Climate change: due to pollution

Climate change, a common concern
AS we commemorate another World Environment Day, there is little doubt that climate change is a reality that calls for urgent, collective action. Evolving and accepting a global framework to arrest the emission of greenhouse gases is the challenge that leaders face. The issue is as contentious as ever. America's traditional hostility to the Kyoto protocol is well known. President George Bush has now proposed, however, that the 15 most polluting countries, including the US, China and India, agree to a target to reduce greenhouse gases by 2008. Bush sees the talks as eventually leading to a framework that may replace the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012.
European countries, which have always seen themselves as being on the front line of the fight against global warming, are none too impressed with what they see as vague proposals. Since the talks will be US-led, some, like the German environment minister, have gone so far as to suggest that the US is merely hijacking the process without any serious intentions to

put in place a tough regime. The US never ratified the Kyoto Protocol, which also exempts developing countries. There will now be increasing pressure on countries like India, China and Brazil to join a new protocol.
Developing countries have always argued that their efforts cannot be proscribed by the environmental concerns of developed countries, who have done the bulk of their polluting in the early stages and would like now to pull back. Indian officials have already indicated their wariness of any cap on emissions, which could affect development plans and poverty alleviation. But an emissions target that takes into account all concerns and ensures a fair outcome for all par¬ties needs to be attempted in light earnest. India has its own share of urgent environmental concerns that need to be addressed if our air, soil and waterways are to be kept healthy. And while the state should do its part, a World Environment Day is nothing if not an opportunity for all of us to reflect on our own practices and excesses.

Melting: icecaps

EACH year, on 5th June, World Environment Day provides an opportunity for communities and governments around the world to reflect on the essential role that the environment plays in our daily lives and our plans for the future. This event is one of the principal vehicles through which" the United [Nations stimulates worldwide awareness of the environment and enhances political attention and action.
Global wanning has emerged as one of (he most important environmental issues ever 10 confront humanity. This Concern arises from the fact that our everyday activities may be leading to changes in the earth's atmosphere that have the potential to significantly alter the planet's heat and radiation balance. It could lead to a warmer climate in the next century and there-after, portending a potpourri of possible effects - mast I y adverse. The theme for this World Environment Day is aimed at these concerns and The World Environment Day slogan selected for 2007 is Melting Ice a Hot Topic? In support of International Polar Year.

the WED theme focuses on the effects that climate change is having on polar ecosystems and communities, and (he ensuing consequences around the world . The Earth has warmed by approximately 0.75 ^C since pre industrial times. There is overwhelming consensus that this is due to emissions of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide (CO2), from burning fossil fuels. Warming in this century is projected to be between 1.4 and 5-8 °C.
Until recently, such talk seemed the prattle of doom sayers. No longer. The devastating impact of melting snows, rising seas and drying rivers is virtually upon us. With¬in the lifetime of many of us. The ganga could be a pale shadow of its current glory; shoreline cities and towns, including Mumbai, could be compelled to build dykes to keep out the invading seas; agricultural yield in the.fecund Gang plains could become insufficient to feed our billion-plus population. That is unless we act now.
Here's how Hie disaster scenario could pan out. As temperatures rise, glaciers will melt faster and receive

less snowfall. Snowfall in the upper reaches of the glacier adds weight on top, and Hie pace of melt at its mouth creates a delicate balance, keeping the ice mass in place. When this balance is upset, the- glacier either recedes or comes forward dramatically or simply bursts. Any which way, it's a calamity.
At one level, accelerated glacial melt will initially cause excess dis¬charge of water in the rivers. A study has been done on the behaviour of 100 Himalayan Rivers. As an illustration, let take the Ganga at Uttar kashi,the river level is expected to rise 20-30% within the first two decades and then gradually recede to 50% of its original level over the next decade, signaling that the river is drying up.
Glaciers cover, nearly 38,000 sq km of the Himalayan Mountains, which, in turn, accounts for 800 cubic km of water flow annually. This nurtures the great Indian civilization, as we know it. Many of Himalayan glaciers, including Gangotri are shriveling up in varying degrees. The Pindari glacier is receding by 23 meters a year, Bara Shigri by 36 meters a year,Dokriani by 18 meters. Meola by 35 meters, Sonapani by 17 meters, Milam by 13 meters, Zemu by 28 meters to name just a few. Cumulatively, this melt, could change (he way. we know our world. If global warming isn't arrested, rivers will first flood and then dry up; seas will rise and fer¬tile lands will lurn barren.
Due to the rising seas, we have already lost 31 sq km of the Sagar Islands in the Sunderbans. a world heritage .site, as well as four smaller islands, rendering 6,000 families homeless, if the trend is not checked, another'15% of the area's hospitable land will be under sea by 2020, displacing 30.000 families. Actually by 2020, the disaster area will not be limited to far-Hung, tow-lying areas like the Sunderbans. ft will be much closer to us, say, in Mumbai or Panaji, Kochi, Chennai, Vizag, Puri, Kolkata in fact, all along India's 7,600-km coastline where 20% of the country's population lives.
Climate change is projected to impinge on ustmnuble development of countries like India as it compounds the pressures on nat.

Growth: changing dimensions: reason global warming

The climate change scenario in India is much worse than it looks. The inequity of climate change is writ large everywhere. ,iM. The only glacier that feeds our seven rivers will flood India's waterways for the next 40 years and then will dry up completely. So our grandcliildren will have no fresh water and face severe drought con¬ditions within half a lifetime.
Yet, the action we are taking is nothing more than making a few movies and engag¬ing in symbolic acts. It js an, irony that while the world has been polluted by the . rich industrialised North, the real sufferers of climate change will be the poor of the East and inhabitants of Africa.
The developing countries are being criti¬cised today for being unmindful oT envi¬ronmental damage caused by high growth economies like India, China and Brazil. Whilst there can be no mercy for any kind, of environmental pollution North coun-tricrirave to-Terslisirttiat developing coun- ~ tries have a right to grow and that it is only fair that the North meets the costs of the South's gsowth, at least upto a take-off stage. In fact, it was this moral compulsion that brought in the concept of carbon cred¬its. But over the years the price of these carbon credits has reduced so much that they have lost their shine.
There are already 25 million climate refugees displaced by climate-induced dis¬asters such as those in the Papua New Gumean Carteret Islands. They have been forced to relocate because of the rising ocean level. Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable countries in'the world. 259 km of river delta islands near the Bay of Bengal have vanished in the last 30 years.
The strategy, therefore, to deal with cli¬mate change, is going to be different for poor countries. While carbon tax, finan¬cial incentives and increased insurance premia can force people to go green in developed countries, the grim poverty of Asia and Africa calls for an integrated action plan, where the North implements

the "polluter-pays" principle and pro-vides scientific and technological know-how, as well as infrastaictural support, ancHransfer of technology to the South to bring it to a level playing field.
The environmental footprint of the poor is a fraction of their rich counterparts. Creat¬ing wealth through unbridled consumerism and proliferation of products that create unneeded wants can be disastrous for the ecology. India's ecological footprint i.e. the natural material used per person per year, is one twelfth of US and Europe.
If the rapid rate at which the develop¬ing economies are growing translates itself into consumerism, our mission of the bridging the gap is going to result in
Climate change calls for
an approach designed
to reduce the human
footprint on the planet by making a 180-degree
shift in lifestyles
an ecological catastrophe. We therefore need to change our growth model and move our economy from ah acquisitiona! mode to an 'experiential' mode.
We have to find ways to dematerialise products and opt for minimalist designs. India will thus have an even more legiti¬mate right to demand from the North, credits for saving the environment by adopting a dematerialised, low carbon, experiential model of growth.
Just as it is real that climate has changed diie to human activity, humans have the power and technology to reverse the dam¬age. For this to happen business has to be brought to the forefront of the climate •change agenda. Our focus has to be on 'galvanising businesses for a robust response to climate change in a way that opens new vistas of growth and develop¬ment, advancing human happiness.

The 8th Environment Conference in Palampur brought to the fore an eleven point plan called PROACTIVATE. The acronym denotes the action required for regeneration of the planet. It calls upon businesses to Price natural capital; Radical¬ly increase energy efficiency; Opt for mini¬malist lifestyles that emphasise the value of experience as opposed to acquisition; Adopt zero waste and closed loop systems; Cap-ture CO2 through forestation; Turn to renewables; Invest in green issues; Vigor¬ously pursue market mechanism to punish polluters; Activate women and children.to drive the change; Train staff to eco-inno-vate and focus on Execution by example rather than exhortation.
Climate change calls for a holistic approach designed to reduce the human footprint on the.planet by committing to make a 180 degree shift in lifestyles. It challenges our current paradigms of wealth and prosperity. Who would prefer to be a billionaire with a parched throat in the arid world of 2050? .
It is time we started recognising the price of natural capital - of greenery," rivers, mountains, oceans and glaciers and moved our natural assets way above the financial capital in the balance . sheets. The pendulum of asset valuation has moved beyond tangibles. People have begun to question the very purpose of work and wealth creation.
In 1930 John Maymml Keynes imag-ined that richer societies would become more leisured ones, liberated from toil to enjoy the finer things in life. Yet, most people today work harder, have less leisure and less happiness.
In'1927, Mahaima Gandhi wrote in Yoimg India: "A time is coming when those who are in the mad rush today of multiplying their wants, vainly thinking that they add to the real substance, real knowledge of the world, will retrace their .steps and say: 'What have we done?"'
After 80 years, these words ring true.
The writer is President, World Council for Corporate Governance, UK and WorldEnvi-ronmentFoundation. f?K+.r

Dying earth

ENVIRONMENT, literally, means everything that surrounds us and it com¬prises all living and non-living things that exist naturafly on Earth or some part of it. This may include the Mother Nature, plants, animals and also the people around us. All living organ¬isms- microbes, plants, animals, humans- have survived by adjusting themselves to the environment and attuning their lives to its rhythm.
Our planet is shared by 6.4 billion people and millions of species, The wide variety of life on earth is called biodiversity. We share the planet earth with plants and trees, flowers, insects, fish, whales and many other animals. Each species of animals or plants has its place on Earth, and each one is dependent on others.
But with the advancement and modernization of the world, there is a rapid degradation of the environment. Many activities of the people on the planet are seriously affecting environment. Our once green and clean earth has now become a subject of grave concern during the recent years. The development of infrastructure is basic to all sorts of developments in the present scenario of globalization. In a mad race to have high¬er and higher economic benefits, humans have forgotten the principle of sustainable development. The natural biotic and abi¬otic resources have been over-exploited. Thus, the laws of nature have been violated to a major extent and therefore, we are punished by the super power of nature from time to time. gandhiji stated," Nature has provided man enough for his need but not for his greed." The degradation of environment may include extinction of many species of plants and animals, lesser land under forest cover, uncertain rise and fall of temperature of the earth due to glob¬al warming and much more devastation. According to the final technical report of the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP), India has lost 40% of its mangroves, 50% of its forest cover, and a significant part of its wetlands in the past couple of centuriesrf/ * lp-ast 40 of plants am
has become extinct including the cheetah, while several hundred more are under the threat of extinction. All 18 of India's poul¬try breeds are also under threat.
The reasons sited are habitat destruction, hunting and over-exploitation of natural resources as the immediate causes of bio¬diversity loss, besides an unsus¬tainable and insensitive model of development, breakdown of tra¬ditional management practices and institutions, centralization of decision-making powers in the government, changes in the moral and cultural values and lack of recognition of the full value of biodiversity in eco-nomic planning. Tremendous increase in population is also one of the major causes of increasing pollution. In the past 50 years, human population the world over has increased to an extent which it did not in 10,000 years. According to WWF, 1932 species of animals are endan-gered or threatened today. Due to the excessive use of pesti-cides, many species of insects and birds are on the verge of extinction. Vultures, known as natural scavengers, once very commonly sighted in the sky or in fields have now become almost endangered.
Industrial development is an important constituent in one's pursuits for economic growth, employment generation and bet¬terment in quality of life. But industrial activities, and rapid urbanization followed by mod¬ernization without proper pre¬cautionary awareness for envi¬ronmental protection are known to cause pollution and associat¬ed problems, so much so that sacred waters of Ganga and Yamuna have also not been spared. So is the world wide sce¬nario. Increase in pollution con¬tent and various hazardous gases in the atmosphere have been instrumental in the Ozone layer depletion. The ozone layer pre¬vents the harmful gases and Ultra-violet rays entering the earth's atmosphere and thus, helps in reducing Global Warm¬ing which is caused due to excessive evolution of nitrous oxide and other harmful gases in the atmosphere at a certain degree constantly causing abrupt changes in the climate of the

earth. Global warning is the greatest concern of the environ¬mentalists and scientists around the globe, to be resolved. When the highest peak of the world. Mount Everest was scaled, it was called 'Conquest of the Everest"; little realizing that nature can never be conquered, as it is invincible. What shall be left of the Mount Everest when the whole snow melts? Writing on the wall is imminent.
We have not yet learnt to man¬age the proper and scientific dis¬posal of municipal solid waste and Bio-medical waste generated out of hospitals, nursing homes, clinics and laboratories. Proper incineration needs to be done for toxic wastes. Use of plastic, ihe great pollutant of the modern world, needs either to be mini¬mized with banning of poly-bags atleast or some recycling mecha¬nism needs to be introduced. Clean development mechanism, yet to be achieved,,? need of the hour. The three Rs- Reduce, Recycle and Reuse should be everyone's motto. Awareness should be generated through school children for saying no to crackers on festivals like Diwali.
With the excessive use of pes¬ticides and chemicals also in our agricultural fields, the deteriora¬tion of our flora and fauna has been caused to a great extent which in turn reduces the fertil¬ity of the soil alongwith unhealthy food yield. With the lowering of the water table in the present world, the depletion of ground water has also affected the growth of the food-crop and also raised serious warning about the drinking water scarcity. The industrial units also do not lag behind in withdrawal of ground water and further polluting it. It is, further, shocking to find out that the developed nations are greater polluters than the devel¬oping nations yet the later have to face the outrage of nature more intensely. Had there been some mandatory provisions that only the polluters should pay for the imbalance they are causing to nature, there would not have been such devastation.
Humankind may afford to remain happy and untroubled if pollution is kept within the absorptive capacities of Nature. But the limits are already being

crossed and there is the para-mount need to engage in efforts to minimize and reduce the wastes and pollution from the face of the earth. Affluent treat¬ment plants should be installed for all water polluting industries and air pollution control meas¬ures for air polluting units. Plan¬tation of trees within the prem¬ises of industrial units may be made mandatory. Also the plan¬tation of more and more trees should be encouraged along with the wild-life preservation. Law should be implemented firmly and strictly and the violators should be punished. Various other measures like protection of natural resources and use of renewable resource like solar energy should be increased.
Along with these steps envi-ronmental laws should be made more stringent and be imple¬mented so that no individual or organization as Gandhiji's words carry great relevance: "I bow my head in reverence to our ancestors for their sense of the beautiful in nature and for their foresight in investing beautiful manifesta¬tions of nature with a religious significance."
1 f we could rewind the wheel of time bj about fifty years and be back in the pre-independence era-a period of significant production and insignificant pollution - we would feel the natural clean and green earth with an impression of divine land to a beholder.
My heart leaps with joy
When I behold a rainbow in the sky.
Let the nature lover Wordsworth and many more like him relive their dreams. Protect the Mother Earth from getting perished and let the civilization flourish.
"We won't have a society if we destroy the environment." jaiwanti Sheokand Director Environment Govt. of Haryana

Public concern over climate change:Survey

Global concern about climate change has risen dramatically over the last six months and consumers increasingly expect their governments to act,according to a survey published. the survey by the Nielsen Company and Oxford University's Environmental change institute ,fond 42 percent of global online consumers believe governments should restrict companies emission of carbon dioxide and other pollutants.
Two of the worlds largest and fastest growing polluters are INDIA and CHINA. An 11 percent jump in concern about the environment over the last six months left 19 percent of Indian's fretting about global warming, while only 9 percent of Chinese respondents
said the issue was very important, up 7 percent.