The state of the environment and what we can do about it.

[Guest guest]

Meltdown fear as Arctic ice cover falls to record winter low David Adam, environment correspondentMonday May 15, 2006The Guardian Record amounts of the Arctic ocean failed to freeze during the recent winter, new figures show, spelling disaster for wildlife and strengthening concerns that the region is locked into a destructive cycle of irreversible climate change. Satellite measurements show the area covered by Arctic winter sea ice reached an all-time low in March, down some 300,000 square kilometres on last year -an area bigger than the UK. Scientists say the decline highlights an alarming new trend, with recovery of the ice in winter no longer sufficient to compensate for increased melting in the summer. If the cycle continues, the Arctic ocean

could lose all of its ice much earlier than expected, possibly by 2030.

[Guest guest]

We should insulate ourselves through yoga and pranayam

S. M. Acharya <smacharya

 

--- Jagannath Chatterjee <jagchat01 wrote:

 

> Meltdown fear as Arctic ice cover falls to record

> winter low

>

> David Adam, environment correspondent

> Monday May 15, 2006

> The Guardian

>

> Record amounts of the Arctic ocean failed to

> freeze during the recent winter, new figures show,

> spelling disaster for wildlife and strengthening

> concerns that the region is locked into a

> destructive cycle of irreversible climate change.

> Satellite measurements show the area covered by

> Arctic winter sea ice reached an all-time low in

> March, down some 300,000 square kilometres on last

> year -an area bigger than the UK. Scientists say

> the decline highlights an alarming new trend, with

> recovery of the ice in winter no longer sufficient

> to compensate for increased melting in the summer.

> If the cycle continues, the Arctic ocean could lose

> all of its ice much earlier than expected, possibly

> by 2030. Walt Meier, a researcher at the US

> National Snow and Ice Data Centre in Colorado, which

> collected the figures, said: " It's a pretty stark

> drop. In the winter the ice tends to be pretty

> stable, so the last three years, with this steady

> decline, really stick out. " Experts are

> worried because a long-term slow decline of ice

> around the north pole seems to have sharply

> accelerated since 2003, raising fears that the

> region may have passed one of the " tipping points "

> in global warming. In this scenario, warmer weather

> melts ice and drives temperatures higher because the

> dark water beneath absorbs more of the sun's

> radiation. This could make global warming quickly

> run out of control.

>

>

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/story/0,,1774815,00.html

>

>

> West's failure over climate change 'will kill 182m

> Africans' By Philip Thornton, Economics

> Correspondent Published: 15 May 2006

>

> The poorest people in the world will be the

> chief victims of the West's failure to tackle global

> warning, with millions of Africans forecast to die

> by the end of the century, Christian Aid says in a

> report out today.

> The potential ravages of climate change are so

> severe that they could nullify the efforts to end

> the legacy of poverty and disease across developing

> countries, the charity says.

> The report highlights the fact that, despite

> hand-wringing in the West about the threat to its

> coastlines from rising temperatures, it is the

> poorest who are likely to suffer most. It estimates

> that a " staggering " 182 million people in

> sub-Saharan Africa could die of disease directly

> attributable to climate change by 2100. Many

> millions more face death and devastation from

> climate-induced floods, famine, drought and

> conflict.

> Sir John Houghton, former co-chairman of the

> scientific assessment working group of the

> Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, has given

> his support to the report's findings. " This report

> exposes clearly and starkly the devastating impact

> that human-induced climate change will have on many

> of the world's poorest people, " he said.

> Its warning came on the eve of a meeting of nearly

> 200 nations this week in Bonn which hopes to close

> the gap between the US and its allies over the best

> way to combat climate change.

> While 40 nations are committed to cutting carbon

> emissions in line with the Kyoto protocol, the US

> and leading developing countries such as China have

> refused to sign.

>

>

http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article484097.ece

>

> Greening Up With the Joneses

> By ALEX WILLIAMS

> Published: May 14, 2006

>

> Conservation is becoming a subject of

> recrimination and debate inside many American homes,

> perhaps to the greatest extent since the 1970's.

> Whether prompted (or shamed) by rising gas prices, a

> dependence on foreign oil or dire warnings about

> global warning, some Americans who have never allied

> themselves with the environmental movement are

> taking it upon themselves to drive less, consume

> less and recycle more, environmental organizers

> said.

>

> Over the last two years, environmentalists say,

> they have been fielding more inquiries from people

> seeking practical solutions to combat global

> warming.

>

> " I certainly see that the more mainstream,

> middle-class — really, all classes — are more aware

> of energy problems, including people who you

> wouldn't think of as environmentalists, " said Bob

> Schildgen, a columnist for Sierra magazine,

> published by the Sierra Club. " There is much broader

> concern than there was even two years ago. "

>

> But for many, it is not so easy to conserve within

> a culture of affluence whose environmentally costly

> components have almost become entitlements: the

> S.U.V.'s; the dream homes; the remodeled kitchens

> with double-ovens, double-dishwashers and

> thermoelectric wine chillers; the second homes (also

> remodeled); the plasma television sets and

> surround-sound home theater systems all plugged in

> and ready to go. Where to begin?

>

> The trick, Mr. Brotherton said, was not to give up

> nice things, but to buy nice things that were

> ecologically sound. " I don't even pretend to be a

> hard-core environmentalist, " Mr. Brotherton

> explained. " But I do aspire to be a 'light green'

> kind of guy — one who thinks carefully about the

> choices I make as a consumer and tries to tread as

> lightly on the planet as possible, within my chosen

> lifestyle. "

>

> " What's enough? " he asked. " How much do we need to

> enjoy life and get by? "

> Carl Pope, the executive director of the Sierra

> Club, said that if the buzzword for traditional

> environmentalists is conservation, for the newest

> converts — the light greens — it's efficiency. " It's

> about getting better results from the same

> behavior, " Mr. Pope said. So while these newly

> minted environmentalists are not overhauling their

> lives, many are trying to edit them.

>

>

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/14/fashion/sundaystyles/14_GREEN.html?_r=1 & oref=s\

login & pagewanted=all

>

" Our ideal is not the spirituality that

> withdraws from life but the conquest of life by the

> power of the spirit. " - Aurobindo.

>

>

>

>

>

>

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[Guest guest]

Such alarming forecasts have been coming out of Scientists and experts since 1970-s when the Ozone hole at North Pole was discovered. Nobody knows how long they existed before, might be hundreds of years and the magnetic poles perhaps repel charged ozone away and the hole is present!! But all interpretations of Chloroflurocarbons, Global warming due to CO2 and so on, to further business interests of US.

 

See the hoax of Bird Flu how billions has gone into the kitty of US from Tamiflu sales and stocking? All due to phobia created out of normal Ranikhet diease or a mutated form of virus due to improper mass vaccination of poulry!!

 

Fluctuations of ice formations and melting are a common phenomenon and if there has been any substantial melting ocean levels would have risen at least a few inches, which it has not since 1970-s predictiions!!

 

Let us not be carried away by such doomsday forecasts!! Winter was severe in US only last December/March when driveways were blocked by snow and ice up to 5 mts. at places and people were confined to their houses for days together.

 

Fluctuations are normal but not alarming as made out

On 5/17/06, SM Acharya <smacharya wrote:

 

 

We should insulate ourselves through yoga and pranayamS. M. Acharya

[Guest guest]

Dear Kesavaji,

 

I will agree with you to a certain extent. In todays political

environment you cannot take any news item on its face value.

Whenever there is a blitzkreig of information on any topic we have

to try and understand the various forces that are behind it.

 

For example, the news about CFCs causing the ozone hole. Just

yesterday I read a news that said that there was a fair share of

politics behind it. It seems the major manufacturer who had a patent

to manufacture the CFC gas was behind the exaggerated concern. The

patent had expired and the company did not want a competitor while

it waited to renew the patent. Hence it spent a lot of money to get

the news around that CFCs were behind the ozone hole.

 

Climatic changes are caused by many factors like;

 

1. Cyclical happenings which occur in intervals.

2. Sun spot activity/gamma ray activity.

3. Changes in ocean currents. AND

4. Human intervention.

 

In the current scenario we cannot totally negate the human factor.

We have lost a major part of forest cover, polluted the atmosphere,

indiscriminately excavated the minerals, metals, oil in the earths

crust, set up a consumerist society that accepts everything without

a thought about its effect on the environment, and also built up

towns and cities without paying heed to natural laws. Our

agricultural methods too are unnatural thus leading to ground water

depletion. In short, we are doing everything to destroy our

environment.

 

Can we absolve our part in setting to motion the current weather

anomalies? What we are seeing today may be only the beginning. Once

we tip the scales events may start happening at a greater pace.

 

The Gaia theory of the earth says everything is interconnected. We

should thus be alarmed at the rate at which we are loosing our

biodiversity. More than 1600 species have become extinct, we have

lost innumberable species of trees and plants, wild and native

varieties of fruits and vegetables are also disappearing fast, the

Amazon forests, probably the last of the rain forests are fast

disappearing due to deforestation and uncontrollable fires. And

yet " development " continues unabated.

 

We will pay a very heavy price for our indiscretions.

 

Regards,

Jagannath.

 

, " kesava pillai "

<kesava.pillai wrote:

>

> Such alarming forecasts have been coming out of Scientists and

experts since

> 1970-s when the Ozone hole at North Pole was discovered. Nobody

knows how

> long they existed before, might be hundreds of years and the

magnetic poles

> perhaps repel charged ozone away and the hole is present!! But all

> interpretations of Chloroflurocarbons, Global warming due to CO2

and so on,

> to further business interests of US.

> See the hoax of Bird Flu how billions has gone into the kitty of

US from

> Tamiflu sales and stocking? All due to phobia created out of

normal Ranikhet

> diease or a mutated form of virus due to improper mass vaccination

of

> poulry!!

> Fluctuations of ice formations and melting are a common phenomenon

and if

> there has been any substantial melting ocean levels would have

risen at

> least a few inches, which it has not since 1970-s predictiions!!

> Let us not be carried away by such doomsday forecasts!! Winter was

severe in

> US only last December/March when driveways were blocked by snow

and ice up

> to 5 mts. at places and people were confined to their houses for

days

> together.

> Fluctuations are normal but not alarming as made out

>

>

> On 5/17/06, SM Acharya <smacharya wrote:

> >

> > We should insulate ourselves through yoga and pranayam

> > S. M. Acharya <smacharya

>