Global Power Shift - Could this be the new frontier to the climate change battle?

This year, actually starting from today June 24th to June 30th, 2013, 350.org are changing to higher gears in an attempt to wield the power of human movement. Global Power Shift is 350.org newest campaign towards international climate action.. A six-day conference in Istanbul, Turkey is being held to organize, make new strategies among leaders and organizations who can mobilize and create an unparalleled movement in the fight for climate change.

There are about 500 youth climate activists from 130 countries participating. This just shows the massive scale and the actions that are being planned by 350.org. Currently attending the conference is Phase 1 of their mission. Phase 2 begins after June 30th and is aimed for 2013-2014.

To know more head over to their site at Global Power Shift or 350.org

Want to throw food, think again - World Environment Day 2013-

An annual program organized by UNEP (United Nations Environment Protection,) the World Environment Day falling on June 05, is back this year with the theme Think.Eat.Save. The theme focuses on not wasting food, as it seen that it takes a lot of effort to produce the food which in turns reflects to the amount carbon emissions produced. The UN Food and Agriculture estimates that about 1.3 billion tonnes of food is disposed off. Considering that amount of food wasted, it is possible to feed an entire continent of people for several years.

With a global population of 7 billion and growing, needing to feed such a population has been a burden on natural resources. The UN’s Food and Agriculture estimates that one third of the world’s food is wasted or lost. There are places in the world where people starve of hunger and are not able to have a proper three square meal. So imagining that 1.3 billion tonnes of food are wasted, this year’s theme seems very appropriate Think.Eat.Save.

It is not only about saving food but considering the fact of preserving other resources when consuming food. One of major requirements of producing food is water. I found an article from the Guardian published this year January indicating how much water is required to produce common food stuff. As I went through the article, it seems we waste a lot more water and I mean a lot. For example to produce 1 kg of chocolate, 17,196 litres of water is used. So now do the math, 1.3 billion tonnes of food wasted and multiple the amount of water wasted.

On the top of that, the production, manufacturing, shipping and transportation of food lead to a massive trail of carbon footprint. I again say, this year’s theme is about thinking before you eat, then eat and finally save/protect the environment.

They have created some interesting posters with facts for those of you who want to see, check it out.

Controversial 400ppm- the warning we didnt listen to

As it seems in recent news, the global carbon emissions have crossed the 400ppm (parts per million). Now there have been debates if it has actually crossed that margin. According to initial reports, it was stated that global emissions have reached 400ppm, although at a Hawaii site it still has not crossed that threshold. I checked up on the Keeling’s curve and saw that the current level stands at 399.88ppm. So the debate basically is that 399.88 were rounded up to 400. 

Now to me honestly 399.88 can be rounded to 400, and as I am a science graduate, I understand the difference between 399.88 and 400. But when it comes to a bigger picture 399.88 and 400 is the same. It may take another 10 years or so to increase another 0.12 ppm to reach the 400.00 level but scientists, environmentalists and many other groups have been trying to make sure we do not reach that stage. As we know that 350ppm is the safest limit and that is a target we should accomplish. It is said global temperatures will rise to 2 degrees Celsius and we will face many climatic changes if we surpass the 400ppm mark.

For the debaters who say we still have not reached the 400ppm, please come to reality. It does not make much of a difference now. 

Those of you, who want to follow the trend of emissions, visit the Keeling Curve.

Get to know more from here.

Photo courtesy to PremacultureNews.

Blog Update 2013 - Possible comeback

Its been almost a year since my last post and as I write this, I am wondering if this blog has the potential to become any bigger. Over the past few months I have been considering in expanding this blog further, not only to increase content but to use it in a way to have an impact. 

When I started this blog back in 2005, I had always dreamed off using it as a tool to make a difference. I started it while studying my A'levels and blogged throughout university. Thankfully I was able to use my experience and knowledge as a blogger to initiate the 10:10 campaign in Bangladesh. Currently its been 3 (three) years that the campaign is running, though it is not under my supervision anymore, it is under someone who has done a marvelous job so far.

Any how, when I read an article a few weeks back, stating that the global CO2 emissions had crossed 400ppm (parts per million), it struck me that it finally happened. I have been blogging for 7 years now, and considering the time-frame, I thought we could make a difference enough not to let that happen or at least slow it down. Even with all the current green technology that is being implemented, we still could not keep the CO2 levels at check. 

Now that I am unemployed and looking for work, I have decided to come back and continue with my efforts to making this blog a tool for difference, to help those that need it and mostly importantly trying to protect what is left. 

The blog will now also focus on Bangladeshi news, different organizations working in the field regarding the environment, their activities, local policies being implemented and so forth.I will also have writers too, so if you are interested to write, do a guest post, just give me a knock. 

There is also another cause which I will try supporting from this blog and will share those details over the next couple of months.

Till my next post..

Blog Update 2012

Happy New Year to all you! Although I doubt it this will be last New Year I will be wishing considering the fact that 2012 is supposed to be the end. Anyways no more about the impending doom,let me go on with my updates. I have been out for over a year and ever since I had the recent realization, it was time I came back. Although I have become much busier than I was, the fight must go on. So with that in mind, I have actually decided to expand my horizon.

Firstly I have moved back to my domain again, BDPollution , and will shift to that completely soon. I am going through a transition period where I will be posting duplicate posts one on Blogger and on BDPollution. Eventually once work on BDPollution is complete and is stable, I will probably close down Blogger.

Secondly when I began this blog I considered the international viewer ship, although over time, I have been meaning to consider local news and now that I now broadening my horizon, So I will be having a dedicated section on Bangladesh, which will be covering on Bangladesh's environmental issues.

So hopefully have a lot of things to do and now back to regular posting..

Blog update

Its been a long time since my last update. I am hoping to get back to the usual posting.Over the last 1 month a lot of things have been going on with the climate change front. One of the largest oil spills have caused a major ecological disaster in the US. I have two posts that deals with the oil spill and the problems associated with it.

In the mean time, don't forget about this year's climate campaign 10:10 organized globally by 350.org.

Climate Change and the Integrity of Science

The recent escalation of attacks on the science of climate change and on scientists working in this field by the small number of climate deniers and their political supporters has drawn a sharply worded response from 255 members of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, including at least 11 Nobel laureates. In an essay published in the May 7th issue of the journal Science as the Lead Letter, the scientists say:

"We are deeply disturbed by the recent escalation of political assaults on scientists in general and on climate scientists in particular."

The essay continues:

"There is compelling, comprehensive, and consistent objective evidence that humans are changing the climate in ways that threaten our societies and the ecosystems on which we depend."

In recent months, a small minority of vocal climate deniers have been emboldened by minor errors identified in some of the international scientific assessments of climate change and by the publication of private email exchanges from some in the climate community. A recent independent commission in the UK, chaired by Lord Ron Oxburgh to review this debate, concluded that, "We found absolutely no evidence of impropriety whatsoever." The Science essay explicitly and strongly addresses these issues, saying:

" there is nothing remotely identified in the recent events that changes the fundamental conclusions about climate change:

* The planet is warming due to increased concentrations of heat-trapping gases in our atmosphere. A snowy winter in Washington does not alter this fact.
* Most of the increase in the concentration of these gases over the last century is due to human activities, especially the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation.
* Natural causes always play a role in changing Earth's climate, but are now being overwhelmed by human-induced changes.
* Warming the planet will cause many other climatic patterns to change at speeds unprecedented in modern times, including increasing rates of sea-level rise and alterations in the hydrologic cycle. Rising concentrations of carbon dioxide are making the oceans more acidic.
* The combination of these complex climate changes threatens coastal communities and cities, our food and water supplies, marine and freshwater ecosystems, forests, high mountain environments, and far more."

The essay also includes a sharply worded rebuke to politicians who have recently threatened climate scientists whose scientific conclusions disagree with their political inclinations.

"We also call for an end to McCarthy-like threats of criminal prosecution against our colleagues based on innuendo and guilt by association, the harassment of scientists by politicians seeking distractions to avoid taking action, and the outright lies being spread about them."

It is hard to get 255 members of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences to agree on pretty much anything, making the import of this letter even more substantial. Moreover, only a small fraction of National Academy members were asked to sign (the signatories are all members of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences but were not speaking on its behalf). Because of a desire to produce a statement quickly, the coordinators of the letter focused on those sections of the NAS most familiar with climate science and the ongoing debate. But the NAS (and Academies of Sciences and other professional scientific societies from dozens of other nations) has previously published a long set of assessments and reviews of the science of climate change, which support the conclusions laid out in the Science essay.

And in the concluding paragraph of the essay, this group of leading scientists argues for taking action to deal with the risks of climate change:

"Society has two choices: we can ignore the science and hide our heads in the sand and hope we are lucky, or we can act in the public interest to reduce the threat of global climate change quickly and substantively."

In the end, we have only three choices: we can act to mitigate the risks of climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, we can expand efforts to adapt to a changing climate, or we can suffer the consequences of doing nothing. The only real question is, what is the balance among these three options.

Are the climate deniers going to go away? No. Nothing will convince them, since science hasn't. There are still people -- a lot of people -- who do not believe in evolution, or plate tectonics, or the Big Bang theory. But the longer that policymakers hesitate to act, the more the balance will shift to suffering. I believe that history will prove those delaying action to be dangerously wrong, at a time when it is urgent that society be courageously right.



This article has been from the Huffington Post

Source: Huffington Post.

Earth Hour 2010

The last Saturday of March has become a global tradition with people all over the world celebrating Earth Hour. For those you do not know what this event is, it started off in Sydney, Australia in 2007. The purpose of this was to make climate change an issue, and they made their voices heard by switching off the lights for 1 hour = 60 minutes. About 2.2 million homes and businesses turned of their lights that day. From then on, this event has spread all over the world, showing how important climate change is an issue and that governments should do something about it. In 2009, over 4000 cities and 88 countries participated with billions of people behind one cause protect the planet. This event is in association with Worldwide Fund(WWF)

This year, March 27th 2010 is the day for Earth Hour and it is expected over billions of people to participate for 60 minutes at 8:30 pm local time. The astronauts will see half the planet plunge in darkness while the other prepares itself.

Those of you who are planning to participate or organize an event check out their website Earth Hour.

Copenhagen: Failure or A Start

Its been more than a week since one of the most anticipating summit of all time, a crucial moment in human history, the decision that was supposed to change the way we live. But the outcome of the Copenhagen had mixed reactions.

Failure:

With the inception of United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change(UNFCC) on 1992, almost twenty years down the line, a strong protocol still could not be established. Copenhagen was the moment, the turning point but politicians failed to come up with a strong protocol where all developed countries where to participate especially the major countries US and China.

I have to say, 20 years and yet we still cannot come up with a decision on a strong climate framework. The science is clear. In the ending moments of the summit, politicians scrambled to show the world they could do sometime and salvage the most important climate convention. They came up with the "The Copenhagen Accord." I read the accord and really there is nothing specific mentioned in the accord. No numbers, no figures nothing. No specific commitment only a figure they will pay the LDCs (Least developing countries) an amount of $30bn over the next three years till 2012 when after that, it is expected that the figure will be increased. Even this figure of $30bn is not sufficient for LDCs to sustain. My country, Bangladesh are one of the major victims and our Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina made it clear that we require more money to sustain. Remember total cost for combating climate change is $100bn per year.

Since no solid decision has been made, next year in COP16 at Mexico, it is expected a final decision to be settled. I was watching a debate on BBC on the last day of Copenhagen and I remember Maldives President Mr. Nasheed, that we have a window of 7 years to come up with a protocol and we cannot delay this any further. Yet we have to wait for COP16.


A Start:

Ever since Nasa top climatologist, Dr. James Hansen on 2008 said that 350ppm(parts per million) was the target to be set by countries to maintain a healthy environment, worldwide campaigns were going driven by youths all over the world, which we all know as 350.org. But 350.org were not the only group, organizations like tcktcktck.org, Avaaz, Greenpeace and countless organizations campaigned for a better future. They formed one of the largest movements for climate justice in human history. Honestly as I went through the net and saw how many people were involved for a "Real Deal" is really surprising. In the middle of the summit, 350 Virgils, a campaign by 350 was organized on the weekend of December 11th-13th globally, hoping that world leaders pay attention. A mail I received from 350 that an elephant is moving and an elephant is an under statement. This is A START from the people and their hard work will pay one day, the day a "Real Deal" is made but until that the elephant should become more bigger.

I think the Copenhagen Accord is a start for the politicians but they are very behind and if they not catch up real fast, lets just say we will not have a home to stay. Also China has suggested that it will move into renewable energies and will cut their carbon emissions but no exact figure was mentioned. India has also said that it will shift into renewable energies over the next couple of years and by 2020 it plans to complete some projects on renewable sources of energy.

A friend of mine, Muntasir Muzahid Chowdhury came up with a song for the summit and since I was caught up with other things, I am posting it now. The name of the song is E.A.R.T.H (Elegies, Accusations, Redemption, Truths, Hereafter)

http://www.mediafire.com/?idtgmz0mqnd

You can get the lyrics here.


I salute all the people who participated in this global movement. The people who waited in line at Copenhagen to make their points heard, all campaigners WELL DONE! but its not over. But for now, lets just enjoy the holidays!

The big month has arrived: COP15

The crucial month of this year has finally arrived. I know I am very late in updating the news but let me give a slight preview of what happened. Just before starting the most important climate summit in human history, a scandal had raised a lot of eyebrows, rumors and specially confusion among people, the Climategate. Hackers leaked out information from emails between scientists from the University of East Anglia's Climate Research Unit that climate change was not caused by human activity. A perfect way to create a row between people,scientists and politicians so that anti-environmentalist, oil companies can gain from this.


The summit started on 7th December with a surprise in the sense that within the first two days, there has been a big contribution from the US. The Environmental Protection Agency(EPA) stated that carbon dioxide poses a risk to public health and with this card in hand they are planning to bypass Congress to get a things moving in terms of reducing CO2 emissions. They should have thought of this couple of years ago.

In the mean time, the EU has pledged to give 7bn euros to all developing countries while a $10 billion has been allocated for countries affected by climate change.This $10bn will be given every year till 2012 and after 2012 it will be increased to $30bn. The members of AOSIS and the vulnerable countries at one point decided to walk out, as the adaptation fund was to less for their countries to sustain. My country, Bangladesh has asked for 15% of the total adaptation fund, as we are one of the major victims of climate change. Our Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina has made it clear that Bangladesh requires a large sum of the adaptation fund so that the country can combat against climate change. Bangladesh topped the list of the Global Climate Risk Index. In mist of the failure of proper talks, clashes broke out with over 900 people in trouble with the police.

It is expected that US President Barack Obama will attend the summit on 18th December 2009 and lets hope a decision can be made because time is really short.


In the mean time here are some things you could read.
Climate SOS: A minority report

The Copenhagen Concoction

I will try updating you about the Copenhagen summit.

Blog Action Day 2009: Climate Change

As bloggers all over the globe join in the global movement to make the stance in climate change, Blog Action Day has targeted this year to select Climate Change as this year's topic. Currently there are some 8,872 blogs registered for this movement and 148 countries involved. Also as October 24th nears , the International Day of Climate Action, this is just adds to it.

In Bangladesh, recently they initiated a project to offset climate conference emissions where all outdated brick kilns are to be replaced which will reduce 50,000 tonnes of CO2 hoping to make the COP 15 carbon neutral.

Some southern regions of Bangladesh are losing ground due to the rising sea-levels. Now according to current CO2 emissions of 400-450ppm of C02, it is expected that sea-levels would rise by 25-40m. So that would mean most of Bangladesh would be under-water. For a developing nation which highly depends on its agricultural output, rising sea-levels will reduce agricultural land to a minimum. This resulting in food crisis. As poverty is still a problem, inflation in this sector will create, one of the largest hunger nation.

Aside from the food problem, habitable land will reduce making living for over 162,221,000 people quite impossible. It is quite noticeably that weather patterns in Bangladesh have changed. Our monsoon season has shifted forward by a certain time. In fact this year 2009, our popular Kal Bohshaikh was shifted by more than 15 days. Kal Boishaikh is basically the time when the monsoon season begins which is sometime in April.

Also we hardly have any winters. The winter of 2008-2009 only lasted over a month which started late-December and ended sometime in early February. Surprisingly also before it would not rain in the winters, it would remain dry. However as I noticed it over 12 years starting from 1997 to 2009, there is a tendency of rain in the winters for the last 2 or 3 years.

For us Climate Change is already in motion, we are facing it and in the near future it will become worse. Even though our CO2 emissions are in the thousands, we still need to be prepared. As a low-lying country, floods are really not a big deal. It is kind of a norm and people are used to it. But in the near future, floods will become devastating, even for us it will be difficult. As we lack infastructure it will be very difficult to sustain regular flooding. It is estimated that it would cost $100bn to tackle climate change and most of the money will go into water protection systems but we would require more than that. As it is impossible for our country to generate that much money, we would then become highly dependent on foreign aid, thinking about it we are already dependent on foreign aid.

In order for Bangladesh to avoid from becoming like Maldives, I request all UN officials, diplomats,delegates to make the right decision. This is such a decision, that the fate of the entire world is in your hands.

Grim past of Earth's climate reveals scary message

History of our Earth's climate reveals some scarier message that our current carbon emissions policies are to die for. According to a study, the current levels of carbon emissions and that of some 20 million years indicate that back then sea levels were about (25-40)m.

So if we were to keep the current CO2 emissions as a target to maintain, then we would be under (25-40)m of water. By current standards CO2 emissions are near 450ppm however countries like Maldives and the Association of Small Island States are backing for the 350ppm as a target of CO2 this December.

Also to support this 350.org has started a global campaign so that governments, head of officials bring the current emissions to 350ppm of CO2. I will be blogging about some of the activities which I will be doing to support this cause.

World Habitat day: October 5th 2009

The first Monday of each October has been declared as World Habitat Day. This year, the day falls on the 5th of October and Habitat for Humanity has done a great job at providing support for the homeless. They are more than 100 million people who are homeless, according to the United Nations.


What you can do to help? Habitat for humanity have given a head's up about that:

1) Advocate
2) Educate
3) Donate

Let's stand up on World Habitat Day and let it be known that affordable, adequate housing should be a priority everywhere—in our communities, in our towns, in our country, in our world.

Show your support and take action!

The Global Wake-up Call

Today is the big day, the Global Wake-Up Call. Owing to the festive season of Eid-ul-Fitr I am sure most of you are busy. But those of you who are connected in Twitter follow them at Tcktcktck. I was catch-up on the action when I am back.

Age of Stupid- Coming Soon

Age of Stupid ,a new cinema documentary starring Oscar nominated Pete Postlethwaite as an old man living in 2055, a world devastated and watching an archive footage of 2008 and wondering why we did not stop climate change while we had the chance?

The movie focuses on climate change, oil, war politics, consumerism and human stupidity. The budget of this movie has been raised by crowd-funding and the fund-raising started on November 2004. This movie will have its Global Premiere on September 21, the Global Wake-Up Call, so start getting your tickets now.

Copenhagen to become cyclists dream city

With three months left for the Copenhagen summit, the Danish Government has decided that it will promote more cycling. I did not know this till now that most Copenhageners uses bicycles to move around. In fact it is more common and a habit to put it in simple terms. So in order to make more people cycle, the Danish capital has a vision that by 2015, it will become a dream city for cyclists. Best of luck with that!

The Great Coral triangle is on its last breath

The Great Coral Triangle shared between Indonesia and five other South-East Asian countries is said to dying out. Already 40% of the coral reefs present within this Coral triangle has been lost and the rest is feared to be lost very quickly if something is not done about it. Its presence can be compared with the Amazon rain-forest biodiversity. It plays a major role in providing biodiversity in the oceans. Read the article published by the BBC.

New Hopes for a cleaner future

Last month the entire world watched one of the most powerful person in the world take an oath to serve his country, Barack Obama, the president of United States of America. He will be remembered in the history books and those who witnessed his oath will never forget. After more than two weeks in office he has taken some stern decisions about the current global crisis, however his take on the environment has given hope for the future. Policies like the Kyoto Protocol and advising car manufacturers to reduce the carbon exhaust, introducing greener solutions has given many possibilities. Well introducing greener solutions will introduce more jobs where the current job market is very dull and may boost the economy.

Although time is the factor, it looks like America finally realizes that the environment is also a major crisis like the economy and something must be done about it. Good Luck to the current Obama administration!

The eyeopener : Is it too late?

Governments, environmentalists, scientists and politicians(including George W. Bush) are finally admitting that climate change is happening and that human intervention is causing it. As the window of doing something narrows down, quick decisions must be taken to start solving this major crisis and it must be done united as we are united in this, our only home. To read more visit here.

Plugged hybrid cars to be launched by Toyota by 2010

Toyota Motor Corp. will be introducing cars where you will be able to plug your car to an electric socket and charge your vehicle. Neat wont it be. It likes charging your Ipod or other such devices. The cars introduced will have lithium-ion batteries so it will be like all the other portable devices will carry around nowadays.

Toyota says that these vehicles will be much cleaner than the other hybrid cars around. They will be going in joint venture with Matsushita Electric Industrial to produce these batteries. To know more visit the source.