STEFFI CHRESENTIA

19017146

ASSIGNMENT 1 – CLIMATE CHANGE

ENVIRONMENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

Climate change that has taken place and continues is a reality that our earth must face. During the
Eid Mubarak holiday, I found some activities around me which affect the climate change. I realized
that the activities have been happening for a long time and they are getting worse. Based on the
discussion in the auditorium class, below are the lists of climate change causes that I have found:
1. Excessive usage of plastic cups and straws
The trend pearl milk tea and brown sugar coffee
globally, especially in Indonesia, is growing rapidly. Its
wide availability has led to increased consumption as
compared to normal tea and coffee. This in turn, is
increasing the demand for pearl tea
and brown sugar coffee among the
young populace. People even
queue for 1-2 hours to buy these beverages. However, this trend has
caused the increase of plastic cups and straws production.
Plastics made from petroleum with the process of converting
petroleum components into small molecules
called monomers. Plastic production
requires around 12 million barrels of oil. To
convert petroleum into a monomer, it is used by combustion. From
this method, many greenhouse gases are emitted into the
atmosphere. Plastic cups and straws are one of the things that cannot
be decomposed naturally by bacteria in the soil, so it takes hundreds
or even thousands of years for it to decompose itself. While at the
disposal stage at the Final Disposal Site, plastic waste is one type of waste producing
greenhouse gases because of the combustion.
2. Air conditioner and refrigerator
During the hot weather, many people turn on the air
conditioners all day. Meanwhile, refrigerators are also used and
turned on 24/7 to keep food fresh and cold. While the air
conditioners and refrigerators are operating, they produce a gas
called Chlorofluorocarbons also known as CFC.
The ozone layer is useful to protect the earth and living
things from Ultra Violet B (UV-B) radiation and also absorb
radiation ultra violet from the high
sun so as not to reach the earth. On
the other side, CFC gas can affect global warming because when
this substance is released in the air,
it will change the ozone layer and
even deplete it. Exposure to ultra
violet radiation, especially
ultraviolet B or UV B radiation can
cause various health problems.
Among other things, cataracts, skin cancer, and decreased
immunity. However, the most important effect that we must pay
attention is that global warming can cause the climate change
because it will keep the earth become a lot warmer than the standard temperature.
3. Transportation
What I saw during the holiday is the road are packed with
many cars because many people wanted to go back to their
hometowns. The car production has been increasing in
Indonesia. Carbon dioxide emission from the usage of fossil fuel
(gasoline) is a threat to the environment. CO2 will rise to the
atmosphere and block the transmission of heat from the earth so
that heat is reflected back to earth. As a result, the earth becomes
very hot, and this is what is called the greenhouse effect.

4. Garbage combustion
When burning a pile of rubbish, the outside that gets enough
oxygen will produce carbon dioxide (CO2), while the inside of the
pile of garbage that lacks oxygen will produce carbon monoxide
(CO). Carbon dioxide produced from burning organic materials,
such as kitchen waste or leaf waste contributes to a 5 percent
increase in greenhouse gases. Greenhouse gas is a gas that can
capture the sun's heat so that it can produce effects like in a
greenhouse. The greenhouse effect is one of the factors that can
affect global warming.

5. Lack of plants
I saw many advertisements near my house about construction of new housings. However,
I felt that each day the weather is getting hotter. I realized that there weren’t many plants since
many of them were cut down and the land is used for constructing new house. This kind of
activity tends to lead to an increase in average and maximum air temperature. This also causes
a large amount of warming, when compared to carbon dioxide emissions from changes in land
use.