The Global Issues Jun. 2013 | Seite 2

News and reviews

Global warming is a global issue, but is mainly by a few wealthy countries. The carbon Canada emits contributes more to global warming per capita than all but 5 countries. Let me first start out by saying that carbon emissions themselves aren’t bad. Plants breathe in carbon dioxide and we as humans breathe it out. The problem is how much carbon we release into our air and who is doing it. Most of the world's pollution is caused by the few, urban, industrialized areas, mainly within the wealthy first-world countries. These countries account for almost all the world's greenhouse gas emissions, the high levels of emissions currently in our atmosphere and the effects that global warming has already inflicted on our planet. They contaminate the air, the water and the earth without regard for the world around them. There are many consequences of this careless, insensitive pollution. One of these consequences is one that greatly affects the country I'm currently visiting, The Maldives, and Canada as well. This effect is the melting of polar ice. Of course, in Canada, the fact that the ice is melting means that habitats are being destroyed in the Arctic. Many animals become displaced from their homes and start to roam into human populations. The rising sea levels also strongly affects the Maldives because it is a group of islands. The melting polar ice means that the ice is taking its liquid form and this raises the water levels of the Earth's oceans and seas. The Maldives is about to become overtaken by water and soon all that will be left of this nation's history will be an undersea wreck. The pollution of the Earth needs to stop before the planet deteriorates and becomes uninhabitable.

Where does the climate change come from?

The Maldives

A sultanate (country that is ruled by a sultan) since the 12th century, the Maldives became a British protectorate in 1887. It became a republic in 1968 Maldives officials have played a prominent role in international climate change discussions (due to the islands'' low elevation and the threat from sea-level rise) on the United Nations Human Rights Council, and in encouraging regional cooperation, especially between India and Pakistan.

Polar Ice

In the poles (north and south), ice is melting. It is melting because of an effect that has been mentioned many times, global warming.

Effects On Animals

Of course, in Canada, the fact that the ice is melting means that habitats are being destroyed in the Arctic. Many animals like polar bears become displaced from their habitats and start to roam into areas populated by humans.

Head Head

The rising sea levels also strongly islands and coastal regions. The melting polar ice means that the ice is taking its liquid form and this raises the water levels of the Earth's oceans and

seas.

Real-Time Consequences

The Maldives is about to become overtaken by water and soon all that will be left of this nation's history will be an undersea wreck.

What Can We Do?

We have a responsibility to start lowering our carbon emissions and help save our planet. You can make a start by doing little things, like turning off the lights. Every change counts!

Rising Sea Levels?