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Kerala - Palakkad

Fighting global warming locally

G. Prabhakaran

A one-man mission in Palakkad has planted 2.5 lakh trees in 11 years.

Weaving a green canopy:As the monsoon has set in, the day starts early for A.V. Balakrishnan of Kalloor at Mankara in Palakkad. He leaves with a load of saplings to areas awaiting his greening touch. PALAKKAD: His is a mission to show that the fight against global warming should start locally.

During the past 11 years, A.V. Balakrishnan of Kalloor at Mankara, near here, has been on a mission to plant trees. Nearly 2.5 lakh trees in public places and on the premises of government offices and other institutions in various parts of the district bear his imprint. He has dipped into his small earnings he makes as a marginal farmer to plant the trees and protect them. Trees are like my children. I protect them as though they are my children, he says. He has mobilised support from the Forest Department and some environmental groups at the village level in taking forward his mission. His first attempt at planting trees was in the Chudiyanmala forest area at Kalloor, near his home, and his efforts have taken deep roots, reaching the border with Thrissur district after covering many villages and small towns in Palakkad district. He has a big nursery in his house to raise saplings, which are either planted or supplied to the Forest Department, which pays him a monthly honorarium of Rs.5,000 for his efforts. As the monsoon has set in, he leaves on his motorbike early in the morning with a load of saplings for planting in various places. During summer, he collects seeds from various places and raises them in the nursery. Offices, schools, colleges, religious institutions, sides of irrigation canals, roadsides, all have got his greening touch. Mr. Balakrishnan has taken up the cause of the protection of Ayyarmala spread over the grama panchayats of Parali, Keralasseri, Kongad, and Mundur. When fire breaks out in the area during summer, he alerts the Forest Department to it and helps save the forests. His activities extend to burial of garbage to provide manure to the trees and removal of toxic waste dumped on the roadsides and in public places. Mr. Balakrishnan says that he does not expect anything from planting trees as it is his small contribution to protect the environment and Mother Earth. He is not after any award or recognition. The biggest recognition comes when youngsters support him in his mission. Schoolchildren have joined him in planting thousands of trees, which he sees as a promise for the future. They recognise the bad effects of destruction of trees and the environment and come forward to fight against it. This awareness created among the younger generation his is biggest achievement.

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National

Expert wants cosmic rays' impact on global warming assessed

N. Gopal Raj Charged particles from beyond solar system possibly affect the pace, but the extent is not clear

The role of the cosmic rays has been highlighted in a paper by the former ISRO Chairman, U.R. Rao Dr. Rao points to a nine per cent reduction in the intensity of cosmic rays during the past 150 years

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The impact of cosmic rays on global warming needs to be assessed. Are charged particles coming from beyond the solar system, known as galactic cosmic rays, affecting the pace of climate change? Possibly, but the extent to which it is happening is not clear, according to V. Ramanathan, a leading atmospheric scientist with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at San Diego, United States. The idea of galactic cosmic rays being an important factor driving climate change goes back over a decade. But the evidence remains ambiguous, observed the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in its Fourth Assessment Report published in 2007. The role these cosmic rays could play has now been highlighted by a paper from the former Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation, U.R. Rao. The work was recently published as a Discussion Paper by the Ministry of Environment and Forests. As the cosmic rays pass through the earth's atmosphere, they turn atoms and molecules on their path into electrically charged forms called ions.

These ions then act as cloud condensation nuclei' to which water vapour can adhere and form cloud drops. But during periods of increased solar activity, the intensity of cosmic rays reaching the earth is reduced. That, it is argued, will reduce the number of cloud condensation nuclei that form, thereby lessening cloud cover. With lesser clouds, more sunlight would reach the earth's surface, contributing to greater warming of the planet. Quoting published work, Dr. Rao pointed to a nine per cent reduction in the intensity of cosmic rays during the past 150 years. He estimated that the heightened warming of the earth that resulted would amount to 60 per cent of the warming attributed to increased carbon dioxide emissions. Consequently, the contribution of increased carbon dioxide emissions to the observed global warming would be considerably less than what was estimated by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. In a commentary published as part of the Ministry's discussion paper, Dr. Ramanathan noted that the data in Dr. Rao's paper showed the cosmic rays decreasing in intensity from 1900 to about 1970 and levelling off thereafter. On the other hand, global average temperatures had shown a warming trend from 1900 to 1940, a slight cooling from 1940 to 1970, and with the current rapid warming trend continuing unabated since then. Logical mechanism' The mechanism that Dr. Rao had proposed was logical, said Dr. Ramanathan when he spoke to this correspondent. However, estimating the magnitude of its impact on global warming depended on trends in the cloud data derived from satellites. But we now know that this satellite data itself has huge problems, he said. There were many links in the chain going from cosmic rays to cloud formation, he noted. At present, studies had established only the first link in that chain of the comic rays producing cloud condensation nuclei. Data for other links in the chain of such cloud condensation nuclei changing the number of cloud drops and that, in turn, affecting cloud cover was still missing. Pollution and natural sources like sea salt also provided copious amounts of particles on which clouds drop could form. Dr. Rao's paper pointed out that the magnitude of the impact of cosmic rays on global warming could be potentially large. The paper should be taken seriously and the hypothesis he had put forward tested with suitable field studies, Dr. Ramanathan said.

Monday, February 20, 2012

Global Warming & Climate Change

Steen Ulrik Johannessen/Agence France-Presse Getty Images Updated: Feb. 16, 2012 Global warming has become perhaps the most complicated issue facing world leaders. Warnings from the scientific community are becoming louder, as an increasing body of science points to rising dangers from the ongoing buildup of human-related greenhouse gases produced mainly by the burning of fossil fuels and forests. Global emissions of carbon dioxide jumped by the largest amount on record in 2010, upending the notion that the brief decline during the recession might persist through the recovery. Emissions rose 5.9 percent in 2010, according to the Global Carbon Project, an international collaboration of scientists. The increase solidified a trend of ever-rising emissions that scientists fear will make it difficult, if not impossible, to forestall severe climate change in coming decades. However, the technological, economic and political issues that have to be resolved before a concerted worldwide effort to reduce emissions can begin have gotten no simpler, particularly in the face of a global economic slowdown. For almost two decades, the United Nations has sponsored annual global talks, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, an international treaty signed by 194 countries to cooperatively discuss global climate change and its impact. The conferences operate on the principle of consensus, meaning that any of the participating nations can hold up an agreement.

The conflicts and controversies discussed are monotonously familiar: the differing obligations of industrialized and developing nations, the question of who will pay to help poor nations adapt, the urgency of protecting tropical forests and the need to rapidly develop and deploy clean energy technology. But the meetings have often ended in disillusionment, with incremental political progress but little real impact on the climate. The negotiating process itself has come under fire from some quarters, including the poorest nations who believe their needs are being neglected in the fight among the major economic powers. Criticism has also come from a small but vocal band of climate-change skeptics, many of them members of the United States Congress, who doubt the existence of human influence on the climate and ridicule international efforts to deal with it.

News Cape Town, April 26, 2010 BASIC group wants global deal on climate change by 2011 PTI

Environment ministers of the BASIC countries -- Brazil, South Africa, India and China -- have said that a legally binding global agreement to limit climate change needed to be completed by 2011, noting that the world could not wait indefinitely for the US to finalise its legislation on the issue. The BASIC leaders, who met here to look at how to fast-track such a pact to curb global warming, gave the statement at the conclusion of the third meeting of the group on Sunday. "A step-change is required in negotiations, and incremental progress on its own will not raise the level of ambition to the extent needed to avoid dangerous climate change and impacts on poor countries and communities," the ministers indicated in a joint statement, noting reports that domestic legislation on climate change in the US had been postponed. "Ministers felt that a legally binding outcome on long-term cooperative action under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its Kyoto Protocol, to be concluded

at Cancun, Mexico in 2010, or at the latest in South Africa by 2011, the ministers said in a joint statement. Asserting that lack of such agreements hurt developing countries more than developed countries, the ministers said such deals must include an accord on quantified emission reduction targets under a second commitment period for Annex I Parties under the Kyoto Protocol. The ministers who participated in the meeting were Xie Zhenhua, Vice Chairman of the National Development and Reforms Commission from China; Izabella Teixeira, Minister for Environment from Brazil; Jairam Ramesh, Minister for Environment and Forests from India, and Buyelwa Sonjica, Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs from South Africa. The ministers said the only legitimate forum for negotiation of climate change is the UNFCCC. Small groups could make a contribution in resolving conflicts, but they must be representative and their composition must be determined through fully inclusive and transparent negotiations, with a mechanism for reporting back to the multi-lateral forum, the statement said. Building on the discussion held in New Delhi in January 2010, the ministers elaborated areas in which progress could be made in the run-up to Cancun, including the early flow of fast-start finance of the USD 10 billion in 2010 pledged by developed countries. Equity will be a key issue for any agreement. The ministers noted that the Copenhagen accord set a global goal of keeping temperature increase below 2degreesC above pre-industrial levels, without jeopardising economic growth and poverty alleviation. This implied a certain global carbon budget. The implications of this budget for individual countries required careful analysis, and must be based on a multilateral agreement about equitable burden-sharing, including historical responsibility for climate change, the need to allow developing countries equitable space for development, and adequate finance, technology and capacity-building support provided by developed countries for all developing countries. The ministers were of the view that it would not be possible to deal with mitigation actions by developing countries, without also dealing with support for those actions and the two-fold commitments by developed countries to both provide finance for developing countries and reduce their own emissions, with consequences of non-fulfilment. They emphasised again that BASIC is more than a forum focused on negotiations. They supported collaboration among experts from BASIC countries and welcomed the creation of an on-going forum, including work on adaptation and mitigation action plans and scenarios.

Monday, Feb 20, 2012 Last Update: 07:23 PM IST

Simple measures could reduce global warming, save lives: NASA

Simple and inexpensive ways to cut back on two major pollutants -- soot and methane -- could slow climate change for years to come and significantly reduce premature deaths, particularly in South Asian countries like India, Nepal and Bangladesh, according to a latest NASA study. The study, led by Drew Shindell of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York City, finds that focusing on these measures could slow mean global warming 0.9 degree F (0.5 degree C) by 2050, increase global crop yields by up to 135 million metric tons per season and prevent hundreds of thousands of premature deaths each year. While all regions of the world would benefit, countries in Asia and the Middle East would see the biggest health and agricultural gains from emissions reductions.

The south Asian countries of India, Bangladesh and Nepal would see the biggest reductions in premature deaths. The study estimates that globally between 700,000 and 4. 7 million premature deaths could be prevented each year, the American space agency said. "We've shown that implementing specific practical emissions reductions chosen to maximize climate benefits also would have important 'win-win' benefits for human health and agriculture," said Shindell. The study was published yesterday in the journal Science. NASA said Shindell and an international team considered about 400 control measures based on technologies evaluated by the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis in Laxenburg, Austria. The new study focused on 14 measures with the greatest climate benefit. All 14 would curb the release of either black carbon or methane, pollutants that exacerbate climate change and human or plant health, either directly or by leading to ozone formation. Scientists believe that the key is to reduce emissions of two powerful and fast-acting causes of global warming -- methane and soot. Carbon dioxide is the chief greenhouse gas and the one world leaders have spent the most time talking about controlling. Scientists say carbon dioxide from fossil fuels like coal and oil is a bigger overall cause of global warming, but reducing methane and soot offers quicker fixes. Black carbon, a product of burning fossil fuels or biomass such as wood or dung, can worsen a number of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. The small particles also absorb radiation from the sun causing the atmosphere to warm and rainfall patterns to shift. In addition, they darken ice and snow, reducing their reflectivity and hastening global warming, it said. Methane, a colourless and flammable substance that is a major constituent of natural gas, is both a potent greenhouse gas and an important precursor to ground-level ozone. Ozone, a key component of smog and also a greenhouse gas, damages crops and human health, NASA said. While carbon dioxide is the primary driver of global warming over the long term, limiting black carbon and methane are complementary actions that would have a more immediate impact because these two pollutants circulate out of the atmosphere more quickly. Shindell and his team concluded that these control measures would provide the greatest protection against global warming to Russia, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, countries with large areas of snow or ice cover. Iran, Pakistan and Jordan would experience the most improvement in agricultural production. Southern Asia and the Sahel region of Africa would see the most beneficial changes to precipitation patterns.