This article is from the Straits Times, February 26 2007, Monday and it describes how Singapore has prepared itself for the times ahead, by setting platform levels to have a minimum height of 129cm above sea level, so that we will not be sunken when the sea levels rise due to the melting of the polar ice caps.

After reading this, I’m sure that this article has set off many of our doomsday clocks ticking. There’s definitely going to be many more tramps holding up “The end is near” signs in the alleys of New York, as portrayed in many comic strips.

Yet, it is important to actually face reality, in which the earth’s sea level will rise by about 50cm. We cannot pretend that everything’s going to be alright, we have got to do something.

What WE can do to help. Carbon emissions causing global warming are borne from our excessive use of energy. What can we do to reduce this? First, we have to change our mindset. How many times have we hesitated to do something because “nobody’s doing it and only me doing it will not make a difference”. I cannot say that I do not think this way, it IS human nature to want to follow the norm. Still, it starts with one person, if one by one people start to change their mindset, after a period of time, it will definitely show a big effect.

Looking at the big picture, there is definitely the Kyoto protocol. However, why are the countries which are the biggest/ emit the most amount of carbon not co-erced into the protocol? I feel that it does not matter if a country is developing or developed, but all should be included in the protocol. Developed countries must then help developing countries install new power sources. After all, this is a WORLD effort, not an effort from the developed countries.

Next, cars. We have to stop car company’s from showing commercials flaunting how cool new cars are, because face it, technology’s not advanced enough to the stage that cars do not give out carbon monoxide! Just one jam on the ERP can give out enough carbon monoxide to choke to death tons of people. That’s probably why there is air conditioning in cars, so we don’t choke to death in the exhaust

Still, my reasoning might be flawed. After all, in terms of politics, it is hard to just dispatch free help to others.

None of you want to be swimming in cold water by 2030 right? I hope not.

That’s not the only thing that’s going to change. With global warming, the climate and weather patterns is going wonky, this could cause an upsurge in new diseases and pandemics, and even strengthen old ones like dengue.

What should we do? Go with the flow and kill the planet? Or go against it and try to recover what was lost?