Hong's Little Diary

Just watched The Inconvenient Truth, a documentary by Al Gore and it inspired me to share with you the danger that we are facing. A truly serious problem.

Al Gore was a former Vice President of the United States in 2000 before losing to George W Bush and thus ended his political career. He then turned all his energy to give speech all around the world about global warming. Enough of this guy, let's focus to our main topic shall we?

According to the movie, the world is now facing global warming with massive consequences that is going to end the world. The main contributor to the problem? Well who else if it is not HUMAN? WE are the problem itself.

Let me explain it briefly. Every single second, we are producing more and more carbon dioxide (CO2) which traps the heat from the sunlight. Thus the warming of the world. Glaciers (BIG BIG ice cubes) in the Arctic and Antarctica is melting like the ice you put in your 'teh tarik'. It is believed that by 2050 the ice will melt completely!! Now where can the polar bears and penguin stay then?

Global warming also change the climate with more hurricanes and floodings all around the world. See how devastating Hurriance Katrina is? Those floodings in China and India every year? Think Malaysia will not be affected? Well it seems that you have forgotten the Southern Johor flooding in Dec 2006. For your info, it was the worst ever flooding in Malaysia.

Furthermore, more heatwaves will occur. Drought is definitely going to be longer.. and more devastating. If you are thinking that when the ice melts, the sea level should rise and we should have more water. So we wont have drought. Then you are terribly wrong. Yes, global warming melts the ice but it also dries up the land more quickly than the usual rate! That is why we are experiencing drought everywhere in the world. It also explain the super hot weather in Malaysia. I VERY THE SUPER MISS THE RAIN LA!!!!!

Enough of the science.. I don't what to give you guys a headache. Watch the movie yourself and learn how dangerous we are now! Or visit http://www.climatecrisis.net

Below are some ways that we can DECREASE our individual CO2 emission to ZERO. It is possible if you have the determination!!!
1. Change a light. Replacing a regular lightbulb with compact fluorescent light bulb can save up to 150 pounds of CO2 a year!! That's 68 kg.
2. Drive less. Whenever possible, walk, cycle, carpool or take the public transport. It can also save your petrol money. So boys and girls, if you want to yumcha at Old Town why not just walk there? A good exercise and we can save on petrol as well.
3. Recyle more. Don't just throw all your rubbish without thinking!! For students staying in hostel like me, put your recyclable rubbish outside the rubbish bin. The 'mak cik sapu lantai' will pick them up and recycle. As for cyberia residents, you can also recycle!! If I am not mistaken MMU Cyberjaya Tzu Ching collects them every month.
4. Turn off electric items. When you are not using any appliances, turn off the current. Don't leave your laptop or computer on when you are sleeping or at class. You are wasting energy!! And killing us too!!!

But seriously, we Malaysians are not really into saving the world. Our government are more into their own pocket rather than saving the planet. They are more curious about Anwar's extra sexual activities and how to get those 5 states back in the next general election. They only take steps when something happens. But if they really do wait until then, the world is at the point of no return. Ice age is coming soon. Just like in the movie 'The Day After Tomorrow'.

So please do something about our planet. You and I have the responsibility to save it!

"Each one of us is a cause to the global warming, but each of us can make choices to change that. We can make choices to bring our individual CO2 emission to zero"
Al Gore, The Inconvenient Truth