Environment Portal

‘Climate Code Red’ by Australians David Spratt and Philip Sutton addresses one of the major problems facing global civilization. It is a well researched document that leaves little doubt that climate change is underway. It calls for a state of emergency to tackle this problem. It notes possible technology to ease the situation. It notes the political, economic and timing factors that are inhibiting what can be done. It appears to provide credible views and many reviewers praise it for its contribution to the debate about what should be done.
I do not agree with that view. My reasons follow.
1 It is written in the typical anthropocentric manner that carries the implication that humans can control the operation of the environment. For example, they say on page 112

If it had been suggested 50 years ago that humans should set out to
remove the Arctic ice cap and warm the entire globe by 1-2 degrees, people would
have said that this was crazy and physically impossible-that it should not and could
not be done. Fifty years on, we are well on the way to ‘succeeding’ in this project.

Sustainability is still in a premature stage and this is especially true for developing countries. There are common challenges that many people need to consider during the implementation of the concept. This article will explore these challenges and give suggestions on how to mitigate them. The challenges can be separated into three areas, namely internal, client, and government.

Internal challenges and mitigation

Internal challenge is the first thing that you need to face before you start implementing sustainability further. After all, if you do not clean up your backyard first, how you can convince other people to do the same. The common challenges from internal perspective are lack of support, lack of knowledge, and “more works” attitude.

The first thing that you need to do before implementing sustainability in your organization is to gain top management support and commitment. Without this support and commitment, sustainability implementation will not achieve a successful outcome. This may sound easy, but the reality can be different. It is important for you to explore the benefits of sustainability for the organization. Then you need to explain these benefits in term of economic value whenever possible. This is the best way to convince your top management to approve the implementation.

Sometimes, even if top management has agreed to implement the concept, the problem is nobody understand how to do it. Lack of knowledge is a big issue, especially because sustainability concept is relatively new for many people. In this case, you need to prepare awareness programs to increase the knowledge and understanding of people in your organization. You need to explain implicitly the necessity of sustainability for the organization as well as the earth in general. You also can give external trainings to certain people so they can support you to implement the concept.

Even if you are an Indian and don’t know Hindi, you can always learn it. Hindi language has its roots in the classical Sanskrit language. The language acquired its current form over many centuries, and numerous dialectical variations still exist. Like Sanskrit, Hindi is written in the Dev Nagari script, which is common to several other Indian languages as well. Much of the vocabulary of Hindi comes from Sanskrit, though Hindi also has a special relationship with Urdu. Hindi is also the main language in many states of India such as Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal/ Uttarakhand, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Himachal Pradesh. It is spoken by more than 437 million people in the world. The other dialects of Hindi are Brajbhasha, Bundeli, Awadhi, Marwari, Maithili, and Bhojpuri, to name only a few.

Hindi became the official language of India on January 26, 1965, although English and 21 other languages are recognized as official languages by the Constitution of India. Many people in India take their mother tongue Hindi for granted. They don’t consider the fact that those who live in a foreign environment are at risk of losing some of their language skills and fluency if they aren’t looked after. Expatriates tend to retain their first language better, unconsciously “clinging on” to it, if they see their cultural make-up as central to their identity. Fortunately, it is getting easier to retain one’s mother tongue. The Internet has made it very easy to access Hindi newspapers, magazines, radio programmers, films, etc. Hindi has at least 13 different dialects and she is the most commonly spoken language in India. But the reason Hindi was chosen to be the official language of India wasn’t because it is the most commonly spoken language in India, but it has connection with India history before it’s independence.

CONSERVATION- THE ONLY WAY TO SURVIVE AND PROGRESS

Incidents of wild animals straying out of their natural habitats attacking human beings and causing destructions to properties have become too frequent. Such incidents are neither being reported and even it is reported, it is done without giving its true significance. Such incidents are nothing but nature’s warning. If it not taken care of immediately, then the “The day of the animals” is not far off.

The perpetuation, preservation and progress of human species, plant and animal kingdom are largely interconnected and their natural habitats, in many ways, depend upon the environment and eco-system in which they live. The demographic and ecological changes taking place in the world due to human actions and activities have created irreparable damages to environment and natural habitats. The current trend of damaging the ecological balances and environmental serenity can be arrested by adopting conservation as a way of our life.

Conservation means preservation of nature in its entirety. It is not preservation for the immediate future of man and his roaster of natural possessions, but also for the conservation of the world’s natural communities with heir myriad number of species of animals and plants in some semblance of health and the means and vigor for perpetual self renewal. The existing plant and animal kingdom should be preserved not just for the pleasure of man but also enable the humanity to preserve them for the future.

Failure to conserve life forms should be considered as an act of barbaric vandalism because once they are destroyed, they cannot be retrieved and also they are lost to the world for ever. All communities and most of the species that have vanished from this world have disappeared with their stories untold or badly told. Most of the people are vaguely or not at all aware of the magnitude of the threat to the wild life and to the green cover of earth and the consequent devastating effect on human beings and the present urgency to arrest the dangerously changing environment and ecological situation.

Are you a believer of Global warming or not? Or are you one of the cynics yet to be convinced? Well both have a part to play in the Global Warming arena debate. The whole issue is surrounded by facts and figures but when these facts and figures are looked at it is very difficult to prove them with science, so you end up with hearsay.

Global warming from our point of view is the increase in the average temperature of the Earth’s near-surface air and oceans.

When you observe all the different global warming myths that are published in various publications, online, TV, and radio you will understand the issue with conflicting information. Because of these global warming myths come in many forms it is essential to understand the causes of global warming, and the facts attached to those myths.

MYTH: Water vapour is the most important, abundant greenhouse gas. So if we’re going to control a greenhouse gas, why don’t we control it instead of carbon dioxide?

FACT: Water vapour does trap more heat than carbon dioxide (CO2), but as CO2 levels increase in the atmosphere, they lead to warmer conditions, which lead to more water vapour in the air, which leads to even warmer conditions, thus a never ending cycle. Because of this relationship between CO2, water vapour and climate, to fight global warming nations must focus on controlling CO2.

MYTH: Global warming reduces as the ozone hole shrinks.

FACT: Global warming and the ozone hole are two separate issues.

MYTH: Global warming is not occurring due to some glaciers and ice sheets are expanding and not shrinking.

FACT: In most parts of the world, the shrinking of glaciers and ice caps have been dramatic. The best available scientific data indicate that Greenland’s massive ice sheet is shrinking.