The current hype over environmental issues is unnecessary. Do you agree?


I disagree that enviromental issues are covered extensively. Like what Lichun has mentioned in her post, if there is no publicity about the concerns about global environmental issues, no one would be actually concerned about our earth. In other words, the inhabitants of earth would be kept in the dark without knowing the threats and dangers that their mother earth is facing.


Rapid industrialisation, has benefitted us greatly in our quality of life. However, this has induced an array of problems e.g. Global warming due to excessive contribution of greenhouse gases. These problems will manifest itself so rapidly that its full magnitude would be difficult to be dealt with. Quoting statistics from an article in The straits times by Janadas Devan, the concentration of carbon dioxide molecules in the atmosphere has grown from about 270 parts per million(ppm) in the industrial age to about 370 ppm now. Most climate change models specify concentrations above 550 ppm as life threatening and with carbon emissions increasing by 3 percent annually, concentrations of carbon dioxide molecules would reach 1,100 ppm by 2100, which is double the 'dangerous' level.
Year 2100 or looking in the short term, 2050, is not far ahead. We must take immediate actions to save our earth now if not, human race would be wiped out soon due to adverse climatic changes that are already showing their symptoms e.g. prolonged drought in australia and the recent cyclone in Myanmar that claimed 100,000 lives to date. Adopting Bjorn Lomborg's view to focus on something else if we do not have a good solution to a problem, we can view the current global crisis in a different light- that is to find alternative places to live in if our earth becomes unsuitable for life forms to flourish. Sourcing another planet with living conditions akin to earth is a great solution to the long term consequence of environmental problems happening concurrently. However, to move everyone from earth to another planet light years away would incur great financial costs which the poor cannot afford. And the current technology has yet to invent a spaceship that can house the masses. Hence instead of waiting in vain for these naive solutions, I wish to place great emphasis for the need to conscientiously raise environmental issues in order to raise awareness of the extinction our dear planet is facing.


We should not be easily complacent and assume the same calm and peaceful situation to continue to prevail. According to Straits Times sep 15 2007's article SAVING THE WORLD by Bjorn Lomborg, He does not see any point in worrying for our future as everything was smooth sailing then- food was becoming more plentiful and affordable and the proportion of those going hungry is expected to drop below 4%. He expected this postive trend to continue. However present statistics have greatly refuted his claim. According to http://www.bread.org/learn/hunger-basics/hunger-facts-international.html, 854 million people across the world are hungry, up from 852 million between 2006 and 2007. Addtionally, the current big question of "should we sacrifice food to satiate the needs of industrialisation?" has sparked off an intense discussion if the switching of cultivating crops for food to biofuel should be stopped. The shift focus of producing crops for food to biofuel has created a new population of poverty. According to Times magazine Clean Energy Scam, those who used to be able to afford food now fall into the poverty category as production of food crops declines.
We cannot overgeneralise the trend for the future as the world is too fragile and susceptible to freak disasters mentioned above. Therefore i strongly disagree that the current hype over environmental issues is unnecessary.


In conclusion, there is a great need for the extensive raising of environmental concerns to the public. Only one species can save our mother earth, and that is us.