This paper computes national carbon mitigation costs using two simple principles: Incremental costs for low-carbon energy investments are calculated using the cost of coal-fired power as the benchmark. All low-carbon energy sources are counted, because reducing carbon emissions cannot be separated from other concerns: reducing local air pollution from fossil-fuel …
MANGROVES are known to be reservoirs of carbon. While it is known that widespread degradation of the mangroves by 30-50 per cent over the past half century due to coastal development, aquaculture expansion and over-harvesting may be responsible for an increase in carbon in the atmosphere, nobody has been able …
THERE have been many indicators that global warming could be hurting the world food production, lowering yields and increasing prices. Turns out the warming of the planet over the past three decades has already led to a measurable reduction in crop production of wheat and maize. Researchers from Stanford University …
Loss of forests leads to droughts. Research has shown that destruction of rain forests in Nigeria, Ghana, and Côte d’Ivoire may have caused two decades of droughts in Africa. Rain forests are being destroyed at an annual rate of 31 million hectares, an area larger than Poland. Deforestation also contributes …
In December 2009, just before the disastrous climate conference at Copenhagen, environment minister Jairam Ramesh announced a voluntary and unilateral emissions reduction target for the country. He committed a 20-25 per cent reduction in the emissions intensity of the country’s GDP by 2020 below the 2005 levels. A month later, …
ALARMED by the changing climatic patterns, the Centre is likely to include either cold wave or frost in the disaster relief fund. At present, compensation under the National Disaster Response Fund and State Disaster Response Fund can be given to victims of natural calamities like cyclone, drought, earthquake, tsunami and …
What is the mandate of the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (bee) set up under the Energy Conservation Act? The law provides three regulatory functions. One is standards and labelling of electrical equipment, second is energy conservation code for buildings, and the third is energy conservation norms for industry. These are …
Energy efficiency is often called the low hanging fruit of climate change. Each unit of electricity saved is considered a unit less generated, which means less greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere. Under the 11th Five Year Plan, programmes promoting energy efficiency aim to save five per cent of energy …
A LAB study shows global warming that increases sea-surface temperatures would make cold-blooded creatures of the sea vulnerable. A slight increase in temperature may be conducive to growth. Above a certain temperature threshold, the metabolic demands of tissues such as supply of oxygen progressively limit the energy available for growth …
SEVENTY-five per cent of the Himalayan glaciers are thinning, states a recent analysis of satellite pictures taken by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). But before the alarm button is pressed, more detailed studies must be conducted, say scientists. Of the 10,000 glaciers present in the Himalayan ecosystem, ISRO studied …
India lost much more than it gained at the Cancun climate change meeting in December 2010, admits an internal assessment of the government. Not only did India open itself up formally to international scrutiny of its actions, the government also agreed to let US off the hook and sent the …
India’s approach to climate change has shifted dramatically in the span of a few years. Not only has India developed a comprehensive climate change program domestically, it has adopted a new stance in the international negotiations that has earned it the reputation of being a ‘deal maker’. This dramatic, and …
The WHO has launched a report on health co-benefits of climate change mitigation in the housing sector, the first of a new series of reports on health in the green economy. The series undertakes a systematic analysis of climate change mitigation and green growth strategies in five economic sectors: housing, …
This draft of the National Climate Change Policy for Sri Lanka contains a a vision, mission, goal and a set of guiding principles followed by broad policy statements under Vulnerability, Adaptation, Mitigation, Sustainable Consumption and Production and Knowledge Management. The most demanding challenge for the developing countries today is to …
THE Himalayas are warming at a rate higher than the global average. A recent study documents how this has affected cropping patterns and vegetation in the past 10 years. The questionnaire-based study examined changes people observed between the altitudes of 600 metres and 2,200 metres in the Himalayas. Published in …
The newly launched renewable energy certificate (REC) market has been witnessing a flurry of activity. Governments, regulators and project developers are upbeat, and the first trading day in March 2011 hit the ceiling price. Though the subsequent session was subdued, stakeholders are optimistic that the new market can quicken the …
SCIENTIFIC scepticism is healthy. Scientists should always challenge themselves to expand their knowledge. Yet this is not what happens in global warming scepticism. Sceptics criticise any evidence that supports human-induced global warming and yet embrace any argument, blog or study that refutes global warming. This website is sceptical about global …
