Poster: Heaven or Hell?

Here's a little poster I made with the spare time i had during the weekends. I thought about how I could relate to Singaporeans in Singapore TODAY and NOW. As we all should be aware of now in Singapore, the temperature of the environment has drastically increased not only by numbers, from an average of 31 Degrees Celsius to 35 Degrees Celsius on a daily basis. It is almost unbearable especially for people(like myself) who perspire easily and a lot, which leads to BO and other nasty results. 

What we usually think is that the big companies who use majority of the resources are the ones who contribute to all the pollution that leads the global warming effect that we all have the pleasure of experiencing right now, however, we fail to acknowledge and are ignorant to the fact that we are the consumers of all these products and services, be it electricity, food, daily necessities etc. Therefore I feel that every individual has a huge impact on the environment, and our everyday choices are the ultimate factor in determining the rate of global warming and pollution. I want us to start here, now, thinking about how we can improve the environment around us instead of "the world out there". It's not difficult to find a recycle bin, nor to go vegan just once a week, or to just practice energy saving measures in our very own home. Every microscopic action counts, if every individual really focuses on saving electricity and recycling, the effect would be overwhelming positive, do not underestimate the combined effort of individuals. 

Remember that our choices determines the environment we live our everyday lives in, therefore we create our own fate, we all have a choice! To create "Heaven or Hell" on our home Planet Earth:)

Reflection on movie: Finding Dory

                                                            Finding Dory Trailer

If you have not considered watching Finding Dory, I hope this will change your opinion. Most people have a preconception that this will be a kids movie based on the first move, Finding Nemo. However, I feel that it is not only a movie for all, but for those interested in protection of marine life, and 70% of us which is the sea and all the life within. By the way, isn't it coincidental, we are just like the earth, made up of 70% water( correct me if I'm wrong ).

Finding Dory is a movie about Dory, who is a fish which suffers from short term memory loss, she would forget many things, even what she's saying a moment ago. This has led her to be rather annoying to her friends and even herself as she beats herself up sometimes for being forgetful. All is well at the coral reef where she and her clownfish friends nemo and his father lives(i forgot his name), until one day, during one of nemo's class where they were talking about parents, Dory hada sudden recollection of her parents, who stayed with her despite her short term memory, they played with her, even came up with ways to help her remember things like the way to her home as she may wander off sometimes. Dory then decides to go find her parents with nemo and crew, the rest of the story, you have to watch the movie to find out, I am no spoiler;)

What has this to do with environment? In a part of the movie, where Dory traced her memory back to a water park where she thinks her parents might me, the movie highlights how badly the marine life are treated at the water park despite claims of protecting the wildlife. The shallow pools where we are allowed to touch the corals and starfishes are actually harming these delicate sea creatures as they can be very sensitive and vulnerable with so many fingers touching and some unaware kids pressing these sensitive creatures like it was a toy. The animation also shows the condition that the captured fish are kept in, no different from an ordinary fish shop, all the sick fish cramped together and then sent off to various locations as a showpiece instead of being released.

I think we humans are ignorant of our own actions, we literally want profit from every single thing and end up destroying all life on earth and ironically leading to our own death. Using marine life as tourist attractions and entertainment while claiming to be putting them in a better environment? I dont know about you but we are ultimately lying to ourselves in the end.

I strongly recommend this movie to all to raise awareness of this issue to all and hopefully we can understand and sympathise these marine life and that we are literally robbing their "families".

Reflection on Newspaper cutting: Pebble pinching perturbs Taiwan

Pebble pinching perturbs Taiwan, Thursday, 24th March 2016

This is a rather interesting article as to why it has anything to do with the environment at all. Not only are the Taiwan authorities confiscating pebbles collected by the tourist, most probably for momentos, but they are also imposing a fine of as high as NT50,000(S$21,000).

The reason that tourists are not allowed to collect stones from seascape areas in Taiwan is because the authorities fear that it might cause the erosion of the beaches in Taiwan and slowly erode the shore.
" Taking one or two doesn't seem like a lot, but our scenery will slowly disappear the more it happens," said Miss Lin Wei-Ling, Deputy Director of the East Coast National Scenic Area Administration.

Signs have been put up all over the seascape areas of Taiwan but they also focused on educating the public, using media such as this article itself to make the public aware, some visitors have also sent back rocks they have taken after knowing its illegal and harming the shoreline.

This is the sort of issue that seems minor but could have a major impact on the environment, thus thumbs up to Taiwan for educating the public on the issue and imposing a harsh fine to prevent people for further committing such acts.

Relfection on Newspaper cutting: Australia to pump $1 billion into clean energy

Australia to pump $1 billion into clean energy, Thursday, 24th March 2016

Australia Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, said that they will a A$1 billion(S $1.03 billion) clean energy innovation fund. This is reportedly to combat climate change, and his response to the people of his country who criticised the former prime minister for failing to support renewable energy . The money will be used bit by bit annually in clean energy technologies.

I feel that this is has both good and bad like all things, good as it serves as an example to other countries, which creates a beneficial kind of competition, like Singtel vs M1 kind of competition, other countries may also invest more in clean energy technologies to show that their country is not falling behind and that is what we need to reduce our heavy reliance on fossil fuels which increase the rate of global warming.
The downside, however is countries seeking to gain something from these clean energy technologies, or seeking profit of some kind, in this case is the Australian prime minister seeking approval from his people and this gives the upcoming generation an inappropriate impression and influence as countries do things for profit and popularity instead of trying to solve a worldwide problem. Clean energy technology might also be altered by manufacturers so that more can be sold for profit instead of being reliable.

Reflection on Newspaper cuttings: Abrupt climate shift perilously close(study)

Abrupt Climate Shift Perilously Close: Study, Thursday, 24th March 2016

"Rapidly rising sea levels may inundate coastal cities before end of century, warn researchers"
The world just might be coming to an end, not in 2012, but very very soon. Aside from the Kyoto Protocol, which was a good attempt in my opinion the nations of the world have established many other agreements to try to reduce the rate of global warming to a level where it is tolerable. However, this article states that despite all the efforts, the leading climate scientists have warned that the level of global warming that we are already at is beyond the threshold of tolerance for us. Any further increase will result in disastrous consequences, as the warming will lead to an increase in the intensity of natural disasters such as killer storms and also the rise in sea level caused by the acceleration of the melting polar ice sheets, sufficient to drown coastal cities by the end of the century! That's by 2099, we have another 75 years or so to come up with a solution!

The article addresses the one thing that is really of concern, which is ironically that the young people, myself included, are not taking this issue seriously and are not equipped with the knowledge or awareness to deal with the situation. We are being taught about global warming and almost all of us have a rough idea of climate change when we are asked in a test or in an interview but once we go back to our everyday lives, we basically flick a switch and do not care about our actions. We walk by recycle bins, take away food, choose meat over whole plant foods, all these actions, multiplied by the population of the world, actively contributes to the alarming rate of global warming. There are people that argue that a major contributor of global warming is agricultural farming and that it also uses a huge amount of resources, however, they fail to realize that a large percentage of these crops are used to farm the animals, such as cows and chickens, to get the eggs, milk, chicken and beef that we eat on a daily basis and is so highly in demand.

"In 2009, nations agreed to try to limit planetary warming to 2 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial level. The earth has already warmed by about half that amount."

The climate scientists in the article state that the rapid rise in sea level could rise to a high enough level to force humanity to retreat from all the coasts, and imagine what would happen if it increases further.

We could look at renewable sources of energy, waste to energy and also clean sources of energy, but ultimately, in my opinion, it our actions in our everyday lives that we have to watch if we want to prevent a potentially world ending disaster in the near future. I agree also that in public and among our friends and family it is not an easy task to change our habits such as suddenly going vegan or collecting all used plastic bottles and other recyclable materials due to peer pressure. We just have to remember that every individual effort counts, and we can always start simple. Every small action can have a great impact, it is not really the action that counts, it is the attitude that you develop. When we are bold enough to do what we feel is the right thing to do, we will also develop courage in other areas of our lives, and realize that other people's opinions of us do not matter sometime. We as a society do not like to be left out or do something out of a social norm due to our conditioning since birth and also our fear of being left out, but how can we ever improve and evolve as a human being if all we are concerned about is pleasure, profits and being up to date on trends?

We have to realize that we are a part of earth, and the earth is also part of us, always connected. The things we throw to the earth, whether beneficial or harmful, comes full circle to us. The waste we throw, such as plastic, decomposes and produces gases harmful to the environment WE are living in. The rubbish that we conveniently dump into the sea affects the marine life which is a major source of food for us, and it also pollutes other nearby water bodies. These are just a few of the countless examples. One small action such as throwing a plastic bottle into the sea can have a large impact, but so can recycling one plastic bottle. Until we see that we are the ones that control our own fate, and that we are creating "hell on earth" for ourselves, we will not actually fix anything but continue to contribute to global warming.

Local newspaper article on environmental sustainability issues and clean energy

Trouble in renewable energy spotted in China's idled wind farms

This article addresses the shortcomings of renewable energy, quoting the wind farms in China as an example. It states that China has a large concentration of wind turbines in the country, "accounting for about one in every three turbines currently installed, according to the Global Wind Energy Council. In turn, Xinjiang Goldwind Science & Technology". However, even with its large capacity, the efficiency of the wind farms in China is outweighed by wind farms in USA which has only half the capacity of wind turbines.
China's wind capacity increased by 89 times from 2006 to 2015, while USA wind capacity only increased by 7 times. However, China's wind farms only produced 0.5 Terrawats/hour more electricy than USA.
The inefficiency of China's wind farms is due to various regions, which include the low quality wind turbines with low turbine efficiency used in their wind farms due to a shift on low cost energy production. Wind quality is also another factor which impacts the energy output of the wind farms in China, the breezes are weaker in China compared to USA and wind turbines work more efficiently on short periods of strong wind as compared to long periods of constant weak wind. There are also many other issues such as grid connection problems and reluctance of connecting wind energy to the grid due to preference for other energy sources such as coal in China, as coal is more predictable and reliable and does not have the problem of being intermittent. 
Despite the huge increase in renewable wind energy in China, majority of its energy still comes from coal-fired power generation, which is much less environmentally friendly, and China has to, at some point, make sacrifices in one area in order to stablize the energy output from different sources.
In my opinion, they should focus on having more high quality wind turbines instead of using more coal as coal not only one of the most non environmentally friendly sources of energy but is also a rapidly depleting source and is not a reliable source in the long run. The impact on the environment in China would also be increased negatively by coal. China is now in a lose-lose situation as they are not using renewable energy efficiently, and also relying on a non-renewable carbon heavy source. I feel that they should sacrifice some of the profits made from coal and move on to cleaner sources of energy if they are striving for a sustainable environment in China in the future.

Reflection the short film: A SEA Change

A SEA CHANGE is an environmental documentary shot in Diego Martin, Mayaro and Toco, Trinidad. People always ask is climate change really affecting the world? Or how is it affecting us? This documentary uses Trinidad and Tobago as examples of the devastating effects of our human activities on the environment and climate, which ironically affects our livelihood. 
As Diego Martin, where the documentary is filmed, is located near the sea the main topic addressed is how our human activities, which all have a carbon footprint, is affecting the sea and climate in that area.
Diego Martin has been affected several times by hurricanes, floods and landslides that destroyed many homes in the area, as mentioned in the documentary. Locals that were interviewed said that it was hotter during both wet and dry seasons, and that the rains during both wet and dry season were also heavier. The climate expert in the video, Dr Roger Pulwaty from the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change, mentioned that the reason for this seemingly odd climate change is that every desert is shaped by water, as the temperature of the atmosphere affects the amount of water it holds, thus affecting the rainfall patterns. A warmer atmosphere holds more water, thus having larger interval between rainfalls but has is more intense as more water is released.
The documentary then moves on to talk about the various negative effects of climate change, such as floods, caused by a mix of human and physical events, humans are responsible for the design of drainage systems and also the management of the wetlands and forests in the area which serve as natural protections against floods, as for physical (natural) factors, they are unpredictable. Another significant impact on Diego Martin is the obvious loss and erosion of land, which is caused by higher sea levels and also a not so known factor which is the increasing acidity of the ocean. The acidity of sea rises due to carbonic acid produced when carbon dioxide in the atmosphere dissolves in the sea. The acidity of the ocean not only affects the shores and the structures near the shore but also several coral specimens which therefore affects the food web of the sea, resulting in a decline in the number of fish in the sea. This phenomena is witnessed by the local fishermen of Diego Martin as they said they used to be able to catch truckloads of fish everyday during the fishing season but now only maybe one or two days of the fishing season they are to catch that amount.
Next, the documentary shows the importance of well managed forest areas as they help reduce storm runoffs, as the leaves of the trees and plants reduce impact of the intense rainfall on the surface thus help keeping local water bodies such as rivers and nearby seawaters clean of pollutants such as fertilizers and pesticides that may be present in the soil when it is eroded into the river.
A group of passionate locals in Diego Martin, aware of the climate changes in their area, constantly work on Reforestation, which is planting of trees and plants to restore forested areas destroyed by landslides and forest fires. 
The host of the documentary stated that, " The best way to save the environment is to plant more trees.". Trees are often overlooked, as they seem to just stand and do nothing, however they are of huge importance to the environment. They are silent workers, helping to regulate the ratio of carbon dioxide and oxygen through photosynthesis, helps to remove other more harmful gases such as Sulphur oxide, Carbon Monoxide and also Nitrous Oxides, and lastly, help prevent soil erosion as their roots cling firmly on to the soil, not allowing surface runoff to wash away the soil. Preventing soil erosion also improves the quality of water in the water bodies as less soil and pollutants enters the water bodies which also leaves the flora and fauna in the water bodies unharmed as their living environment is not tampered with. Therefore, well managed forest = Better quality of water in water bodies.
Lastly, the documentary touched on how the daily activities and the daily choices of the locals in Diego Martin and also everyone, affects the climate.  One factor that is most significant but we all are ignorant to is our food choice, which is now a luxury for all of us, we do not even check the labels on our foods to see where it comes from. The main comparison is Local VS Imported Food. The host recommends local food as it has less embodied energy, as it does not require pesticides, and a huge amount of workmanship and non-renewable energy sources spent on agricultural machines and transport required for the food to be imported from one country to another, which is not environmentally friendly in the least.
Plastic also causes many problems to the environment from the way people handle them as garbage. Plastic is produced from another non-renewable source, oil, and does degrades in a much longer period of time compared to organic matter, and also produces harmful gases when it is incinerated. The plastic bottles when dumped into the water bodies, restrict the flow of water and affects the fauna of water bodies if any happen to ingest the plastic bits thinking its food. The hosts started a program to help educate the locals on recycling, teaching them to separate the plastics from their trash and giving it to them to bring to recycle.
The documentary ends of by giving 6 tips on how to improve the environment and reduce our carbon footprint and impact on the climate: 
1. Plant trees
2. Eat/ Grow local food
3. Reduce Reuse Recycle
4. Preserve Wetlands
5. Improve drainage systems
6. Refrain from building on flood prone areas or hillsides


Personal Opinion
I feel that it is a very inspiring documentary and that they show us the effects of climate change around each one of us instead of melting ice glaciers which no one can relate to. They also mention that the most important thing is Inter-generation equity, which is one generation of humanity preserving the environment for the next generation. I also feel that climate change not only affects our livelihood and environment but also affects us psychologically as we are constantly in fear of intense natural disasters which could be reduced or prevented. 
We all play a part in preventing climate change and saving the environment as we are the creators of our own future through our everyday actions. As quoted at the start of the documentary, " Change, like sunshine, can be a friend or a foe, a blessing or a curse, a dawn or a dusk." , all dependant on what we do with it.The link to watch the documentary is below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRX-ZmPbjms&index=2&list=PLeH6JyFuC4snZADrdMvd-K7hZQRQlrc7d