Green Diary

Rain forests are fast depleting from the face of our planet courtesy deforestation from illegal logging and clearing forests for plantation. The problem in curbing deforestation is directly linked to the livelihood of the local community whether in Asia, Africa or South America. Unless an alternative livelihood is arranged for the poor population in these regions, any efforts of putting a hold on deforestation will not work.

In last December’s Climate Change Conference in Bali, a possible solution to the problem has emerged. It has been proposed to start an international negotiation by which countries plagued with destruction of their rain forests would be rewarded in their efforts in preventing further deforestation with monetary reward from a fund directly financed by the world’s rich countries. These countries will also be granted ‘carbon credits’ that they could trade with the rich countries. This new initiative known as Reducing Emissions and Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) is expected to save the remnant tropical rain forests and would curtail the rapid pace of global warming.

The lush green dense tropical rain forests spread across Africa, Asia and South America may soon be lost from the face of the green planet if ways are not implemented to stop indiscriminate felling. According to the latest data available from the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), deforestation is wiping 13 million hectares of forest from our planet every year with Africa leading the way. Around 1% of Africa’s forests are lost every year. The situation is equally alarming in the Amazon and other South African forests where cattle grazing and soy cultivation is causing forests to be cleared. Palm cultivation in the archipelagos of Indonesia is causing devastation of the forests there.

The loss of the rain forests worldwide is paving the way for global warming to spread its devastating tentacles. In the recently concluded climate conference held in Bali, Indonesia, the environmentalists declared,

If we lose forests, we lose the fight against climate change.

Global warming is set to swarm across the world and certain to emerge as a disaster for the entire humanity. Not just one or two countries but the entire world will come under the shadow of its venom and the aftereffects seem to be getting clearer day by day. With a certain amount of increase in rains at one place, and drought at the other, for quite some time now, clearly prove that there is something wrong somewhere and that is climate change. A recent study by the journal Science has also pointed toward the disastrous effects of global warming, already visible today.

Whaling is the illegal practice of whale hunting for commercial purposes. The practice is prevalent since the 16th century and was condemned and declared illegal after five of the thirteen big whales were found to be endangered. In spite of this ban, Japanese ships are reported to have killed five whales in the Southern ocean.
The incidence has occurred even as Australian foreign minister Stephen Smith discussed the issue of whaling with his Japanese counterpart, Masahiko Komura in a meeting held between the two. During the meeting Mr. Smith is said to have strongly opposed Japanese whaling programs and Mr. Komura seemed to support him in his talks. According to a spokesman,

During the meeting the two countries have agreed to disagree on this issue.

First person to scale the highest peak in the world, Sir Edmund Hillary, also worried for the threat that global warming poses to Mt Everest and other mountain peaks, glaciers, icebergs and natural skycaps. Why not, the changes that he saw from 1953 to-date can set anyone shivering. But, who cares?

A white man is distraught at the way big, bad and unscrupulous Chinese businesses are destroying the world’s crystal clear environment. Bill Miller in the desmogblog raves against the Chinese habit of buying wood from poorer nations in South East Asia as well as from far off South America. He is scared that since China does not even have one-eighth of the demand for paper compared America, there is huge scope for increase in demand. And then we will lose all our forests. Of course, there still will be China to blame. So according to Mr. Miller, it would be better for China to remain economically dormant. His blog post is typical of the western response when faced with climate change. The key to understanding this sort of take on the environment lies in Miller’s writing itself. He inadvertently slips in the fact of the US’s being the largest consumer of wood pulp. Is it wrong for the poorer nations to want to be richer? Is it unfair to buy resources from other nations?

Is nuclear power a viable answer to curtailing greenhouse gases belching from burning fossil fuels? The UK government feels, going nuclear is the only viable option left for the country in combating climate change. Despite criticisms from former environment ministers of the country, the Gordon Brown Government has made official its decision to return to nuclear power.

Nuclear power is always not appreciated given the impeding dangers. Disposal of wastes from nuclear power plants has always remained a contentious issue. Experts say that installing of nuclear power plants will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by a mere 4 percent. This does not seem encouraging for a country blessed by hundreds of miles of coastlines. It is not clear, why the British government is not concentrating on developing wind and hydel power, the obviously cleaner and cheaper source of alternate energy.

The decision of the UK government is being watched with trepidation by environmentalists. By trying to become eco-friendly, is the UK government heralding further serious disaster?

Image: light and matter

Source: ecoworldly

The once towering ice sheets of Greenland are fast eroding, ringing the danger bells all around. The fear of a tragic sea-level rise is also round the corner. Is it the beginning of scramble for space on earth and around water bodies?

The picture is worth a thousand words. Very sad thousand words. This picture tells the story of hapless polar bears clinging on to whatever is left of their home. As global warming maintains steady escalation, evidenced by the rise in Arctic temperature by 4 degree Centigrade in the last 50 years, the future of these magnificent creatures seem severely grim.

Swimming a couple of hundred miles to land and ice is not a big deal for these bears, but with the Arctic ice melting at a frightening rate, the distance increases consequently, demanding greater energy from the polar bears, equipped with two coats of insulating fur and a four inch layer of blubber.

The gargantuan hairy-tasked mammoths — once roamed on the face of the earth — hold a close relation to our modern day elephants. The mammoths were the last known giant creatures that lived on earth. These creatures were present even 4-thousand-years back during the dawn of human civilization. But, what caused the extinction of the mammoths is not clear to the scientists.

Some claim, human hunters obliterated these beasts from our planet. Others claim, the mammals fell victim to global warming. but, soon, the truth behind the extinction of the mammoths will be unraveled by scientists in Japan!

While the rising temperatures and their consequences are increasingly getting worrisome across the world, the British weather experts have a good news for this year that would definitely chill down our nerves. They have predicted 2008 to experience a cooler weather the world over. Thanks to a strong La Nina climate pattern over the Pacific, the impact of which is said to help keep the temperatures down.

But, the year is also predicted to remain among the top 10 hottest years on record. It would be the coolest year since 2000. It was then 0.24 degree C above the average, while overall the global temperature is expected to be 0.37 degree Celsius above that of 14.0 degrees. The cooling, thus, actually comes against the underlying warming trend.

The skyrocketing price of oil is a curse as well as a blessing for the environment. Lets first look at the disadvantages, and save the best for last. What is now 100-dollar-a-barrel oil, used to be available for 50 dollars back in 2001. The increase in prices is the main driving force towards the utilization of other fossil fuels, which gives rise to rather unwholesome results.

It has induced a greater investment in tar sands, which contributes in polluting the environment to a major extent. Quite a few major oil companies like Shell and British Petroleum have put their money into it and are minting it as it costs just 40 dollars per barrel to produce oil and they sell it keeping a huge margin of profit.

A recent study has revealed that with the consistent rise in the world temperature on account of Global Warming, the capacity of trees and forests to absorb the harmful greenhouse gas carbon dioxide is reducing at an alarming rate!

This study comprises a comprehensive analysis of data for 20 years from over 30 ice-capped regions around the Northern Hemisphere (such as Siberia Alaska, Canada and Europe). If the finding of this research turns out to be accurate, it will mean the impending doom of a global climatic change is approaching faster than what was presumed earlier.

With the Olympic Games, scheduled to be held in China’s capital Beijing this year, the hosts have started taking measures to ensure a smooth event. However, the gravest problem that Beijing seems to be facing is the extreme levels of pollution clogging up the city skies and pouring in the form of the ugly acid rains. The skies are always clouded with a mix of auto exhaust, factory pollution and construction dust, thus affecting visibility and causing concerns for the upcoming international event in the china’s capital.

This would be the first time that a developing country is bestowed upon with the honor of hosting the Olympic Games. To keep up to the expectations, Beijing has to assure that the games are not muddled with rains caused by pollution. To ensure this, the country has taken several steps — one being the use of cleaner fuels by declaring new fuel standards.

With a steadily increasing number of organizations taking up projects to promote the use of solar energy, the sun-generated energy could supply 69 percent of US power by 2050. Nope, that’s not wishful thinking. Experts are positive that this is exactly what we can look forward to.

In an article by Ken Zweibel, James Mason, and Vasilis Fthenakis in Scientific American, dated January 2008, they talk about a large-scale project to harness the solar energy resources of the USA Southwest between now and the year 2050. They propagate that solar energy would widely replace coal, oil, natural gas, and nuclear power to constitute 69 percent of US electricity and 35 percent of its total energy by 2050.