While I was writing this, extreme weather was wreaking havoc in many parts of the world. In South America, vast areas in Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay were hit in what was said to be the “worst flooding in 50 years”. Deadly tornadoes, snowstorms and floods brought winter woes to Texas, Missouri, Illinois, Oklahoma, Arkansas and several other states in the US Midwest and South, and record-breaking rains brought floods that devastated parts of northern England and Scotland.
Meanwhile, wildfires due to dry weather swept northern and central Spain, and parts of the state of Victoria in Australia and southern California in the US.
The extreme weather conditions were blamed on the favourite scapegoat of all time, El Nino. But is it really to blame?
Although El Ninos occur every three to seven years, most of them are of moderate intensity, a Nasa report said. They form when the westward trade winds in the Pacific weaken, or reverse direction. That shift leads to a dramatic warming of the surface waters in the eastern Pacific.
“Clouds and storms follow the warm water, pumping heat and moisture high into the overlying atmosphere,” the Nasa report said. “These changes alter jet stream paths and affect storm tracks all over the world.”
However, British researchers, working in collaboration with their American and Dutch counterparts, just completed a report calculating that the extreme rainstorms in the British Isles in December were 40% more likely to be a consequence of global warming. Myles Allen, a climate scientist at Oxford University, does not believe that El Nino has much to do with the British flooding, as historical evidence showed the influence of the Pacific Ocean anomaly is fairly weak in that part of the world.
Matthew Rosencrans, head of forecast operations for the US federal government’s Climate Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland, also said El Nino was not the only natural factor at work in the weather anomalies that devastated many parts of the US during the latter part of last year.
The scientists could not say how the combined effects of El Nino and human-induced global warming are likely to play out in the coming decades, but they are sure of one thing: the worst is yet to come to several US states early this year.
Finally recognising the hazards posed by global warming to the world at large, 195 countries adopted the first universal, legally binding global climate deal at a conference held in Paris last month. The agreement sets out a global action plan to avoid dangerous climate change by limiting global warming to well below 2C. The agreement, however, is not due to be enforced until 2020.
Global warming is defined as a gradual increase in the overall temperature of the Earth’s atmosphere generally attributed to the greenhouse effect caused by increased levels of carbon dioxide, CFCs and other pollutants. The more pollutants we release,
the more heat is trapped in the atmosphere.
As deforestation is cited as one of the causes of global warming, let us give the new year a good start by planting trees to help cool the atmosphere. As we all know, trees beautify our surroundings and provide us shade. They also improve air quality by collecting particulates, or dust particles, and absorbing gaseous pollutants such as ozone, carbon monoxide and sulphur dioxide, among others.
More importantly, they purify the air by absorbing greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide by processing these into oxygen which is then released into the atmosphere. According to researchers at the Michigan State University in the US, the amount of carbon dioxide that a fully grown tree removes daily from the air is equivalent to that produced each day by two single-family dwellings.
Trees also help save energy. By planting trees to shade your house from direct sunlight, you can reduce your air-conditioning bills by as much as 30%. Production of electricity used in air-conditioning generates tonnes of greenhouse gas each year.
Luckily for us in Thailand, there are many trees we can plant to suit the space that we have. If you want a flowering tree, Bauhinia purpurea, known in Thai as chongko, may be a good choice. Commonly known as the orchid tree or poor man’s orchid, it has leaves shaped like a butterfly and bears spectacular flowers resembling orchids, but bigger, several times a year. It can be trained as a compact tree to fit a small yard, or be allowed to grow to 15 metres or higher.
If you prefer scented flowers, Michelia champaca (champa) and Michelia alba (champee) easily come to mind. Champa has orange flowers and blooms all year round, while champee has white flowers and blooms during the rainy season. Both flowers are not showy but make up for it with their sweet scent; the trees have dense leaves which provide good shade and do their function as air purifiers very well.
Other trees that are excellent air purifiers are the various species of ficus, like Ficus benjamina, known in Thai as sai yoi bai laem, Ficus lyrata (sai bai sak), Ficus maclellandii (sai bai yao), Ficus microcarpa, which comes with golden (sai thong), round (sai jeen bai klom) or pointed leaves (sai jeen bai laem) depending on variety, and Ficus elastica, or yang India, in its many forms.
Two things to remember when planting a tree: Make sure you have enough space for its eventual size should you fail to make it more compact by pruning, and don’t plant it too close to your house.
Email nthongtham@gmail.com.
