DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL AND STRUCTURAL ENGINEERINGFACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND BUILT ENVIRONMENTALTHE NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF MALAYSIA

KKKH 4284 SUSTAINABLE URBAN PLANNINGTASK 3: GLOBAL WARMING

STUDENT:ROZITA BINTI ABDULLAH SANIA135982LECTURERS:PROF. IR. DR. RIZA ATIQ ABDULLAH BIN O.K. RAHMATDR. MUHAMMAD NAZRI BIN BORHAN

1.0INTRODUCTION

Global warming is the term used to describe a gradual increase in the average temperature of the Earth's atmosphere and its oceans, a change that is believed to be permanently changing the Earths climate. There is great debate among many people, and sometimes in the news, on whether global warming is real (some call it a hoax). But climate scientists looking at the data and facts agree the planet is warming. While many view the effects of global warming to be more substantial and more rapidly occurring than others do, the scientific consensus on climatic changes related to global warming is that the average temperature of the Earth has risen between 0.4 and 0.8 C over the past 100 years.

The increased volumes of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases released by the burning of fossil fuels, land clearing, agriculture, and other human activities, are believed to be the primary sources of the global warming that has occurred over the past 50 years. Scientists from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate carrying out global warming research have recently predicted that average global temperatures could increase between 1.4 and 5.8 C by the year 2100. Changes resulting from global warming may include rising sea levels due to the melting of the polar ice caps, as well as an increase in occurrence and severity of storms and other severe weather events.

2.0PLAN OF ACTION TO REDUCE OR MITIGATE THE PROBLEMS.

i. Land Use and Zoning AuthorityLand use planning in essence chooses particular uses for the land; environmental regulation, at its core, does not mandate particular uses of the land, but requires only that, however the land is used, damage to the environment is kept within prescribed limits. The most important and effective adaptation strategies (and many of the mitigation strategies) have everything to do with where and how we build buildings and infrastructure.

The key mechanisms through which local governments influence the rate and extent of climate change and adaptation are its planning and zoning decisions, its infrastructure siting, and related, including budgetary, decisions. A successful state response to the challenge of climate and sea level rise changes begins with, and cannot be achieved without, effective land use planning and zoning.

ii. Buffer, and Open Space and Setback Requirements Adequate coastal setbacks are a particularly important strategy in terms of reacting to both the physical and ecological challenges created by seal level rise and storm surge. Local governments can require new development and redevelopment in vulnerable areas to maintain setbacks or buffers from delineated water level or habitat boundary lines, to allow for natural storage of flood waters, prevent exacerbating flooding impacts on adjacent properties, provide natural protection, and allow upland migration of beaches, wetlands and other habitats. Setbacks help reduce repetitive economic loss, make coastal structures safer, allow for landward habitat migration, and avoid the need for coastal armoring and the associated damage to beaches, which is particularly important in states that depend on beach tourism.

iii. Impact Assessment and Real Estate Notice Requirements At a minimum, all government agencies, even those inclined to make a policy decision to make no regulatory changes to their development standards in response to sea level rise concerns, could consider providing agency decision-makers, the public and landowners the benefit of full information about the expected impacts of all development proposals on climate, coastal and other floodplains, as well as the projected impacts on the development for which approval is sought.

iv. Protecting Current and Future Wetlands through Comprehensive Planning City and country comprehensive plans must include a Conservation Element to address several issues of direct relevance to climate and sea level rise mitigation and adaptation. First, the element must identify rivers, bays, lakes, wetlands, estuarine marshes, ground waters, and springs, floodplains, areas known to have experienced soil erosion, and recreationally and commercially important fish or shellfish, wildlife, and marine habitats, and vegetative communities. Local plans must include a Conservation Element which must identify rivers, bays, lakes, wetlands, estuarine marshes, ground waters, and springs, floodplains, areas known to have experienced soil erosion problems, and recreationally and commercially important fish or shellfish, wildlife, and marine habitats, and vegetative communities. They must protect air quality, the quality and quantity of current and projected water sources, including natural groundwater recharge areas, wellhead protection areas, and surface waters, and waters that flow into estuaries or the ocean, provide for the emergency conservation of water sources, protect minerals, soils, and native vegetative communities from destruction, protect fisheries, wildlife, wildlife habitat, and marine habitat and restrict activities known to adversely affect the survival of endangered and threatened wildlife, coordinate with adjacent local governments to protect unique vegetative communities located within more than one local jurisdiction, designate environmentally sensitive lands for protection, protect and conserve wetlands, and directs future land uses that are incompatible with the protection and conservation of wetlands and wetland functions away from wetlands.

v. Reduce greenhouse gasesThe following is a list of steps that can take to reduce greenhouse gas emissions: Drive Less and Drive SmartLess driving means fewer emissions. Besides saving gasoline, walking and biking are great forms of exercise. Explore the York Region Transit system and check out options for carpooling to work or school.When you do drive, make sure your car is running efficiently. For example, keeping your tires properly inflated can improve your gas mileage by more than 3 percent. Every gallon of gas you save not only helps your budget, it also keeps 20 pounds of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. Use Less Heat and Air ConditioningAdding insulation to your walls and installing weather stripping or caulking around doors and windows can lower your heating costs more than 25 percent, by reducing the amount of energy you need to heat and cool your home. Turn down the heat while youre sleeping at night or away during the day, and keep temperatures moderate at all times. Install a programmable thermostat because setting it just 2 degrees lower in winter and higher in summer could save about 2,000 pounds of carbon dioxide each year. Use Less Heat and Air ConditioningAdding insulation to your walls and installing weather stripping or caulking around doors and windows can lower your heating costs more than 25 percent, by reducing the amount of energy you need to heat and cool your home. Turn down the heat while youre sleeping at night or away during the day, and keep temperatures moderate at all times. Install a programmable thermostat because setting it just 2 degrees lower in winter and higher in summer could save about 2,000 pounds of carbon dioxide each year. Reduce, Reuse, RecycleBuying products with minimal packaging will help to reduce waste

3.0CONCLUSIONS

Theeffects ofglobal warmingare the environmental and social changes caused (directly or indirectly) by human emissions ofgreenhouse gases. There isa scientific consensus that climate change is occurring, and that human activities are the primary driver. Many impacts of climate change have already been observed, includingglacier retreat,changes in the timing of seasonal events(e.g., earlier flowering of plants),and changes in agricultural productivity.

Future effects of climate change will vary depending on climate change policiesandsocial development. The two main policies to address climate change are reducing human greenhouse gas emissions (climate change mitigation) andadaptingto the impacts of climate change. Geoengineeringis another policy option.