As it is said in the article, achievements in engineering accelerate human civilization dramatically since the Industrial Revolution. Many mission-impossibles are fulfilled within some decade of years. However, many problems also rise as the by-products, such as global warming, deforestation, water pollution, etc. Therefore, in my opinion, instead of seeking new ways to give our development one more burst, the most important challenge for modern engineers is to find a way for sustainable development of the human race.
Sustainable development might not seem as urgent as some of the challenges, but its influence is deep and long-lasting. Take global warming as an example. The global temperature is rising at some 0.6 or 0.7 degree centigrade annually. The change is hard to feel in our daily life. However, if no countermeasures were taken, in a few years, the whole Earth would be heated up by about 6 or 7 degree centigrade. How would this matter? First, global temperature and precipitation distribution would be very different from now. Thus, agriculture is affected. For some regions, arable lands can’t be used any longer; for some new crops have to be brought in from other places, therefore local ecological balance is violated. Second, there will be more natural disasters, such as earthquake and tsunami, and of more strength. Third, the volume of ocean will expand. Sea level would rise and ocean would swallow lands. The worst thing about this is the expansion of the ocean body would last for years even if actions were taken immediately. Therefore, we’ve no time to wait and waste. It’ll be too late if we took actions only after problems became obvious.
However, as the problem of sustainable development doesn’t seem urgent, it is harder for engineers to solve it. Insufficient funding and public attentions are the main obstacles. Perhaps this is not only a challenge for the engineers, but the challenge of the whole human race.
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7 comments:
Totally agree that if there is no measure done for global warning now will led earth to destruction. But people in today society only aware of global warning when they are told about it. For example like usage of plastic bag will cause global warning, but people still use it for carrying their item shop unless they were told every plastic bag need to pay extra money. I also agree that engineer does face a problem in solving global warning, but people who are not engineer also have to do their part in order to prevent further global warning.
Yes, that what I concern most about. Solving sustainable development problems like global warming, the most significant part is to let everyone get in and change their mindset. So perhaps more social work is needed. It's not only the engineers' business.
I agree that problem of global warming is urgent to be solved. Accoring to your writing, global warming will cause the increasing in global temperature, the occurrence of natural disasters, and the rise in sea level. They all sound terrible. Therefore, all people, not only engineers should do something to stop further global warming.
I believe the effects of global warming had already been shown in recent months given the numerous reports of disasters and even the case of rising temperature felt locally. Still humans do not realise the severity of situations until they are directly affected. Therefore, even though the need for engineers' continual solutions is important, we need everyone's cooperation to 'cure' at the source. We make the world 'sick', definitely this shouldn't be just a engineer's case to solve.
I would say that the problem regarding the sustainable future has to be addressed urgently before it is too late. At present, most of the people around the world could sense the urgency of the matter, the awareness is succesfully being created and all we need is taking a step futher to come out with a solution. Should we have a second thought about solving the problem, nothing could have been done. Finally, i believe, we are all ready to change.
Hi Jean,
I like the way you used specific information about rising global temperatures and then used this as a foundation on which to build your argument. Global warming is indeed a serious issue, and your piece is one more voice in the sea of voices that we must all raise if we are to save ourselves. Keep up the good work! ~ Ms Khoo :)
But I'm trying to say sustainable development is the greatest challenge for engineerers,not global warming... Is my example too long?
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