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A warming planet

The warning from a group of scientists from NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, that 2005 was the warmest year on record since the end of the last major ice age nearly 12,000 years ago, deserves serious attention from both policymakers and citizens. The effects of global warming on climate may seem debatable to environmental sceptics but industrial activity has indisputably raised the concentration of greenhouse gases (GHG) in the atmosphere. When the industrial revolution began, heat-trapping carbon dioxide in the atmosphere stood at 280 parts per million. Today it is up at 380 ppm and continues to rise alarmingly. NASA Scientist James Hansen and his colleagues estimate that human-made GHGs have warmed the earth by 0.6 degree Celsius over the past three decades. This is a sobering finding for an energy-hungry planet because a further rise in temperatures by one degree Celsius will equal the maximum level experienced in a million years. A warmer world will be extremely harsh on biodiversity and agriculture — 1,700 species of plants, animals, and insects have already moved towards the poles at a measurable rate each year in the second half of the 20th century.

Scientists are clear that profligate use of carbon-based energy sources such as fossil fuels to power homes, offices, cars, aircraft, and industries can go on only at the risk of serious harm to humanity's long-term future. A business-as-usual approach is likely to destroy the ice sheets of Greenland and Antarctica, which hold the balance of the world's average temperature. Political leaders such as Bill Clinton and Al Gore (and Tony Blair at the G8) have acknowledged this and launched an international climate agenda. They are motivating governments of developed and developing economies, industries, and individuals alike to reduce their carbon footprint. Mr. Gore has even put up on his website an agenda for the average citizen. As international protocols on climate such as Kyoto flounder because of non-cooperation by high-emission countries such as the United States and Australia, many states in the U.S. led by California are introducing regional emission limits for industries and cars. The European Union is encouraging alternative energy and evolving mechanisms to offset emissions. A fast-growing India must cut wasteful energy use. It can make a real difference by heavily subsidising solar and wind power, expanding forests (which absorb carbon emissions), building efficient power generation facilities, and improving public transport.

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