DEATH RACE
Our annual carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions have grown about 70 times since the pre-industrial era, reaching nearly 36.4 gigatonnes (Gt) in 2019. Unless we bring them down to 18.22 Gt by 2030, we are headed for catastrophic climate events
CLIMATE CHANGE is real. We now know that for certain. We are already experiencing doomsday scenarios that climate scientists had projected for the distant future. The UN's top climate science body, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), in its latest Sixth Assessment Report (AR6), Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis, only confirms what we already know and see in the world around us: wildfires triggered by extreme heat and moisture loss; devastating floods caused by extreme rain events; and tropical cyclones powered by the changing temperatures between the sea and land surface. The report also clearly says that human activities, for certain, are to be blamed for these climate events. Anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO 2) and other greenhouse gases (GHGS) have warmed the planet beyond its tolerance level. In May this year, the atmospheric CO 2 level reached 419 parts per million (ppm), as measured by the US’ National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Mauna Loa Atmospheric Baseline Observatory in Hawaii. This is nearly 45 per cent above IPCC's accepted pre-industrial baseline of 278 ppm in 1750.
Bu hikaye Down To Earth dergisinin November 01, 2021 sayısından alınmıştır.
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Bu hikaye Down To Earth dergisinin November 01, 2021 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
INVISIBLE THREAT
Significant presence of microplastics in Puducherry’s agricultural soil raises concerns for soil and crop health
Feeding off each other
VEGETARIAN MOVEMENTS IN SOUTH ASIA AND THE WEST GREW WITH MUTUAL SUPPORT AND VALIDATION
India's unhealthy patent amendments
Despite strong pleas, the Modi regime has changed the rules to impose a cost on those who challenge faulty patents
URBAN DISCOMFORT
Poorly planned, heat-trapping infrastructure, along with dwindling natural spaces, turn up the temperatures in major Indian cities
BLAZING SUN IS ON
Rising temperatures are testing the limits of human tolerance to heat. With their predominantly built-up landscape, urban areas offer no respite. A study by the Centre for Science and Environment on the morphology and heat patterns of nine Indian cities over the past decade shows how these urban centres are turning into heat islands with a potentially serious impact on human health. An analysis by Rajneesh Sareen, Mitashi Singh and Nimish Gupta, with Shagun in Haryana and Kiran Pandey
"H5N1 may be more severe than COVID-19"
In early April, the US confirmed the first case of avian influenza in livestock, along with cow-to-human transmission of the virus disease.
A PSYCHEDELIC HIGH
Driven by surge in global trials and low success rate of current medications in treating mental health problems, researchers call for home-grown clinical trials of psychedelic drugs
Locked out
Two years after becoming the only state to be excluded from the Centre's ruralemployment guarantee scheme, villages in West Bengal grapple with distress migration and debt traps
'Protection from climate change part of right to life'
The Supreme Court of India, on April 5, recognised that citizens have a right to be free from the adverse effects of climate change, saying it is intertwined with the fundamental rights to life and equality. Here are the key arguments articulated by the three-judge bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra in their judgement
Weaving dreams
Tribal communities in West Bengal slowly embrace traditional weaving to ensure sustainable livelihood