Come to Climate Kopitiam and buy us a cup of Ko-fi!
Dear friend,
Conversations on the climate crisis have been occurring more often recently, as the Ministry of Sustainability and Environment (MSE) and the National Environmental Agency (NEA) have recently released a Heat Stress Advisory. The effects of the crisis are affecting us now more than ever, and our fight is not over. As we gear up for the rally at Hong Lim Park on 23 September, we unpacked the meaning of climate justice and the importance of having a movement centered around it.
We also emphasised in our recent post that the climate crisis can only be solved with collective action, and our follow-up post with local case studies (including our 2019 rally!). You may sometimes be overwhelmed by feelings of hopelessness and powerlessness. However, when we unite, we can do so much more. The power of collective action is greater than one can imagine – as shown by the growth of the global (and local) climate movement over the years. If the ozone layer can heal with global action taken, we can do the same for the climate crisis.
For a better world,
SG Climate Rally
We have recently released our very first podcast episode under Climate Kopitiam, which is available on Spotify and other platforms! Join our members Isaac, Debby and Sammie to hear their experiences at SG Climate Rally and discuss climate justice. If you have any topics of interest and recommendations, do slide into our DMs (respectfully) on our social media platforms!
We are selling our zines on our Ko-Fi page! Our 2023 Zine Series contains 7 issues, each featuring 8 pages worth of an article and drawings from our website. Each zine also opens up to form an A3 sized poster on its reverse side. We suggest donating $10 for a zine, however you could contribute more if you wish. If that’s too much, you could also donate directly to us without getting a zine.
Another way to contribute is to sign up for our nature walks on 6 and 20 Aug here, where we will introduce a climate justice perspective to the natural and manmade environments around Labrador Park. Any amount counts! All the money raised will be used to fund our upcoming rally in September.
Global News
🥵Several climate records have been broken at alarming speed, with the hottest day on record on Earth being broken on multiple occasions in July, ocean temperatures reaching record highs, and Antarctic sea-ice reaching record lows. This could start a feedback loop which results in further impacts on weather systems. Climate scientists have said this is not unexpected, and could be due to the current El Nino weather phenomenon, though with continued high levels of greenhouse gas emissions, the changes may be happening at a faster rate.
🔥A spate of heatwaves across Europe and the US would have been “virtually impossible” without human-caused climate change, according to scientists from the World Weather Attribution group. These heatwaves have caused outbreaks of wildfires in Greece, and people being burned just by falling to the ground in Arizona. Other than these direct impacts, higher temperatures have also been shown to lead to more suicides and violence, and exacerbate mental health conditions — more reason why we shouldn’t take these “silent killers” lightly.
Local News
🌊A new study by NTU’s Earth Observatory of Singapore found that sea levels in Singapore could rise by 1.37m by 2150, if temperatures rise by more than 4 degrees Celsius. If carbon dioxide emissions remain at current levels, sea levels may rise by 0.95m. As 30 percent of Singapore’s land area is less than 5m above sea level, this could mean more frequent floods in populated areas. The government has already committed to building seawalls to protect against floods, but we also need to step up on climate mitigation to prevent sea levels from rising further.
♨️In an exciting development, researchers have found that a site near the Sembawang hot spring may be suitable to use as a source of geothermal energy. The team, comprising members from NTU, research centre Tumcreate and Surbana Jurong, estimates that the temperature at the site could go up to 200 degrees Celsius at a 4km to 5km depth, which is enough for electricity generation. One gigawatt of geothermal power could cover about 12 percent of Singapore’s current cooling demand.
😠An inquiry into Bangladeshi construction worker Ahmmed Mohammad Manik’s death in 2022 found that he was likely disoriented due to heat stress. A coroner said that Ahmmed and his colleague were sharing a 500ml bottle of water when they were deployed to work on the seventh-story rooftop of a condominium, and he subsequently started showing signs of heat stress, before falling to the ground. The incident further highlights the nature of how increased heatwaves due to climate change will disproportionately affect manual laborers who work outside. The coroner recommended that “employers ensure that workers working at height, or in other inaccessible places, have ready and timely access to water.”
👏And congratulations to Assoc. Prof Winston Chow, who has been elected as co-chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Bureau! He will head the Working Group II on Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability.
Part of sustainability is reducing a consumerist mindset. Is it possible in Singapore, where we’re constantly bombarded with advertisements to buy, buy, buy? Watch this CNA documentary on a community of ‘freegans’ in Singapore, who actively seek out unwanted stuff that can still be used, as well as food thrown out that can still be eaten.
The #Barbenheimer craze has been dominating the box office (and if you haven’t watched both films yet, we highly recommend doing so!). An op-ed on The Washington Post proposes that both films offer a window into the Anthropocene, with the polyvinyl chloride (PVC) material used to make Barbie dolls as well as the plutonium-239 radioactive isotope introduced by atomic tests being a marker of human-induced changes in the geologic period.