Climate Change

Climate change is a global challenge. It is a man-made phenomenon which brings about many devastating effects to our planet. A significant increase in global temperatures over the years has led to many other major issues like rise in sea-levels and more frequent occurrence of extreme weather events. Climate change is a result of human activities - specifically our irresponsible use of energy, which requires the burning of fossil fuels which will have a significant impact on both the environment and humanity. Therefore, we should aim to reduce our daily consumption of energy as much as possible. Some of the reasons why individuals should do so is because the majority of man-made carbon dioxide emissions come from the burning of fossil fuels, the urgent need to combat sea-level rise and to make use of the many alternatives to fossil fuels available now.

 

Firstly, the burning of fossil fuels to meet our energy needs is the biggest contributor to global warming. According to a report by Climate.gov, “humans are putting an estimated 9.5 billion metric tons of carbon into the atmosphere each year by burning fossil fuels, and another 1.5 billion through deforestation and other land cover changes.” (Herring).

 

This shows that human activities which specifically require the burning of fossil fuels contribute the most to global warming due to the massive amount of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide being released, trapping heat in the atmosphere. Since the primary source of carbon dioxide emissions come from the burning of fossil fuels, individuals should aim to reduce their daily consumption of energy, use energy more responsibly, or even better, opt for alternative sources of energy like solar and wind. This would reduce the need to burn fossil fuels, hence reducing the impact of climate change.

 

            Secondly, individuals need to take urgent action to reduce their consumption of energy in order to combat the rise of sea levels, which is an immediate threat to Singapore. According to an article from The Straits Times, Singapore is a “low-lying nation with about 30 percent of the island less than 5m above the mean sea level” (Audrey Tan).

 

This implies that if sea levels rise by just 5 metres, already 30 percent of the land in Singapore would be completely submerged. As a low-lying island, Singapore is more vulnerable to a rise in sea-levels and would be greatly affected if we do not take urgent action to mitigate climate change. The rising of sea levels is just one of the many impacts brought about by global warming. As global temperatures increase and oceans get warmer, glaciers and ice caps melt at a faster rate, hence increasing sea levels. To combat this issue, we need to first combat global warming. This can be done by individuals - reducing their personal carbon footprint by reducing their consumption of energy. Reducing their consumption of energy reduces the need to burn fossil fuels, which reduces the amount of greenhouse gases being pumped into the atmosphere. Therefore, less heat is trapped on Earth and global warming is mitigated.

 

Lastly, there are many alternatives to fossil fuels that are now available to consumers and we should make good use of them. It is up to individuals whether they want to take action and make use of these cleaner alternatives which are more environmentally friendly. For example, going car-free and taking public transport instead, buying an electric vehicle instead of traditional ones, obtaining their energy through cleaner, renewable energy resources like solar and wind, and increasing their usage of clean energy technologies. In Singapore, there is an environmentally friendly alternative to the traditional car. Launched in December 2017, BlueSG is a 100% electric car-sharing service which was created to address environmental concerns. It offers a “new smart and affordable mobility option to all Singaporeans, complementing public transport.”. As advertised on their website, the car is powered with a 100% recyclable LMP battery, based entirely on non-polluting materials which is of no threat to the environment (bluesg).

 

This is just one of the many examples to show that numerous affordable, feasible alternatives to fossil fuels now exist. Individuals just need to take the step out of their comfort zone and explore new technology that is better for the environment. By reducing their carbon footprint and turning it into a habit and eventually a lifestyle, their individual actions can accumulate and have a positive effect on the environment and the people around them. By influencing the people around them positively, it creates a ‘snowball effect’, where tiny actions slowly accumulate into bigger actions which will result in positive changes. Therefore, individuals should start taking action by not only being more conscious of their personal carbon footprint but to also try and lower it.

 

However, some might argue that individual actions have minute effects as compared to actions made by fossil fuel companies. According to a major report by CDP, “71% of all global GHG emissions since 1988 can be traced to just 100 fossil fuel producers” (“News report shows”). This shows that only a tiny proportion of fossil fuel producers play a major role in the climate problem because they are accountable for the majority of greenhouse gas emissions. Whatever actions they take would have a larger impact on the environment, whether positive or negative. Therefore, these fossil fuel companies should bear the bulk of responsibility in reducing the impact of climate change instead of individual citizens.

 

While it may be true that individual actions seem minute, it is worth noting that they do add up and multiply. No individual action should be deemed as insignificant. Fossil fuel companies exist to serve its consumers. So in theory, a decrease in consumer demand would lead to a decrease in supply. Companies would notice the increase in demand for more environmentally friendly alternatives, hence changing their system for the better. If enough people take action, they would eventually be able to pressure corporations and those with power to change their system. According to an article by BBC Future, social scientists have found that “when one person makes a sustainability-oriented decision, other people do too.”. They believe this occurs because we “constantly evaluate what our peers are doing and we adjust our beliefs and actions accordingly. When people see their neighbours taking environmental action, like conserving energy, they infer that people like them also value sustainability and feel more compelled to act.” (Ortiz).

 

This goes to show that if individuals do not take action to mitigate climate change, politicians, our governments, corporations, and anybody who holds the power to make system-wide changes also would not take action to look for solutions. Individuals have the power and the voice as citizens and consumers, to call for changes because they can fight for those changes and also inspire those around them. By influencing others via the “ripple effect”, individual actions can multiply significantly, becoming collective actions. This increases the impact of individual actions, creating a culture of positive change. Therefore, it is not fair to ignore the role of individual citizens. No matter how minute the effects individual actions may bring, all individuals still play a critical role in reducing the impact of climate change.

 

As the previous argument has hopefully made clear, individuals have a lot of responsibility to reduce the impact of climate change because fossil fuels are being burnt mainly to meet consumer demand. The burning of fossil fuels to meet our energy needs is the biggest contributor to global warming, due to the overwhelming carbon dioxide emission which traps heat in the atmosphere. This would lead to global warming, which has many devastating effects on our planet - rising sea levels, more frequent extreme weather events etc. Therefore, individuals need to take urgent action to conserve energy and reduce their carbon footprint. They can do so by either opting for alternatives to fossil fuels or reducing their overall consumption of energy - but it is also very important that they pressure fossil fuel producers to change the systems that cause climate change and to adopt cleaner energy production.

 

 

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Works Cited

 

Herring, David. “Are humans causing or contributing to global warming?” NOAA Climate.gov, 29 October 2020, www.climate.gov/news-features/climate-qa/are-humans-causing-or-contributing-global-warming.

 

“LMP, THE REVOLUTIONARY BATTERY.” BlueSG, www.bluesg.com.sg/technology.

 

“New report shows just 100 companies are source of over 70% of emissions.” CDP, 10 July 2017, www.cdp.net/en/articles/media/new-report-shows-just-100-companies-are-source-of-over-70-of-emissions#1.

 

Ortiz, Diego. “Ten simple ways to act on climate change.” BBC Future, 5 November 2018, www.bbc.com/future/article/20181102-what-can-i-do-about-climate-change.

 

Tan, Audrey. “Report shows rising sea levels hitting close to home in S'pore.” The Straits Times, 24 March 2020, www.straitstimes.com/singapore/environment/report-shows-rising-sea-levels-hitting-close-to-home-in-spore.