plastic bags.

Even though the trend is towards going green in Singapore, I feel that the change is only marginal and much more can be done.

As Mr P N Balji suggested in an earlier article ("The clock is ticking fast and Singapore needs a voice", March 19), the National Environment Agency should focus more on environmentalism and a separate agency should be set up for tending to matters such as littering, cat sterilisation and control of mosquito breeding.

While waiting for governments to endorse the Kyoto Protocol and make the big changes, we consumers can make a big difference by changing our consumption patterns. I'm sure there are many in the general public who would volunteer to give valid and practical suggestions towards energy conservation and reduction of wastage.

The message of the three Rs (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) should be spread among school-going children as it is, after all, their future which is at stake.

Even though "save the environment" competitions are held annually, I find that their focus is not completely on the mark. The focus is more on recycling. However, making musical instruments out of used bottles and cans isn't very practical. Such objects will only be showcased in these competitions and may even end up in the garbage cans immediately after the events.

Instead, credit should be given not for innovation alone, but also for the practicality of the idea. Using old calendar paper for making charts instead of brand-new vanguard sheets, for instance, is a more practical idea as it can be implemented and also reduces further consumption.

Using less means cutting down on what we throw out as refuse.

For children, environmentalism should be something simple to understand and easy to implement in their day-to-day life. The benefits of recycling are great but the benefits of reducing are far greater.

Giving away to Salvation Army and sorting the garbage should not be the only ways in which the residents of developed countries contribute towards the environment.

Singapore, let's do something before it is too late.
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