Daniel Wibisana

Lingkungan Berkelanjutan

Ir. Firdaus Ali, MSc. PhD.

1306437076

April 28, 2015

Plan B 3.0 Summary

3. Rising Temperature and Rising Seas

Rapid and unpredictable climate changes are happening today, and the earth is getting warmer.

Glaciers are melting everywhere and if carbon emission is not reduced, seal level will rise. This

means that many cities will be under water. As a result of rising temperatures, heat waves have

brought droughts which reduced grain harvests. Intense heat waves have also claimed the lives of

thousands of people around the world. Climate changes also affected the economics of the world.

Earnings have dropped due to weather related damages.

Rising Temperature and Its Effects

According to NASA’s monitoring stations, since 1970, the earth’s temperature has risen by 0.6

degrees Celsius. As a result of increased carbon emission from burning fuels, the CO2 level in

the atmosphere has raised 4 times the amount since the 1950’s. Temperatures will rise as CO2

level increases in the atmosphere.

The effects of high temperatures are reduced crop harvests, melting snow reservoirs in the

mountains, destructive storms, and increased of drought areas. Rise of temperature by 1 degree

Celsius increases all species extinction by 30 percent.

The Crop Yield Effect

Rise in temperature will put agriculture out of sync with its natural environment. High

temperatures can reduce photosynthesis, prevent pollination and lead to drop dehydration. When

pollination is prevented, food staples, especially corn will not be able to reproduce and grow.

High temperatures dehydrate plants and leaves, which then reduces photosynthesis. With the

production of crops reduced due to global warming, it becomes harder to feed Earth’s growing

population.

Reservoir in the Sky

Nature stores water to feed to the rivers in the snow and ice masses in mountains. The rise in

temperature threatened these water reservoirs. High temperatures reduce precipitation as snow

and increase rain, causing more flooding in rainy season and less snowmelt. Melting glaciers

have become more of a concern in Asia, where 1.3 billion people depend on water supply for

living. Snow and ice glaciers are source if irrigation through the rivers and drinking water for

many people. If ice melting is not reduced, the risk of losing water reservoirs in the sky is also

increased.

Melting Ice and Rising Seas

Ice melting in the mountains affects river flows as well as sea level rise. Arctic Climate Impact

Assessment reported that due to ice melting, some polar bears are struggling to survive and are

turning to cannibalism. Ice melts will lead to much warmer regions as more of the incoming

sunlight is absorbed as heat. The International Institute for Environment and Development point

out that 634 million people live along coasts or below 10 meters of sea level. If ice melts and

cause rise in sea level, these people will be highly affected by it. If this happened, millions of

people will have to be dislocated to different areas, which will cause extreme crowding in the

inner regions; living space will become more populated.

More Destructive Storms

Rising seas, higher temperatures mean more energy radiating into the atmosphere, causing

tropical storms that can be devastating. Storms leave cities without water, power, sewage

disposal, garbage collection or telecommunications. Powerful storms collapse homes, factories,

and schools, destroy bridges, roads, and also crops. Damages caused by storms also affect the

economy because billions of dollars have to be spent to repair the damages.

Cutting Carbon 80 Percent by 2020

Pacala and Socolow, predicted that technologies by the year 2054, CO2 emissions can be cut by

1 billion tons per year. Approaches have been made to treat potential methods of reducing carbon

emissions. Humanity is at risk facing climate change that could go out of control and will no

longer be able to be controlled. Combinations of glaciers, rising seas and their effects on food

production and low lying coastal cities could overwhelm the capacity of humans to cope. In

order to cut net CO2 emission to 80 percent by 2020, future temperature rises have to be limited.

Three components of cutting CO2 concentration effort are halting deforestation while planting

trees to absorb carbon, raising energy efficiency, and harnessing earth’s renewable source of

energy.