Sri Lanka against the Upcoming World Threat - Global Warming Glaciers melting down, the sea level rising, small beautiful islands facing a great danger of being drowned by the rising sea levels, extraordinary climatic changes through out the world all contribute to one major problem which affects the world’s economy, health and well being- its well known by the name “Global Warming”. I’m sure you are familiar with this word that keeps rotating the world over, but what’s the problem faced? Who will face this danger? Who are responsible for this uninvited disaster? All these questions are answered going simply around the same concept ‘The earth and the people living on it.’ Global warming the greatest challenge faced our planet is alarming in everyone’s mind. It is in fact the increase in the earth’s temperature due to heat being trapped to the atmosphere enveloping the earth. Our main source of heat and energy is the sun, the heat radiated by the sun reaches the earth through space and enters the earth’s atmosphere this heat is absorbed b the earth and some of it is reflected outwards the earth’s surface. When this excess heat is then reflected b the earth outwards it helps to maintain the balance of temperature on the earth. But recently this vital reflection of excess heat has not been able to make its way out due foreign atmospheric layers inhabiting the earth’s atmosphere. These gasses trap the excess heat from leaving the earth. It causes the excess heat to remain within the biosphere of the earth. This is an alarming situation which brings about lot of problems towards the organisms living on earth. The gases which play the role of blocking the excess heat of the earth are commonly termed as the “Greenhouse Gases”. The process in the atmosphere that absorbs the radiation is commonly termed as the Greenhouse effect. Scientists have identified these green house gases mainly as Carbon dioxide (CO2), Methane (CH4), Nitrous Oxide, Ozone and Chloro Flouro Carbons (CFC). The changes brought about are small but as time goes on they are expected to increase in an even faster rate. As the ice caps in the north and south poles melt the sea levels rise which flood the cities and areas near the sea level. Islands and low land countries are prone to these dangers and need to take quick effective measures to protect its self from perishing below the waters. Sri Lanka being a wonderful island in the Indian Ocean also known as “The Pearl of the Indian Ocean” has a possibility of being affected in the near future. The impacts of Global warming in Sri Lanka are many its affects fields like coastal habitats, agriculture, economy, health and many more. These major impacts would come in form of increased frequency and intensity of disasters like uneven and unpredictable rainfall patterns, droughts, floods, landslides, and many more disastrous dangers. Sri Lanka needs to cultivate some short and long term methods in order to, minimize the global warming effects in Sri Lanka. The consequences of such an accelerated global warming have also been identified as catastrophic. The range of identified impact consisted of many disasters. Some of them are the gradual desertification of the earth, loss of productivity of agriculture, rising of sea levels submerging many low lying countries under water, unexpected and sporadic forest fires and finally making the earth an uninhabitable place for species. Yet, how climate change issues will affect Sri Lanka and what Sri Lanka should do in advance to avert adverse consequences has not been studied at policy levels except a few studies done by the International Water Management Institute. There are many gases in the Earth’s atmosphere, but many are natural and harmless. Carbon dioxide, however, is not healthy for the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide (CO2) remains in the atmosphere longer than other gases and traps in heat extremely well. Even a slight increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere can cause significant increases in global temperatures. Most carbon emissions come from the burning of fossil fuels. Cars and other vehicles can produce up to 1.5 billion tons of carbon dioxide annually, and coal-burning power plants can produce 2.5 billion tons. In relation to this and man other external factors considered I would like to propose a few measures that can be taken and which I feel will be able to fulfill the needed conditions as mentioned above. We have to first face the problem of Carbon dioxide (CO2), it is the most available factor that encourages the process of global warming. Reducing the use of Carbon dioxide in our day to day activities is the first strategy that has to be taken in respect of this issue. In Sri Lanka we can bring about some changes primarily starting from our homes, the productions of black soot in the stoves of our kitchens have to be reduced, when we consider the stoves the naturalists and scientists advice us to use cleaner stoves that will help to reduce the emission of Carbon dioxide. Studies have revealed that nearly 1.6 million premature deaths have been caused due to black carbon soot produced in the kitchens and chimneys. That was an example of reducing the use of Carbon dioxide in our lives. Limiting the emissions of fossil fuels from factories and industries is another factor that causes the earth’s warming process. This issue mainly emerged to the world along with the industrial revolution that took place few decades ago and has been developing very well, but the adjoining issue is the fuel used by the machines in the process. The use of fossil fuels as the most common agent to produce the products obtained from raw materials. Instead of fossil fuels another alternative has to be replaced. The emission of vehicles the world over has to be minimized to a lower limit. If the entire world's car fleet had the same efficiency and pollution standards as those in Europe black carbon emissions would drop to 18%, and this is a remarkable concern which all vehicle manufacturers have to consider as they put out their products for sale in the market. In Sri Lanka there are man old class vehicles that emit a lot of smoke(carbon) the usage of these such vehicles have to reduce or the people have to tune their cars to meet the upper standards together with the afore mentioned condition of European vehicle emission standards. Well of course no everyone can afford to sell up their old vehicles and buy new ones or even afford to spend for tuning up their vehicles as the economy of Sri Lanka is not high as them in Europe, so what I prefer is that Non-Profit Oriented Organizations in the world will have to sponsor the people for them to accomplish their tasks if not if we keep quiet about it or depend on them to do it then its going to be a complete loss, not only for them or only for us but rather for the whole world at large. So such actions with regards to the emission of the byproducts of fossil fuels have to be considered b ever person and country in the world. The next issue at hand is the emission of methane to the atmosphere, methane is one of the Greenhouse gases that contribute to the global warming effect on earth. Methane is sent out by means of emissions from coal mines and methane emissions from landfills. Coal mines under work in Sri Lanka are very less, but similar mining which emit methane has to consider on the damage it causes to the environment. If we universally separated out compostable material from landfills the amount of methane produced by them (currently about 22% of all human sources of methane) would be reduced. Emptying garbage on landfills is common today in many areas of Sri Lanka b emptying garbage on such open lands it creates a lot of problems also to the biodiversity in the area. Garbage that is dumped in open land emit a lot of methane gas when they are let to the open air, methane can be destroyed by simply burning it with fire. Methane is a high inflammable gas in the atmosphere. Agricultural burning must be banned in Sri Lanka as it brings about lot of other damages towards us. Agricultural burning known as the “Chena” cultivation method also produce a lot of soot (carbon). If this is stopped; studies as per research done on this field states that it would reduce black carbon soot emissions by 7%. Waste water systems that have been established in the cities and towns of modern nations have to be improved as they also contribute towards the emission of methane to the atmosphere. Upgrading brick kilns is another factor that is essential to be mentioned. Perhaps an unfamiliar site in many places, but quite common in many developing nations, smoke churning brick kilns are a significant source of black carbon pollution. Upgrading the way we make bricks in places using inefficient kilns would reduce this by about 4%. Nowadays we have identified another methane producing factor in our environment, it is by the livestock and their excretions. We know that ruminant animals produce a lot of methane. But if we collectively changed the type of feed these farm animals are given, covered up waste lagoons and captured their methane emissions, human sources of methane would be reduced by 2%. The study itself doesn't say it, but I will: If we raised fewer animals for meat and dairy, by adopted vegetarian or vegan diets, or even largely vegetarian diets, we could also reduce emissions and slow warming significantly. Trees play a significant role in the global carbon cycle. They are the largest land-based mechanism for removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Deforestation reduces this positive process. It is the second principle cause of atmospheric carbon dioxide. Deforestation is responsible for 25 per cent of all carbon emissions entering the atmosphere, by the burning and cutting of 34 million acres of trees each year. Daily around 5500 acres of rainforest are destroyed the world over. As a consequence of massive loss of forests, global carbon dioxide (CO2) levels rise approximately 0.4 per cent every year, these levels were not experienced on this planet for millions of years. As we know the forests are the great absorbers of the carbon dioxide (CO2) gas we must take necessary steps to preserve the trees. Because artificially converting Carbon dioxide to Oxygen (O2). There is a close relation that identified recently between global warming and population growth. Today the large population on earth is using the new many technologies which are destructive for the earth. Approximately, 80 per cent of atmospheric carbon dioxide increases are due to man’s use of fossil fuels either in the form of coal, gas or oil. In our country Sri Lanka, we are subjected mainly to fossil fuels in form of coals and oil. A large portion of carbon emission is attributed to the burning of gasoline in internal-combustion engine of vehicles. Vehicles with poor gas mileage contribute the most to global warming as discussed before. Besides, the Sulphur group gas is the most harmful for this. Its contribution is 30 per cent in global warming. This gas is also emitted from the burning of fossil fuels. As according to the latest survey report the rate of melting of ice glaciers has seen sharp increase in recent times. Even those glaciers which have been considered permanent from being affected by global warming. The shrinking of glaciers is going to pose a major problem of drinking water because though there is a high percentage of water available on earth, the availability of drinking water in percentage is very less. The rise in sea levels is a major cause of concern. A large number of cities located in coastal areas will submerge in the sea. Besides, many island countries will ultimately “lose their existence” and will be washed away from the surface of the earth as expected b the analysis done by some geographical scientists. The damage of rising sea levels is much diverse. Wetlands are lost as the sea level rises. Rise in atmospheric temperature will lead to the outbreak of air-borne and water-borne diseases. It would also contribute to the rise in death caused by excess radiation of heat mainly by the sun and other surrounding external factors. Global warming is a great threat to the flora and fauna of the earth. Many plants and animal will find it difficult to survive with the upcoming climatic and environment changes; for example the polar bears living in the arctic regions are endangered as predicted by study a large number of species of them may become extinct. The coral reefs which add beauty to the nature, shelter to the animals, medicinal treatment to humans, and which also provide many other uses will be destroyed gradually by global warming. In Sri Lanka places like Hikkaduwa on the South West coast of the island is well known for its rich and beautiful corals and great tourist attraction, in order to keep up the economy of this country we Sri Lankans have to care for it. In Sri Lankan context, the impact of global warming is a matter of grave concern. As is well known, our country Sri Lanka is mainly an agricultural country and agriculture here is gamble of the monsoon, largely depending on rainfall. Though it is not to affect the whole country, the worst likely impact would be on western, central and north central parts Sri Lanka which is highyielding parts of the country. These are the regions which produce the largest agricultural yield. The rise in atmospheric temperature and fall in rain would naturally result to decline in crop production. Moreover, it would have great effect on existing biodiversity as well. In order to meet these challenges countries like Sri Lanka, increasing forestation can be of great help in this regard. Planting more trees and reducing timber cuts worldwide will help restore the imbalance. We must follow the environmental policy of “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” , promoting the reuse of anything. Next, the use of fuel-efficient vehicles should be promoted as these vehicles have lower emissions of harmful gases in this regard Sri Lanka has introduced the hybrid vehicles (which run in electricity and fuel). Every individual should be aware of the importance of the protecting the environment. Besides, eco- friendly technologies must be promoted, and must be substituted with the technologies which cause great emission of global warming gases. Public awareness campaign can be of great help in this regard because unless each and every individual’s effort is applied it won’t bring about a global change and the governments’ effect cannot bring desired difference without cooperation from its citizens. Thus I encourage the citizens of Sri Lanka to move towards a much better place for existence, a greener, a healthier and a much better place for us and our offspring to live on. Finally a kind and wise reminder to us all, know that “You are what you do and not what you say” so come on my dear friends “Let’s do it!”
