Today is Earth Day

EARTH DAY is an annual celebration that honors the achievements of the environmental movement and raises awareness of the need to protect Earths natural resources for future generations. Earth Day is celebrated on April 22 in the United States and on either April 22 or the day the spring equinox occurs throughout the rest of the world.

In 1990, Hayes organized a global Earth Day, with more than 200 million participants in more than 140 countries. Earth Day now brings together citizens and activists from around the world to raise awareness and take action regarding such environmental concerns as global warming and renewable energy.

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World Environment Day

Happy world environment day! This one planet is a home to all of us – humans and animals alike – and all of us face the same future.

Years of neglecting nature – our most precious resource – has caused damage all around the world, and it will only get worse if the exploitation continues. Every step taken to protect our environment is an investment in a better future.

By contributing to the fight for the environment you will strengthen it. This planet is all we have and everything else loses significance with out it. Today is the the day and now is the time to take the first step.

Check out this video and join the fight for the environment by making your contribution today.

Courtesy : http://www.greenpeace.org

 

Watch this video while Having a break

Did you know that India is now the world’s largest importer of palm oil, used by major brands in edible and cosmetic products? And that palm oil is causing horrific deforestation in Indonesia?

So when a company like Nestlé asks you to take a break by having a Kit Kat bar, that Kit Kat bar may be involved in the destruction of rainforests.

Kit Kat often contains palm oil from companies who are cutting down Indonesian rainforests, speeding up climate change, threatening the livelihoods of local people and pushing orangutans towards extinction.

Watch this hard-hitting new video while you take that break, then pass it on to others:

 

Noble Idea of Power saving for the sake of Global warming

No Tie day on 3rd May 2010

A group of people in Mumbai launched a campaign named ‘No-Tie’ to save energy and protect the environment, reports BBC.

Campaigners believe that not wearing a tie will make people feel cooler with less need to use air conditioners so extensively. Currently, in Mumbai air-conditioners consume about 1,000 MW of the 2,700 MW power used daily by the city.

Co-founder of the “No-Tie Campaign” believes that the culture of wearing ties is British. “Their peak summer temperature would be our lowest winter temperature. We need to see if we really need to wear a tie at our workplace. We should wear clothes that are suitable to Indian climactic conditions like shirts or kurtas.”

The campaigners are planning to organise a “No Tie Day” on May 3, 2010. “It will be the peak of summer and it will have an impact then. At the local level we will discuss how to save power, at the national level we will talk about how we need to dress according to weather conditions and at the international level we will discuss the impact of global warming,” said Shrinivasan.

Earlier in September, Bangladesh ordered government employees to not wear suits and ties to ease the country’s energy shortage.

Coutesy : siliconindia daily dose

 

Global warming : Rise in sea level unstoppable now

In a recent climate conference, experts said that a rise of at least two meters in the world’s sea levels is now almost unstoppable. The crux of the sea level issue is that it starts very slowly but once it gets going it is practically unstoppable,” said Stefan Rahmstorf, a scientist at Germany’s Potsdam Institute and a widely recognised sea level expert. There is no way I can see to stop this rise, even if we have gone to zero emissions. Most scientists expect at least 2 degrees Celsius warming as a result of man-made greenhouse gas emissions, and probably more. The world warmed 0.7-0.8 degrees last century. Rahmstorf estimated that if the world limited warming to 1.5 degrees then it would still see two meters sea level rise over centuries, which would see some island nations disappear. His best guess was a one metre rise this century, assuming three degrees warming, and up to five metres over the next 300 years. “There is nothing we can do to stop this unless we manage to cool the planet. That would require extracting the carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. There is no way of doing this on the sufficient scale known today,” he said.

From the above, we can understand what is the fate of this planet and our future generations, if we do not act seriously and that should start now.

This post has been written for the “Blog Action day” campaign. UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s is also concerned about the climate change which has been expressed in his Blog.

 

Global Warming

Another World Environment Day passed without noticeable event or change of policy by the Government. Few advertisements came in the newspapers on that day and  that’s all. Next day everybody forgets the importance of World Environment Day.

It is right time to recall the saying of Mahatma Gandhi about the environment of this planet –

“The earth, the air, the land and the water are not an inheritance from our fore fathers but on loan from our children. So we have to handover to them at least as it was handed over to us.”

The condition of the Earth has already been considerably changed in the last few decades and obviously we are not in a position to hand it over it to our children as it was received by us. We the most intelligent specie on this planet, are heading for self-destruction due to our own misdeeds like destruction of nature, pollution of air & water and over population. Our every activity is against the nature. All these activities resulted Global climate change, rise in temperature i.e. Global warming.

Main causes of Global warming :

(a) CO2 emission is the main culprit of Global Warming. Burning of Fossil fuels (Oil, natural gas and Coal) is the main source of emission of CO2 into the atmosphere. These fossil fuels contain carbon, and when they are burnt, they combine with oxygen, forming carbon dioxide. Thus the burning of Fossil fuels, while running cars, vehicles and power stations while generating electricity, is the main source of emission of CO2 into the atmosphere. More than 80% of the worldwide energy demand is currently supplied by the fossil fuels.

(b) Deforestation of the planet is another cause of increase of CO2 levels. We know plants inhale CO2 and exhale Oxygen by its natural photosynthesis process. Due to deforestation, cutting trees in the city, this process is not much effective and as a result CO2 escape to atmosphere instead of being converted into Oxygen through plants’ photosynthesis. Therefore deforestation and forest fire contribute to an increase in CO2 level.

How Global warming occurs :

The Sun’s rays pass through Earth’s atmosphere; much of this energy is absorbed by the surface and atmosphere and some of it is reflected back towards space as infrared radiation (heat). Greenhouse gases ( Argon, Carbon Dioxide, Neon, Helium, Methane, Hydrogen, Nitrous Oxide and Ozone) present at atmosphere absorb this infrared radiation and trap the heat in the atmosphere causing Greenhouse effect and resulting into Global warming.

Effect of Global warming :

The continued increase in temperature will scientifically lessen the snow cap, create a rise in sea level, and produce weather changes. The combination of the effects of global warming will cause a change in the ecosystems. This change can potentially force animals out of their habitats endangering their existence and possibly even forcing them into extinction, while some animals may flourish. Impacts on the human level include financial matters and the spread of disease.

Prevent the cause of Global Warming :

Now that you know what is global warming. The next would be how to prevent it? There are simple things that an individual can contribute towards decrease the causes and effects of global warming.

The world’s electricity is produced mainly on burning of coal (in case of thermal power), so one should always try to use electricity as less as possible. By simply decreasing the usage of electricity, one is not only helping reducing the global warming problem but also breathing in cleaner air and saving money. To achieve this to some extent, avoid running AC un-necessarily as a matter of habit. You may change the incandescent lamps with CFL lamps in your house.

Secondly reduction of usage of one’s car by joining a carpool or using public transport system. Alternatively fuel-efficient cars may be used. This will not only help in the reduction of greenhouse gas emission (CO2) but is also saving money on parts, repairs, gas, and oil.

Trees to be saved and cutting or trimming to be stopped. Plantation of trees should be done in a big way every year, in a planned manner. Awareness to the importance of trees to combat Global Warming should be spread to the society.

Paris based political scientist Susan George, one of Europe’s best known public intellectuals, said during her recent visit to India : “We can reverse poverty, but not global warming”.

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