WRITTEN

REPORT

CLIMATE
CHANGE

GROUP 03
HOA AN, THANH NGAN, THANH NGA, LE NA
DEFINITION OF CLIMATE CHANGE
According to NASA, climate change describes a change in the average conditions -
such as temperature and rainfall - in a region over a long period of time. For
example, 20,000 years ago, much of the United States was covered in glaciers. In the
United States today, we have a warmer climate and fewer glaciers.
Global climate change refers to the average long-term changes over the entire
Earth. These include warming temperatures and changes in precipitation, as well as
the effects of Earth’s warming.
Earth’s climate has constantly been changing-even long before humans came into
the picture. However, scientists have observed unusual changes recently. For
example, Earth’s average temperature has been increasing much more quickly than
they would expect over the past 150 years.
In short, climate change refers to a large-scale, long-term shift in the planet's
weather patterns and average temperatures.

CAUSES OF CLIMATE CHANGE

THE GREENHOUSE EFFECT
The greenhouse effect makes the earth warmer, just as a greenhouse is warmer than
its surroundings.
Earth is surrounded by a jacket of gases called the atmosphere. In the daytime, the
Sun shines through the atmosphere warming Earth’s surface. After the Sun goes
down, Earth’s surface cools. This releases the heat back into the air. But, some of
that heat is trapped by the gases in the atmosphere. These heat-trapping gases are
called greenhouse gases. Carbon dioxide (CO2), Methane (CH4), Nitrogen oxide (NO),
fluorine gas are the cause of the greenhouse effect. Earth needs a balance of
greenhouse gases to maintain just the right temperature for living things. But some
human activities are changing Earth’s natural greenhouse effect such as burning
fossil fuels, excessive urbanization increases greenhouse gas emissions. This causes
the Earth's temperature to rise.

HUMAN ACTIVITIES
Human activity is the main cause of climate change. Since the beginning of the
Industrial Revolution, as noted, the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere is now 40%
higher than when industrialization began. In addition, the increase in methane,
nitrogen oxides, VOCs,... all have made the speed of climate change alarmingly fast.
Impacts of human activities such as the use of fossil fuels (burning coal, oil, and gas)
produces carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide; use fertilizers, chemicals for cultivation
and daily life, pesticides containing nitrogen that produce nitrous oxide emissions.
Exploiting and using forest land also leads to climate change.
Trees help to regulate the climate by absorbing CO2 from the atmosphere. When
they are cut down, that beneficial effect is lost and the carbon stored in the trees is
released into the atmosphere, adding to the greenhouse effect. Next, cows and
sheep produce large amounts of methane when they digest their food. Therefore,

PAGE 02 | GROUP 03
raising cattle is one of the causes of rising emissions. In addition, fluorinated gases
are emitted from equipment and products that use these gases. Such emissions
have a very strong warming effect, up to 23 000 times greater than CO2. War in
exploiting oil, minerals, coal for weapons, making and using atomic bombs are also
some of the main causes of climate change.

IN THE NATURAL PROCESS

Due to the interaction and motion between the earth and the universe. Factors that
are not climate but affect climate such as the impact of CO2; solar radiation;
earthquakes and volcanoes and others… can cause climate change.

CLIMATE CHANGE AFFECTS HUMAN & ANIMALS

Climate change is not only a man-made disaster of global scale that human beings
are facing right now but also the greatest threat in thousands of years. The entire
planet is becoming warmer thanks to the greenhouse effect. And the impacts of
rising temperatures aren’t waiting for some far-flung future – the effects of global
warming are appearing right now. Climate change has made severe impacts on
human life as well as the animal kingdom.

EFFECTS ON HUMAN
The global average surface temperature has increased by more than 0.9 degrees
Celsius since 1906 and this number is even higher in sensitive polar regions. While it
seems to be a small number, human has to be aware that 20.000 years ago, a five-
degree increase was enough to bury a large part of North America under a towering
mass of ice.
An increase in the temperature contributes to an ominous phenomenon melting
more than 9.6 billion tons of glacial ice in the world resulting in raising the sea level
by 2.7 centimeters. Higher sea levels are coinciding with more dangerous and
unpredictable hurricanes and typhoons, more powerful storm surges that can strip
away everything in their path. Already, flooding in low-lying coastal areas is forcing
people to migrate to higher ground, and millions are more vulnerable to torrential
floods or landslides. Right now, 80 percent of the world's hungry people live in areas
prone to natural disasters and extreme weather, which creates exactly the right
conditions for hunger to take hold. About 14 million people are being made
homeless on average each year as a result of sudden disasters such as floods and
storms, new figures show.
Over the past few hundred years, no other natural disaster in Vietnam has caused
more death than flood. In October 2020, more than 200 people died amid the worst
flooding in decades, triggered by tropical storms and typhoons. The series of storms
that battered central Vietnam in October, triggering floods and landslides, caused
economic damage worth VND17 trillion ($734.67 million), the government estimates.
According to recent surveys, if the sea levels rise by 1 meter, Vietnam will lose 65% of
our mangrove forests, 10% of the population will lose their place of residence while

PAGE 03 | GROUP 03
while more epidemics and deadly diseases will appear, which eventually lead to the
potential health crisis among the community.

EFFECTS ON ANIMALS
Not only is human subjected to perilous consequences of climate change, but the
biodiversity is also facing a great loss.
Scientists estimate that about 150 species are on the verge of extinction nowadays.
Every day, animals are much more sensitive than people to changes in humidity.
Raising in temperature means more and more animals are struggling to adapt to
this changing planet. Recently, that the last white rhino has left the earth is proof
that the ecosystem is getting out of whack.
Many animals are forced to change their lifestyles, or even their habitats. The
analysis from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) indicates
that the eagle’s migration has started 2 weeks earlier over 28 years. Global ice melt
and rising sea levels cause birds to have fewer stopovers for recovering energy.
Meanwhile, more intense droughts reduce the natural habitat of amphibians as they
can not withstand long periods without water. Climate change is heating up the
Arctic faster than anywhere else, and sea ice is shrinking 14 percent per decade.
Polar bears are losing their home, desperate to find food, and on the verge of
extinction together with tigers, Asian elephants, snow leopards,…
If we don’t take action, the collapse of our civilization and the extinction of the
natural world is on the horizon.

WHAT ARE THE SOLUTIONS?

FROM SCIENTIFIC PERSPECTIVE
We all know that nature has been dumping CO2 and other gases into the
atmosphere, but until the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, humanity’s main
contribution was ash and smoke from wood fires and methane emissions from farm
animals. In the 1700s, it began to change with the invention of the coal-fired steam
engine, steamboats, and locomotives. Suddenly, transportation was faster and more
economical, and with the advent of coal-fueled factories, cheaper goods could be
produced much more efficiently and in greater quantities.The downside was
pollution. But few people gave atmospheric contamination a second thought. As a
result, much damage was done before the problem was identified. So how can we
solve this?
At the moment there is no binding international agreement to cut emissions though
many countries are unilaterally undertaking mitigation policies. Greenhouse gas
emissions are now above the worst-case scenarios. This is primarily due to the rapid
development of emerging economies such as China, India, Brazil, and South Africa.
Therefore, this report will examine three types of solutions to climate change in
general and specific solutions to climate change’s impact on Vietnam in particular.
3 types of solutions to climate change: adaptation, mitigation and geoengineering.

PAGE 04 | GROUP 03
Adaptation - the major threat from climate change is its unpredictability. Humanity
can live in almost any extreme climate, however, we can only do so when we can
predict what the extremes of the weather will be.
Adaptation is the key to dealing with climate change but it must start now, as
infrastructure changes can take up to decades to implement.For example, if you
want to change land use, for example, by building better sea defenses or returning
farmland to natural wetlands in a particular area, it can take ten years to research
and plan the appropriate measures. It can then take another ten years for the full
consultative and legal processes, and a further ten years to implement these
changes. It can then take another decade for the natural restoration to take place to
complete the adaptation project. Another good example of this is the Thames
Barrier, which currently protects London from flooding. It was built in response to
the severe flooding in 1953 but did not open officially until 1984, 31 years later. Since
then the UK Environmental Agency has had a program that continually upgraded all
the flood defenses along the River Thames.
There are, however, limits to adaptation. First, climate change in particular areas can
go beyond our ability or finances to protect the population living there. Second, in
some regions our ability to predict the effects of climate change is limited and thus
formulating an adaptation plan is difficult.The other problem is that adaptation
requires money to be invested now; many countries just do not have the money, and
where they do, people do not want to pay more taxes to protect themselves in the
future; most people live for the present.
Second, mitigation. The idea of cutting global carbon emissions by half in the next
30 years and by up to 80 percent by the end of the century may sound extremely
challenging; however, already the UK, Mexico, and California have made legally
binding commitments to reduce carbon emissions by 80 percent, 50 percent, and
60 percent, respectively, by 2050.To achieve that, all countries, industries, and
individuals can take is to be more energy efficient. It means we should replace fossil
fuels with alternative, renewable, or clean energy. First, biofuels can be used to
produce a liquid fuel. The global economy is based on the use of liquid fossil fuels,
particularly in the transport sector. So in the short term fuels derived from plants
could be an intermediate low carbon way of powering cars, ships, and airplanes. In
addition to that, wind turbines are an efficient means of generating electricity, if
they are large and preferably located out at sea. Ideally, we need turbines the size of
the Statue of Liberty for maximum effectiveness. However, the problem with wind
turbines is twofold. First, they do not supply a constant source of electricity; if the
wind does not blow, then there is no electricity. Second, people do not like them,
finding them ugly, noisy, and a worry in terms of the effects they may have on local
natural habitats. All these problems are easy to overcome by situating wind farms in
remote locations, out at sea, et cetera. Wave and tidal power could also be an
important source of energy in the future. The concept is simple: to convert the

PAGE 05 | GROUP 03
continuous movement of the ocean in the form of waves into electricity. However,
this is easier said than done, and experts in the field suggest that wave power
technology is now where solar panel technology was years ago—lots of catching up
are still required. But tidal power, in particular, has one key advantage over solar and
wind—it is constant. Hydroelectric power is also an important source of energy. In
2010, it supplied 5 percent of the world’s energy. The majority of the electricity
comes from large dam projects. However, large areas of land must be flooded above
the dam, causing mass relocation of people and destruction of the local
environment. A dam also slows water flowing down a river and prevents nutrient-
rich silt from being deposited lower down. Other alternative sources of energy:
Geothermal, Nuclear fission, Nuclear fusion. However, they all have their pros and
cons.
Geoengineering has encompassed two things: sucking carbon dioxide out of the sky
so the atmosphere will trap less heat, and reflecting more sunlight away from the
planet so less heat is absorbed in the first place.

HOW CAN VIETNAM RESPOND TO CLIMATE CHANGE?

By 2100, climate change could impact more than 12 percent of the Vietnamese
population and reduce growth by 10 percent. The Vietnamese government, in
response to climate change, has implemented environmental policies to better cope
with these risks.
Here are some policies that can better prepare Vietnam for the future impact of
climate change:
We can lower the intensity of fossil fuels in Vietnam’s GDP by raising the
contribution of renewable energy.
Provide stronger incentives for households, firms, and the government to pursue
green growth.
The Vietnamese government should invest in climate-resilient infrastructure that
would help households and firms cope with storms.
Organizations can promote research and development and other innovation
policies which can provide further incentives to invest in existing clean energy
sources and improvements in clean technologies.
Citizens can shift to autonomous, electric, shared vehicles, as already planned in
Singapore, which would help reduce congestion and pollution in cities.
HOW CAN THE COMMUNITY DEAL WITH CLIMATE CHANGE?
As a community, we can:
Campaign to produce behavioral change
Develop more sustainable commuting
Produce products and food locally
Provide services to people affected by climate change
Reduce the use of energy in buildings
Implement local solutions for sustainable energy access and transformation

PAGE 06 | GROUP 03
 Create wealth from waste
Reclaim green spaces
Implement the sharing economy

WHAT US (STUDENTS) CAN DO TO PREVENT CLIMATE CHANGE?

For us, climate change is an extremely big problem, a huge one. However, we,
Vietnamese citizens, just need to do some simple things to save our Earth.
First of all, we need to reduce and reuse as much as possible. Factories emit CO2
when making new products. So instead of buying new stuff, we can fix our
appliances and clothes. Second, we just need to unplug phone and laptop chargers
when not in use and use power strips for lamps and TVs. In addition to that, we can
practice eating in-season, locally grown fruits and vegetables. This cuts down not
only on the energy used to grow and transport food but also on the need for so
much livestock, which reduces the release of heat-trapping gases. Besides, we
should walk or bike as much as we can, or use public transportation anytime
possible. Last but not least, because not everyone understands climate change,
besides learning the facts about it, we can talk to our friends and family to find
solutions to climate change.

To sum up, if we are to solve the problems of climate change, we need to tackle two
fundamental problems. The first is how we can reduce the amount of Greenhouse
Gas Emissions pollution that we are emitting. The world’s population is currently
already over seven billion and it is likely to rise and plateau at nine billion by 2050,
which would mean a huge potential increase in greenhouse gas emissions in this
century if people continue over-consuming. The second question concerns whether
as a society we are prepared to invest a relatively small amount of our budget to
cope with issues relating to climate change in the future. Saving our planet needs to
be aware, and it is not a trend.

PAGE 07 | GROUP 03
REFERENCES
1. Dunbar, B. (2015, May 13). What is climate change? NASA from
https://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/k-4/stories/nasa-knows/what-is-
climate-change-k4.html
2. What is climate change? Met Office. (n.d.) from
https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/climate-change/what-is-climate-change
3. Causes of climate change. Climate Action. (n.d.), from
https://ec.europa.eu/clima/climate-change/causes-climate-change_en.
4. What is geoengineering—and why should you care?. (2021), from
https://www.technologyreview.com/2019/08/09/615/what-is-geoengineering-and-
why-should-you-care-climate-change-harvard/
5. How You Can Stop Global Warming. (2021), from https://www.nrdc.org/stories/how-
you-can-stop-global-warming
6. Top 10 things you can do about climate change - David Suzuki Foundation. (2021)
from https://davidsuzuki.org/what-you-can-do/top-10-ways-can-stop-climate-
change/
7. Renewable Ocean Energy - Beachapedia. (2021) from
http://www.beachapedia.org/Renewable_Ocean_Energy
8. History of technology - Steam locomotive. (2021) from
https://www.britannica.com/technology/history-of-technology/Steam-locomotive
9. Industrial Revolution | Definition, History, Dates, Summary, & Facts. (2021) from
https://www.britannica.com/event/Industrial-Revolution
10. https://unfccc.int/topics/education-youth/youth-engagement/global-youth-video-
competition/global-youth-video-competition-2019/cities-and-local-action-to-
combat-climate-change
11. Global Warming Effects. (2021) from
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/global-warming-effects
12. Sea level rise, facts and information. (2021) from
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/sea-level-rise-1
13. Glaciers, the great guardians of the stability of the planet's climate. (2021) from
https://www.iberdrola.com/environment/melting-glaciers-causes-effects-solutions
14. Fires, floods, hurricanes, and locusts: 2020 was an epic year for disasters. (2021)
from https://www.vox.com/22202889/disasters-2020-flood-hurricane-wildfire-
australia-california-covid-pandemic
15. The Last Two Northern White Rhinos On Earth. (2021) from
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/06/magazine/the-last-two-northern-white-
rhinos-on-earth.html
16. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAa58N4Jlos
17. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0v5uTdLIPKQ
18. https://aqualife.vn/dau-la-nguyen-nhan-gay-bien-doi-khi-hau-hau-qua-cua-chung-
la-gi/

PAGE 08 | GROUP 03
REFERENCES
19. Người trẻ Việt và bảo vệ môi trường: là ý thức hay mãi là trào lưu?. (2021) from
https://vietcetera.com/vn/nguoi-tre-viet-va-bao-ve-moi-truong-la-y-thuc-hay-mai-la-
trao-luu
20. 90% biến đổi khí hậu là do tác động của con người. (2021) from
http://laichau.gov.vn/tin-tuc-su-kien/chuyen-de/diem-bao/90-bien-doi-khi-hau-la-do-
tac-dong-cua-con-nguoi.html
21. Việt Nam trước hiểm họa nước biển dâng cao. (2021). from
https://thanhnien.vn/viet-nam-truoc-hiem-hoa-nuoc-bien-dang-cao-
post362097.html#:~:text=Theo%20c%E1%BA%A3nh%20b%C3%A1o%2C%20n%E1%BA
%BFu%20m%E1%BB%B1c,c%C4%83n%20b%E1%BB%87nh%20l%E1%BA%A1%2C%20
hi%E1%BB%83m%20ngh%C3%A8o

PAGE 09 | GROUP 03