Newspaper article: Weather Chaos in China
Let’s start with the definition of “newsworthy”. The meaning is that of sufficient interest to the public or a special audience to warrant press attention or coverage. This article in The Straits Times has proved itself to be newsworthy enough that it caught my serious attention.
China is currently battling the harshest snowstorms in half a century which stranded millions of Chinese heading home for the celebration of Chinese New Year which is every year’s most important and significant festive seasons among all Chinese. The heavy snowfalls around China provinces, especially Gunagzhou, left millions stranded in gridlocked traffic which come to a virtual standstill. Many Chinese are rushing for essential supplies of food and water although preparations for the Chinese New Year are accelerating among all Chinese families. Blackouts occur in several provinces as the coal supplies are cut off because of the extreme weather. The storms have affected about 78 million people and left 24 dead to weather-linked accidents across some 14 provinces. Battling with sliding global markets and inflation which brought the Shanghai stock index down 7.2 percent, China has estimated to have being chalked up 22.09 billion yuan in damages.
I firmly believe that the weather chaos in China is one of the wake-up calls for the impact of global warming across the globe. Industrailisation and globalisation around the world have resulted in increased rate of release of harmful gases into the atmosphere during the 20th century and recent times. The slight increase in temperature and sea levels around the world may be insignificant in figures, however the picayune difference changes the global climate system which has brought catastrophic storms and extreme weather conditions around the world. As a result, it has agonised the world economy with billions of dollars of damages solely, and the amount figure multiples yearly without fail. In addition, the case of rising sea levels has threatened to force many low-lying countries to abandon the submerging from the invincible power of rising water. One of the countries is Shanghai, China. which is China’s economic power house. The rising sea levels will eventually swallow up the prosperous and burgeoning city state, and China’s economical progress will come to a standstill if no action is taken or the actions come too late for the unprecedented catastrophic event, just like a ticking time bomb.
Peole’s daily lives will be adversely affected due to the climate change. Farms’ productivities will be marred and virtually destroyed by the harsh weather condition, and may take several months to recover, This will affect the food production and people will be bearing with hunger as food stocks across the country are depleting expenditously. Severe storms destroy homes and shelters for many, leaving them homeless or forced to abandon their homeland as the storms annihilate their land. Water supplies will be cut off due to water shortage or lack of fresh water supplies from major rivers or streams running through the country. The storms will affect the air, sea, and land traffic and people will not be able to move from one place to another easily, resulting from isolation to battle with the harsh weather conditions solely which will result in loss of lives among the poors.
In the view of the whole country, the country’s economical progress will be affected as excessive funds are used for medical aids and supplies for the displaced people. China may be able to cope with such situations due to aggrandising growth in economical power. However, in the near future, if nothing is done to decelerate the change in climate system, China’s economic growth will be incalculably hampered. Those smaller countries incapable of coping with extreme changes in climate will be deeply scarred by inaccessible capabilities to recover their losses, and may take many years to revert back the economic growth. The country’s global income rate will plummer due to reduce exports to other countries, which will eventually nose-dive the stock market in the country among other investors around the world. The most important note is that if nothing or little is done to decelerate the rate of climate changes, the future world will come to a grinding halt, and economical progress will be a myth.
Global warming and climate change are neither a thing of the past, nor even science fiction. It IS a reality now given that many evidence of results of global warming and climate change are surfacing throughout the globe, and Singapore is not spared either. Therefore we must take actions to contribute to be environment-friendly by going “green”. Each individual actions may be insignficant, however if everyone’s efforts are compiled together, postive impacts and results may surface eventually. We must not take the impacts of global warming and climate change for granted, for it will contrarily affect our very next generations to come.
