When someone says to you, “HOI! This climate change thing… does it BUM you out?”, do you say “Climate WHAT?? Like, what are you saying, like yesterday it was, like, so hot and all, today is kewl and all, like, like that? Can I, like, GO now?” and look around frantically for the quickest route away from this pest asking you such, like, questions and all? Dude … and dudette! It’s basic, ya know? You need to know what it is! What it’s doing! Why you should, like, CARE! And, what YOU can … HEY! COME BACK HERE!

See what the temperature and wind and rainfall … were like yesterday, what they are today, and what they will be four days from now in Bangalore or Dyaamagundlu or Thiruvananthapuram or Srivilliputtur… That is weather. For a short time, for a specific place.

The food you eat has to be grown somewhere. For this you need to know, when to plant, when to water, when apply fertilizer, when to harvest, and all that. Every step is tied to when different seasons occur over large areas.

“Or, to put it another way, weather is what determines what clothes we wear to go outdoors on a given day. Climate is what determines what crops we plant and when we we plant and harvest them.”

Long-term weather conditions = climate, yar. You know now?

Climate has not remained constant throughout Earth’s history. It has changed over time.

Climate change is a natural phenomenon. It has been going for millennia and will continue to do so. But that natural process occurred over long time periods, gradually, allowing life on Earth to adjust and adapt. Did nothing perish? Of course, it did. A lot! During the past several millennia, human populations have been growing, with more and more growth occurring more recently.

 [Source: http://www.globalchange.umich.edu/globalchange2/current/lectures/human_pop/human_pop.html]

As a result of the industrial revolution, increased mass production of commodities from food to machines to cars and other things have led to huge increases in the burning of fossil fuels. Fossil fuesl are called that because they are dead organisms that got converted to liquid or solid forms of carbon and got buried deep in Earth. Since they are forms of carbon, when we burn them to get heat energy, we produce other carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide. We do many other things that produce other kinds of gases such as methane (another carbon-based gas). Everything we do in our modern lifestyle produces such gases. The type and amounts may vary from place to place, but we produce them.
Ultimately, we survive on Earth because we get energy from the Sun! Sun’s energy comes to us in the form of radiation. Not all of that energy reaches us here on the surface where we live. Look at what happens to the energy as it makes its way from the upper atmosphere down towards the surface of earth:

[Source: IPCC]

There are many many different ways in which we increase the amount of GHGs into the atmosphere. Burning fossil fuels, cutting down forests, wasting water, using lots of plastics, and so on. Because of human activities, the amount of GHGs in the atmosphere has been increasing VERY fast. This means the greenhouse effect is increasing fast. So global temperature is rising fast. Faster than it would have if we, humans, had not been doing all these GHG-increasing things! We have been QUITE irresponsible.

  [Source: http://www.ucar.edu/learn/1_4_1.htm]

When we add those polluting gases (carbon dioxide, methane, etc.), we are changing the composition of the atmosphere. More and more of the heat gets trapped inside the atmosphere instead of escaping into … well, into out there! This is the principle that is used in greenhouses where plants are grown — no matter how cold it may get outside, greenhouses remain warm because the carbon dioxide is kept inside and the sun’s energy reaching the greenhouse keeps it warmer. The same thing happens with those gases we are putting out into the atmosphere. The effect is similar to what happens in the greenhouse. That is why we call those gases “greenhouse gases” (GHGs).

Burning fossil fuels is among the biggest sources of GHGs. There are other things we do which contributes to the GHGs in the atmosphere. Check this out:

 [Source: IPCC]

Not all fossil fuels are the same. Charcoal and coal put out more GHGs. They also put out black carbon (the soot). Whereas when we burn gas — propane, butane, etc. …

What?  Nooo! “Indane” is not a kind of gas … it is a brand name! May I continue, please? Thank you!

When we burn gas, we get more energy with less pollution. This is why I chose today’s “Shabaash, India!” candidate!

So, basically this is the deal: climate change is natural, but human activities are making it change much much faster! That is why the current climate change is called “anthropogenic” (anthropo = human, genic = caused by).

Think about this also: if the problem is anthropogenic, the solution is also anthropogenic.

Next time, we will look at some of the impacts of climate change and then return to the topic of anthropogenic solutions.

[Source: http://maydayblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/bus2.JPG]

“Shabhaash, India !”

The city of New Delhi has made all its public transport CNG-fueled. (CNG = compressed natural gas).
This is a major initiative that needs to spread all over India.
Some other cities are also slowly moving in this direction.
This week, I salute New Delhi for its initiative and say, “Shabhaash, New Delhi!”

[Source: http://www.travelindiasmart.com/images/autorichshaw.jpg]

Division is killing us. We need to connect things. Or else, we end up like not five, but fifty un-informed persons trying to describe an elephant! Why do our curricula not actively promote connections among all subjects being taught at schools and colleges?

Don’t hold your breath for The System to change. Take the initiative yourself! Your mind is your own. Own it. Nurture it.

I keep harping on several issues plaguing our education system. These issues are all connected to each other.

• Unimaginative syllabi that kill a student’s curiosity and joy of learning. Have you seen the chapter on climate change in any EVS (environmental science) text book lately? It hardly invites the student to ask any serious questions. Nothing in it even vaguely connects to anything the student can observe or meaningfully do.
• Subjects are not connected to each other. Until we stop compartmentalizing subjects, we will end up training students, not educating them. One simple unit on climate change can help students learn
  • Statistics (calculate mean annual rainfall and monthly minimum and maximum temperatures for each year for the past decade),
  • Computer studies (use software to graph the data and visually examine trends),
  • Biology (learn about importance of species and their sustenance),
  • Chemistry (the nature of green-house-gas molecules and how they affect climate),
  • Geography (how does where you live matter in climate change),
  • Language (write about climate change topics; this will also help you develop a scientific vocabulary in the language you are learning),
  • History (how did the industrial revolution contribute to climate change and what does it mean in today’s history; current events are history that is going on NOW),
  • Physics (how do heat and pressure work in creating different atmospheric conditions and what happens when these are changed),
  • Economics (how are industry, agriculture and other economic sectors affected by climate change),
  • Business studies (how do businesses adapt to climate change, what are green markets, “green” jobs, etc.), and so on.
• Teachers are not given enough support (if at all) to make these connections in their classes. Many of our teachers are passionate about teaching well. However, we need to give them the teaching resources, content, and training to teach in new, effective, and interesting ways.
• Care-givers (parents, guardians, etc.) need to become more actively involved in children’s studies. Every trip to the market (whether it is a supermarket or the vegetable mandi at the street corner) can be a lesson in the environmental and other costs of foodstuffs. Every practice at home can be carefully managed to reduce its ecological impact. This kind of engagement will not only help children learn climate-affirmative behaviors but also help strengthen the bonds between generations (grandparents, parents, children).

All these have to become part of our education in general, climate change education in particular.

CSM begins its outreach engagement with workshops and other activities from the 2^nd Saturday of August at the Army Public School, Bangalore. Look for more information on these and other activities for students, teachers, and eventually for care givers too.

Meanwhile, if you know of innovative practices that your teachers are using to make climate change a part of your classroom experience, let me know.

If you are a teacher, I would love to hear from you about any interesting and effective means you are using to teach students about climate change.

If you are a parent or guardian, please let me know if you are doing anything with your children to help them learn about climate change and make changes in their behaviors to become more eco-friendly.

You can use the comment box below to tell the world about your innovation and effort.

Until next week then.

 

 

“Shabhaash, India ! “

Biome Solutions

Chitra and Vishwanath have created a company that specializes in eco-friendly design of buildings.
Using local resources and with great care to conservation of resources,

they have been creating new ways of doing old business.

Goes to show you… being climate-affirmative is good sense and good business.

There are some simple things we can each do to reduce our impact on the environment… and therefore, on climate change. I admit that I practice several, but not all. Not yet. I am trying to get there. So, don’t think I am preaching to you from on high! It is merely a question of reminding ourselves to do these things.  And then following through.

It is important not to feel disheartened when we catch ourselves not having done what we ought to. Or having done what we ought not to. More importantly, we need to persevere.

But first, a small story.

On a beach, a boy was busily throwing things into the sea. An elderly man was on his walk. He saw this boy and asked him what he was doing. The boy said, “I am throwing these stranded jellyfish back into the sea so they can live.” The elderly man chuckled and said, “There are millions of such jelly fish on the beach! Are you gonna throw each of them back? Get real, sonny. You can’t save all the jellyfish.” The boy smiled and said, “Well, I made a difference for that one jellyfish!” 

We cannot, individually, change the world or the way it acts. But individual actions add up. If there are no individual actions, there is no global action.

So, here are some things we can do to be ‘climate-affirmative.’  For each one, I also give you my own confession — to what extent I am or am not following these.

1.  Use fewer utensils when eating at restaurants. This means less water consumed in washing the utensils. The water supply involves a lot of non-gravity energy and this energy use pollutes the atmosphere. Restaurants are places where we can reduce our impact. Here are some examples:
   • Order roti and curry. They serve the roti on a small plate, give you the curry in a bowl of somd kind, and a larger plate to eat the two from. Return the larger plate. It is un-necessary. Take the roti from the small plate, dip into the curry in the bowl and eat.
   • You go to a buffet meal. Use the same plate for every helping. (Just make sure nothing from your plate spills into any of the food on the buffet table!)
   • At a hole-in-the-wall eatery (“darshini” as it is often called), you order 1 plate idli, 1 khara bhath? You take a pair of spoons for the idli? Use the same spoons for the khara bhath.
   • My status: Practice this 98% of the time.
2. Fewer plastic bags while shopping. Even the small department stores will pack different things in different small plastic bags. If you MUST have a plastic bag to carry your shopping items, you can ask them to put everything in one bag. (Of course, you don’t mix the packet of bleaching powder with the palak in the same bag 🙂 ) When you shop for vegetables/fruits at supermarkets, they put each in a different plastic bag (tomatos in in one, oranges in another, etc) so that it is convenient to weigh and put a price sticker on it. You can weigh the vegetables/fruits without a plastic bag, get the price sticker printed, and put as many kinds of vegetables/fruits as you can into one plastic bag. Small saving, but remember, it all adds up eventually. We have to do our bit.
   My status: Practice this 99% of the time.
3. Take a bus rather than a private vehicle or auto or taxi. This is a difficult one. In many cities in India, certainly in Bangalore, despite reasonably good public transport systems, it takes a lot of time to do more than one thing on a trip. So we end up taking an auto/taxi to the precise point where we need to go. But if we can afford a little time, and if the discomfort is reasonably low, it would be better to take public transportation. Using public transportation takes some effort and is not best suited for everyone (e.g.: the elderly, physically challenged, etc.). More vehicles used = more pollutants put out = negative impact on clime.
   My status: I rarely practice this. Shame on me! I will try to change.
4.  Leaving lights and other electrical appliances on even when unnecessary. This is largely a matter of habit! When we are the last person to leave the office or room or whatever, we really should turn off the appliances that are not needed. This can be, and has to be, learned. We can form “nag treaties” — we all agree to nag each other about leaving things on even when they should not be on. If this does not work, escalate it to fines. But fines can become too easy — i will leave the lights on, what is the fine? 5 rupees? Here you go!  Even whole nations want to do this at a global level (more on that in a future blog).
   My status: Practice this about 75% of the time. A LOT of room for improvement.

Ultimately, it has to be a matter of pride for each of us that we are ‘climate-affirmative’ — that is, we act in ways that lead to lower environmental impacts.

What are other practices you would recommend?  What is your own status on each of these? 

Write them in the comment box below or email them to me at chandra at csmworld dot org.

See you next week!

 

 

“Shabhaash, India ! “

Saalumarada Thimmakka

“What does a barren woman know of the pain of childbirth?”
Such insults are even today thrown at childless women in our culture.
Thimmakka (of Hulikal, Magadi, Karnataka) suffered this, too.
But she showed ‘em! How?

She planted roadside trees and nurtured them as her own children.

She cared! She acted! She made a difference!

So should we!

Read about her work and impacts (a) here, (b) here, (c) here, and (d) here.

(Image courtesy: www.indiamentoring.com)

… my mother always used to scold me when I was young. I used to throw water outside our house on all four sides in the summer to cool the house in the evening. I used to resent it then. What did SHE know? But now I listen to her… in my heart. And in my actions…

Living in Jayanagar, Bangalore, we were abundantly supplied with water from the Kaveri water supply project. This water so much that the pressure used to wear out the washers in our taps! During the summer months, I used to take two very long showers … morning and later afternoon. Again, she would say that.

Decades later, I learned the link between the environment and folk sayings. Many folk sayings convey environmental knowledge from generation to generation. This particular saying was widespread in southeastern Tamil Nadu which is even now an area of low and undependable rainfall. Water is still a very precious commodity.

Such folk sayings are part of what we call folk lore — that is, wisdom about local environments. With time, the word “local” changes in some ways. The wisdom becomes applicable more widely not just locally.

This is true of the saying above.

My mother was no scientist. Nor were the many generations of people who knew the importance of water conservation. Generations of people everywhere in the world have known about environmental issues and put that knowledge in the form of sayings that are easy to remember, using imagery that is easy to relate to, etc.

Were they scientists? Did they have “hard” and “numeric” data on which to base their sayings. But they were very good environmental empiricists. Environmental empiricists are people who can observe patterns in their environments and draw conclusions about how things work.

Environmental scientists have a different approach, the ‘scientific method’ — they form a hypothesis, make observations and record data, then they analyze the data, and so on to arrive at their conclusions.

The empiricists depend on observation and intuition.

Neither these scientists nor these empiricists are ever 100% right or wrong. The difference may be that these scientists’ work may be widely applicable. The empiricists’ knowledge may be applicable more locally.

Time often changes the geographic scope of knowledge. So, water conservation is important everywhere, even where fresh water is plentiful.

Our elders had many practices that we would today call ‘green’ and ‘eco-friendly’. Often, these were based on cost considerations. Whatever the motivation might have been, the impacts were… well, eco-friendly. And climate-friendly.

Look at another example. Food. Not long ago, I remember in my own youth in Bangalore, if I wanted plums, I had to wait for the winter to find them. Likewise apples were seasonal, so were every fruit imaginable… jackfruit, guava, mangos. There was a seasonal celebration of those fruits. They ripened in their season. Foods prepared followed these seasons. This seasonal consumption kept us — and the environment — healthy.

Wait, what does this have to do with climate change?

Well, it’s like this. We now have all fruit all year round. There are two things to thank for this: (1) geography, (2) technology, and (3) “globalization.”

Okay, I can’t count! THREE things!

In similar climates around the world, the growing and harvesting seasons of many vegetables and fruits occur in different times of the year. This has always been true. But now, technology enters the picture and makes things move around more. Technology overcomes geography! (As a geographer, you have no idea how MUCH that disturbs me sometimes!) Technology enables chemical intervention to control when fruits and vegetables reach harvestable status, how long they can be preserved, how far and how fast they can be transported, etc. And all these have become increasingly cheaper. With globalization, countries are making it increasingly easier for produce to move internationally.

Go to a grocery store in urban India and notice the apples from Washington (USA) and China, the pears from China, Rambutan from southeast asia, etc. Transporting, refrigerating, preserving, packing … all these processes put out emissions into the atmosphere. Thus, their carbon footprint is vastly greater than when we had seasonal foods.

Plus they are not that great for your health out of season and with all those chemicals used.

Here’s what I want you to do for me. I want to hear from you about green practices that exist in your family NOW! If you have elders in your family ask them about how they conserved food, water, fuel, materials, etc. If you find out more about these things, you will likely see the wisdom of their practices today, too.

They may be older, but they are not yet done teaching.

Nor are we done learning from them.

Yet.

To act on climate change, we must first be able to talk about it. For this we need words. Where are these words for Indian languages? What is CSM gonna do about it?

When I look at the education that is going on now in our schools and colleges, I find that climate change – perhaps THE most widely recognized current global challenge – is hardly visible in the curriculum or syllabus! Most textbooks seem to have a weak and uninspiring chapter on global warming with the standard diagrams of how greenhouse gases work and a picture or two of major disasters that really don’t tell us much about climate change.

How much knowledge do teachers themselves have to teach this important subject in the classroom? Have they received any training in this subject? Have they been shown how they can connect climate change with the subject they are teaching? Are they able to inspire students to understand the issues and DO something about them? How much have we helped our teachers so they can do justice to this important topic?

Language is the vehicle of knowledge and understanding. Transmitting these requires language, a vocabulary. Without this, we cannot act to make a difference for the better.

So, CSM’s outreach activities will always include a component on learning the terms pertaining to climate change. All these terms connect to many different subjects that are taught at school. Our outreach work aims to achieve these things simultaneously:

1. Help develop, acquire, and expand climate change vocabulary.

2. Help understand issues relating to climate change.

3. Help connect these issues to individual lives – yours and mine.

4. Help think of ways in which we, as individuals, can make a difference for the better.

Learning about climate change will connect all the subjects that you study in school with each other. And it will help you connect every subject with your own life. The subjects will become more interesting because you will see how they connect to your life.

Right now, there is a rich vocabulary in English for climate change. This is easy to learn. But how about in Indian languages such as Kannada, Tamizh, Hindi, and others? We need to develop climate change vocabulary IN those languages because a huge majority of us speak Indian languages. And everyone of us has to learn about climate change and get working to make a positive difference. Translation from English is almost totally meaningless! At CSM, we are developing climate change information and materials that will help to develop a good vocabulary and learning. This will help to develop action based on that learning.

So, start learning the vocabulary of climate change here.

For now, the language is English. In due course, we will have lots of material in Kannada and other Indian languages.

In my next blog, I will discuss how we can learn to lead climate-friendly lives from our grandparents’ generation.

“Shabhaash, India!”

Here is an example of a company famous for its climate-friendly practices: ITC.
(Use the >> and << buttons on the page to go to the next page or previous page.)
You will find many terms relating to climate change on these pages.
Make a note of them and try to find their meanings.
If you have trouble, email me: chandra@csmworld.org
I will help in any way I can.