Sanitation and Climate Change

GLOPEC celebrated the world Environmental day in collaboration with Young Leaders forum being the host organizations, which are involved in Environment programs. Especially Youth Development foundation, Environmental protection Association of Ghana and a networking group of NGO’s to discuss issues concerning Melting Ice as a Hot Topic of the United Nation Environmental program (UNEP).

We found out that climate change will hit the poorer countries hardest, even though they emit less carbon dioxide. For instance, people in Africa may face more droughts and related famines.

Sea levels are already rising and are expected to climb another 15 to 95cm this century. If the enormous ice shelves of Greenland or Antarctica slide into the ocean, sea levels would jump nearly 610cm (20ft). Places that could be disappearing beneath the wares include island nations or the pacific, much of Bangladesh, Shangai in China, Lagos in Nigeria, New York in the USA and many other nations.

According to UNEP:

Some facts and figures on climate change

1. Earth’s temperature has varied naturally over thousands of years. We know this from studying coral reefs, fossils, growth rings of trees – and the air trapped in ancient ice deep down in Greenland and Antarctica. But the current warming appears to be caused mostly by humans and is unusually rapid.
    
2. The atmosphere now contains about 33 per cent more carbon dioxide, the major heat-trapping gas, than it did 150 years ago. It was then that people started using large amounts of energy to fuel the Industrial Revolution in Europe and North America.
    
3.  Europe, Japan and North America burn the most fossil fuels and so have pumped the most carbon into the air. The U. S. alone produces about 25 percent of the carbon dioxide added by humans.
    
4. The planet’s average surface temperature has risen nearly one degree Fahrenheit over the past 30 years, more in regions such as the Arctic. In Alaska, Canada and Russia, permafrost is melting. As frozen ground thaws and softens, roads, pipelines, and hundreds of buildings are being badly damaged.
    
5. Computer models show that over the next 100 years, temperature will probably rise quite a bit more – as if the planet had a fever. Some places, such as Siberia in northern Russia, may get warmer and easier to farm. But North America’s ‘breadbasket’ will probably grow drier, disrupting farming there.
    
6. Climate change will hit the poorer countries hardest, even though they emit less carbon dioxide. For instance, people in Africa may face more droughts and related famines.
    
7. Sea levels are already rising and are expected to climb another 15 to 95cm this century. If the enormous ice shelves of Greenland or Antarctica slide into the ocean, sea levels would jump nearly 610cm (20ft). Places that could disappear beneath the waves include island nations in the Pacific, much of Bangladesh, Shanghai in China, Lagos in Nigeria, New York in the U.S. and many other coastal cities.
    
8. People are now working to reduce the ‘fever’ – mostly by using renewable energy instead of fossil fuels. Experts think that by 2030, renewable sources could produce all the electricity we need.
    
9. Today, about 2 million households harness solar energy for electricity to light their houses. Nearly 40 million households use the sun to heat water. Millions more get power from the wind, mostly in Europe, the U.S. and India. Scotland is capturing the power of ocean waves. Iceland is developing hydrogen from water as a major energy source.
    
10. In Brazil, ethanol made from sugar cane has replaced 44 percent of the country’s petrol. Ethanol is in use in China, India, and the U.S. as well. Drivers in many countries can choose to cruise in a car powered largely by battery.
     
11. From Vietnam to Australia, Kenya to Mexico, people are banding together to plant trees. Trees provide shade, wood, nuts, fruit and other products – and can slow climate change by absorbing carbon dioxide.
     

What GLOPEC together with you can do?

1. Plant and care for trees. Join or create an environmental club. You could do an energy ‘audit’ to explore how your school could save energy and how it might be able to use renewable energy.
2. Turn off appliances, heating and air conditioning when you’re not using them. Computers and other electronics draw energy even when turned off – so be sure to unplug them, too.
3. Recycle papers, bottles and plastic whenever you can. Recycling saves energy compared to using new materials.
4. Use your consumer-power, buying climate-friendly goods – such as energy-efficient light bulbs or electronics – can encourage manufacturers to go green. Less packaging also helps save energy.
5.  Walk, bicycle or take a train or bus. Only drive in a car if you must. Cards add far more carbon per person to the air public transport.
6. Write to your political leaders. Petition for cleaner cars, better public transport r renewable energy.