Saturday, February 21, 2009

BAN PLASTIC BAGS FOR PROTECTING ENVIRONMENT

In olden days people use to carry cloth bags or jute bags to the shop to purchase grocery or other things but when plastic is discovered it became part and parcel of our lives, whatever we do we use plastic in day to life, whether it is a plastic mug, plastic bucket or plastic containers we use in kitchen. The biggest problem with the plastic bags which are used for packing of milk, oil, salt etc they become big environmental problem. when we go for shopping the shop owners give, shopping plastic bag which is handy but which is destroying the environment. Plastic bags are light, sturdy and easy to carry. They are cheaper than paper. Plastics are reuse in the home. We see so many beautiful and fashionable and colorful bags but how much these bags will harm environment
Many people do not know the problem with plastic bags is
· Plastic is not biodegradable
· When buried plastic will choke the drainages
· When burnt plastics will emit poisonous gases
To make plastic one has to use the petroleum products, plastic production and processing require the use of toxic chemicals. Many manufacturing plants that produce these chemicals also produce hazardous waste and pollute the air. Five of the top six were chemicals commonly used by the plastic industry [propylene, phenol, ethylene, polystyrene, and benzene]. Platics which are substitute to traditional storage materials become problem to the environment.
A small town Tadipatri in Anantapur in Andhra Pradesh has set a example for plastic ban. Citizens of this industrial town in the district are setting an example to the entire State by strictly adhering to the ban on use of plastic (polythene) carry bags and tea cups and drinking water tumblers imposed by the municipal council. The ban has been practically in force from January 26. Cooperation from traders, fruit vendors, street vendors and roadside tea stalls after the initial reluctance has made the ban a successful exercise. And, citizens are also getting used to alternative methods like carrying handbags for shopping and using paper tumblers, if necessary. Doubts persisted among citizens when the civic body announced its decision to ban plastic use. The resolve of the civic body to improve sanitation and to prevent health hazards with the use of plastic carry bags has gone down well with the public.
"It was difficult initially to make a changeover from plastic carry bags to paper. But both customers and vendors are getting accustomed to the situation now," says a fruit vendor on the busy Kadapa-Bellary road in the town. Instead of packing the fruits in polythene carry bags, fruit vendors are wrapping up the fruits in old newspapers now.
To make the ban work, municipal staff conducted raids on shops initially and seized about 120 kg of plastic carry bags, tea cups and tumblers. It was announced that a penalty of Rs. 2,500 would be imposed if one were found either selling or using the plastic carry bags or tea cups. Three traders were booked for violation of the ban and penalty was collected so far. Roadside tea stalls have also stopped using plastic teacups and instead, they have turned to the old system of glass or stainless steel tumblers for serving tea and coffee.
This is a good example for others in the country when we are taking about environment, one should follow example set by this small town.
Carrying Plastic should be banned by law and the people were asked to carry the cloth bags while shopping whether it is for grocery or other shopping
Anything can be achieved one people determined and authorities impose ban on use of plastic bags.
Let ever one pledge to carry jute or cloth bag for shopping
Make India as green India.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Climate Change Affecting Investment Decisions
Investment decisions are increasingly impacted by climate change information, according to new research by the Carbon Disclosure Project.Of the 80 institutional investors that signed the information request sent out by CDP, three-quarters said they factor climate change information into their investment decisions and asset allocations.

More than 80 percent of respondents said they consider climate change to be important relative to other issues impacting their portfolio.

Four-fifths of respondents said they found CDP data useful and valuable. Institutional investors cited carbon risk and potential legislation as the primary motivators for utilizing CDP data.CDP says the number of investors that signed its 2009 annual information request for climate change data rose to a record 475, compared with 385 in 2008. This year, the request was sent to 3,700 listed companies. Last year, the nonprofit issued the request to over 3,000 of the world’s largest corporations
Bushfires and global warming: is there a link?

Scientists have a hunch rising temperatures due to human activity are making fire and flood more likelyScientists are reluctant to link ­individual weather events to global warming, because natural variability will always throw up extreme events. However, they say that climate change loads the dice, and can make severe episodes more likely.

Some studies have started to say how much global warming contributed to severe weather. Experts at the UK Met Office and Oxford University used computer models to say man-made climate change made the killer European heatwave in 2003 about twice as likely. In principle, the technique could be repeated with any extreme storm, drought or flood – which could pave the way for lawsuits from those affected.

Bob Brown, a senator who leads the Australian Greens, said the bushfires showed what climate change could mean for Australia."Global warming is predicted to make this sort of event happen 25%, 50% more," he told Sky News. "It's a sobering reminder of the need for this nation and the whole world to act and put at a priority our need to tackle climate change."

Models suggest global warming could bring temperature rises as high as 6C for Australia this century, if global emissions continue unabated, with rainfall decreasing in the southern states and increasing further north. As if to demonstrate that, Queensland, in the north, is currently experiencing widespread flooding after rainfall of historic proportions.

More than 60% of Queensland has been declared a disaster zone in the worst floods for more than 30 years. Some 3,000 homes have been affected, and the main highway between Cairns and Townsville has been cut off.

Roger Stone, a climate expert at the University of Southern Queensland, said: "It certainly fits the climate change models, but I have to add the proviso that it's very difficult, even with extreme conditions like this, to always attribute it to climate change."

The fires and floods come as politicians gear up to negotiate a new global deal to combat climate change, to replace the Kyoto protocol. Australia plans a comprehensive carbon trading scheme, but green campaigners last year accused Kevin Rudd's government of a "betrayal" when it pledged to reduce emissions by a modest 5-15% by 2020.

Professor Mark Adams, from the Bushfire Cooperative Research Centre, said the extreme weather conditions that led to the bushfires are likely to occur more often."The weather and climatic conditions recently don't augur well for the future. Bushfires are an important and going to be ever-present part of the landscape," he said.
Australia is in the grip of the worst drought in a century, which has stretched for more than seven years in some areas and has forced restrictions on water use in the country's big cities.
A government-commissioned report on climate change last year warned that exceptionally hot years, which used to occur once every 22 years, would occur every one or two years, virtually making drought a permanent part of the Australian environment.

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

President Barack Obama and Climate Change

Climate Change has been given lip sympathy during Bush administration. USA and Australia have not signed the Kyoto protocol (the climate change protocol). The strong positive correlation between energy use and human development is well recognized. Per-Capita Carbon-dioxide emissions (metric tons),USA 20.01, EU,9.4,Japan 9.87, China3.60,Russia 11.71,India 1.02, where as world average is 4.25 metric tonnes.
The Fourth Assessment report of the intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCCAR4) concluded from direct observations of changes in temperature, sea level, and snow cover in the northern hemisphere during 1850 to the present, that the warming of the earth’s climate system is unequivocal. The global atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide has increased from a pre-industrial value of about 280 ppm to 379 ppm in 2005. Multi modal averages show that the temperature increases during 2090-2099 relative to 1980-1999 may range from 1.1 to 6.40c and sea level rise from 0.18 to 0.59 meters.
President Barack Obama said "We will make it clear to the world that America is ready to lead, from being held hostage" to hostile regimes and the threat of global warming.To protect our climate and our collective security, we must call together a truly global coalition. I've made it clear that we will act, but so too must the world. These urgent dangers to our national and economic security are compounded by the long-term threat of climate change, which if left unchecked could result in violent conflict, terrible storms, shrinking coastlines and irreversible catastrophe. But America will not be held hostage to dwindling resources, hostile regimes, and a warming planet. To finally spark the creation of a clean energy economy, we will double the production of alternative energy in the next three years. We will modernize more than 75 percent of federal buildings and improve the energy efficiency of 2 million American homes, saving consumers and taxpayers billions on our energy bills. In the process, we will put Americans to work in new jobs that pay well and can’t be outsourced – jobs building solar panels and wind turbines; constructing fuel-efficient cars and buildings; and developing the new energy technologies that will lead to even more jobs, more savings, and a cleaner, safer planet in the bargain”
Assuming that the US actually could double alternative energy production by 2012, how far would that go toward solving the climate crisis. According to the US Department of Energy’s Renewable Energy Data Book , 9.4 percent of total US energy production – this includes both electricity and transportation – comes from renewable energy sources, mainly hydropower and biomass. (Another 11.7 percent comes from nuclear power, which is not mentioned in this plan.) According to the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Fourth Assessment Report, if the world’s wealthy countries were to cut their emissions by 25 percent to 40 percent below 1990 levels (US emissions are now about 15 percent higher than they were in 1990), carbon dioxide concentrations would stabilize at 450 parts per million, the figure that the UN panel believed was the safety threshold. Current atmospheric greenhouse concentrations are at about 387 parts per million and rising. So a 10 percent emissions reduction by USA is a modest start, and getting up to 25 percent renewable by 2025 would be another step, but if the world’s leading climate scientists are right, these by themselves won’t be enough to save us from catastrophic climate change Solar-energy developers already have projects under way to produce about 5,400 megawatts in three to five years, the Washington-based Solar Energy Industry Association trade group said. Solar power more than tripled in the past three years to 4,400 megawatts. Wind developers added 7,500 megawatts in 2008 to bring total generating capacity to 24,000 megawatts, according to the American Wind Energy Association. Projects in 2009 could fall by half without the right financial aid from Congress, said Denise Bode, the group’s chief executive. Renewable energy is very capital-intensive. The ability to mobilize that amount of megawatts is going to depend on how quickly financial institutions to support projects. American economy is in grip of recession and funding these projects needs huge investment from the industry for which the government support is necessary.
The move of President Obama is appreciable and welcome when compare with Bush administration but his success will depend on his leadership and the providing funds for the projects he undertakes. He should call for a summit on Climate change and tell the world that Americans are here to save PLANET EARTH from environmental problems.
What Obama has to do to reduce the climate change and global warming?
•Immediately sign the Kyoto Protocol of climate change, so that the world knows that world biggest polluter USA is taking action on climate change
•Reduce dependency on non renewable energy resources
•Increase dependence on renewable resources like Solar and Wind energies and more research should be done on reducing the per unit production of renewable energy.
•USA should give more funds to developing countries like India and China to reduce emissions
•There should be life style changes in the world to save the planet
•The principle tenants of sustainable development are the three “Rs”, reduce, reuse, recycle, which has to be followed by every citizen.