Ramblings of a 70-year old: global warming

Showing posts with label global warming. Show all posts

Monday, November 14, 2022

Climate change has a direct impact on survival of insects who are necessary to maintain the ecological balance

The natural reaction when one sees an insect is of disgust. It reflects the feelings against the whole kingdom of insects. These include cockroaches, mosquitoes and creepy-crawlies of all kinds. However, ecologists say the decline in the population of insects is a matter of concern. It seems there are nearly 5.5 million species of insects on planet Earth. They are the most diverse group of animals on the planet and account for nearly 80 percent of animal life on earth. The worst part is that both the number and diversity of insects are declining around the globe. These are attributed to loss of habitat, pollution and climate change. A paper published before the ongoing COP27 commenced warns about possible consequences. These could include limiting the chances of a sustainable future with healthy ecosystems. A fading buzz: Editorial on impact of climate change on insects. The paper adds that fruit flies, butterflies, and flour beetles can survive heat waves, but are sterilised and unable to reproduce. They become zombies, the “living dead.”

The reasons for their disappearance are excessive use of pesticide by farmers, rising global temperatures, habitat fragmentation and destruction and so on. The consequences of their annihilation would be drastic. This us because insects enable plants to reproduce, through pollination, and form the base of the food pyramid. One of the fundamental mechanisms that made life on earth possible is insect-borne pollination among flowers and food crops. This is now in peril by this unfolding entomological disaster. Incidentally, species higher up the food chain get a greater attention of scientists, conservators as well as policymakers. Delegates at the COP27 will wrestle with funding, emission cuts, sustainable development goals etcetera. Their agenda should include reducing the use of pesticides.

Sunday, November 13, 2022

Sea level rise from Hurricane Nicole washes away many beachfront homes in Florida

Those who reside in beachfront homes in Florida witnessed the damages caused by Hurricane Nicole. The dangerous storm surge and powerful winds damaged or destroyed many of the homes in the neighborhood of Wilbur-By-The-Sea. The authorities deemed “unsafe” at least 49 beachfront properties in Volusia County. These included hotels and condos. Nicole was a Category 1 hurricane and videos showed homes that had crumbled and reduced to wreckage. These are the results of sea level rise due to global warming. Data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reveals that sea level in this part of Florida has risen more than a foot in the past 100 years. The worst part is that most of that rise has occurred in the past three decades. ‘We didn’t think it would be this bad’: Beachfront homes in small Florida community washed away by Hurricane Nicole. Scientists and researchers have been warning about the effects of sea level rise associated with erosion and high tide flooding. Florida is witnessing the results.

There are sea walls erected to protect coastal communities from high waves and water levels. Nicole destroyed many of these. In fact, one seawall put up recently, crumbled into the ocean. People evacuated with their essential belongings. They have to rebuild their lives. Just six weeks ago, it was hurricane Ian. It eroded parts of Florida’s eastern coast. This back-to-back nature of storms is making seawalls more vulnerable. As an expert explains - “it doesn’t really take a strong storm – you just need high tides or storm-agitated tides to wash away or put extra stress on the walls. Having these two storms six weeks apart, if you don’t give places any time to repair or replenish, each storm definitely leaves its mark.”

Monday, November 7, 2022

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres cautions planet Earth is on "the highway to climate hell with our foot still on the accelerator"

The COP27 summit kicked off in Egypt and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres cautioned that planet Earth is on shaky ground. He used strong words and said our planet is on “the highway to climate hell with our foot still on the accelerator." This summit is follows a year of violent effects of climate change. He quoted the examples of catastrophic flooding that killed more than 1,700 people in Pakistan and uprooted 1.3 million from their homes in Nigeria. He also mentioned about drought and withered crops in Europe, large scale starvation in Africa, and loss of fish from California to France to China. These are results of rise in emissions and global warming. In his words - "Humanity has a choice: cooperate or perish." Those present in the room included heads of state. They were Europe's Ursula von der Leyen, France's Emmanuel Macron and Colombia's Gustavo Francisco. The main purpose of the summit in Sharm el-Sheikh was to inject momentum into the two-week talks. Nearly 200 countries hope to agree on the collective steps necessary to slow climate breakdown. Antonio Guterres said - failing to work together will amount to a "collective suicide pact." COP27: Agree on climate action or face a 'collective suicide pact' - UN chief's ultimatum to world leaders.

Already the world faces fierce geopolitical tensions. These are due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, followed by subsequent food, energy and cost of living crises, and arguments over who should pay for the increasingly damaging impacts of climate change. UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the conflict and soaring energy prices are "not a reason to go slow on climate change, they are a reason to act faster." In his words - "Climate security goes hand in hand with energy security." The PM did publicly thank Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el Sisi for his "leadership" at the talks. Simultaneously, he is pressing the Egyptian leader to release imprisoned British-Egyptian political activist Alaa Abd el Fattah. President Sisi was one of many to urge an end to the war in Ukraine. "This war must stop," he said in an emotive plea, adding that not just Egypt but likely the "entire world" was suffering as a result. However, the talks did offer some rays of hope. This is the first time that the concept of compensation made it to the agenda. This was to compensate countries for irreversible losses inflicted by climate change. Examples are - the loss of lives, collapse of jobs and sinking of islands.

Thursday, November 3, 2022

UNESCO predicts the world famous glaciers might disappear by 2050 due to global warming

The United Nations cultural agency UNESCO monitors more than 18,000 glaciers across 50 of its World Heritage sites. It mentions Mount Kilimanjaro apart from the Dolomites in Italy and the Yosemite and Yellowstone parks in the US. The prediction of UNESCO could have serious repercussion. It predicts that around 50 percent of World Heritage glaciers could almost entirely disappear unless the world takes corrective action. It may be possible to preserve them by keeping global temperature rise below 1.5C. UNESCO says World Heritage glaciers make up around 10 percent of the world's glacier areas overall. The worst part is that the world's best-known glaciers are gradually disappearing. That would be a major loss for global tourism. The report's lead author is Tales Carvalho. He estimates that World Heritage glaciers lose around 58 billion tonnes of ice every year on an average. In other words, the loss is equivalent to the total annual volume of water used in France and Spain together. It contributes to almost 5 percent of the global observed sea-level rise. Major glaciers including Mount Kilimanjaro and Dolomites to disappear by 2050, UN report says.

He adds that in order to prevent major glacier retreat worldwide it is necessary to reduce carbon emissions. UNESCO wants local authorities to make glaciers a focus of policy. They can achieve this by improving monitoring and research. They can also implement different measures of risk reduction. Tales Carvalho cautions - "As glacier lakes fill up, they can burst and can cause catastrophic floods downstream.” The timing of the report coincides with the COP27 event in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt. It would be Africa's first UN climate conference in six years. Incidentally, a recent study found that glaciers in Switzerland lost half of their volume in less than a century. Moreover, the rate of retreat of ice is on the rise. This is a matter of concern.

Tuesday, October 11, 2022

Egypt will host COP27, the annual United Nations climate talks

Glasgow held COP26 last year but the world has changed considerably over the past year. The full form of COP is Conference of the Parties. There is now an energy crisis, the war in Ukraine, tensions over Taiwan apart from situations like the floods in Pakistan. These have changed the geopolitical concept dramatically. All eyes are now on Egypt where COP27 will be held in Sharm El-Sheikh between 6-18 November. Developing nations will look forward to Egypt, a middle-income developing nation, to provide a stronger platform to their demands. This is an annual event where leaders from almost 200 countries assemble. They put their heads together to evolve methods to tackle the crisis of climate change and its impacts. Apart from leaders, thousands of observers, civil society groups and media attend too. Incidentally, France hosted the 2015 talks. It led to the historic Paris Agreement where countries agreed the need to limit global warming to below 2°C, and ideally to 1.5°C, of warming above pre-industrial levels. COP27: Everything you need to know about the United Nations climate talks in Egypt. One of the attendees would be US President Joe Biden. King Charles, known for his focus on the environment when he was Prince of Wales, would not attend. He pulled out after discussions with Britain’s Prime Minister Liz Truss. As to the presence of Britain, there is no confirmation on whether the Prime Minister will attend, or whether business secretary Jacob-Rees Mogg will come instead. He supports fossil fuel expansion.

COP might not be the ideal process, but right now, it is the single biggest geopolitical forum for countries to join hands and work together to tackle a threat that has an impact on all of humanity. The violent flooding that ravaged Pakistan is a recent example of how climate change can uproot people from their homes and heap miseries on the community. A relevant issue that might come up is on whether richer countries, responsible for the vast majority of emissions, should pay reparations to poor countries. The latter suffers the worst impacts of climate change. Another contentious issue could be the untapped gas fields of Africa. In the opinion of Nick Mabey, chief executive of think tank E3G, countries could be divided over whether to exploit untapped gas or go straight from fossil fuels to clean power.

Thursday, August 11, 2022

Nearly half of the European Union faces worst drought in a 500-year record

Countries in the European Union are in a crisis. Severe drought is affecting agriculture, energy production and water supply. The picture is grim. France is handing out water; Serbia faces death of fish while Germany sees an evaporating river. In addition, Spain and Italy watch olive trees withering. This is the scenario of the EU as it suffers from the worst drought in a 500-year record. According to the EC's European Drought Observatory (EDO), nearly 47 percent of its land is now under drought conditions. Insufficient rainfall is the prime factor that led to drying out of the soil and consequent loss of plants and crops. In case dry weather continues, the situation could deteriorate. Climate crisis: Drought hitting nearly half of Europe - and it could last for months. Water levels in rivers, lakes and reservoirs across Western Europe are running low. Some have even dried up. As a result, there is stress on supplies of drinking water. This, in turn, hampers tourism and threatens the yield of crop. These have cascading effects.

These are the ill effects of global warming. Reasons of drought are many and the most serious one is lack of rainfall due to climate change. When rainfall comes in shorter and more intense bursts, the soil is unable to retain it. The result is flash floods and mudslides that wash away the soil. Moreover, the dry weather can and often does result in forest fires. These mean loss of greenery in the form of trees. The rise in temperatures lead to evaporation of water. Heatwaves are linked to global warming, and increase the demand of water as people seek to cool off. Right now, high temperatures and scant rainfall have drained the water levels of the Rhine. This is the commercial artery of Germany. Low water level is leading to delay in transporting the goods. These are pushing up freight costs several times. Moreover, low water levels in reservoirs lead to lower output of hydropower. Some countries that face this issue are Italy, Serbia, Montenegro and Norway.

Friday, December 18, 2015

Lord Shiva’s solution for global warming – go under water (satire)

Lord Shiva was feeling uneasy – it was supposed to be winter but in a city like Kolkata, there was hardly anyone wearing pullovers. Instead of room heaters, people had switched on air conditioners. Instead of hot tea and coffee, ice creams and cold drinks were vanishing from the shops. And – Lord Shiva did not like the signs.
‘I hear the footsteps of proloy in the distance,’ he said.
‘I know,’ Durga agreed. ‘I am equally disturbed. I have woven pullovers for Lakshmi and Saraswati, but they are roaming about and do not even wear even the old sweaters or wrap the shawls to ward off the cold.’
‘Where has the cold vanished?’ Shiva asked. ‘Have you seen the bears? They are restless - this is the time for them to go into hibernation and they just do not know what to do.’
‘It is called global warming,’ Durga explained.

‘I know,’ Shiva was irritated. ‘I can feel the heat. I can see people losing their tempers because of the heat. Winter is the season for different fairs, for picnics. But, I don’t see any enthusiasm.’
‘It is all due to loss of trees. Population is increasing and they have got to live. They need houses and houses need land. So – cut down the trees and build high rise buildings.’
Lord Shiva was puzzled.
‘Why do they need on land?’ he asked.
‘Have you had an overdose of your ganja?’ Durga appeared to be annoyed.
Shiva smiled – he is never angry, he does not bear any grudge against anybody.
‘My dear wife,’ he looked at Durga. ‘Why don’t they go underwater?’
‘Underwater?’ Durga looked puzzled. ‘Do you mean underground?’
‘No – I mean underwater,’ Shiva said and grinned. ‘They are sending rockets to the Moon and Mars and plan to have human settlements there. Right?’
‘Yes – they do have such ideas.’
‘Well – why do they not explore possibilities of human settlements under the oceans?’ Durga nodded her had. Yes – that could be another solution to the global crisis. She would have to get her message across. She will pass it on to Moody via a dream. He will surely action on it. He has contacts in all the right places. Only the other day, he got a call from Big Brother – he will not let Moody down, he will certainly rise to the occasion. (to be continued …)

(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

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