cademy Award winning actor Leonardo DiCaprio that made me write this.Well, this feature film documentary is all about the grave problems faced by planet earth's life systems. Global warming, deforestation, mass species extinction, and depletion of the oceans' habitats are all addressed. The film's premise is that the future of humanity is in jeopardy. 11th Hour features contributions from over 50 of the world's most prominent thinkers and activists, including former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, physicist Stephen Hawking, Nobel Prize winner Wangari Maathai, and journalist Paul Hawken.
After watching this 1½ hour documentary, I just sat back and thought for a moment. In fact I was forced to think about the current condition of planet earth, our only home..!!! My mind was crammed with numerous questions; like are we really committing suicide…? What is this entire business of global warming, climate change, melting of the polar ice sheets, extinction of species etc all about…? Do we really need to think and act up on this..??
Well the answer given by world’s most eminent scientists and activists is ‘Yes’. It is high time we act rather than think to mitigate these catastrophic threats that would wipe out human race along with millions of other species, from the face of planet earth forever.
Now, I was curious about these terms like ‘Global Warming’, ‘Climate Change’, and ‘Warming of the oceans’ etc. I wanted to understand the meaning of these terms, both technically and generally. So, as any other layman, I relied up on Google. You would find a many of the below points and explanations if you do a google search.
Global Warming: - It is the increase in the average temperature of the Earth's near-surface air and oceans since the mid-twentieth century, and its projected continuation.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) concludes "most of the observed increase in globally averaged temperatures since the mid-twentieth century is very likely due to the observed increase in anthropogenic (man-made) greenhouse gas concentrations" via an enhanced greenhouse effect.
This figure shows the difference in instrumentally determined surface temperatures between the period January 1995 through December 2004 and "normal" temperatures at the same locations, defined to be the average over the interval January 1940 to December 1980. (Image courtesy of Robert A. Rohde.)
In simple terms, the earth where in we live (actually, the only place where we can live as of now) is getting warmer. Yeah, I feel it is very much true because the number of people saying “it’s damn hot out there” has increased in recent times.
These images show Mount Hood in Oregon at the same time in late summer in 1985 and 2002 and Argentina's Upsala Glacier was once the biggest in South America, but it is now disappearing at a rate of 200 meters per year.
Climate Change: - Any long-term significant change in the “average weather” that a given region experiences is referred to as Climate Change. Average weather may include average temperature, precipitation and wind patterns. It involves changes in the variability or average state of the atmosphere over durations ranging from decades to millions of years. These changes can be caused by dynamic process on Earth, external forces including variations in sunlight intensity, and more recently by human activities.
This refers to the irregularities in the pattern of weather observed over a period of time. This is also true because I have observed in my village in Kerala that it rains cats and dogs one day and then the next day you just can’t step out of your home coz it is scorching hot outside.
Ocean Warming: - Observations show that the oceans have been heating up since 1975. Climate and ocean experts now agree on the cause of the temperature rise — human-produced global warming.
Scientific community now has reached a consensus that ocean surface temperatures worldwide have risen on average 0.9 degrees Fahrenheit, or 0.5 degrees Celsius, and ocean waters in many tropical regions have risen by almost 2 degrees F (1 degree C) over the past century. This is 30 times the amount of heat that has been added to the atmosphere, a significant amount even though the ocean has a lot more mass than the atmosphere.
One ground-breaking study about the relationship between oceans and the climate, published in the April 28, 2005 issue of the journal Science goes a long way in laying to rest the arguments that atmospheric warming is caused by anything other than manmade greenhouse gases accumulating in the atmosphere.
The Western Pacific Warm Pool, which lies northeast of Australia, contains some of the warmest ocean waters in the world. Water temperatures in the warm pool have risen less than elsewhere in the tropics, which may explain why reefs there have experienced less coral bleaching.
Melting and calving of polar ice in the Arctic, Greenland and possibly Antarctica leading to rapidly increased sea level rise (think 15 rather than 3 feet) and accelerated global warming.
So, we have got problems in the oceans too…!!!
Now, what on earth (!!!) are we going to do…? We have brutally murdered our atmosphere, ecosystem / life system and oceans!!! Where is the ‘promised la
nd’ for us now…? Where are we gonna go…?
Well, yeah one answer to these questions is a long sigh… Not exactly, in fact there are a few angles for one’s response towards these problems. First, one can just sit back and feel that “Oh yeah, the world is gonna end... why should I care…? I aint gonna live for ever…!
Second, just being worried that why others (not you) are doing this..? Why can’t they do something to avoid this calamity…? Why the people are not bothered even now…? Literally just being worried for the sake of it.
And, then the pragmatic angle of being subjective. Thinking what can I do…? Even if it is very minute, that may look or sound immaterial. Well, I prefer to be on this side because being on either of the other sides is just senseless.
Now since we know that we have got a problem, let’s think of a solution. I believe our houses are the best places to start with.
A lot of ideas have been floated to prevent global warming, like turn the TV off, switch the lights off, walk to the shop, and buy a hybrid / greener car etc. Yeah, you may doubt if all these little things really matters? Or do we need to put pressure on the corporations / organizations, where the real emissions are coming from. Of course yes, we need to do all the little things ourselves along with putting pressure from the public and governments on large companies and corporations.
Learning how to prevent global warming in your on home is simple. The first thing for you to do is to understand which areas you should focus on the most. According to the EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment) report, about 72% of electricity is generated by burning of fossil fuel, and burning of fossil fuel emits greenhouse gases. Therefore, saving the use of electricity can lessen the contribution to global warming.
Now, what on earth (!!!) are we going to do…? We have brutally murdered our atmosphere, ecosystem / life system and oceans!!! Where is the ‘promised la
nd’ for us now…? Where are we gonna go…?Well, yeah one answer to these questions is a long sigh… Not exactly, in fact there are a few angles for one’s response towards these problems. First, one can just sit back and feel that “Oh yeah, the world is gonna end... why should I care…? I aint gonna live for ever…!
Second, just being worried that why others (not you) are doing this..? Why can’t they do something to avoid this calamity…? Why the people are not bothered even now…? Literally just being worried for the sake of it.
And, then the pragmatic angle of being subjective. Thinking what can I do…? Even if it is very minute, that may look or sound immaterial. Well, I prefer to be on this side because being on either of the other sides is just senseless.
Now since we know that we have got a problem, let’s think of a solution. I believe our houses are the best places to start with.
A lot of ideas have been floated to prevent global warming, like turn the TV off, switch the lights off, walk to the shop, and buy a hybrid / greener car etc. Yeah, you may doubt if all these little things really matters? Or do we need to put pressure on the corporations / organizations, where the real emissions are coming from. Of course yes, we need to do all the little things ourselves along with putting pressure from the public and governments on large companies and corporations.
Learning how to prevent global warming in your on home is simple. The first thing for you to do is to understand which areas you should focus on the most. According to the EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment) report, about 72% of electricity is generated by burning of fossil fuel, and burning of fossil fuel emits greenhouse gases. Therefore, saving the use of electricity can lessen the contribution to global warming.
Well, below are a few things one can do to prevent global warming at home / daily life:
• Use rechargeable batteries
Four rechargeable A alkaline batteries can reduce the need to buy and dispose of roughly one hundred conventional batteries.
• Avoid printing ATM receipts
Avoid printing ATM receipts: You can conserve so much paper. Even if everyone just in the US refused their receipts, it would save a roll of paper more than two billion feet long or enough to circle the equator fifteen times!
• Opt for carpooling
Carpool (An arrangement among a group of automobile owners by which each owner in turn drives the others or their children to and from a designated place) and save fuel, time and money. If an average commuter opts for carpooling everyday, he or she would save hundreds of liters of fuel and Kgs of poisonous exhaust emissions every year.
• Pack a waste free lunch for work
Pack a waste free lunch. Eliminate plastic bags, plastic utensils, disposable containers, paper napkins…instead use cloth napkins, reusable lunch boxes and drink containers.
• Use both sides of paper
While printing or copying use both sides of the plain paper and recycle. Every ton of paper that is recycled saves approximately 17 trees.
• Say no to plastics
Use fewer plastic bags, utensils, containers etc. By reducing plastic bag consumption by just two bags per week, you will throw away at last one hundred fewer bags per year. Plastic bags create litter, choke marine life and add to landfill waste. According to Planet Ark, an international environmental group, about 100,000 whales, seals, turtles and other marine animals are killed worldwide by plastic bags each year.
• Harness solar energy
Each day, more solar energy falls to the earth than the total amount of energy that the planet’s 6.6 billion human inhabitants would consume in 27 years! Currently, we harness only about 1 percent of the sun’s energy. Look into installing solar water heaters. You will be able to save in energy costs.
• Use power saving lights
Replace conventional incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent light bulbs. For each 27 watt compact fluorescent light bulb you will get carbon emissions savings of approx 70 Kgs per year and also save on your electric bill.
• Unplug your TV when it’s not in use
Unplug your TV & other electrical gadgets at home when it’s not in use. You will save money and energy. Between 10 and 15 percent of a TV’s energy is still used when it’s powered off.
• Use rechargeable batteries
Four rechargeable A alkaline batteries can reduce the need to buy and dispose of roughly one hundred conventional batteries.
• Avoid printing ATM receipts
Avoid printing ATM receipts: You can conserve so much paper. Even if everyone just in the US refused their receipts, it would save a roll of paper more than two billion feet long or enough to circle the equator fifteen times!
• Opt for carpooling
Carpool (An arrangement among a group of automobile owners by which each owner in turn drives the others or their children to and from a designated place) and save fuel, time and money. If an average commuter opts for carpooling everyday, he or she would save hundreds of liters of fuel and Kgs of poisonous exhaust emissions every year.
• Pack a waste free lunch for work
Pack a waste free lunch. Eliminate plastic bags, plastic utensils, disposable containers, paper napkins…instead use cloth napkins, reusable lunch boxes and drink containers.
• Use both sides of paper
While printing or copying use both sides of the plain paper and recycle. Every ton of paper that is recycled saves approximately 17 trees.
• Say no to plastics
Use fewer plastic bags, utensils, containers etc. By reducing plastic bag consumption by just two bags per week, you will throw away at last one hundred fewer bags per year. Plastic bags create litter, choke marine life and add to landfill waste. According to Planet Ark, an international environmental group, about 100,000 whales, seals, turtles and other marine animals are killed worldwide by plastic bags each year.
• Harness solar energy
Each day, more solar energy falls to the earth than the total amount of energy that the planet’s 6.6 billion human inhabitants would consume in 27 years! Currently, we harness only about 1 percent of the sun’s energy. Look into installing solar water heaters. You will be able to save in energy costs.
• Use power saving lights
Replace conventional incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent light bulbs. For each 27 watt compact fluorescent light bulb you will get carbon emissions savings of approx 70 Kgs per year and also save on your electric bill.
• Unplug your TV when it’s not in use
Unplug your TV & other electrical gadgets at home when it’s not in use. You will save money and energy. Between 10 and 15 percent of a TV’s energy is still used when it’s powered off.
• Limit purchase of canned food
Try to limit purchase of canned food. The process involved with canning food is at least ten times more energy intensive than picking fresh fruits or vegetables.
Let’s join hands to save planet earth. After all, we are saving ourselves....!!!
Try to limit purchase of canned food. The process involved with canning food is at least ten times more energy intensive than picking fresh fruits or vegetables.
Let’s join hands to save planet earth. After all, we are saving ourselves....!!!
