I believe it was Al Gore in his book Earth in the Balance who said that an ordinary car is one of the greatest threats to the environment. Clearly, all automotive companies need to be thinking about Mother Earth the next time they roll their next model off the assembly line.

I suppose this is why Ford has come up with a new dashboard that literally shows you how earth-safe your driving is. Part of it has to do with measuring your fuel efficiency, which is not gauged by a meter or a number, but a picture of a vine.

Apparently, if your driving is fuel-efficient, the vine will start budding and blooming until it is healthy. However, if you are wasting gas, you will be forced to watch that vine shrivel up and die. Yes, it is odd to have a visual cue instead of an exact scientific reading, but I guess we consumers have been trained to react to pictures instead of raw data.

It came to me as a big issue when I saw what some of my blog readers were requesting to know when searching my blog and I though.. Hey! Of all the negative impacts I’ve talked about Global Warming, I didn’t mention HOW we can curb it.
Basically I think these rules are already what we know yet we didn’t really make tham a practice.
• Switching off electrical appliances when not in use
• Use energy efficient appliances
• Use energy efficient lightbulbs
• Turn down air-con’s temp higher when room is cooled
• 3R’s
In Singapore, we are always reminded about the 3R’s Reuse, Reduce and Recycle. However how many percent of the people really put it to good practice? I know of people changing handbags so often, and almost everyone taking plastic bags for granted! I personally hate to take plastic bags when out shopping and always keep afew in my bag to be used when the need arises. Why then can’t people adopt this habit of carrying bags rather then taking them and wasting them?

I guess many would know that Australia is facing the longest period of drought of the century for the past eight years or so. Hence they know pretty well the disastrous consequences of Global Warming to take this big step.

It was published in the news that Australia is going to impose a fee on plastic bags and this is in an aim reduce the number of plastic bags of up to 1.1 billion plastic bags in Victoria alone.
I’m really glad that Australia is making this move as this would deter consumers to accept free plastic bags that is one of the damaging harm to the environment. I wonder when would such a ban be imposed worldwide. Just consider this: 1 plastic bag takes 50 years to decompose. Just imagine 6.9 billion of them.

With a great economy comes a great price..

As climate change talks in Bali comes to wraps, tension is rising as US and Japan plus several other governments would not be willing to accept the proposed reduction of 25~40% of greenhouse gases by 2020. This has growing concerns as one of the aim of this talk is to set targets before the Kyoto protocol expires by 2012.

US, the largest emitter of greenhouse gases, has played a defensive role since talks started and still maintains that this is just the beginning of such discussions and there are more room for setting targets later. However environmentalist have made no room for further decisions and stands firm to its decision to get this done once and for all.

As both sides are at-loggerheads, we’ll only have to see which side would be willing to give in.

Read This!

As diplomats from all over the world come together at the recent UN Climate change conference in Bali to gear up on a course of growing concern, this has cause an uproll of controversial issues.

The aim of this conference is to reinforce policies to all countries to make sure the curb of emission of greenhouse gasses is minimized and to hit the expected target of 20~40% as to emissions in 1990 by 2015 to prevent catastrophic disasters to the climate. However with the continuation of urbanization in all parts of the world today. 

I feel it is hardly possible to fight the stresses of development with the reduction of CO2 emissions together unless there is a compromise. CO2 the major player of greenhouse gasses has seen a surge of 31% of emissions as compared to last year.Many countries have been pin pointing fingers to each other as to who should reduce development. Whilst developed countries are accusing developing countries that they are doing more damage by emitting more carbon dioxide, developing counties are blaming the developed counties that their damage is greater cause they are at a faster rate of development.

However I feel that at this stage instead of pushing the blame, all countries must face the fact that no matter what face of development they are in, all must help each other out in keeping the risks low as we are all living on this planet together. I feel that developed countries and developing countries both have a part to play in at least maintaining emission levels. On this note, I hope that more corporation is being fostered and perhaps a talent pool of scientist and innovators can come together to invent more sustainable energy sources that are able to be developed quickly to ease this issue.

This enthralling movie/ documentary show was commented when I was watching Prime-time morning this morning. It stars Leonardo Dicaprio, the infamous actor from the Titanic, showing the effects of our dying earth. Indeed it’s going to warp your heart cause it shows the most detrimental sights of the planet that no one has ever seen before. In fact those that would watch it would be guilt stricken cause it’s going to make you feel like a heavy offender. Of course we are, yet we are unwilling to accept the fact. All of us contribute to the damaging of the eco system big or small. Hence I find it very appropriate to screen it at this time which is the climax of the problem. Whether we are going to solve this disastrous issue depends to our preventive steps now.

What a great time we are born in right now, such a great moment where we can change the way we live, the way we control the future.

http://movies.nytimes.com/2007/08/17/movies/17hour.html?ref=movies

In recent research findings by scientists the greenup [A time like spring where the trees grows leaves] of earth is getting earlier year by year.

 This has caused growing concerns as this is a significant effect caused by of global warming. This effect is mainly due to the rising global temperature as the earth’s atmosphere gets chocked with the innumerable tons of Carbon Dioxide CO2 being emitted to the atmosphere everyday. CO2 gasses gets trapped in the atmosphere and forms a layer of “blanket” that blocks the sun’s heat from escaping to space. Hence heat gets trapped and causes the global temperature to rise drastically.

 Trees are the only way to help us with reducing the levels of CO2. By photosynthesizing,  the leaves turn CO2 back to Oxygen. However the disastrous thing that humans are doing to harm the environment is by cutting down more trees for their own greed. Hence with the increase of CO2 levels and lesser trees to reconvert them back to oxygen, we are ultimately creating a “death-hole” for us to step into.

In view of this situation, I feel that we should stop/ cut down the use of equipments that causes harm/ emission of more CO2 to the atmosphere. By doing so, we have to use less electricity like setting air-conditioning to 25 degrees, use more public transport and turn off equipments that are not in use. 

more information about this article:

Read This~!

Ever thought of contributing to offset pollution? now you CAN!  

As I was reading the newspaper I came across this interesting fact that is so fascinating. There is this Australian guy that has come out with this movement of getting people to “Contribute back to the environment”.

This  campaign is mostly targeted at businessmen who take flights ever so frequently for business purposes. As a single flight would emit tones of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) gases, they would be the major shareholders to the contribution and damage of the environment by indirectly “emitting” greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Hence if they are guilty stricken they can contribute back to the environment by buying one of these vouchers and thus knowing they are playing their share by “sustaining” the environment because this Australian guy claims would use these funds to do eco-friendly works like buying more windmills! 

Sounds cool?

Do your part by learning more information & contributing @

http://www.redballoondays.com.au/experience/NEC944

As you might have noticed although I had been a blogger for quite some time, I am a really bad one. Looking back at all the previous post back in the good old days of Secondary school I might have thought it was kind-of amateurish? Things had more or less been the same since then. However, I recently I  took up this course Styles and Writing in the New Media (SWIM) codename: <Swimming> to add a different twist to my writing style. 

Due to the requirements of this course, i’m supposed to create a blog with a theme hence i’d venture into my most desired interest, the environment! I can be said a staunch environmentalist as this is the caused by my family, well to be more specific my mum, and because of that i’m going to follow suit and bring awareness to YOU! the people out there.

So do check my blog regularly to see more updates pertaining to our poor dying earth. Also, please help make the difference!