Travel Green

Global warming has now become a major problem. AceTravels.com is highly committed to being a green travel company and we are very serious with all our actions regarding how we can contribute to Preserve Planet Earth and hand this planet over to our next generation safely.

Rising temperatures, drought and water shortages, melting glaciers and icecaps and extreme weather conditions bring the problem of global warming into our collective consciousness. The need to address this global concern, both on an individual, business and government level, has never been more immediate. We must act now to build a future that is less reliant on fossil fuels for energy and instead harness the efficiencies of renewable resources to fuel our homes, businesses and modern lifestyles.

1. What causes global warming?

The industrialized world along with our modern lifestyle has largely led to the warming of our planet. The earth’s atmosphere is delicate and thin, and we humans have changed its composition by increasing the number of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

Greenhouse gases are gases in the atmosphere that hold in heat, such as carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. These gases play the important role of maintaining the earth’s temperature at a comfortable 59oF and without these gases, the earth’s surface temperature would drop to 0oF. However, our industrialized, modern world produces too much greenhouse gas to maintain this balanced arrangement. It is estimated that 80% of the greenhouse gases we produce are C02. When we burn fossil fuels such as oil, natural gas, and coal we release C02 into the atmosphere.

When the sun’s energy enters the atmosphere, instead of heating the earth and re-radiating the excess heat back into space the extra greenhouse gases trap more heat and as a result, the temperature of the earth’s atmosphere and oceans is getting dangerously high.

2. What are the potential impacts of global warming?

Global warming, according to the Stern Review: The Economics of Climate Change will have the following impacts on the globe if we do not act now:

Melting glaciers will initially increase flood risk and then strongly reduce water supplies, eventually threatening one-sixth of the world’s population, predominantly in the Indian sub-continent, parts of China, and the Andes in South America.

Declining crop yields, especially in Africa, could leave hundreds of millions without the ability to produce or purchase sufficient food. At mid to high latitudes, crop yields may increase for moderate temperature rises (2 - 3°C) but then decline with greater amounts of warming. At 4°C and above, global food production is likely to be seriously affected.
In higher latitudes, cold-related deaths will decrease. But climate change will increase worldwide deaths from malnutrition and heat stress. Vector-borne diseases such as malaria and dengue fever could become more widespread if effective control measures are not in place.

Rising sea levels will result in tens to hundreds of millions more people flooded each year with warming of 3 or 4°C. There will be serious risks and increasing pressures for coastal protection in South East Asia (Bangladesh and Vietnam), small islands in the Caribbean and the Pacific, and large coastal cities, such as Tokyo, New York, Cairo, and London. According to one estimate, by the middle of the century, 200 million people may become permanently displaced due to rising sea levels, heavier floods, and more intense droughts.
Ecosystems will be particularly vulnerable to climate change, with around 15 - 40% of species potentially facing extinction after only 2°C of warming. And ocean acidification, a direct result of rising carbon dioxide levels, will have major effects on marine ecosystems, with possible adverse consequences on fish stocks.