Science
Climate Change
Temperatures in South Korea are very extreme, and this affects the tourism flow because many people prefer to visit in the spring and autumn when the temperatures are as moderate as they will get all year, and the skies are mostly clear. The warmer it gets in South Korea, the more rainfall there is, so summer is usually a bad time to visit. It is strongly advised that tourists not visit in the summer, which means that the tourist industry does not make much money during that season. For those that enjoy freezing temperatures, winter is also a great time to visit, because of the beautiful clear sky and the many mountains available for skiing when it snows. The extreme temperatures in South Korea may be one of the reasons that it is not a must-see country for most people.
-Stevii
In Korea, like in many other countries it has four seasons (spring, summer, Autumn/Fall, and winter). Since Korea is already one of the worlds largest CO2 emitter, the country has been affected by climate change the marshlands and the coasts of Korea will be damaged, species will get extinct due to the climate that they are not used to, etc. Mammals in the ocean will be affected by the pollution due to Global Warming. Especially, during the rainy seasons, due to climate change they may be shortened. Also, researchers say that in the large urban areas of the Korean peninsula there has been an increase in annual mean temperatures
-Arcee
Changes in the mean annual temperature can have major effects on the health of the people of a county in many different ways. In Korea, the average temperature is rising and the hottest months are getting hotter and coldest months are getting colder. The colder months create a greater number of sicknesses and diseases such as pneumonia. The people that find it hardest to cope with the dropping temperatures are the homeless people. They have little or no resources to deal with the winter and all of them struggle to survive. The hotter months, heat waves can start to occur and cause a large loss of life. In August 2003, there were over 20,000 Europeans killed as a result of heat waves. It may not be occurring in long periods in Korea, but it may happen in the future. Aside from these consequences, the plants and animals not able to adapt to the rising temperatures will also die out. This could cause an unbalanced food chain with unknown effects. Science has lagged behind in this area of climate change and we can only speculate at how our health will be affected in the future.
-Juha
Climate Change and Poverty Factoid
South Korea used to be proud of the fact that they still had a very distinct difference between the four seasons the country experiences. However, this seems to no longer be the case since climate change appears to be taking its toll in South Korea. Examples of how this has changed are the southern part of the country turning tropical and losing their winter season, changes in flower blossoming schedule, changes in fish species and the common rising of sea levels. A survey taken shows that 77% of South Korean citizens are worried about the environment and climate change, however, the South Koreans living in poverty have much more to worry about. For example, climate change causes a lot of irregular and unpredictable floods and droughts, making them vulnerable to water-borne diseases due to the quality of water. Climate change makes weather completely unpredictable, making it more difficult for poor people to survive and adapt to the ever changing weather when they still had trouble surviving in predictable conditions and seasons. Also, climate change effects agricultural food supply since changing rain fall could change the amount of food produced. Climate change could very well interfere with the battle to ending poverty.
-Sophie
