Global Warming, Is It an end to our World?

Glacier, Argentina, South America

The devastating impact of global warming is already evident everywhere in the world, as also in Indonesia. If warming continues at this rate, can you imagine what will be the condition of Indonesia 10 to 15 years from now?

There is irrefutable evidence that human activity since the industrial revolution has changed the atmosphere of our earth and continues doing so. Since the time we started industrializing, we started polluting; polluting our waters, our air, releasing greenhouse gases that contribute towards global warming. Human activity will continue to affect out our earth but we need to make changes before our earth succumbs to the pressures of global warming and disappears altogether.

According to a research by Greenpeace, there is extensive deforestation being carried out in Indonesia; half of the tropical rainforests have been destroyed. We are either bulldozing our burning thousands and thousands of acres of tropical forests in order to grow crops. Are we growing these crops to feed our own people? No, these acres and acres of forestland are used to grow crops like palm oil, palm sugar, and coffee - the lifeline of western food industries.

Forests are lungs of our earth. Trees store carbon dioxide and release it as oxygen. Since there are not enough trees left to absorb the huge amounts of carbon dioxide produced, it disrupts the natural balance and contributes towards climatic changes, which is a consequence of global warming (Green peace report, 2007).

The impact of climatic change is noticeable throughout Asia-Pacific by simple observation. Either there are extremely hot days or too much rain accompanied by wind and thunderstorm that disrupts the daily activities. Experts are of the opinion that these changes will continue to happen more often. Furthermore, the shifting weather patterns have made it extremely difficult to predict the climate. Scientists have predicted long term disastrous effect on economy and on the people of Indonesia. More studies have shown drastic climate change will start in 2020. They are of the opinion that the random floods or dry season we see in Indonesia now will become a norm in 2020 (Reuters, 2007).

Moreover, experts are of the opinion that rapid onset of the climate changes will threaten the biodiversity. Due to extreme climates the catches of fish would decrease as much as 40% in Indonesia. Reaserch has shown that majority of people in Indonesia depend on the sea for their livelihood; those people will be drastically affected, as will be the economy of the country (Green peace report, 2007).

Additionally, shifting weather patterns have made it difficult for farmers to decide when to plant crops which in turn has led to major crop failures. A recent study has shown that Indonesia has a loss of 300,000 tons of crop production every year that is three times the loss in previous decades. It is impossible to say how this change will affect the long-term viability of palm oil and other commodities but it will certainly have a disruptive impact (Reuters, 2007)

Eventually global  warming will not only affect economy, but it will also affect the health people. It is predicted there will be dramatic increase in death toll. People will die due to floods, extreme heat, heat waves and storms. Due to the change, the bacteria and viruses will also mutate and a lot of incurable diseases will be responsible for deaths of millions of people (Science Daily, 2007)

Global warming is not a new problem nor is Indonesia solely responsible for it. But as it is, Indonesia will be among the most vulnerable as it is one of the greenhouse gas emitter after china and USA. The goverment of Indonesia recognizes that it is a huge issue that will affect us if attention is not paid to it. The goverment is making every possible effort they can to tackle this issue but we have to do our part.

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