Learn to Love Our Planet
Why are polar bears roving? Jean-Louis Etienne, the world's first solo walker to the North Pole, said that he spent twenty years walking around the North Pole and saw ice melting constantly. Female polar bears drowned from exhaustion in a frenzied hunt for food and baby polar bears starved to death. Research conducted by the North Pole Research Center has shown that the area of ice that disappeared during the summer in 2006 is roughly the size of Alaska, the biggest state in America. It is estimated that all of the northern polar ice cap will disappear during the summer before 2040.
Statistics provided by the Environmental Protection Agency show that Taiwan's total CO2 emissions have reached 2,700 million tons, accounting for 1% of the world total and ranking 22nd in the world. The average emission per Taiwanese is close to 12 tons, three times the world average and the highest in Asia. This suggests that if we do not take prompt action to reduce our energy consumption and carbon emissions, we will be to blame for relentlessly forcing polar bears to wander about.
In order to educate the public on the impact of global warming on Taiwan and the technological advances in developing cleaner energy, the Ministry of Education, together with 32 educational foundations, schools and related business groups has co-organized this campaign. The main hall displays the first-ever solar-powered environmental education van in Taiwan, the first made-in-Taiwan diesel-electric hybrid motorcycle, a 4th generation water-powered hydrogen car developed by MingDao University, a solar car titled Apollo-V that won a silver medal for Taiwan in a world-class competition and a green energy educational van owned by the National Taiwan Science Education Center, which has been touring around the country. The exhibition also educated the public on how to install power-efficient light bulbs properly in order to cut domestic electricity fees by NT $448 a year and reduce carbon emissions by 114 kilograms. The audience can see how recyclable bottles can become blankets when disasters arise and how the steel furnaces can be transformed into beautiful jewels!
Let us join this special campaign at Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall and learn how to save our planet .