THE WORLD has been stuck with coal for years. The carbon-spewing fossil is still the biggest source of energy. The transport, manufacturing, construction and power industries are driven majorly by coal. But with 72 per cent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions arising from the energy sector, it’s now time to kick this dirty habit.
Already, frequent and extreme weather events like cyclones, bushfires, floods and droughts have wreaked global havoc. The average atmospheric CO 2 level has crossed the permissible 350 parts per million (ppm) to as much as 415 ppm. If the world does not abandon its business-as-usual approach, global warming will rise to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels within just 10 years. This will have serious implications on natural and human systems. Global warming has already hit the 1.2°C mark.
The COVID-19 pandemic has given temporary relief to environment, but countries must not use it as an excuse to lower their ambitions to combat the climate crisis. Instead, the pandemic must work as the springboard to build back a better world. At the International Energy Agency’s Clean Energy Transition Summit held recently, UN Secretary- General Antonio Guterres said that coal and fossil fuels have no place in COVID-19 recovery plans. “It’s time to embrace the vast opportunity of a clean energy future—a future that protects people and planet, and promotes prosperity,” he said.
Bu hikaye Down To Earth dergisinin September 16, 2020 sayısından alınmıştır.
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Bu hikaye Down To Earth dergisinin September 16, 2020 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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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