W7i7

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was established in 1988. It produced its First Assessment Report (FAR) in 1990. 3 decades later, much remains to be learnt from this superannuated report. To remind the reader, in the last 30 years we got computers, mobile phones, internet, smartphones and smart TVs. India saw 6 different Prime Ministers and 7 different Presidents in this time span. There were 8 ICC World Cups; India defeated Sri Lanka to win one of these. 1990 was 4 years before Andaz Apna Apna; in fact, it was the year when Sri Devi got an award for Chaalbaaz . Titanic was still 7 years away; The Matrix, 9. You may also look towards your own life to remember what the last 30 years meant, but I believe the point is quite clear -- 1990 was a long, long time ago. In this 3-part series (one for each Working Group), I take a very cursory look at the First Assessment Report (FAR). The aim is not to delve into technical details, for which I hope you will explore the orig...

  पिछले लेख में मैंने चार सवाल सामने रखे थे जो जलवायु परिवर्तन के किसी भी चर्चा की बुनियाद हैं: क्या है "जलवायु परिवर्तन"? जलवायु परिवर्तन समस्या क्यों हैं? जलवायु परिवर्तित क्यों हो रही है? इसके क्या समाधान हैं? इस लेख में मैं जलवायु परिवर्तन से संबंधित एक समस्या की चर्चा करना चाहती हूँ -- बढ़ता तापमान। इस लेख के लिए मैं जबलपुर शहर का उदाहरण दे रही हूँ। जलवायु परिवर्तन "समस्या" क्यों है? जलवायु परिवर्तन जबलपुर शहर के लिए एक "समस्या" क्यों है, ये समझने के लिए इस रेखाचित्र (graph) को देखें।ये रेखाचित्र जबलपुर का औसत तापमान दिखाता है। 2015 तक का तापमान नीले व लाल रंग में दिखाया गया है (दो अलग-अलग dataset दर्शाए गए हैं)। 2015 के आगे का तापमान पृथ्वी के वायुमंडल में greenhouse gases की मात्रा पर निर्भर करता है। यदि ये मात्रा तेज़ी से बढ़ती रहेगी तो 2100 तक औसत तापमान 4.4 डिग्री बढ़ सकता है। इसका मतलब है कि जबलपुर का वार्षिक औसत तापमान (जो कि आज लगभग 26 डिग्री है) 2100 तक लगभग 31 डिग्री हो सकता है। यदि greenhouse gases की मात्रा नियंत्रित हो गयी तो औसत तापमान ल...

The scientific journal Science Advances recently published an editorial entitled " Virtual meetings: A critical step to address climate change ". It highlights the importance of cutting down on unnecessary travel and substituting it with online alternatives. The article has particular appeal for academics: "As individual scientists, we are accustomed to working toward long-term goals. We invest decades in our training, and many of us conduct research programs that require decades to come to fruition." Long-term thinking is a key element to climate solutions. After all, a sprint and a marathon require different training, preparation and strategy. But it is not that long-term thinking is restricted to scientists, it is just that the journal targets a scientific audience. The article also reminds us that most of us (scientists or not) do employ long-term thinking perhaps without even realizing it. "Similarly, in our personal lives, most of us avoid smoking, try to...