The rising carbon dioxide from the emission of greenhouse gases have led to increased global temperature and this in turn has resulted in several changes. The glaciers have receded and started melting, the arctic sea ice has been lost, the permafrost has started thawing in parts of the Arctic
\cite{pachauri2014climate}. In the Southern hemisphere in the Antarctica, the temperature continues to rise; as a result the oceanic volumes have risen; in turn these have resulted in increased frequency of storms and catastrophic cyclones. In the island of Kiribati, due to rise in ocean levels, areas have flooded and the first wave of climate change related refugees have emerged (source:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/climate-refugees-kiribati-cbsn-on-assignment/).
Climate change related events will continue to threaten our biodiversity and the impacts of changes will be felt in our regions as well. In New Zealand, in our district, travel, agriculture, & farming are our main source of economy. Increased temperature has resulted in algal bloom in our lakes and this has resulted in restriction in the use of lakes, leading to loss of tourism (cite). As an island nation in the Pacific, we are open to the storms and natural disasters that can lead to loss of lives. Summers continue to be hot. New Zealand has seen some of the hottest summers in the recent history \cite{wratt2004climate}. Heat exhaustion and new patterns of diseases and infections continue to emerge \cite{patz2005impact}. Over the next several decades, if the effects of climate change go unmitigated, New Zealand may have to absorb more refugees from other countries. International conflicts cannot be ruled out and will lead to loss of lives. Besides, as tropical climate like situations will prevail, vectors may relocate and we may experience more diseases such as malaria and mosquito or other vector borne diseases as a result of global warming \cite{mcmichael2006climate}.
We believe that it is still not too late to respond to the effects of climate change. As New Zealand is a signatory to the Paris accord, all of us who live in New Zealand should share our responsibility to enable New Zealand keep the promise of Paris accord to keep the global temperature within two degree centigrades of the pre-industrial era to avoid what is often referred to as the sixth extinction \cite{davenport2015nations}. As we can take individual steps, you, as the leader in our community and in our district, can also enable us to take the steps in the right direction.
We need to be more climate conscious. We should strive to reduce our carbon footprint. At the moment in our districts we lack public transport so that we can reduce our reliance on fossil fuels for our long haul drives to the main city such as Christchurch from smaller towns where many of us live. We need more public transportation and mass rapid transit facilities that are climate friendly. We also need cycleways for shorter commutes. We need awareness to use local produces and boost local businesses so that our reliance on big businesses and grocery chains, their complex supply chain mechanism that adds to fossil fuel burning. We look upon your leadership so that we can become a more climate conscious, environment-friendly society.
Thanking You,
UniversityofCanterbury Student
What to include in the memo?
In the memo:
- Start with the name of the person to whom you will address the memo (this has already been provided) and date the memo.
- Write a subject line (here: " The district needs to frame policies on addressing effects of climate change ")
- Write a short introduction to the problem in the first few paragraphs (here, climate change is the problem)
- Add figures, tables, and citations as necessary
- Write a proposed solution to the problem. If you cannot think of a solution, it is OK to write about the problem in depth.
- End the memo with a thanking note, so write something like ("Thanking You" and in the next line your name)
- The last text on the memo will be your Name (use a fictitious name here, do not have to use your real name, that is OK)
- Include the bibliography at the end of the memo.
- Tables and figures must be inserted in the proper place in the text and must be properly titled and labelled.
- Spell check and grammar check your work.
- Put the website URLs directly in the text
- Try to write as non-technically as you can.
Assessment Guide/Rubric
- The memo must look like a memo (a proper address, a title or subject line, an introduction to the problem, a proposed solution, and a call to solution, end with "Thanking You" or a similar thanking quote, and a name of the writer of the memo).
- All facts must be properly cited. Either the student must cite a scholarly source, or a URL, or it should be common knowledge.
- The student must select a topic that is suited to Environmental health, i.e., both an environmental variable and some health consequence should be pointed out.
- Tables must have proper data, headings, and descriptors
- The citation should ideally conform to APA 6th version, but any style is acceptable.
- The paper must be free of grammatical and spelling errors as far as possible.