Global Warming and everything Environmental!

[gabriel666]

Originally Posted by catapult

.....

I may have diverted a bit from the topic, but I felt US is equally if not more responsible for global warming.

India and China have become "polluting nations" in the last decade or so. Global warming is due to cumulative effect of emissions from the last 100 years, when it was only the western countries that had the capacity to pollute . The global warming that we witness today is because of the rich lifestyle of the western countries, with USA being the prime contributor. Even today US alone accounts for about 25% of world emissions, so I would say US is one of the main reasons for global warming, add to that their pulling out of the Kyoto Protocol and we know that they will continue to lead the list.

[gabriel666]

Originally Posted by swagatsinha

In Japan, you cannot own a vehicle if you haven't bought a parking space already. In New York, the parking rates are 170 times that of Delhi. Measures like these definitely cause people to take up public transport more pro-actively. Similiar measures were applied in Delhi. What happened? People protested and the bureaucrats had to roll back their proposal.
There needs to be more iron-fisted decision making when it comes to environment.

Actually in the present situation I dont think measures like these will work in India. There is no use trying these measures if we continue to have such an abysmal public transport system. Japan, New York, London (they charge the congestion tax) have amazing public transport system, getting from one corner of the city to another is very easy. Compare the situation to any major city in India, where we have to wait hours for a bus and even then we are not sure there will be one and even if it comes there may be no place to sit and the bus in all probability will be dirty and unmaintained. Efficient public transport is one thing that can make a huge difference but that is also the one thing that is missing in most (all??) India cities .

[swagatsinha]

Ever-increasing number of SEZ's might also be contributing heavily to pollution. With the loads of factories in these SEZ's, there need to be riders on pollution levels there. I don't actually know if there is any such rider, can anyone explain?

[knightofwar]

My few cents on the topic!
I have watched the movie 'An inconvenient truth' and the following review says it all:
"You owe it to yourself to watch this movie".

Developing Vs Devolped Coutries: This topic is as hot as any other topic these days, with india pressing hard on per person pollution levels, US pressing on total pollution level per country, which is bound to by high with more population..these things will keep on going..
Anyways, let us contribute at our level, lets enlighten ppl around and spread the word, and at least, let we be not a part of increasing global warming.



Sometime back, i did some research and composed a mail about global warming, pasting it here.

To start with,Effect of Global Warming on India and Common People
# It will lead to 30 per cent reduction in crop harvest
#It will lead to increase child mortality due to diarrhoea
# India getting five percent less sunlight now than in 1980 due to industrial pollution
# Temperature rises on the Tibetan Plateau, which are causing Himalayan glaciers to retreat, may reduce the flow rate of the Ganges, Brahmaputra, Yamuna, and other major rivers; hundreds of thousands of farmers depend on these rivers
# Around seven million people are projected to be displaced due to, among other factors, submersion of parts of Mumbai and Chennai, if global temperatures were to rise by a mere 2 °C
#According to a report by Lehman Brothers India’s GDP would dip by 5% for every two degree temperature rise.
# Water supply would also suffer because of lesser snowfall in the Himalayas, which provide water for 40% of the world’s population.

Some effects of Global Warming around the world
#The number of Category 4 and 5 hurricanes has almost doubled in the last 30 years
#Malaria has spread to higher altitudes in places like the Colombian Andes, 7,000 feet above sea level
#The flow of ice from glaciers in Greenland has more than doubled over the past decade
#At least 279 species of plants and animals are already responding to global warming, moving closer to the poles
If the warming continues, we can expect catastrophic consequences
#More than a million species worldwide could be driven to extinction by 2050
#The Arctic Ocean could be ice free in summer by 2050
#Deaths from global warming will double in just 25 years — to 300,000 people a year.


You can make a difference? How? #Use public transport whenever possible. Use car pooling
#Turn off lights and fans, air conditioners and heaters when not being used. Whenever we use electricity, we help put greenhouse gases into the air. By turning off lights, the television, and the computer when you are through with them, you can help a lot.
#Bike, Bus, and Walk
You can save energy by sometimes taking the bus, riding a bike, or walking. Cars cause a lot of pollution.
#Trees for LIFE! Plant Trees
Planting trees is fun and a great way to reduce greenhouse gases. Trees absorb carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, from the air.
#Preserve the green areas around your house and locality . Preserve greenery around your house locality, work and schools
#Recycle : Recycle cans, bottles, plastic bags, and newspapers. When you recycle, you send less trash to the landfill and you help save natural resources, like trees, oil, and elements such as aluminium
#Buy and use appliances which consume less energy: some appliances, vehicles instruments and machines are especially designed so that they consume less energy than normal. Choose these when purchasing or making your choices
#Use solar energy whenever possible for example through solar cookers, dry your clothes in the natural sun rather than through a dryer
#Save fresh water it is precious.
#Recycle water and use it for appropriate purposes. Use kitchen water to water your plants etc.

[willsurelywin]

guys

i think govt shd make a rule that a family cant have more than the no of cars as vs people having lcense in that family

so if a family has 2 licenseholders there shd not be more than 2 cars for that family..

this will reduce parking probs and pollution..

[chop suey]

couldn't resist posting here

global warming...yes its happening...the temperatures are rising every year...the polar ice caps are melting and a lot of other indicators...so!!!! how do u conclude that its because of human activity??? well some say that the warming coincided with the industrial revolution..so!!!! is there enough evidence to blame us humans for it???

with this post here i'll try and bring out some points against the belief of humans causing global warming...thought that points on both the side should be covered in a discussion...

if we take a closer look at the CO2 emissions v/s the mean temperature in the below graph we can notice that while CO2 emissions have continuously risen from 1880 to 2000, the temperature changes have been abruptly high during 1910 to 1940 and had declined thereafter till 1970.



to understand this phenomenon of drop in temperature let us take another factor into account...the average incoming Solar radiation (also called the Solar irradiance)...the picture has a note attached which would help u understand what it means...



other than the phenomenon talked above there is another phenomenon of geomagnetic reversal which is said to be causing the problem of global warming...wikipedia defines it as "A geomagnetic reversal is a change in the orientation of Earth's magnetic field such that the positions of magnetic north and magnetic south become interchanged. These events, which are believed to last a few hundred to a few thousand years, often involve an extended decline in field strength followed by a rapid recovery after the new orientation has been established."...

The magnetosphere is that area of space, around the Earth, that is controlled by the Earth's magnetic field. This field protects us from the deadly solar winds originated from the sun that bombard the earth.As this field weakens more n more solar radiations enter the earths atmosphere resulting in the increase in surface temperature...human activity has got nothing to do with the weakening of the magnetic field....its a natural process, part of Geomagnetic reversal...

[betanumber1_2000]

Originally Posted by knightofwar

Developing Vs Devolped Coutries: This topic is as hot as any other topic these days, with india pressing hard on per person pollution levels, US pressing on total pollution level per country, which is bound to by high with more population..these things will keep on going..

Thanks monsieur egonomist for this thread...looks like i'm joining in late

Goldman Sachs report on Global Warming: Things are heating up

The bickering over "Why should we pay for their mess?" has gone on long enough.
The GS report comes out with a very simple logic. Developing countries are perhaps least equipped to handle the extreme repercussions of global warming. Economies like China and India should play a pivotal role in curbing GHG emissions because it is in our own interests to do so.

[Chicane]

I am sure all of us feel passionately about the issue...
apart from projecting dooms day theories and speculating what may or may not happen in teh future due to global warming...fact is that the phenomenon is here to stay....(realism or pessimism i m not sure)

Excluding what we can do at a country/macro level...(i dun see a situation happening where in a govt. in our country is thrown out of power because it didnt 'do enough' to protect the environment)...We are pro industrialized job oriented growth here!
lets just focus on what can be done at a individual/community level...(taking a cue from KnightofWar)

There was an artcile in ET a few weeks back...which talked about how cutting up on luxury items was getting to be a new cool fad amongst the teenagers in the USA. Marketing wizards talk about how this age group of ppl (the teenargers) are one market category which wud always drive consumption as they buy products more on the aspirational values/image than the utility of the product iteself...atleast more than the other age groups.

We all know global warming is becoming a serious threat...but how serious is serious? Humans by nature worry about things which are immediate and not a distant threat...baad ki baad main dekhenge......
The reason y i mentioned abt that article was that if we could somehow project an awareness amongst ppl especially the youth that it is 'cool' to be a environment change agent....cooler than anything else...the participation levels wud increase and there would be more ppl involved than the few who are really serious about it.

As the new ad of IBM says....stop talking and start doing!

[catapult]

Originally Posted by Chicane

As the new ad of IBM says....stop talking and start doing!

Well said Chicane! Apart from talking about the issue its also important to discuss what you/we should do going forward.

We all know what a big menace plastic is for our environment. Yes, there are recycling methods for plastic but imagine the cost in terms of resources that go in to recycle those). So, I guess its best to avoid using them. Especially the ones you get from your local shopkeeper aren't of good quality are not considered for recycling. And I believe not all of the plastic we use goes to recycling. Most of it is still land-filled manually or naturally.
Keeping this in mind, I refuse to accept plastic bags most of the times when I go to shopping. I know its tough not to use them, but if you have one, make sure you ask the guy not to give another cover. I know most of us know this, but still re-iterating here so that we realise its importance. Its best to use paper bags for general shopping & buy 'thailas' for your vegetable shopping.

Just some thoughts to keep this thread going.

[the_egonomist]

@betanumber1


Real nice read. Other take a peek at this pdf attached.

Well its the money mindedness that is something we need to address.

For example, the reason why the electric car EV1 manufactured by GM (and the California government making pro-electric car agendas such as imposing a 15 year conversion rule to hybrids and electric cars plus over a billion dollars in infrastructure in terms of charging points for said electric cars) was because of the strong pro-oil lobby in the US government.

I can see why this would happen. Change is not going to be that easy. Consider this - a country decides to convert to electric cars and hybrids:

• First the major affliction would be amongst the oil companies.
• Second would be the existing manufacturers of popular brands.
• Third would be the primary parts suppliers for these manufacturers (car assembly companies)
• Fourth would be the auxiliary industries that supply the third party manufacturers.
• Include in this all ancillaries to the automobile industry.
• And to that you add all the employment that is generated by them.
• TO that add again the revenues generated by these companies and oil companies to the economy.

This was the basis on which the EV1 was destroyed (literally). People were not allowed to own one and all sent out were recalled and scrapped. And these cars were affordable too!

Point being, that when change comes people are afraid. Drastic change would upset a lot of things. In the case of the electric cars the cost was good and that proved to be a major thorn in the existing system. If the change were made more subtly the cost of owning a EV would have been far too expensive for anyone to afford it. An economical quagmire only compounded by people's inherent money mindedness.

Cheers.