In Singapore,most of us love window-shopping while some others enjoy having a picnic at East Coast Park or Changi Beach on sunny days.Singaporeans are never bothered by the occasional thunderstorm.However,we know that if it rains for long continuous periods,there will be more serious effects.Just recently the main shopping street of Orchard Road was flooded and some part of Bukit Timah was impassable to traffic.People reacted by writing in to the newspaper to complain about this! We forget that other countries suffer much worse effects. Elsewhere,heavy tropical storms often result in floods that ruin crops especially in Thailand and Malaysia.This in turn usually means that the price of rice and vegetables here in Singapore will rise because we import these products from them.If there is a typhoon or tsunami,thousands of lives are lost too.This happened in Indonesia and Phuket in Thailand in 2004 and _ serves to remind us of how Mother Nature can cause great damage. Weather patterns in general have changed dramatically in recent years.Scientists believe that global warming and the resulting melting of the polar ice-cap has caused the level of the ocean to rise.This in turn causes flooding of low-lying areas in countries where the land is rather flat and some parts of which is below water level.It is believed that human activities have caused Mother Nature to show her extreme anger,so it is now important that we really work together to cut down on harmful activities,for example,illegal logging or irresponsible forest-burning to clear land for farming. What will happen in Singapore if there are floods in its neighboring countries?
Heavy tropical storms will follow shortly. The price of rice and vegetables will go up. Many people will write in to the newspaper. More rice and vegetables will be imported.