THE ENVIRONMENT Issues, Problems & Implications

Lecture Progression
1. Global Issues
a. Causes and effects
b. Solutions and efficacy
2. Singapore Issues
3. Application to Essay
WHAT’S WRONG WITH THE WORLD,
MAMA?
Global Issues:
1. Global Warming

1. Pollution

1. Destruction of the natural habitat

2. Challenges of 2020
GLOBAL WARMING
What is it?
• Building up of greenhouse gases since the
industrial revolution led to the increase of global
temperatures dangerously
• Rise up by nearly 6 degrees celsius by the end of
21st century if no actions done, according to UN,
which would lead to irreversible environmental
destruction
GLOBAL WARMING
Causes
Generally agreed that anthropogenic
factors do cause global warming, the
extent of them being the cause of global
warming is much argued over, only to
be worsened by the varying agendas of
different parties involved.
GLOBAL WARMING
Causes: Natural
Palaeoclimatic studies have pointed to the
variations of global average surface and sea
temperatures over the history of Earth.
They are caused by two main factors:
1. The Earth’s relative position to the Sun

2. Fluctuation of the temperature of Sun


GLOBAL WARMING
Causes: Anthropogenic
According to a 2020 report by the
the National Academies of Sciences,
humans are the main cause of the
current global warming.
The main culprits:
🢝 Genesis: Industrial
Revolution (the use of coal
to power mechanisation)
🢝 Synthetic compounds such
as chlorofluorocarbon (CFC)
🢝 The burning of fossil fuels
🢝 Changes in land use:
cutting down of trees for
agriculture and urbanisation
 DEEPER INSIGHTS

WHO IS
KILLING THE
PLANET?
GLOBAL WARMING
Culprit 1: Capitalism*
Definition: An economic system in which trade,
industry, and the means of production are largely or
entirely privately owned and operated for profit

Case Study: How profit-driven oil

companies are the main cause of
global warming?
 Despite being the world’s leading
authority on climate change, there has
been much criticism surrounding the
IPCC:
GLOBAL ○ Questionable authors and experts
WARMING ○ Alarmist
○ Non-peer-reviewed journal articles
CULPRIT 2:
LACK OF
CREDIBILITY
GLOBAL WARMING
Culprit 3: The Media
Whoever controls information has the
power to write the narrative
 MAIN
EFFECTS OF
GLOBAL
WARMING:
WHAT WE
ALREADY
KNOW
Effects of Global Warming:
How animals react?
Effects of Global
Warming

Effects of Global Warming:

How animals react?
Effects of Global Warming

Ocean Acidification
Effects of Global
Warming

Rising Sea Levels

Effects of Global Warming

Rising Sea Levels:

The sinking of Venice
Effects of Global Warming:
Climate Change - floods and droughts
🢝 South Africa’s drought-stricken Cape Town
almost made it to “Day Zero” in 2019 when taps
in the city run dry and people start queuing for
water
🢝 Las Vegas has been facing one of the worst
The ‘extreme weather droughts in the USA since 2015
bingo’ 🢝 Floods, fire and drought: Australia, a country in
the grip of extreme weather patterns had its
worst drought and forest fire in 2019 and early
2020
🢝 Massive droughts in southern and western
Africa have been linked to climate change: 2017
Somalian drought that can be felt all the way to
today.
Effects of Global Warming:
A closer look at the looming water crisis
The water crisis is going to
bring a lot of challenges to
the world. Here are some
insights to help you better
analyse that aspect of global
warming
WATER CRISIS
Causes:
1. Waste and mismanagement
2. Rampant pollution: oil spills, fracking,
waste
3. Diseases and allergens
4. Lack of social awareness / apathy
WATER CRISIS
Implications:
1. Higher food prices: Hunger and thirst – Is
there a link to poverty?
2. Leads to a vicious cycle of poverty and
social unrest as a basic good becomes too
expensive – water is needed for numerous
processes
3. Political instability and low rates of
economic growth – why is that the case?
Case study:
How avocados are creating droughts?

The world can’t get enough of the fruit.

But avocado trees are a thirsty crop, and

Chileans in Petorca say the agribusiness
there is exacerbating a regional drought,
over-pumping the region’s groundwater
and emptying its rivers, leaving next to
nothing for the people to drink
Case study:
How urbanisation and global warming are creating the
perfect storm for a massive drought in Kolkata?
Key concepts:
Groundwater - water found underground in the cracks and
spaces in soil, sand and rock.

Uses: What is causing water shortage:

1. 64% of groundwater is used for irrigation to grow crops 1. highest consumption of water per person at more than 600 litres, compared to the lowest
2. important component in many industrial processes consumption in Chennai with almost 84 litres per person, with Bangalore at 100 litres and
3. a source of recharge for lakes, rivers, and wetlands Mumbai at 170 litres.
4. Our drinking water 2. river drying up in summers due to a lower contribution to its volume of water from the
aquifers
3. Groundwater depletion is also reaching a high due to massive urbanization creating
increasing demands on water supply, concrete pavements restricting the percolation of
rainwater, wastage of treated water, and the non-segregation of waste.

Steps to mitigate impact:

1. The “Jal Dharo, Jal Bharo” (Preserve Water, Reserve Water) scheme that was launched in
2012 is aimed at the construction of water bodies such as ponds, reservoirs, and canals as
well as artificial recharging of groundwater through rooftop rainwater harvesting
2. water meters in households to track consumption patterns in a bid to curb water wastage
3. Green City Mission and incentive programmes for buildings and high-rises to control their
resource usage and pollution
WATER CRISIS:
GEOPOLITICAL IMPLICATIONS
Implications:
4. Water wars
i. Some political observers agree that
water may become an instigator of wars in
the future
ii. Israel restricting Palestine’s access to
water; Privatisation of Water in Bolivia;
Yemen’s civil war affecting access to water;
Is the Singapore-Malaysia water
agreement going to last?
ii. The biggest solution to preventing water
wars lies in cooperation and diplomacy.
However, countries do not seem to be able
to look past their geo-political interests.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAR_vN4MgVY
POLLUTION
Causes of Pollution

1. Ocean Litter
2. Air pollution
3. Noise and light pollution

Quiz: https://www.earthday.org/oceans-and-plastic-pollution-quiz/
Some Revision Points
1. Pollution is one of the biggest global killers, affecting over 100 million people.
That’s comparable to global diseases like malaria and HIV.
2. Over 1 million seabirds and 100,000 sea mammals are killed by pollution every
year.
3. People who live in places with high levels of air pollutants have a 20% higher risk of
death from lung cancer than people who live in less-polluted areas.
4. Americans make up an estimated 5% of the world’s population. However, the US
uses 25% of the world’s resources - burning up nearly 25% of the coal, 26% of the
oil, and 27% of the world’s natural gas.
5. While children make up 10% of the world’s population, over 40% of the global
burden of disease falls on them. More than 3 million children under age five die
annually from environmental factors.
6. Recycling and composting prevented 85 million tons of material away from being
disposed of in 2010, up from 18 million tons in 1980.
Light Pollution
Causes
1. increase in streetlights
2. Indoor lamps
Effects
1. Endangering ecosystems
2. Alters our biochemical rhythms
Solutions
1. Switch off lights when not needed
2. Using blackout curtains to reduce
bird collusions
3. Use dim red lights that will not affect
Image of Paris at night.
physiology
ENDANGERED SPECIES – THE
PROBLEMS
1. Illegal wildlife trade
2. Climate change (explored earlier)
3. Poor agricultural practices
4. Commercial fishing
5. Toxic chemicals and pollution
ENDANGERED SPECIES
– YOU THINK!
• Causes: What do you think are the
causes of these problems?
1. Illegal wildlife trade
2. Climate change
3. Poor agricultural practices
4. Commercial fishing
5. Toxic chemicals and pollution

• Implications: What are the possible

implications of the loss of wildlife?
1. Economic Cost of Lost Biodiversity
Topping the list, of course, is the monetary value of biodiversity around the world. In terms of ecosystem services—functions
like pollination, irrigation, soil reclamation and other things that would have to be paid for if nature couldn't take care of it on
its own—the value of global biodiversity has been estimated in the trillions. Because of this, deforestation alone has been
estimated to cost between $2-5 trillion annually worldwide.

2. Reduced Food Security

Reductions in biodiversity, however, do not only occur during deforestation or through poaching. The introduction of new
species, too, increases competition amongst locals and often leads to extinction of native populations. In much of the world,
this is happening on farms, too, where foreign breeds of cattle are being imported, pushing out natives.

3. Increased Contact With Disease

The loss of biodiversity has two significant impacts on human health and the spread of disease. First, it increases the number
of disease carrying animals in local populations. Research has shown that the species best adapted to survive critically
fragmented habitats are also the most prolific carriers of pathogens. As habitats are broken apart and reduced in size, these
animals become more common, winning out over the species that do not typically transmit disease.
At the same time, habitat fragmentation brings humans in closer and more frequent contact with these disease carrying
species.

4. Loss of Livelihoods
From fishermen to farmers, biodiversity—not to mention healthy ecosystems—is essential to maintaining livelihoods. When
ocean ecosystems collapse, for example, entire communities built on the bounty they provide fold as well. Whether the cause
is pollution, overfishing, ocean acidification, or a combination of these and more, humans are tied to the downfall of the
ecosystems that surround them.
CHALLENGES OF 2020
Case Study: 5 ways the Trump administration
has changed environmental policies

1. U.S. pulls out of Paris Climate

Agreement
2. Trump EPA poised to scrap clean
power plan
3. Trump revokes flood standards
accounting for sea-level rise
4. Trump officials propose changes to
handling the Endangered Species Act
5. Trump drops climate change from list
of national security threats
Case Study: Bushfires in Australia
What you need to know:
Timeline: Nov 2019 - May 2020
Size: Size of South Korea, roughly
25.5 million acres
Effects:
1. Loss of human lives (33)
2. Loss of biodiversity (More than 1
billion mammals, birds and reptiles)
3. Hazardous levels of pollution
Causes:
1. Inaction by PM Scott Morrisson’s
cabinet
2. Global warming exacerbating bushfires
3. Arson
Similar patterns:
Amazon rainforest: the forest hasn't
stopped burning since last year
Siberia Wildfires (2020): 47 million acres,
of forests (Size of Greece)
 Climate Refugees
A climate refugee is a person who has been
forced to leave their home as a result of the
effects of climate change on their environment. What is being done?
These range from floods to droughts; from rising In January 2020, the UN Human Rights
sea levels to desertification. Commission ruled that refugees fleeing
their native countries due to the effects
of the climate crisis in future years may
Regions that will be affected: not be forced to return if their lives are
1) The Republic of Kiribati is considered one of in danger.
the countries most at risk of being rendered
uninhabitable by rising sea levels. Whether or not the ruling will be
2) The World Bank estimated that three regions respected is another story.
(Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, and
Southeast Asia) will generate 143 million
more climate migrants by 2050.
 Greenwashing
The term greenwashing was
coined by environmentalist Jay
Westerveld and it is designed “to
make people believe that your
company is doing more to
protect the environment than it
really is.”
FIJI greenwashing -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOpa8kd6fBI
Examples:
- The COP25 meeting was sponsored by
Endesa, one of Spain’s biggest polluters
- In the mid-1980s, oil company Chevron
commissioned a series of expensive
television and print ads to convince the
public of its environmental bonafides.
- The Home Depot and Lowes, for
example, both encourage customers to
do their part by offering onsite recycling
for several products (whilst continue to
produce environmentally damaging
ones)
Greenwashing:
The lies of Volkswagen
The car giant Volkswagen, who has admitted to cheating
emissions tests by fitting various vehicles with a “defeat”
device — a proprietary software that could detect when it
was undergoing an emissions testing, altering the
performance to reduce the emissions level, all while touting
the low-emissions features of its vehicles through marketing
campaigns. In truth, however, these engines were emitting
up to 40x the allowed limit for nitrogen oxide pollutants.
COVID x Climate Change
Based on historical patterns
- Reduced economic activity would typically
lead to decrease global warming as well as
air and marine pollution, allowing the
environment to slowly flourish

However…
- Factories pushed to make up for lost time,
pollution returned in early May for a period
to pre-coronavirus levels
- Illegal logging increased in the Amazon
Rainforest: 64% more land cleared in Apr
2020 vs. Apr 2019
- ‘Carpocalypse’ : more could switch to
driving as public transport is unsafe
Singapore’s top 3 environmental issues

1. Food Security
2. Food Waste
3. Threats to Biodiversity

Very useful website for Singapore:

https://www.nccs.gov.sg/singapores-climate-action/overview/national-circumstances
1. Food Security
- Defined as physical, social and economic
access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food
that meets dietary needs
- Singapore imports a striking 90% of our food
- Other 10%: AVA aims to achieve varying
levels of self-sufficiency in the three key food
items - eggs (30%), fish (15%) and leafy
vegetables (10%)
Singapore’s Food Producers
- info from Singapore Food Agency
1. AVA’s Singapore Quality Egg Scheme
2. Good Agricultural Practice for Vegetable Farming Scheme
3. Good Aquaculture Practice for Fish Farming (GAP-FF) Scheme
Food Waste
1. Amount of food wasted has increased by
40% over the past 10 years

1. Environmental impact: wasted resources in

food production, poor management of food
wastes leads to contamination, overall
recycling efforts hampered
Solutions to food wastage
Solutions to Food
Wastage

Consumers Companies

Restaurants,
Waste treatment
Schools Public supermarkets,
projects / IWMF
vendors
Source: NEA
Threats to Biodiversity:
The Cross Island Line
Threats to Biodiversity:
How can Singapore stop illegal trade
of wildlife?
Paul Hawken’s 2017
bestselling book
Drawdown: The Most
Comprehensive Plan
Ever Proposed to
Reverse Global
Warming was based on
a climate change
mitigation project.
RESEARCH: GLOBAL EFFORTS TO DEAL WITH
CLIMATE CHANGE
Find out about the global efforts to deal
with climate change.

In less than 150 words for each of these

global efforts, outline the following:
1) What is the agreement about?
2) Was it a success? Why?
3) Are there any recent updates about
the agreements?
4) What are your opinions about the
agreements?
REASONS FOR
ENVIRONMENTAL
CONSERVATION
1. Solving environmental
problems alleviates global
poverty
REASONS FOR
ENVIRONMENTA
L CONSERVATION
2. Everything is interconnected
and balanced out in Nature, and
Man’s daily survival depends on
environmental well-being
REASONS FOR
ENVIRONMENTA
L CONSERVATION
3. Only one Earth: only known
planet habitable in our galaxy,
lack of advanced technologies to
travel astronomically.
4. Preserving the environment
for future generations to live in
REASONS FOR
ENVIRONMENTA
L CONSERVATION
5. Ethical reason: all life is
considered sacred, thus need to be
protected as part of a moral
responsibility
6. Aesthetics: The environment
provide citizens with an aesthetically
pleasant place to live in
THE TRUTH IS
We must accept that environmental issues are
a natural by-product of human existence – if
we agree to this statement, then we recognise
that all we can do is:
a) Reduce human numbers, or;
b) To mitigate the issues
“WE HAVE NOT BEEN GOOD GUARDIANS
OF THE EARTH.”

HOW FAR DO YOU AGREE WITH THIS

STATEMENT?
Topic Sentence:
1. Relevant
2. Has a clear reasoning
3. Not example-driven / Domain driven
4. Not overlapping with other arguments
5. Insightful
Example 1 with apt explanation:
Is this example aligned with my topic sentence?
Am I providing insufficient/excessive information?
Have I proven my argument?
Evaluation:
How do my examples support my topic sentence?
Why are my examples so meaningful / significant?
Elaboration:
How do I make the reader better understand what I mean?
Are there any claims that I made in the Topic Sentence that
need to be further clarified?
Are there any key terms that need to be further clarified?
What dominant contexts are needed to ground my topic
sentence?
Example 2 with apt explanation:
Is this example aligned with my topic sentence?
Am I providing insufficient/excessive information?
Have I proven my argument?
Link/Close:
Did I merely restate the question exactly as it is asked,
without any modification? If so, change it!
Did I merely restate my topic sentence without any
modification? If so, change it!
Am I answering the question?
Topic Sentence: Explanation:

We
1. have been poor custodians of the
Relevant As our
How do world
I make is
thedriven
readerby capitalist
better tendencies,
understand what I mean?
2. Has a clear reasoning
environment, as our focus is now on taking citizens
Are there globally
any claimstend
that to consume
I made in the without thinking
Topic Sentence that of
3. Not example-driven / Domain driven theirtoactions
need andclarified?
be further producers are hell-bent on
without regard for the future and our actions
4. Not overlapping with other arguments maximising
Are there any their profit
key terms thatbyneed
meeting
to be this insatiable
further clarified?
are
5. centred on satisfying our personal desires
Insightful demand for consumer goods. This has made both
What dominant contexts are needed to ground my topic
without regard for the damage we incur on the sides accomplices that have eroded the flora and
sentence?
biodiversity. fauna because of rampant pollution.
Example
Example11:with apt explanation
Consumerism :
and waste driving the food Example
Example22:with apt explanation
ExxonMobil's desire: to continue investing
and agriculture industry has led to the misuse of land in oil and gas by pumping 25% more investment by
Isand
this water
example aligned withpolluting
– pesticides my topic sentence?
rivers in China and Is2025
this example aligned
means that wewith
willmy nottopic
meet sentence?
our emission
Am I providing
India insufficient/excessive
and slash-and-burn used ininformation?
Indonesia to rapidly Am I providing
targets insufficient/excessive
to prevent climate change. information?
This shows that
Have I proven my argument?
clear ancient forests to replace it with Palm Oil, Have I proven my argument?
profits have overtaken morality and that we have
which is found in most consumer goods. reneged our guardian status.
Link
These / Evaluation:
examples show how much we have let our Close:
planets down and how whether we are consumers or Hence, it is unfortunately true that we have been
How do my examples
producers, we havesupport
turnedmy eye to the fate of Did
topic sentence?
a blind poorI merely restateofthe
guardians ourquestion exactly habitat
own natural as it is asked,
and have
Why are my examples
the environment. so meaningful
This is going to/come
significant?
back and without
causedany modification?
massive If so,tochange
suffering it! creatures and
countless
haunt us, as when we decided to betray the Did I merely much
destroyed restate in
myourtopic sentence
paths without any
to progress. In our
environment for profits, we destroyed our own modification? If so, change
desire to become it!
the capitalist, we neglected our
habitat and have started to face mounting Am I answering
roles the question?
as caretakers of the earth.
challenges.
WE HAVE NOT BEEN GOOD
GUARDIANS …
1. We have not balanced our need for 3. We have wreaked havoc with the
wealth with our exploitation of the
resources. We have regarded the
resources as if they are infinite. There is
no vision to see that enough is left for
future generations – there is over-
hunting, over fishing, overuse or
exploitation of our fossil fuel, water etc.
2. We have taken away the habitat of
our fellow creatures that share the
earth thus contributing to their
endangered or extinct status.
climate like global warming by releasing
green house gases and bringing about a
slew of other problems which affect the
biodiversity.
E.g: the Green house effect and global
warming. El Nino, long droughts and
winter cold spells to name a few.
Balance: There have been efforts to
turn us to better guardians and some of
us have tried to mitigate, to varying
degrees, the impact caused on the
planet.
LINKS
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jul/13/environmental-defenders-being-killed-in-record-numbers-
globally-new-research-reveals
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jul/12/want-to-fight-climate-change-have-fewer-children
https://www.voanews.com/a/zimbabwe-ban-plastic-foam/3945349.html
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/brazils-environment-min-proposes-shrinking-amazon-reserve-
48648193
https://www.theguardian.com/inequality/2017/jul/04/is-inequality-bad-for-the-environment
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/ocbc-launches-100000-fund-to-support-local-environmental-projects
http://www.meadvilletribune.com/opinion/columns/column-trump-takes-the-free-rider-approach-to-the-
environment/article_de45e47e-5aad-11e7-8b86-db7da220d032.html
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jul/10/earths-sixth-mass-extinction-event-already-underway-
scientists-warn
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/environment/masagos-visiting-indonesia-to-reaffirm-commitment-to-
addressing-environmental
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jul/11/uk-households-binned-300000-tonnes-of-clothing-in-2016
LINKS
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2017/06/trump-ditches-paris-california-leads-environment-170625141250430.html
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jul/03/lawyers-plan-to-stop-uk-dropping-eu-rules-on-environment-after-brexit-
taskforce-protections-law
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jul/12/renewable-power-energy-costs-review-dieter-helm
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jul/12/exclusive-government-inaction-leading-to-increased-pollution-on-barrier-
reef-says-wwf
http://www.iflscience.com/environment/something-curious-happened-environment-during-black-death/
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jul/14/clean-energy-target-how-the-states-might-make-it-work
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-40584629
http://www.allure.com/story/glitter-makeup-environmental-effects
http://www.france24.com/en/20170624-macron-launches-global-environment-pact-paris
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jul/11/boris-johnson-backs-all-out-ban-on-ivory-sales
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/environment/steps-to-beef-up-process-of-wildlife-impact-assessment
LINKS
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/06/170615213258.htm
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jun/22/norway-issues-1bn-threat-brazil-rising-amazon-destruction
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/planet-oz/2017/jul/05/climate-change-authority-loses-last-climate-
scientist
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/908072/environment-group-pushes-for-passage-of-e-waste-law
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jul/07/climate-change-denial-scepticism-cynicism-politics
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jun/27/plastic-debris-inundates-remote-uk-coasts-endangering-
wildlife
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jun/30/farmers-join-fight-against-adani-coalmine-over-
environmental-concerns
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2138381-trumps-wise-monkey-environment-plan-see-no-evil-hear-no-evil/
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-40337161
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-40321674
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jun/20/exxon-bp-shell-oil-climate-change
 Links
https://usa.streetsblog.org/2020/05/05/how-bad-exactly-will-the-post-pandemic-carpocalypse-be/

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200720093238.htm

https://therevelator.org/environmental-stories-follow-2020/