Global Warming and its Effect to
Southeast Asian Countries
The range of climatic changes will have real effects on the natural environment plus to human-made infrastructure and their ability to contribute to economic activity and quality of life. The effects of these are varied across regions, countries, and sectors of economy, leaving future governments, citizens, and the private sector to face the full spectrum of direct and indirect costs accrued from increasing environmental damage and disruption.
As the environmental degradation of the Earth grew, it became evident that a number of environmental problems were very large in scale. One of the most prevailing environmental problems in which caught the attention of regional, international and continental audience is air pollution in which critically affects the depletion of ozone layer due to the emission of carbon dioxide. Such environmental misadventures are affecting or threatening to affect the entire planet. The off-shoot of air pollution and other haphazard acts to environment create the biggest environmental problems like global warming and stratospheric ozone depletion.
Third World Countries
The third world countries are rapidly developing. The establishment of various economic zone, infrastructures, new businesses, overcrowded population, and increasing automobiles affect the environmental condition in different ways and means. These series of development left several environmental, economic, and human problems. Although, the type of development and modification happened in a certain locale, we should not deny the fact that since environment operates as an integrated system, even if the problems are situated and are happening in a local level, it has a potential to create a chain of events that would result to multifarious effects.
We should remember that various kinds of environmental degradation may arrive with multifarious types of economic activities and one of which is air pollution. According to (1998), “Most Third World countries suffer from the effects of resource extraction and expansion of agriculture to marginal areas and only the more technologically advanced and populated ones pollute the water and air to a high degree” (p.108).
There are several significant effects of global warming to the Southeast Asian countries. It is believed that beside the visible effects on people’s livelihoods, global warming is predicated to have a strong and adverse impact on human health. “The populations of countries that have contributed the least to global warming are the most vulnerable to death and diseases brought about by higher temperatures. The coastlines along the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean and in sub-Saharan Africa will be at higher risk of enduring the health effects of climate change” (2007). In fact emerging infections like influenza A virus, the avian or bid flue and the former outbreak of SARS, underlines the importance of the Asia as an epicenter not only for influenza A viruses but also for other microbial agents. Due to the continuous emission of carbon dioxide that affects the thinning of the earth’s protective lines against greenhouse ultra-violet rays, the spreading of new diseases not only to Southeast Asia but to other countries in different continents are alarming and needs to be control. The creation of as an entity that responded to the need of protecting the earth’s environment against degradation is significant. The calls for industrialized and developing countries to act as one global body to fight climate change by adopting a mechanism or scheme in which to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Yet, the partial participation of the developing countries is due to the economic considerations that would somehow be affected by the implementation of the .
Additionally, researches expressed the danger brought about by global warming on the destruction of peat forests. In Southeast Asia alone, 27.1 million hectares comprises the peat forest, Indonesia holds 60% of this, and the rest to other countries like Malaysia, Brunei, and Papua New Guinea and the rest. Yet, of this proportion, 12 million hectares are deforested and mostly drained. The SEA’s peat holds possibly 50 billion tones of carbon. On the other hand, there is considerable effect by the global warming on food production and food crisis happening in some countries around the Southeast Asian region. The case in point was the recent issue in the Philippines in which faced food shortage that were partially due to less domestic food cultivation. In such scenario, global warming and climate change has been blamed for poor performance in food production.
Moreover, there is also an essential effect to the ecosystems in some parts of the SEA region in particular to Japan by the global warming. According to a study, among the phonological observations conducted by the Japan since 1953, on the flowering date of the Japanese cherry had a striking impact and changes. If the cherry blooms at the exact time 50 years ago, now, the tress is flowering 5 days earlier. There are also significant impacts of global warming detected by the Japan bureau, some of them ranges from the decreased alpine flora in Hokkaido, expanded distribution of the southern broad-leaved evergreen tress such as the Chinese Evergreen Oak, shifting of habitats of ermine and grouse on mountains such as and to higher elevations, and with some dangerous prospects for their complete disappearance (, n. d.).
The global dimension of economic and environmental problems stresses the need of an internationally linked economic and environmental policy. From the political standpoint, the task seems to be huge and there are many skeptical voices whether the big political bargaining process could ever converge.
The inconvenient truth as ’s jargon is widespread. Its multifarious effects to environment create multiple problems not only to human health but also to other social dimensions. The effects of global warming to the Southeast Asian countries have also affected the international trade and economic development as far as the is concerned. In response to alleviate the cause of climate change and control the curb the effects of global warming in the future, developing countries of Southeast Asia should participate in the collective action of fighting the adversity of global warming by engaging into the mechanism of Kyoto. Hence, by this engagement alone, developing countries in Southeast Asia may face economic consequences.
In the countries like the Southeast Asia or the developing countries, the ratification and entry-into-force of the would have considerably economic effects. However the question on what and how would it affect the economic sphere of the country would largely depend on the domestic policy measures chosen by countries to meet its obligations under the protocol. Its effects hereby are indeterminate during the ratification process.
In the work of , he argued that the developing countries’ participation is crucial because it would permit relatively low-cost reductions in emissions in the South in place of high-cost reductions in the North. Yet, this is a rich country perspective. Representatives of the developing countries contend that what is the main duty of the state are its own citizens, meaning the priority should be uplifting the economic standards of living. Moreover, it would not be practical on the part of the developing countries to implement the agreement for its economic cost, while rich countries can able to implement and manage to activate the agreement since they have enough resources and can afford to make some sacrifices.
In the last note, the issue on global warming is not new to all of us, and its multifarious effects are visible ranging from the changes of climate, temperature, strong hurricanes, landslides, melting of glaciers in polar areas and other considerable drastic changes in the environment. Its socio-political, health, and economic effects are also visible to the countries in the Southeast Asian region. The effects on food shortage, agriculture, health, and economy are deemed vital.
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Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com
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