Have been spending quite some time reading "Hot, Flat and Crowded", and a slow reader I am, I only finished one-eighth of the book(a very thick one indeed.. Haha). Or rather, I've just read up on where we are now. Unless your an avid researcher on environmental issues, one would never guess the extent that our environment is damaged by each and every of our actions. It's a common fact that development damages our environment, and until today, we humans are unable to strike a balance between development and environmental conservation. But how many of us actually see the exact magnitude of the damage done to our environment? Perhaps because we are stuck in this tiny island of Singapore that we are unable to picture size accurately. To me, by just building the marina bay IRs, I feel that we are already destroying a large part of nature. But this pales in comparison to the damage done when China built the 3 Gorges Dam across the YangTze River. Then again, this is nothing as compared to the amount of land China has to clear in order to develop Beijing and Shanghai into the developed cities they are to day. This is just like comparing the size of an electron, to an atom, to an entire piece of metal. It's that big of a difference! And by doing so, I'm only comparing the extent of loss of land biodiversity and environment. What about the other aspects such as damage to our oceans, air and about the increasing amounts of waste produced and about energy demand, supply and damage?

I feel that our world is developing at a rate far beyong what our environment can cope with. This is evident with recent more-drastic-than-normal changes in the weather conditions and the rapid loss of biodiversity. Dramatic weather conditions such as Hurricane Katrina destroying millions of homes in the USA, the underwater earthquake leading to Tsunami in Indonesia, longer-than-ever droughts in Australia leading to widespread forest fires. All these are signs of the environment succumbing to the extensive and intensive damage that we are subjecting it to. These are all the results of our unintentional actions to make the a better place. We all choose to develop our cities in a bid to increase our people's standard of living and quality of life. But who would expect that this results in increased air pollution through vehicle exhaust, increased electricity consumption, and greater dependence on mechanisation, increased waste as people get wealthier and adopt more undesirable consumption habits and greater loss of biodiversity through clearing of land, extensive use of the sea( overfishing, increased shipping, etc). Ironically, it's because of their actions to improve the world that they speed up the destruction of the very place we live in, and hence reduce quality of life as a result.

In my opinion, we are facing such a problem because many key personnel in society lack the thorough understanding of the problem we are facing. On the surface, it may seem as if China's rapid economic expansion of up to 10% per annum since the year 2000 proves that China's development masterplan is one that is effective and has foresight. But it simply takes one visit to the more industrialised areas in China to destroy this entire dream-like senario in our minds. Looking at the state of its natural environment, I feel that something needs to be done, and it needs to be done really soon, before things go out of control. Ask any teenager on the streets and they would probably be able to tell you that there are already measures put into place- Kyoto Protocol, Montreal Protocol, Government initiatives to encourage renewable energy, etc. But to me, what we need now is not these plans. What we need now is concrete action. Some things need to be done now. That's why I would like to commend certain orgainisations and government that have brushed aside political and economic pressures and pushed for environmental conservation.

The Netherlands
This is the country that places the greatest emphasis on the development and use of renewable energy. Such energy sources range from wind, solar, thermal, heat pumps, biomass to hydroelectricity. Currently about 10% of their total energy is met using these renewable sources. Although the Netherland does not own the largest rivers, the greatest land surface area, nor produce the most waste, the amount of energy they derive from these sources are the most. They do not have the highest GDP per capita, but still they are the most environmental friendly country. So much for the stereotype that such renewable energy requires massive funds. This is done by the two-way understanding between the people and the government. The understanding of the people reduces the level of political pressure faced by the government when they plan their budget at the start of every fiscal year. The government also increase employment through the operation of these high technology operations and they see the use of renewable energy and the greater ability to save the environment a milestone for the country and a mark of a highly developed state. I totally agree to it and commend its efforts and ability to stick by it through thick and thin.

Hyflux, Singapore
This is the company that is responsible for the developement of reverse osmosis, an essential process that allows waste water to be recycled into potable water. This drastically reduced Singapore's dependence on imported water from Malaysia and Indonesia. This comes at a perfect time when Malaysia is trying to raise the price of water sold to us. This method of obtaining drinkable water is still not as cheap as it should be, but it still beats desalination that is more expensive and pollutive. Although Singapore's action seems to have a political agenda behind it, I feel that it would be more appropriate to say that Singapore has took another crucial step towards environmental conservation. To add on, this advancement has allowed Singapore to take the lead in water management technology. Never would anyone expect such a tiny country to soon be self sufficient i water even without a fresh water source, but with this technology being further researched upon, it's won't be long before that happens.

The above are just 2 examplary examples of environmental conservation in each of their own fields. Very often it's when a country lacks something that they push for the development of it. Singapore lacks water, and hence pushed for greater water technology. Holland lacks crude oil and hence it pushes for renewable energy technology. It now seems as if these efforts are some what driven by economic and political factors. Once again, there's an irony. It's because of political and economic factors that many people and government do not dwell into research to protect our environment, but it's also because of these same 2 factors that accelerate their advancement in these fields. And this is what makes people think and go nuts, perhaps. Haha. I love how everything in this world is inter-linked. The link between science, engineering, environment, business, economics, politics.. The complexes the issue of environmental conservation, but it also makes it more exciting and this allows for people from different fields to associate with, bringing people together and pushing towards greater conservation of the environment. The vey place we live in.

Alright, these are just some of my thoughts on reading the book and perhaps the book would shed more light on the difficulties and problems of environmental conservation and economics development. But till then, that's all! =D