Greenhouse
Written on 2/12/2007 08:30:00 pm by sikapitan
The weather these days are just so unpredictable! The newspapers are going bonkers with the thought of another drought, similar to the one in 1998, hitting Malaysia. This is just a few weeks after massive rain caused flooding in the southern states. Of course, it’s natural for everyone to look at global warming as the cause of it all.
I somehow get the feeling that we only see what we want to see. It’s easy to say that global warming caused irregular weather patterns. But what are irregular weather patterns? How do you determine that weather patterns are irregular? When you simply compare data within a period of 10 years then, YES, perhaps these past few years there has been some abnormality. However, take note that this world, our EARTH, has existed for MILLIONS of years.
Would the Ice Age be considered as an irregular weather pattern? What about the breaking up of continents? Or the rising, then decreasing sea level? Droughts, earthquakes, floods…these have existed since time immemorial. Can we say that global warming caused these phenomena millions and thousands of years ago?
I just have this notion that the Earth, an organic being in nature, is simply evolving, just like it has since its inception. And let’s not forget that we too can evolve, and I believe somehow we will. Just like our ancestors, we must adapt to changing natural conditions, but unlike them, we may have the added advantage of technology.
Perhaps that is the way humans will evolve in the future. Not through genetic mutations, but through evolution of technology.
On another note, I am not against the whole concept of pollution causing global warming and such. Nevertheless, I honestly believe that if everyone stops driving in Malaysia, it wouldn’t stop the world from changing, maybe just delay the inevitable. But I do believe that pollution is detrimental to our health.
Thus, I just hope that the world’s smartest folks (yes, you scientists) can come up with innovative solution to combat pollution. It’s amazing that we are still grappling with problems that existed since the Industrial Revolution. Factories, cars, even our stoves emit harmful particles in the air. Maybe the technology is there, but it’s too expensive to be implemented.
Thus, it is the duty of the government, ours and others, to look at their priorities and remember that their actions now can have serious repercussions in the future. I, for one, am delighted at the news that our fuel will be upgraded. By containing less sulphur, our fuel will not only emit less harmful particles, but we can now enjoy the benefits of modern state of the art engines optimized to use such fuels. Diesel technology and application is one to benefit from this improvement.
Readers should know that in Europe, diesel cars are outselling petrol ones as consumers have realized that diesel engines offer better mileage, emits less pollutants, and in fact provides more zip for town driving. But I am positive that many Malaysians will instead look at the fact that the price of petrol WILL reach the RM2 per litre mark.
It is a necessary sacrifice, but I’m not too sure how many people would be willing to do so…
On another note, I was suitably impressed by Richard Branson's announcement of a 27 million pound grant to scientist who can find a way to combat the greenhouse effect (I read this news in passing, so apologies for any factual mistakes).
Cheers
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