by Alizeh Ahmed

THE FIVE MOST ENDANGERED SPECIES
Human induced climate change is wreaking havoc throughout the world and has already led to extinction of two species of animals. The golden toad and the Costa Rican Harlequin frog have already disappeared. As global warming affects polar areas, the polar bears in the Hudson Bay area in Canada also face extinction; they have begun to lose weight owing to a shortened winter season (hunting season) and premature melting of ice in spring. Marine turtles are also endangered because of the rising sea level that affects their nesting beaches. Increased global temperatures increase sand temperatures in the summer which alter the turtle gender ratio and have proved detrimental to the hatching of eggs. Coral reefs which are the main source of turtle nutrition are also endangered, as warmer ocean temperatures cause coral bleaching. The hamster-like pikas that exist in the mountainous regions of Asia, the Middle East and North America are also endangered. They are susceptible to climate change as they cannot migrate over large distances upwards to avoid the rising temperatures.

AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH
Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth is a rallying cry that the Earth is on the brink of a major catastrophe. The documentary created by the former vice-president of the United States is the ‘traveling global warming show’ which depicts his personal journey that has influenced his efforts to fight the environmental crisis interwoven with the science of global warming. Gore uses no euphemisms to bring his point home: our entire planet is about to experience ‘epic destruction through extreme weather and natural disasters’ that have already begun. He provides us with statistics linking the increased amounts of atmospheric carbon dioxide to the rising global temperature and increased natural disasters.

BIOFUELS
Biofuels are renewable sources of energy that are created from biomass. Biomass is organic material stored in the tissues of living animals and plants. Plants gather energy from the sun, water from the ground and carbon dioxide from the air to create tissue. The two most common types of biofuels are ethanol and biodiesel. While it takes fossil of years to produce fuels, biofuels offer a cheap and easy alternative source of energy as it takes only a year or two to grow plants which in turn are converted to biofuels. Although the burning of biofuels will create carbon dioxide, it is negligible as it merely recycles the carbon dioxide absorbed during the process of photosynthesis. The carbon dioxide that is released from fossil fuels adds excessively noticeable amounts to the earth’s atmosphere as it releases carbon dioxide that has been stored over millions of years.

THE COST OF DOING NOTHING
The economic impact of climate change has already proved to be devastating in the wake of natural disasters such as the South Asian tsunami and Hurricane Katrina. According to the Stern Report, ‘unabated climate change could cost the world at least 5% of GDP each year, if more dramatic predictions come to pass, the cost could be more than 20% of GDP.’ The report also states that every tonne of carbon dioxide emitted causes damages worth up to $85, however these emissions could be cut at a cost less than $25. While the world population will keep growing, agricultural yields will be in decline as is already the case in many countries due to climate change. This will add to the problem of equity and distribution, economic disparities increasing even more. The cost of Hurricane Katrina amounted to $135 billion, which is almost triple the GDP of Bangladesh ($56.6 billion).