W7i7

I was pointed to an article during a Twitter discussion on the Bullet Train project a little while back. Entitled " The Economics of the Bullet Train and Whether It Makes Financial Sense To Take a 0.1% loan ", it concludes that the project is economically feasible. As a student of earth science, this is my response to the article, as well as my take on the Bullet Train in the context of the climate crisis. The Assumptions With no background in economics, finance or rail technology, I am not in any position to comment on those aspects of the project. Hence, I begin with the assumptions that: The interest rate is very generous (with whatever assumptions required about exchange rates, etc). The Shikansen system is plain awesome. I focus instead on the what the author of the article calls "The "Other" Aspects". My Contentions " Is a bullet train desirable when we don't have enough toilets? " Personally, I do not think build...

Maharashtra witnessed some dizzying political theatrics last month. I am not a political analyst, and I do not claim to understand much of what happened. However, as a student of Earth Sciences who is told remarkably often that the "real world" is out of my depth, I have tried to understand this election and put it in perspective of the climate crisis. My attempt to make sense of the State Election chronology While the political circus kept the whole state, and probably the Centre as well, engaged for a whole month, November also saw a parallel plot-line developing. This one directly affected over a crore people and indirectly affected the whole country. In fact, the plot of Kaun banega CM  was so gripping that while going through the November news, I realised that this parallel plot had not even made the headlines. Articles from the print archives of Indian Express In 2019, Maharashtra suffered first from a drought during the monsoonal months, and th...

Scientists have issued a fresh set of warnings about the climate crisis. And if the past is any indicator, then we can expect a fresh set of reminders on social media about how small India's per capita carbon emissions are, in comparison to the developed world. Per Capita Carbon emissions in metric tonnes Qatar 43.9 USA 16.5 Australia 15.4 Canada 15.2 Russia 11.9 Japan 9.5 Germany 8.9 Sweden 4.5 India 1.7 We should be collecting taxes from other countries for polluting our world. — Nilesh Shah (@NileshShah68) October 13, 2019 (Never mind that there is no real discussion about carbon taxation outside of academic circles.) India has the lowest per capita carbon emissions among all the G20 Nations. > Carbon Emission By Nation In Metric Tonnes: ●Australia: 16.5 ●USA: 15.7 ●China: 7.7 ●U.K: 5.7 ●India: 1.8 The west has no right to lecture India on Climate Change. #HowDareYou — Vivekk | विवेक | বিবেক | விவேக் | (@oyevivek...

This letter is primarily intended for students of the BS-MS program at the Department of Earth Sciences, IIT Kanpur, but I am putting it up on a public platform in case it may help others too. ---- Hi all, I wrote a post earlier suggesting some perspectives before you make career choices. The general lack of appreciation for Earth Sciences in our country (and maybe other countries too, I wouldn't know) can be problematic to someone who's set out on this path but is unsure why or where it's going to lead. It doesn't help that there is so much noise all around us ( foreign interns! placements! startups! Netflix!! ), it can easily drown out any feeble indications of where our interests truly lie. And 2 or 3 years of exposure to a discipline may not give you enough conviction to pursue it seriously. When you choose a career, you should consider what your career would offer to you in terms of  your  vision for your life. Some careers allow you to earn ...

← Part I: Greenhouse Gases Man or nature? The Question Previously , we saw that anthropogenic emissions are causing global warming and climate change. But how do we know they are the main cause of climate change? How do we know that modern climate change is indeed caused by mankind? Scientists who study past climates on our planet have discovered large climatic variations in the Earth's past. For example, temperatures in several places were 5 - 12  o C higher than today, around 55 million years ago. If the Earth could show such large variations with no humans present on it, how can we be sure that the climate change we see today is caused by humans? After all, modern climate change has only caused a change of about 1  o C so far (on average). What if modern climate change is simply natural? The Answer Scientists can simulate the climate system using computer models. We can compare results from climate models with actual meteorological obser...

Mr. Deb, I recently read two of your articles on LiveMint (sources below),  and forgive me for being blunt, but please stop spreading lies . I am not concerned with your opinion of Greta or your faux concern over the child. While you write catchy headlines supposably fixated on Greta Thunberg, your actual attacks are on climate scientists and the IPCC. I'm not the first person to point out your ignorance and prejudice in this matter. I laud Bibek Bhattacharya and Krishna AchutaRao for taking the initiative with their pieces. This is my contribution to cleaning the mess you're making by being a reckless and irresponsible voice in the climate conversation. Here are my replies to 5 of your most vitriolic statements: (1) "IPCC has just released another doomsday scenario. Since bad news sells, it's made headlines." The IPCC does not release doomsday scenarios. IPCC predictions provide estimates of what could happen under specific future scena...

This letter is primarily intended for students of the BS-MS program at the Department of Earth Sciences, IIT Kanpur but I am putting it up on a public platform in case it may help others too, and in case others may chip in and contribute to the discussion. I am writing this, not because I think I am the best person to advise you, but only to start this discussion. I hope you will discuss anything I say further with other, more experienced people. ----- Hi all, Some of you are making choices towards your futures right now. Some of you will choose to exit Earth Sciences after your undergraduate degree. And some of you may already have plans of how to do so. Indeed, there are numerous options available - since you are at an IIT, you are in a reasonably good position to land a job in other sectors such as banking or data analytics or coding. You may also consider preparing for a UPSC exam or getting an MBA after this. This post is not intended to criticise any of those...

Mr. Aiyar, I recently happened to read a post on your blog, Swaminomics.  Source In your post, you call out the developed nations for having caused the climate crisis. You mention how the Indian annual per capita carbon emission (1.7 metric tonnes) is much lower than that of Sweden (4.5 metric tonnes). You also point out how more than 90% of the historical emissions have come from western countries and Japan. You quote Kirit Parikh that India will never emit more carbon per capita than the West. You are absolutely correct about all of these data. The rest of the post discusses coal production in India (and I have no comments on that). With all due respect, Sir, you are apologising to the wrong person . There are several metrics that any climate conversation can focus on. There may be 5 different ways to assess who puts the most CO 2  in the air, but I ask you this - do we have a problem with more CO 2  in our air or do we have a ...

← Climate Change: The Fundamentals The Greenhouse Gases Note: This article is meant for anyone with a high school background in science. The Greenhouse Effect The Greenhouse Effect describes the ability of some materials to trap heat. One simple example - have you noticed that the inside of a parked car (windows rolled up) gets hotter if you leave it out in the sun? The outside temperature may be warm in the first place, but after an hour or two, the inside of the car often feels like a veritable furnace. Why? The glass windows trap heat inside the car. Another example is the concept of greenhouses (well..!). Greenhouses utilise this concept to keep the insides warm enough for more comfortable plant growth even in cold climates. The Greenhouse Gases (GHGs) For both the car and the greenhouse, the glass in the windows and doors acts as the greenhouse material that traps the heat. For the Earth, it is the presence of certain gases in the atmosphere. The idea may see...