Travel Post : Climate Change and Air Pollution (SNC U16)

CLIMATE CHANGE & AIR POLLUTION IN THE PHILIPPINES

Still being a developing country in the world, I can't say that I was not surprised by the amount of air pollution present there. Especially from what I've heard from other people who have traveled there before and being there the previous year, I have got to say that living in the Philippines in this time and age probably isn't the best thing to do. Sure, if you're coming from a developed country such as the United States, Canada, or any country in Europe, you'd be financially stable and capable of living pretty well off. But the amount of traffic and density there is, especially in the big cities such as Manila, Quezon City, and Makati, have fun sitting in a car for at least an hour for every trip you make.
The thing is, not everyone there has enough money to buy a car. That doesn't stop them from getting a way of transportation, meaning they build motorcycles with an attached seat on the side to carry at least one or two more people.
Even standing outside or walking on the streets, one thing that was distinct to me was the smell. The smell wasn't really found in a specific place, but it was just from the exhaust from cars using up their gas while only going less than 10 kilometres per hour. It stunk, literally.
Not only was the air pollution a component to accept while staying there, but some factors of climate change was pretty noticeable; such as some places being relatively hotter than others even if they were only a few kilometres away, seeing people with certain skin conditions due to being exposed to the sun for too long. Climate change is also evident in the Philippines by the amount of flooding that damages their lands.

CLIMATE CHANGE & AIR POLLUTION IN SINGAPORE

Industrial pollution is one of the biggest factors of air pollution I saw while traveling there. Singapore does not have a severe high density, but the entire country is very industrialized. Being such a small country with an average population, making products was a big factor of their country. Leading to pollution from factories shown in the picture above. Though Singapore is a fairly sustainable place to live in, they do release a large amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by the burning of fossil fuels (just like every other developed country).

CLIMATE CHANGE & AIR POLLUTION IN THAILAND 

Similar to the Philippines, Thailand is experiencing violent flooding due to climate change and it's affect on the water near lands or more specifically, lands that are close to sea level. Sea level rise is a huge factor we consider from climate change because as the years go by, the flooding only becomes more and more violent (which seems to be the result from warm water and warmer temperatures leading to the expansion of water). Another factor in Thailand that is caused by climate change is their water management system, with flooding being as violent as they are, they're not competing with China for building dams. Still being a developing country in Asia, they are still very limited to the number of supplies and resources they are capable of having.