11/27/2007
Earth On Fire
As rising temperatures threaten to create floods and droughts, the UN Human Development Report calls for steps to cut carbon emission by 50% over the next generation !
Developed countries should cut their carbon emissions at least by 80% by the year 2050, with 20-30% cuts by 2030, if the earth has to be saved from a complete environmental catastrophe, says the Human Development Report (HDR) 2007 released on Tuesday. The report also calls for 20% cuts in carbon emissions by fast growing economies like India and China. These steps would stabilise CO 2 equivalent concentration at 450 parts per million n the atmosphere (currently it is 379 ppm).
The cost of this process would be only 1.6% of global GDP up to 2030.
To achieve these emission targets , the report proposes a set of policies which include carbon taxation, cap-and-trade programmes, reduction in emission quotas, encouraging renewable energy through economic incentives, stringent implementation of efficiency measures in industry, buildings and transport and support to breakthrough technologies for carbon capture and storage.
The United Nations Development Programme’s annual report focuses on various aspects of human development like health, gender and poverty every year. The 2007 report makes a strong case for action on climate change which it calls the “defining human development issue of our generation”.
Drawing upon the scientific evidence revealed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the UN report says that there is a small window of opportunity in this century for limiting the global temperature increase to 2 degrees Centigrade. If this is not done, humanity will face a series of climatic changes that will wreak havoc on the planet. These will include flooding of coastal areas, crop failures, epidemics, severe water scarcity, and increase in natural disasters.
In perhaps the most severe indictment of the way governments have been handling the issue of climate change, this year’s report says “the gap between scientific evidence and political response remains large”.
“The world's poor and future generations cannot afford the complacency and prevarication that continues to characterise international negotiations on climate change.” it says, calling for a slew of measures to hasten global cooperation on the issue.
World leaders are slated to meet in Bali, Indonesia, in December this year to discuss measures for controlling carbon emissions. The Kyoto Protocol which called for voluntary cuts in emissions is set to expire in 2012, but major emitters like the US and Australia have not signed it.
Through studies conducted in Ethiopia, India and elsewhere, the HDR shows that global warming will lead to floods and droughts. The Indian study shows that girls born during floods were less likely to attend primary school, causing harm to their future standards of living. The Ethiopian study shows that children born during periods of drought continue to suffer severe health handicaps throughout their lives.
According to the report, climate change will affect the world's poor most. Global warming will initiate droughts and flooding which will destroy the sources of livelihood for poor people in Africa, Asia and South America. The poorer sections will also be the most prone to health disasters like spread of malaria and diarrhoea. HDR 2007 also makes a strong case for “common but differentiated responsibility” in fighting climate change implying that the rich countries have to take the main responsibility for controlling emissions. It identifies the “profligate consumption in rich nations” as an ecologically unsustainable model.
It reveals that under various funds created to fight climate change, $279 million were pledged, but only $160.4 million have been received and a mere $26 million actually disbursed. “Having created the problem, the world's richest countries cannot stand aside and watch the hopes and aspirations of the world’s poor undermined by increased exposure to the risks and vulnerabilities that will come with climate change.”
13:20 Posted in Earth Talk | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
11/26/2007
Be Warm And Persuasive Like The Generous Sun
Every one of us on the planet at some time or other has probably given thanks to an unseen power, irrespective of the faith we were born into or follow.
There is one God, there is one earth, and there is divinity in each person and every living thing. If we joined together under the canopy of the sky and the sacred earth and shared in God’s bounties, we would find the peace and love which we all pray for. What a haven this world would be if only we treated each other with kindness and sweetness. If we could only begin with our own individual lives, we would set the wheel of peace in motion.
A story from Aesop’s fables is instructive. The North Wind and the Sun once entered into a debate over who was more powerful. They agreed to a contest: whoever could make a person remove his coat, would win. They selected a man who was making his way home on a long trip on foot.
The North Wind took the first turn. It blew its wind hard, trying to blow the man’s coat off. It huffed and puffed, but the harder the wind blew, the more intently the man wrapped his coat tightly around himself. The North Wind tried for a long time to get the man to take his coat off, but it did not work.
Next, it was the Sun’s turn. It began to send warm, loving rays onto the man. Eventually, the man began to feel warm and unbuttoned his coat. The Sun continued steadily to shine. Finally, when the man felt warm enough he took off his coat.
With a smile, the Sun turned to the North Wind and said, “As you can see, my warm, loving ways made the man remove his coat, whereas your strong, forceful ways caused him to resist”. Likewise, love and gentleness always win over force.
Some people feel that they can get the best out of others by being forceful, harsh and critical. Hardly anyone responds positively to such treatment. We feel that we have to treat others severely to get them to do anything.
However, quite the opposite is true. We can be more persuasive by using the power of love and gentleness. People get discouraged when they are spoken to harshly or abruptly. They shut down and withdraw, but when people are given loving and encouraging words, they want to go out of their way to do more.
How can we attain this level of kindness? It is often said that in order to attain outer peace, there must first be inner peace. Through meditation we can achieve the inner peace that comes with the knowledge of ourselves and of God. If each person would attain inner peace and treat others with love and kindness, it would not be long before we find outer peace reigning in this world.
Even while attending to our daily obligations, we can find opportunities to show love and kindness to others. There are so many ways to spread God’s love to those around us. A kind word, a helping hand, a gentle touch can help brighten another’s day. With this angle of vision, we will find ourselves doing whatever we can to eliminate the pain and suffering of others.
Adding honey to life makes the world more loving. Adding the warmth of love makes things go more smoothly. If we can be like the Sun and send warm, encouraging words and smiles to others, we will find that we can be more effective in whatever we do.
13:05 Posted in The Spiritual Tree | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
11/25/2007
Less than 1,700 tigers left in the wild now
The preliminary tiger estimate submitted by the Tiger Task Force to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh a fortnight ago reveals that the majestic feline is more endangered now than it was in the last estimate in 2001-2002.
If the controversial pugmark method had accounted for 3,642 tigers in the country four years ago, the refined methodology approved by the Tiger Task Force and executed by the National Tiger Conservation Authority and the Wildlife Institute of India indicates that there could be less than 1,700 tigers in the wild now.
The preliminary estimate submitted on November 1 to the PM by the member secretary, National Board for Wildlife, shows that the central India has lost more than half of its tiger population due to poaching and habitat fragmentation. From a robust 1,233 cats, it is now down to 461.
For example, if Madhya Pradesh boasted 710 tigers in 2002, the numbers have drastically come down to 300. The percentage of decline in Chhattisgarh is alarming. If there were an estimated 227 tigers four years ago, there are a mere 26 now. Maharashtra too has lost more than half of its population (from a viable 238 to a vulnerable 103). Rajasthan, which forced the Union government to constitute the Tiger Task Force after tigers vanished from the Sariska and Ranthambore reserves—is left with 32 cats as against 58 in 2002.
With the estimate for central India—done in three phases—being disappointing, conservationists are concerned that the figures for most of India, which is to completed by December 2007, could be even worse.
The NTCA and WII have drawn the PM’s attention, urging him to address the sourcelink situation on a priority. They have attributed the decimation to fragmentation of habitat. “The assessment reveals fragmentation of forest connectivity around source population—tiger reserves and protected areas and forest areas outside protected areas. This indicates that they hardly have any viable tiger population. This calls for addressing the source-link situation on a priority,’’ the National Board for Wildlife says.
Though the central India estimate is alarming, the Karnataka forest department is confident its tigers are safe in its reserves. “Though the WII is yet to release the figures for Karnataka (401 in 2002), we are confident that we have a viable population,” said chief wildlife warden I B Srivatsava.
12:45 Posted in IndiaCentric | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this