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UPDATE

GLOBAL WARMING

2017 was second hottest year on record

Last year was the second hottest degrees Celsius above pre-industrial in November that 2017 would be
worldwide on record, just behind a times. Last year was slightly “cooler second or third warmest behind 2016,
sweltering 2016 with signs of climate than the warmest year on record, 2016, as part of a long-term trend driven by
change ranging from wildfires to a and warmer than the previous second man-made greenhouse gases.
thaw of Arctic ice, a European Union warmest year, 2015,” the report said. Sweltering temperatures in 2016
monitoring centre said. Temperature records date back to the were also boosted by a natural El Nino
The Copernicus Climate Change late 19th century. event that happens every few years and
Service, the first major international The measurements back up a releases heat from the Pacific Ocean. Last
weather agency to report global 2017 projection by the U.N. World year was the warmest year on record
temperatures, said they averaged 14.7 Meteorological Organization (WMO) without the influence of an El Nino.

POLLUTION
Bali declares ‘garbage emergency’ as trash piles up on

beaches

Bali has declared a ‘garbage emergency’ tons of trash per year. In third place is rubbish from inland areas into the sea.
as it battles mountains of trash that the Philippines, which contributes .75 Indonesia is one of about 40
appear daily on its world-renowned million metric tons. countries that have signed up to the
beaches. Often named as one of the The problem has grown so bad UN’s Clean Seas campaign, which
world’s top tourist destinations, the that officials in Bali have declared a aims to halt the tide of plastic polluting
Indonesian island has been described ‘garbage emergency’ across a stretch the oceans.
as an “embarrassing poster child” for of coast that includes Jimbaran, Kuta As part of its commitment, the
the country’s trash problem. and Seminyak beaches. government has until 2025 to reduce
The archipelago of more than Bali’s rubbish problem is at its marine plastic waste by 70 per cent. It
17,000 islands is the world’s second worst during the monsoon season, plans to boost recycling services, curb
biggest contributor to marine debris when strong winds push flotsam onto the use of plastic bags, launch cleanup
after China, adding 1.29 million metric the beach and swollen rivers wash campaigns and raise public awareness.

March 2018 Competition Wizard 87