Many might think that climate change is insignificant because we contribute just 0.11 per cent to global emissions. However, experts emphasise that everyone plays a part in resolving the crisis of climate change. Here, The Straits Times' climate change editor David Fogarty and environment correspondent Audrey Tan explain the direct impact of climate change on Singapore.
Hot days getting hotter
The sweltering heat is only going to get more unbearable.
On average, it is almost 1 deg C hotter in Singapore today as compared to the 1950s.
Did you know that by 2100, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimated that global temperatures are likely to exceed 1.5 deg C? It warns that global warming must be limited to 1.5 deg C or less to minimise its impact.
Land retaken by the sea
Each year, sea levels rise by up to 5 millimetres, with greater increases near the equator. By 2100, the seas surrounding Singapore could rise by up to 1 metre.
With a third of the country less than 5 metres above sea level, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong estimated that at least S$100 billion will be needed over the next century to guard against rising seas.
Weather Extremities
Global warming gives rise to more frequent and intense storms, droughts, floods and cyclones. These are a threat to human lives and food security.
With a burgeoning world population, climate change is a looming threat to mankind.
Check out some of our library e-books and audiobooks on climate change:
1. CLIMATE CHANGE: WHAT EVERYONE NEEDS TO KNOW (2019)
By Joseph Romm
E-book available here.
Get the most up-to-date analysis of climate change's foundational science, its implications for our future and core clean energy solutions.
2. CLIMATE CHANGE: A BEGINNER'S GUIDE (2019)
By Emily Boyd and Emma L. Tompkins
E-book available here.
Examine the manifold threats climate change poses and how mankind could avoid catastrophic consequences.
3. CLIMATE CHANGE: A VERY SHORT INTRODUCTION (2017)
By Mark Maslin
E-book available here.
Make sense of the complexities posed by climate change - from the political and social impact to environmental and scientific issues.
4. THE UNINHABITABLE EARTH: LIFE AFTER WARMING (2019)
By David Wallace-Wells
E-book available here.
Audiobook available here.
Travel to the near future for a glimpse of life on a planet suffering the consequences of climate change.
5. DRAWDOWN: THE MOST COMPREHENSIVE PLAN EVER PROPOSED TO REVERSE GLOBAL WARMING (2017)
By Paul Hawken and Tom Steyer
E-book available here.
An international coalition of researchers, professionals and scientists offers their realistic and bold solutions to climate change.
6. CLIMATE: A NEW STORY (2018)
By Charles Eisenstein
E-book available here.
Flipping the script on climate change, this book reimagines the framing, tactics and goals we employ in our journey to heal from ecological destruction.
7. LOSING EARTH: THE DECADE WE COULD HAVE STOPPED CLIMATE CHANGE (2019)
By Nathaniel Rich
E-book available here.
An agonising revelation of missed opportunities in tackling climate change in the 1980s, how we got to where we are and what must be done before it is too late.
8. UNDERSTANDING CLIMATE CHANGE: SCIENCE, POLICY, AND PRACTICE (2016)
By Sarah Burch and Sara Harris
E-book available here.
Get a concise and holistic picture of climate change, including the scientific and human dimensions.
