Student Corner Lets Fight Global Warming
By Kang Sung-hye
Some 254 million people have been affected by natural disasters related to global warming, according to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). The figure has nearly trebled from 1990.
The BBC cited sudden urban concentration and environmental degradation as attributing factors of the disaster. Another survey showed that home sewage was responsible for 50 percent of water contamination. Green house gas emissions have made a shocking leap due to increased energy consumption in average homes and factories.
What does this all point to? They say we can no longer blame a particular country for environmental problems in this global world, for nearly all countries are somehow responsible for this.
With fossil fuel we are now able to live a more varied, luxurious life, with thick detergents to high-speed automobiles and urbanization in most rural areas. However, our hairsprays have also made irreversible holes in our ozone layer.
The consequences of our daily excessive use of water contaminants and natural resources are the bleeding into the earth, and showing up again in endless press reports.
All this talk of global warming issues ― some serious enough to threaten human existence in certain parts of the world ― seems terrifying. The real horror lies, however, in people's indifference on the matter and in the vague comfort we find in just observing or halfheartedly funding environmental activities.
The endless competition to survive and to keep pace with our rapidly changing world has driven people to believe what they want to believe; that their small, individual actions will do no significant help to the earth, and that world summits are the best answer to environmental issues.
However Danny Seo, an environmentalist named one of ``50 Most Beautiful People'' by People magazine, gives us a surprising answer. Seo said we'd be living in a cleaner world with just 15 minutes worth of effort by each individual everyday. According to his work, minor efforts such as recycling batteries in the proper way or choosing a product made of natural ingredients can create a small miracle.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change also agreed with this opinion when it says greenhouse gases can be cut at no price at all through ``straightforward measures'' such as improving insulation and binning wasteful incandescent light bulbs that take up near 19% of the world's electricity use. It also mentioned that people do not bother to carry out such actions because electricity bills aren't threatening enough.
Efforts to ``save the world'' through individual efforts may seem weak and naive when the environment is in such a serious state. The most important thing to remember, however, is that these efforts are not the perfect answers to our environmental problems but in fact a serious backfire if neglected.
The brain, though powerful as it is, cannot drive out the tumor if every cell does not fight to its full potential. How could we make noticeable progress even with world summits and promises when each of us is moving in so many different directions?
It is time to reawaken the twinge of guilt that has always been residing in the deepest of our minds that sometimes manage to peak out at devastating environmental reports but is often pushed away on back-breaking workdays.
What we need to do first is to acknowledge the influence we hold on the environment: that the natural breakdowns and horrors that are creeping up on us are mainly due to human activities and also that each one of us holds the power to restore nature to near its rightful status.
Every one of us should now put the first priority to make the earth recover from pollution, act in our daily lives and take up our rightful responsibility. It is time for us to undo the evil that we ourselves have made.
Kang Sung-hye is a senior student at Gyeong Buk Foreign Language High School in North Gyeongsang Province.