Global warming- Wake up from slumber
Al Gore, former Vice President of US and Rajendra Pachouri of IPCC have been announced as the winners of the Nobel peace prize for 2007. This is for their contribution to combat global warming. The importance of global warming can be deciphered by the commitment given by a person like Al Gore, to This issue. The Nobel committee award only re-enforces the importance of global warming. For a scientist like Dr. Pachouri to be honoured on behalf of his organisation, indicates that the science of global warming has been settled.
This article looks at how each one of us as an individual can combat global warming. Some key facts about global warming are also mentioned at the end of the article.
“What can I do for Global warming?”
you might be wondering.
Fundamentally, each one of us needs to view products (say a cell phone) or services (say a trip to the city), different from the past. Currently we view them as comforts we need. In the future, we need to look at them as pounds of green house gases we don’t need.
To do this, we can apply the principles enshrined in the 10 steps suggested below.
Step 1- Reduce: When buying a new product or availing a service, ask “Do we really need this?”
Practical ways of reducing consumption are:
-Avoid wastage of electricity by turning off electrical appliances like computers, TV, fans and air conditioners, when not in use.
-Save water while bathing and washing
-Do away with a second automobile
Step 2- Re-use: Our use and throw policy towards our products should be avoided.
Practical ways of reusing include:
– Buy a second-hand scooter, furniture or bed rather than a new one. It is often more authentic and aesthetic.
– Avoid upgrading to a new cell-phone and go for a repair of an existing cell-phone
– Use steel/glass cups rather than plastic or paper disposable cups. (I feel that disposables are one of the most criminal wastes of our times.)
– Take a bag for shopping, instead of accepting bags from the store for each purchase.
Step 3- Re-cycle: Recycling old products is the closest we come to mimicking nature. There is really no concept of waste in nature. One species’ waste is another’s food, in nature. The honourable exception for this rule is human beings.
Practical ways of recycling include:
– Give paper, plastics, and other articles back to your recycling agent, after useful life.
– Make artwork out of old material.
– Insist on using recycled paper.
Step 4- Rent: Do we really need to own everything we use? Are we buying comfort or products?
Practical ways of renting include:
-Rent a taxi or auto, rather than buying a new car.
-Borrow a book or a DVD from a local library rather than buying them.
Step5- Replace: Always choose a green alternative to a conventional one. Practical ways of replacing include:
-Build a energy efficient house instead of an electricity and energy guzzler. This can be done by using Local, low energy raw material, energy efficiency and passive cooling/heating)
-Buy a hybrid/electric car or scooter , instead of a gas-guzzler.
– Use a modern compact fluorescent lamp or LED lamp, instead of a traditional one. (The traditional lamp is a heater than a lighter.
-Make a trip by bus or train, instead of a car. (Or at least car pool.)
-Use e-mails, phone calls and video- conferences instead of physical meetings.
-Buy sustainabily grown wood products instead of those cut from virgin forests.
– Make a new dish at home, instead of going for a restaurant meal in the center of the city.
-Use tap water instead of mineral water.
-Use home grown or local organic food instead of pesticide grown food.( This reduces nitrogen di-oxide also.)
Step 6- Retrofit: If you already own something try to see how it can be made more energy efficient.
Practical ways of retrofitting include:
– See how you can use less energy at home and office through an energy audit. Simple steps like double-glazing windows could help.
– Service the automobile and appliances regularly.
– Retrofit your automobile to use CNG.
Step 8- Renew: Using renewable energy is an option today.
Practical ways of using renewable energy include:
– Use a solar lantern as a back up when the grid is not supplying electricity
– Use a solar water heater in winter.
– Use bio-fuels in automobiles
Step 9 – Re-vitalise: All the other steps mentioned earlier are to reduce the green house gases. This suggestion is to reverse the process of green house gas emission. It is like building the bones and muscles of our ecology through exercise, rather than taking a pill.
Practical ways of re-vitalising nature include:
– Plant a tree, afforest your community or save a sanctuary.
– Use rainwater harvesting or improve your watershed management.
Step 10- Read, Write and Contribute: Apart from working on the circle of our influence do contribute to the big picture.
Practical ways of doing this include:
– Read and disseminate knowledge about benign products and ways of reducing consumption.
– Talk about this to your family and friends.
– Write a letter to your government representative on green taxes and renewable energy projects.
– Write to the company you buy the products from on the importance you attach to global warming and how they can contribute to this cause, through better business operations.
– Contribute your time or money to projects or organisations that reduce or eliminate green house gases. (You can even make a career switch for this.)
We have many excuses
.
To take short-term action towards the above, we have many excuses:
Excuse: “Taking action will affect my life-style”
Counter point: The latest mobile phone hardly has anything different, when compared to the previous version. The same is true for the latest TV.
Excuse: “Taking action takes too much time”
Counter Point: Going by walk or a train is often faster than going by a car in a city. It also gives more peace of mind.
Excuse: “Taking action is costly”
Counter point: Most energy efficient technology is costly in the short-term, but saves money in the long-term. eg. The compact fluorescent lamp. Also what is the cost of going to a doctor for a respiratory illness, caused by global warming?
Excuse: “Taking action can hurt the economy”
Counter Point: Nicholas Stern, a well-acclaimed British economist produced a report to say that if we adopt practices of reducing the green house gases it would cost 1 percent of GDP. However, if we don’t take timely action, it could cost up to 20% of GDP. In the context of loss of human life, caused by global warming, these numbers are less significant.
Excuse: “I am helpless, to take action. The problem is of a global scale”
Counter Point: Most change in this world has happened after a majority has taken steps for the change. Do you want to be part of such a majority?
The steps mentioned earlier to combat global warming are practical. They are the essence of traditional wisdom and modern common sense. By doing so we can also avoid other ecological problems like toxicity, resource depletion and wildlife trade.
Some facts about global warming:
The symptom:
Global warming is like sitting in a car or bus on a hot day with the windows closed.
The temperature on earth has increased by 0.74 degree Celsius over the last century. If you think that this temperature rise is low, the difference between current temperature and the last ice age was5 degree Celsius. This was 10,000 years ago .
The last 12 years have been particularly hot.
The Problem
Green house gases emitted by human activity- carbon-dioxide, methane, ozone in the wrong place in the atmosphere, nitrous oxide, HFCs and Sulphur hexa fluoride are the problem . The amount of carbon dioxide is it’s highest for 650,000 years. What is alarming is not just the quantity but also the pace of change- it has increased 35% during the industrial revolution. This is true for other green house gases too.
Such emissions are primarily caused by using coal, petroleum and natural gas as a fuel to produce and transport products and services. The other main reason is destruction of forests.
The projections
The length of the carbon cycle in the atmosphere, is much slower than the rate of human caused release of green house gases. Hence, the amount of carbon di oxide is likely to double in the atmosphere by 2100. Temperature on earth is likely to increase between 1.1 and 6.4 degrees Celsius in the next century. Part of this (0.6 degree Celsius), is because of the effect of what we have already done in the past. While the world itself is likely to warm, parts of Europe and Siberia are likely to become colder, because of localised effects of this problem .
Due to this temperature change, there is likely to be adverse effects on world wind patterns, rainfall, ocean currents and extreme weather events like tropical cyclones.
While these changes seem to be small, they are indeed significant, when the effects are considered.
Harmful effects
The harmful effects of global warming have already started. In the future, the amount and nature of harmful effects would depend on the temperature rise. For moderate levels of temperature rise (up to 2 degree Celsius, there could be some localised areas benefiting, but a bleak picture globally. For Higher temperature rise, the impacts would be extremely damaging, throughout the world. These impacts are non-linear. They become more difficult to change and adapt with higher temperatures. Some impacts expected are as follows:
Decrease in availability and quality of water: through higher water vapourisation , droughts, glacial retreat and reduction of river flow. This in turn could lead to higher food scarcity.
Receding coastline: This would be caused by the thermal expansion of water, as well as more land glaciers in polar regions falling into the seas or melting away. Many Pacific islands as well as parts of cities like New York and London may become history. It is expected that 90 million people will be displaced due to this phenomenon alone. For the first time in recent memory, we are going to have ecological refugees.
Human Health: Malnutrition, Heat strokes, allergens, natural disasters, diseases like malaria and invasive species are likely to be the order of the future .
Mass extinction of species: Mass extinctions of non-human species and severely deteriorating eco-systems are likely. This is true for a large variety of ecosystems like tropical rainforest, coral reefs, oceans and the tundra. It is expected that the earth would loose half its species by 2100. What would happen to humans who depend on these ecosystems for food and other resources?
Human loss of life:. There could also be mass reduction of human population. This would mean that earth is no longer is habitable as in the past. as the most powerful species , we have been given trusteeship of the life on this planet. do we want to shirk this responsibility?
It is clear from the above, that Global warming is not just an ecological issue. It also has security, social and economic implications. The urban elite and the rural poor are all going to be impacted by global warming, if timely action is not taken.
The solution
We need to cut Green House gas emissions by 80% (note this is an absolute and not per capita target ) by 2050. This is to prevent what is considered harmful global warming an average rise of 2 degrees Celsius over pre-industrialisation levels.
Let us take timely action. We owe it to our grand children and our fore fathers!
K. Sriram, inspired by naughty son, Aneesh.
PS:
The author of this article doesn’t claim to have put in practice all the solutions mentioned above. However, his hope is that you don’t make the same mistake previous generations and he made.
He doesn’t claim that if you forward this mail you would have good luck or if you don’t forward this mail, you would have bad luck. The choice is yours. Do exercise the power of choice from now
.. to eternity.
For more information on global warming and solutions to combat the same, the following websites would be useful:
www.epa.gov/climatechange/
Source : By : sriram kalyanaraman <sriram_tkr@yahoo.co.in>