Lately, the unprecedented effects of global warming are shocking. The second largest summer shrinkage of Arctic ice cap was reported by National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSDIC). It was also predicted by NSIDC glaciologist, Mark Serreze, that the North Pole itself could even become free of ice by September for the first time in modern history. In another phenomenon, a chunk of 19-square-mile ice shelf, nearly the size of Manhattan, broken off from the 4,500-year-old Markham Ice Shelf located at Ellesmere Island in Canada's northern Arctic and is currently adrift in the Arctic Ocean.
These episodes of global warming significantly indicate how warmer temperatures are changing the polar frontier. To combat global warming, human activities such as burning of fuels that emit large amount of greenhouse gases have to be greatly reduced. On a personal level, one can contribute less to global warming by making conscientious effort in cutting down his/her carbon footprint. Education is a channel to increase public awareness of individual carbon footprint. Students will learn to manage their carbon footprint effectively in order to fight global warming and, hopefully, they will also share their low carbon footprint practices with other family members.
In Singapore schools, there are tremendous efforts to educate students on the main culprit of global warming -human activities- and its catastrophic effects. My group would like to find how much do students know about global warming -its causes and effects. In addition, the number of students who attempt to cut down their carbon footprint in daily lives is not as high despite the teaching efforts. My group would also like to find out the reasons for this in hope that better ways can be introduced to inculcate reduced carbon footprint habits in students.
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Hi Barry,
This is indeed an interesting topic to research on. Al Gore's documentary: An Inconvenient Truth brought the world together to take a serious view on this issue. While debates are still ongoing, temperatures and sea levels are continuously on the rise. Indeed as a small country, some may feel our effort may be negligible. However, global warming is a global issue and it takes every individual in the world, not just multinational corporations, to actively take steps to cut down our carbon footprints. It might just be as simple as taking public transport instead of driving or switching off the lights before leaving the room. Indeed, educating students and introducing steps to inculcate the habit of reducing carbon footprints may go a long way in our fight against global warming.
Ho Teck
You decided against this topic- I wonder why? It does seem as if despite all the scientific reports and hype in the media, nothing seems to change much and the intelligentsia have been talking in this vain for at least 40 years to my knowledge. A few countries like Switzerland and Germany take refuse disposal and recycling seriously even imposing heavy fines for faliures to comply with the regulations but Britain has only ever made token gestures with regards to this. Perhaps there is too much information nowadays and most of it conflicting so people don't know what to believe.
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