Commentary, action and research on climate and development in India
UNITED NATIONS: Global investment in clean energy rose to a record $243 billion dollars last year with the vast majority concentrated in the world’s top 20 economies, the United Nations said on Wednesday.
Global investment in clean energy hits $243 bn: UN
In the days of yore, farmers forecast the weather by looking at the behaviour of birds. “When sparrows bathe in the dust, it rains,” they would say.
But as climate change alters weather patterns in northeast India, it is changing traditional knowledge – and threatening local birds that long have helped farmers control pests in their fields. Birds are “the real friend of farmers,” says Prabal Saikia, an agricultural ornithology specialist at the Regional Agricultural Research Station (RARS) in North Lakhimpur, in India’s Assam province.
But these days, “the decline in the bird population has increased the insect population, thereby increasing crop damage,” he said.
Climate change is seriously affecting food production in the Pacific region and could result in rise of hunger and malnutrition in the area, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said on Tuesday.
Washington, Sep 9 (IANS) Burning natural gas emits far less carbon dioxide (CO2) than coal, but switching over to this medium won’t slow down climate change, claims a new study.
Switching to natural gas won’t slow climate change
*Each month, unfailingly, the concentration of greenhouse gas CO2 in the air reaches an all-time high for that month. The level of atmospheric CO2, emitted by human activities, is now inching up to 400 parts per million. It has risen by almost 50ppm in less than 25 years, with no sign of deceleration.
The tiny island nations of the Pacific, strewn like pearls across the vast body of the ocean and hardly visible on the map, have begun to write an alternative energy story of which the world may soon take notice. Their efforts are still small, and successes modest, but there’s a growing realisation that fossil fuels make little sense when their supply of sunshine and wind is abundant enough to take care of all their current and future energy needs.
Barun Roy: Fear and hope in the Pacific
7 (PTI) International community should address the concerns of the poor living in the mountain region who have become victims of the impact of climate change, experts said as they gathered here to set agenda for the upcoming Rio plus 20 conference.
Kathamandu: The rise of the sea level would be the greatest threat to the world in the days to come unless efforts are made to contain and mitigate the consequences of climate changes, according to 2007 Nobel laureate Rajendra K Pachauri.
‘Rising sea level greatest climate change threat’
A Pune-based think tank has called for an immediate moratorium on any further grant of environmental clearance for thermal power plants (TPPs). These include a 5,00,000-MW capacity awaiting environmental clearance, apart from plants which have reached the terms of reference (TOR) stage or are awaiting the TOR.
Enough of thermal power plants, says think tank
Members of the technology executive committee created under the United Nations climate change convention to facilitate the use of technology to support mitigation and adaptation to climate change concluded their first meeting on Saturday, saying they had made important progress on issues discussed.
UN-backed climate change committee meets