GW : Pollution in Himalayas could impact the monsoon cycle

According to the study of the researchers, the pollution arising from the countries like India, China, Nepal, & Pakistan, into the atmosphere can reach altitudes of nearly over 5000 m to the atmosphere. This can contribute to the climate there and the warming of atmosphere and most interestingly, this will be showing its potential effect on the south-east Asian monsoon cycle.

Researchers have also traced new kind of aerosol particles suspended in the atmosphere namely "ultrafine particles" at these heights.

The French-Italian team, whose studies were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences this week (13 October), conducted a study of theirs in the Nepal's Khumbu Valley, at nearly about 5079 m height, for nearly 16 months, and gave their conclusions.

Hervé Venzac, from the Blaise Pascal University in France, who was the lead author, along with his entire team made an observation that, when pollutants from the plains of the himalayan countries like Nepal, meets the cleaner air of troposphere, they form the aerosol particles.

The Co-author, Paolo Laj, at the Joseph Fourier University, France, told SciDev.nt, "Aerosol particles emitted by burning processes absorb sunlight, causing warming of the lower atmosphere and thus contributing to global temperature rise to the same extent as major greenhouse gases."

The functioning of Monsoon relies on the temperature regulation along with the calculated production of warmth, and this is the only reason that there is a clear probability of the warmth on the himalayas affecting the South-East monsoon of Asia. If there is a continuous rise or fall in the atmospheric temperature, the monsoon cycles can be abruptly affected.

The findings and research of this team are expected to provide an understanding on the production of warmth and also enlighten the melting of the glaciers in these regions at a rapid pace.

Ngamindra Dahal, a hydrometeorologist at the National Trust for Nature Conservation, Nepal, said - "This study is remarkable as it can explain the phenomenon of the melting of glaciers that we have started to observe in the Himalayas."

This study was all about the aerosol formation at higher altitudes and that too in the form of long- term data analysis. Additionally, it reveals that the frequency of this formation is high.

"Though further study is necessary to find out what could be the exact source of the up-sloping pollutants, this research clearly shows how pollution can affect particle formation [at high altitudes] and hence climate change and the monsoon cycle in the region," says Laj.

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GW : Global Warming can be predicted while travelling

There have been a lot of predictions on global warming. Effects of global warming is seen in day to day life. But the main effect of global warming is seen while traveling. Many of the current tourist hotspots that are currently in the eyes of tourists will be literally too hot for the comfort. And the other tourist spots will definitely lose their beauty, due to any reason, like catastrophic storms, or we can say that they will be going underwater.

According to the reports of the Intergovernmental panel on the climate change, the planet's average temperature can rise by 3.5 degrees (estimated) by 2100 leading to nearly 4 feet rise in the sea level. If, then, there is a melt of the ice sheets of antarctic and greenland, there could be an additional rise of nearly 25-30 feet of sea level. Some side effects would also be there viz. the increment in heat waves, catastrophic storms etc. and these too, more specifically towards the tourist spots, because most of the tourist spots are separated from rest of the places by some of their natural features.

But due to these changes, the places, far from the equator and those at higher altitudes can also become more inviting for the tourists.

ND : Lightning and thunder kills people in Jharkhand - India

8 deaths and 3 more casualties were recorded in Jharkhand, last week, due to the lightning there in 2-3 districts, which happens there nearly every week.

October 2nd :

Lightning struck a hut in Kambo village, about 40 km from Ranchi city, and took away 5 lives, and 4 injuries, according to the news of local police.

October 4th :

On spot death of a 12 yr old boy and 25 more injuries were recorded due to lightning at Islamnagar village in Jharkhand's Lohardagga district at about 12 noon. Injured people were admitted to Lohardagga Sadar Hospital. 2007 & 2008 data :

* 2007 : >=150 people died including 5 of Ranchi.
* 2008 : >=70 people till now have died and more than 100 injured due to lightning.

The weather in Jharkhand is so nice for the local people as always, that it is preferring lightning over the deadly heat waves to kill the people, since the last few years, at an alarming rate. Mainly high elevated places , and people who makes their shelter beneath the trees during storm, are more prone to lightning attack. The lightning type, which is most frequent in the state, is Fork Lightning.

Lightning has been used as a natural instrument for measuring the electrical nature of the ground, according to the recent studies. Few modern studies tell that soils having higher conductivity viz. marsh, are more lightning-prone.

Jharkhand forest areas are also more prone to lightning because the trees act as conductors for the lightning to the ground. Earlier, Ranchi was named as "summer capital" of Bihar ( before Jharkhand was differentiated ). Now it has been captured by the regional ( Global) warming. According to prediction of a model, doubling of CO2 could increase the amount of lightning occurrences by 30–77% .

No of lightning deaths have been almost doubled in the past several years with additional injuries, and annual loss of peoperties and cattle. There is almost panic everytime the people living there sees magnificent flashes and thundering sound in the sky. Still no clear agreement is there, on the formation of lightning. It is believed still, that it’s largely due to collisions between ice crystals. Whatever be the thoughts, Lightning and Thunders are the most common outcomes of nearly each storm. With due course of time, the lightning can also be included with the huge disasters like earthquake and tsunami.

ND : Disasters kill more in 2008 than in Tsunami - UN report

According to the recent UN report of Wednesday, the casualties in the first half of the year 2008 is itself more than the disastrous Tsunami which occured in India in 2004 and which was mainly due to the earthquake in China and cyclone in Myanmar.

Salvator Briceno, head of the UN's disaster management agency (ISDR), said, "2008 is a terrible year. There have already been more victims than in the tsunami."

This year, till now, already more than 230,000 people have lost their lives , and anoter 130 million people were affected due to these disasters, he said while addressing the people on the occasion of International Day for Disaster Reduction.


According to the datas, the cyclone "Nargis" has already swapped away 138,000 lives, and this data is also an estimation, not an exact figure.
On the other hand, the earthquake in south-west China's Sichuan province left a death toll of 87, 500.

Another disastrous event occured in India in the form of flood which took away many lives in Bihar, especially its northern region, this year. After all these, a devastating hurricane season in the Caribbeans also all contributed to the grim statistics.

The average economic cost of the natural disasters for the half of the period of the year, since the past ten years, was nearly 15 billion dollars, but this time, in 2008, this economic cost is 35 billion dollars, equivalent to 26 billion euros, till now.

GW : New Survey Uncovers Why Global Warming Solutions Are Not a Public Priority - MUIRNet-news

Why most Americans don't give priority to global warming solutions? The ACVS (American Climate Values Survey) revealed three reasons for this viz. Politics, economics and perceived lack of personal benefits.
Bob Perkowitz, founder and chairman of EcoAmerica, stated- "We need to talk about global warming as an American issue, not a political issue.We intend to make a clear and convincing case that solving global warming will produce immediate and long-lasting economic, personal and national benefits.”

Survey Reports (survey was done to almost all (90%) the democrats of America) :

1> 73% Americans beleive global warming is happening.
2> Only 54% consider it is real.
3> All the people agreed with the statement-"If I could afford it, I would be willing to install things to make my home more energy efficient than it is now.”
4> 74% of Americans want the USA to lead the world in global warming solutions.

People do not see effect of global warming on their lives, their health, their safety and well-being. ACVS survey found that this is due to more focus of people on solving global warming for the sake of environment alone, and not for the their benefit personally.
Bob Perkowitz continued his statement by adding following lines-"Making global warming personally relevant to Americans is critical to building support for solutions.When people see that climate solutions benefit them personally and directly, they change their behavior.”
ecoAmerica plans to use ACVS survey as a base for establishing partnership with companies and governments, looking forward to create connection between climate action and closely held personal values and everyday concerns of Americans, as concluded from the statement of Perkowitz.
According to Cathy Zoi, CEO, The Alliance for Climate Protection,which helped sponsor the survey, "We are confident that the findings from The American Climate Values Survey will help us refine the messages that will inspire millions of Americans to engage in the climate crisis and demand change. This work is crucial so we can understand what resonates with people the most and what will motivate them to take action.”
Another statement from Frances Beinecke, president, Natural Resources Defense Council, another sponsor of the survey, was as following-"The American Climate Values Survey provides a roadmap for us as we work to communicate more effectively about global warming, and motivate politicians and the American public to act.”
The director of conservation, The Nature Conservancy, which was another cosponsor of the survey, namely Bob Mosley, stated that "This research provides important insight into how we talk with Americans about the crisis our planet faces.When people see that climate solutions benefit them personally and directly, they change their behavior. Ultimately the main message is that every little step counts, and there are very small steps that if taken one at a time can make a real difference over the long run. Modifying any/all of our behaviors is the only way to preserve the world for future generations.”

Source or this post : MUIRNet-news

GW : Another way leading to Global Warming - Cattle Burping

Cattle burping and causes :

Often we see cattle herd sitting in the middle of the road, in a "constantly chewing" mode as we honk. This doesn't only create the traffic nuisance, but according to the researchers, cattle burping, or say cattle belching, is constantly enhancing the speed of global warming.

If CO2 emitting from vehicles and exhaust has potential of causing the global warming 1, then Methane, which is emitted by ruminating animals like cattle and sheep during their digestive cycle whenever they belch, and Nitrous Oxide, N2O , which is emitted from their manure, can have potential of 20 and 300-315 respectively of causing the global warming.

Some datas from india :

The rate of emission of greenhouse gas from the livestock of india is twice as much as the emissions from vehicles, according to the study of IIM-Ahemadabad. Nearly 1.35 million tonnes of methane and 0.025 million tonnes of N2O was released into the atmosphere by Gujarat in the last year.

Nearly 55-60% of CO2 equivalent emissions from Banaskantha, Sabarkantha and nearly half of Mehsana, Anand and Patan district, are due to Methane which is emitted by the livestocks. The emissions from Panchmahals, Dahod and Narmada districts are also dominated by methane. Most of the time, the N2O emission is also from the nitrogenous fertilizers. Nearly 0.7 tonnes of CO2 equivalent emissions each year, is due to cattle burping.

Economical Aspect :

Unlike today, in the near times, GHG emmissions are going to attract penalty everywhere. If this situation occurs, then going accordingly by the price of 25 Euros per ton of CO2 in the European Union Emission Trading System (EUETS), annual emission of each cow would cost Rs 1,100. According to the cost of life cycle, a litre of cow milk would become more expensive by Rs 3.64 and buffalo milk by Rs 2.51. The consumers in developed countries who have ratified the Kyoto Protocol (according to which India has no binding emission reduction commitment) are paying this additional cost of emissions in animal products.

The daily sectors can get the benefit in near times. If the livestock owners reduce these emissions from their cattle, they will be credited under the clean development mechanism (CDM). Especially Gujarat can extract the benifit out of this because of having 22 million livestock and an outstanding dairy industry. Income from the CDM project will be beneficial in generating additional income for farmers as well as in reducing the price of animal product such as milk etc.

All over the world the livestock holders deploy various methods to reduce emissions from livestock viz. feeding concentrates instead of forage to the cattle reduces Methane emission. In the coming times, emission per animal product will be reduced by breeding. Such technological and management innovations can be trusted to qualify for emission reduction permitted under the clean development mechanism.

GW-ND : Google unevils plan to save the world

Source : copyright 2008 buziness green

Google, has recently proposed its plan from which it looks forward thinking, how US should transition for adopting a low carbon economy.
The proposal set by google plans the strategy for US to cut its energy usage viz. coal and oil, along with the cut in the usage of car's fossil fuels by 40%, and these all to be done by 2030.
The cheif executive, Eric Scmidt, during unveiling of their strategy, said "It's cheaper to fix global warming than to ignore it, the payback on energy efficiency is enormous."
The company said that it will be lobbing government for adopting this strategy & is expected to call upon some important figures who are highly influential in the process. Say for example, Schmidt is a business advisor to presidential candidate Barack Obama.
Schmidt, describing the "first iteration" of this energy plan of google, said that it would be costing less than the proposed $700 billion rescue package designed to bail out the financial industry.

Few points under this strategy were told as :
1> implementation of stricter building codes
2> a commitment to expand wind and solar tax credits.
3> the development of a US carbon cap-and-trade system, built around carefully allocated emission permits and a stable carbon price.

This policy is new in the field of initiatives from amongst those, designed to help tackle the global climate change. And for its initial success, the company has already invested $45 million to the companies involved in making wind, solar and geothermal technologies. also, google has joined the GE (general electric) for enhancing the development of new power grid technology,and has called for the roll out of smart meters to help improve energy efficiency in the home.
According to the prediction, the new efficiency standards for computers will be helpful in cutting energy consumption significantly by 2010, adding that the servers it is oweing, is currently using only 20 per cent of the average datacentre energy consumption.
At last Schmidt added that it was the keen interest of everyone to promote clean energy.

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ND : Record high level of weather related natural disasters

According to the worldwatch institute reports, the weather related natural disasters have increased to an all-time-high level in the recent years.

Some related facts:

In 2007 - 874 weather-related disas­ters worldwide, a 13-percent increase over 2006 and the highest number since the systematic recording of natural perils began in 1974.
Weather-related disasters around the world have been on the rise for decades. On average, 300 events were recorded every year in the 1980s, 480 events were recorded in the 1990s, and 620 events in the last 10 years.

Weather related disasters :

can be divided into - meteorogical, hydrological, climatological events. Further, meteorological event includes :
1> tropical cyclones such as hurricanes, typhoons, & cyclones.
2> Extratropical cyclones such as winter storms.
3> Local storms such as hailstorms, snow­storms, severe storms, thunderstorms, and tornadoes.

Hydrological events include :
1> Floods, that include general flood, flash flood, & coastal flood.
2> Wet mass movements including rockfalls, landslides, avalanches etc.

Climatological events include :
1> Extreme temperatures as a result of either of heat waves, cold waves, or extreme winter or summer conditions.
2> Droughts & wildfires as a result of forest fires, or brush fires, or urban fires etc.

In 2007, the weather-related disasters contributed 91% of the disasters all over the world that also included disasters like earthquake, tsunami etc. from weather-related disasters, about 81 percent of economic losses from natural catastrophes and 97 percent of insured losses were recorded. The main reasons that contributed in the weather related disasters and related global losses are socioeconomic factors viz. the rise in population, better standard of living, the concentration of people and values in large urban settings, and the settlement and industrialization of regions with extremely high exposure levels. And the urban population of developing and emerging countries is rising at an unpredictable rate.

The Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ( IPCC) emphasizes the link between global warming (GW) and the significant likelihood of an increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather events (ND). It is predicted with a probability >= 0.6 out of 1, that there will be more warmer, and few colder days and nights over the land areas, which will further lead to greater heat waves and thus greater precipitation, more areas affected by droughts, and more intense tropical cyclones, which will be further increasing the wweather related disasters.