DP-Index-feb08-lead
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A section of
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CLIMATE
CHANGE
Climate
experts sound grim warning
In
a comprehensive study, a team of climate scientists identify the nine
areas that are in gravest danger of passing critical thresholds or
“tipping points”, beyond which they will not recover.
Though
the scientists cannot be sure precisely when each region will reach
the point of no return, their assessment warns it may already be too
late to save Arctic sea ice and the Greenland ice sheet, which they
regard as the most immediately in peril. By some estimates, there
will not be any sea ice in the summer months within 25 years.
The
next most vulnerable area is the Amazon rainforest, where reduced
rainfall threatens to claim large areas of trees that will not
re-establish themselves. The scientists also expressed concerns over
the Boreal forests in the north, and have predicted that El Nino, the
climate system which has a profound impact on weather from Africa to
North America, will become more intense.
The
scientists are so concerned they have called for an early warning
system to monitor each of these fragile ecosystems.
The
international team, whose study appears in the Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences, represents some of the world’s most
prestigious organisations, including the Potsdam Institute for
Climate Impact Research in Germany, the University of East Anglia and
Oxford University’s Environmental Change Institute.
by
Ian Sample, The Hindu, 06/02/2008
Humans
have damaged every corner of the seas
Chicago:
Nearly every corner of the world's oceans have been damaged in some
way by human activity and some 41% of those waters are heavily
affected, a study released on Thursday has found. Coastal areas are
polluted by runoff. Oyster beds and fisheries are disappearing.
Floating islands of trash the size of small states clutter what used
to be open water. Birds and whales are struck by ships which leave a
trail of oil and waste in their wakes.
The
Times of India, 16/02/2008
Stranded
in the Sunderbans
Life
on the remote inhabited islands of the Indian Sundarbans is far
removed from the world of glitzy shopping malls, flyovers,
jet-setting middle classes and highflying life that India Shining has
come to be exemplified by. In fact, the basic amenities of life are
yet to be available for the inhabitants of these islands. Yet,
poorest on these islands are paying the price of global warming and
rising sea levels as more than 10,000 environmental refugees struggle
for survival here.
Rina Mukherji, The Hindu,
24/02/2008
'Dead'
Indian Ocean by 2080: UN report
The
waters around the Indian landmass are at a major risk of habitat loss
because of rising sea level temperatures and marine pollution, a new
United Nations report released on Friday said. It has identified the
Indian Ocean along with areas in the Western Pacific, the Persian
Gulf, the Middle East and in the Caribbean of being adversely
impacted because of global warming and rising marine pollution.
by
Chetan Chauhan, The Hindustan Times, 24/02/2008
The
freak weather
The
heaviest snowfall in decades is causing chaos in China affecting 80
million people across 14 provinces in the country. Kashmir, is facing
record snowfall with Himachal Pradesh towing second in line. Reports
speak of chilly temperatures in Mumbai too. All this is happening in
the month of February which, climate experts say, is paradoxically
one of the likely features of global wanning. "These are freak
events that would not buck1 the longer-term trend of warming,"
said BN Goswami, director of the Indian Institute of Tropical
Meteorology. These could, in fact, be a consequence of global
warming, he said.
by
Soni Sinha, Sahara Time, 17/02/2008
Global
warming 'may cut deaths'
The
risk of a fatal heatwave in the UK within ten years is high, but
overall global warming may mean fewer deaths due to temperature, a
report says.
A
seriously hot summer between now and 2017 could claim more than 6,000
lives, the Department of Health report warns.
But
it also stresses that milder winters mean deaths during this time of
year - which far outstrip heat-related mortality - will continue to
decline.
The
report is to help health services prepare for climate change effects.
BBC
News, 12/02/2008
Climate
summit opens amid calls for faster American action
Leaders
of the world's biggest economies opened two days of meetings on
global warming in Honolulu amid calls for urgency and more leadership
from the United States. With a small contingent of protesters outside
the East- West Centre here, and ahead of major student demonstrations
planned nationwide on Thursday, a United Nations official implored
delegates at the Major Economies Meeting to make substantive
decisions on climate change solutions — and do so quickly.
by
Bob Keefe, 01/02/2008
Time
for action
With
the developed nations, like the United States, not willing to scale
down their levels of carbon emissions, it is time now for developing
countries like India and China to take the initiative to minimise and
if possible stop the disastrous effects of global warning, being
still in the nascent stage of their industrial development.
The
Hitavada, 09/02/2008
