Daniel Wibisana

Lingkungan Berkelanjutan
Ir. Firdaus Ali, MSc. PhD.
1306437076
April 28, 2015
Plan B 3.0 Summary

3. Rising Temperature and Rising Seas

Rapid and unpredictable climate changes are happening today, and the earth is getting warmer.
Glaciers are melting everywhere and if carbon emission is not reduced, seal level will rise. This
means that many cities will be under water. As a result of rising temperatures, heat waves have
brought droughts which reduced grain harvests. Intense heat waves have also claimed the lives of
thousands of people around the world. Climate changes also affected the economics of the world.
Earnings have dropped due to weather related damages.

Rising Temperature and Its Effects

According to NASAs monitoring stations, since 1970, the earths temperature has risen by 0.6
degrees Celsius. As a result of increased carbon emission from burning fuels, the CO2 level in
the atmosphere has raised 4 times the amount since the 1950s. Temperatures will rise as CO2
level increases in the atmosphere.
The effects of high temperatures are reduced crop harvests, melting snow reservoirs in the
mountains, destructive storms, and increased of drought areas. Rise of temperature by 1 degree
Celsius increases all species extinction by 30 percent.

The Crop Yield Effect

Rise in temperature will put agriculture out of sync with its natural environment. High
temperatures can reduce photosynthesis, prevent pollination and lead to drop dehydration. When

pollination is prevented, food staples, especially corn will not be able to reproduce and grow.
High temperatures dehydrate plants and leaves, which then reduces photosynthesis. With the
production of crops reduced due to global warming, it becomes harder to feed Earths growing
population.

Reservoir in the Sky

Nature stores water to feed to the rivers in the snow and ice masses in mountains. The rise in
temperature threatened these water reservoirs. High temperatures reduce precipitation as snow
and increase rain, causing more flooding in rainy season and less snowmelt. Melting glaciers
have become more of a concern in Asia, where 1.3 billion people depend on water supply for
living. Snow and ice glaciers are source if irrigation through the rivers and drinking water for
many people. If ice melting is not reduced, the risk of losing water reservoirs in the sky is also
increased.

Melting Ice and Rising Seas

Ice melting in the mountains affects river flows as well as sea level rise. Arctic Climate Impact
Assessment reported that due to ice melting, some polar bears are struggling to survive and are
turning to cannibalism. Ice melts will lead to much warmer regions as more of the incoming
sunlight is absorbed as heat. The International Institute for Environment and Development point
out that 634 million people live along coasts or below 10 meters of sea level. If ice melts and
cause rise in sea level, these people will be highly affected by it. If this happened, millions of
people will have to be dislocated to different areas, which will cause extreme crowding in the
inner regions; living space will become more populated.

More Destructive Storms

Rising seas, higher temperatures mean more energy radiating into the atmosphere, causing
tropical storms that can be devastating. Storms leave cities without water, power, sewage

disposal, garbage collection or telecommunications. Powerful storms collapse homes, factories,

and schools, destroy bridges, roads, and also crops. Damages caused by storms also affect the
economy because billions of dollars have to be spent to repair the damages.

Cutting Carbon 80 Percent by 2020

Pacala and Socolow, predicted that technologies by the year 2054, CO2 emissions can be cut by
1 billion tons per year. Approaches have been made to treat potential methods of reducing carbon
emissions. Humanity is at risk facing climate change that could go out of control and will no
longer be able to be controlled. Combinations of glaciers, rising seas and their effects on food
production and low lying coastal cities could overwhelm the capacity of humans to cope. In
order to cut net CO2 emission to 80 percent by 2020, future temperature rises have to be limited.
Three components of cutting CO2 concentration effort are halting deforestation while planting
trees to absorb carbon, raising energy efficiency, and harnessing earths renewable source of
energy.