An Inconvenient Truth…A Real Apprehension…
"Everybody talks about weather but nobody ever does anything about it" famous Mark Twain, author of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, said. This statement is correlated with the universal threat, global warming. But first what is global warming? According to the documentary, “An Inconvenient Truth,” of former vice-president of the United States of America, Al Gore, that I have watched recently, global warming is a catastrophic disorder that leads to increasing atmospheric temperature of Mother Earth. It is principally the primary consequence of all the anthropogenic activities of mankind that can lead to a detrimental and destructive type of greenhouse effect. These anthropogenic effects include mainly the burning of fossil fuels such as gasoline and natural gas, incineration of human wastes and even the vital process of exhalation. By the way greenhouse effect itself is never harmful but when it happens that it reaches and passes the verge of its utility, it then becomes capable of wiping out the existence of life on earth which in short is the climax of the global warming. Have you ever heard of the St. Bernard, Southern Leyte tragedy? How about the violent typhoons that attacked Catanduanes and Bicol and the hurricane Katrina that caused numerous deaths and billions of dollars of damages to the United States of America? How about that of the undeniable probable disappearance of the country, Kiribati? These are only few of the numerous effects of global warming here in the Philippines and in the whole wide world that when left untreated will become a monster of destruction. The planet’s temperature has increased an average of 1 degree Fahrenheit (0.6 of a degree Celsius) in the last 100 years. With the increase in greenhouse gasses, the sun’s ray stay trapped and therefore the world’s temperature increases. It is predicted that the temperature will increase in coming years because more and more of the sun’s heat remains trapped here on earth. If the temperature of the planet increases to a certain point, methane from the ocean will be released into the air and will drastically increase the temperature of the earth to dangerous levels. This is not to scare anyone and may not even have to do with global warming or human greenhouse gas production, however scientists believe methane released from the ocean ended the Permian era, killed off countless land and sea creatures, and raised the temperature of the planet considerably. Going back to the present scene, rainy days go longer the way they should be. Metro Manila is soaked in flood. Landslides in China and almost everywhere are undeniable occurring. Why are these happening? Can we, the human race, still survive the next 50 years? I don’t think so unless one of us moves and unveils to us the sad tendency of the endemicity of mankind (just like the humble Al Gore). Our world today is on the verge of its destructive anger. She becomes hotter and angrier. As to figurative description, she is becoming like a boiling teapot that whistles very loud but only few hears and tries to put the fire out under it. Should we wait for the time that the earth will experience the catastrophe exemplified in the movie, “The Day After Tomorrow,” which prospected on the very violent hurricane that froze the whole America? If all the ice caps would melt, sea level will rise for an average height of 20 feet. What would the earth look like? Will it be another forty day- deluge or an eternal one? For the next fifty or say 100 years, carbon dioxide, dinitrogen pentoxide, nitrogen oxide, carbon monoxide, etc. concentrations will jump an unfathomable leap up to thousand parts per million. How unimaginably hot will earth be? Global warming itself is undeniably irreversible. Scientists even think of burying the greenhouse gases but can this solve the problem? Not really because gases would always tend to escape out for they are lighter and less dense than earth. Solutions for it are elusive to come up with but still we need to resolve this problem or else we will jus accept our darkest doom. Simple but effective panaceas for this impending dangerous catastrophe include: 1) Lessen backyard burning in order to minimize carbon dioxide emissions. 2) Minimize electric consumption to lessen coal burning that causes the emission of carbon monoxide and carbon monoxide. 3) Advocate proper waste disposal so that wastes will decompose properly diverting from massive methane emissions. 4) Help in planting trees for they help in lessening the CO2 concentrations utilizing them in photosynthesis. 5) Participate in environmental advocacies such as Green Peace International, etc. 6) If possible, better ride in public vehicles rather than riding in your own private car to minimize carbon monoxide and dinitrogen pentoxide emissions. 7) Patronize waste recycling to minimize waste that are disposed and left to decompose that emits methane gas and other gaseous nitrogen compounds. 
Discourage commercial deforestation. 9) Always be informed of Mother Earth’s situation. Thinking of it clearly, there is only one more thing that we humans can do. This is to diverge from the stereotypical way of ignorance about what is happening around us. Let us be aware of our warm surroundings, our depreciating environment. If we only respond to the very loud whistle of the teapot (Mother Earth) positively, we can be insured of a brighter life with a fuller view of Mother Earth’s threshold and at that point of bliss we then can say that Mark Twain’s statement is only a fictional story. One last thing… LET’S GO (connive with Al Gore)…Save Mother Earth and the whole human race… Go for global warming prevention!!!
For Comment Send To: glen_july9@yahoo.com or to kapid_april3@yahoo.com
