SOME CLARIFICATIONS ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE:

SOME CLARIFICATIONS ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE:

Recently I have received some questions from my teen daughter about climate change and what it actually means. I realized, many of us don’t really pay attention because we assume, this will happen sometime in the far future.
However, even within this year, here in Netherlands we have already experienced some interesting variations of weather patterns. Summer weather was in April this year, and currently when it is supposed to be summer, we have spring weather.
Therefore, I feel that as an expert in development and as an environmentalist, it is necessary to clarify the issue of climate change for our own sake.
Climate change refers to the change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over long periods of time (from decades to millions of years). The change may be in terms of weather conditions or change in the distribution of weather events. Eg. extreme weather or non occurrence of previous weather events. Changes may be for specific regions or globally , there are different processes that cause climate change: natural causes eg. Ocean currents, planetary movements, unnatural causes by human activities.
The atmosphere of earth planet consists of two layers namely the troposphere and the stratosphere.
The lowest layer (zone for weather and climate) is the troposphere. The higher layer –stratosphere- is the zone whereby there is high radiation energy from the sun, which reacts with oxygen forming Ozone – an important gas that forms a protection layer which shields living things from most of the sun’s harmful ultra violet rays that can also cause skin cancer.
To understand some of the mechanism of the climate system, we look at the positive and negative feedbacks.
As the sunlight hits the planet, some of the energy is reflected back. The amount of reflection (albedo) depends on the features of the earth surface. Forests and oceans have low albedos, while i.e snow covered surfaces have high albedos.
The ocean capacity to absorb and store the energy, postpones the fast increasing global warming. ‘Feedbacks can occur in a system when the interactions between it’s component processes respond to a change of conditions. The interaction can either augment the original change (positive feedback) or reduce it (negative feedback)’
Positive feedback eg.
Greenhouse gasses i.e (methane, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, ozone) emissions to the atmosphere causing an increase of global temperature leading to extreme weather changes i.e drought, damaging vegetation and reducing forest cover (absorbs CO2), adds to global warming.
Negative feedback eg.
Industrial pollution increasing sulphate aerosols (a collection of tiny liquid or solid articles dispersed in a gas, such as water droplets or dust in the atmosphere - inside or outside clouds) in the atmosphere, will have a cooling effect to the atmosphere.
Feedbacks lead to cumulative climate change eg. Oceans absorbing heat, leads to rise of sea level due to thermal expansion, the heat continues to warm the waters at deeper levels spreading wider distances i.e Artic, melting ice caps adds to the rising sea level causing multiple impacts i.e floods, death of humans, damaging heat sensitive biodiversity eg. Corals, economic loss.
Increased temperatures also leads to increased evaporation affecting the climate patterns, eg. Extreme precipitation and/or extreme droughts affecting different individual regions in different ways. Some of the impacts may have a high probability of occurring but with low hazards, and vice versa, causing changes on social variables i.e some crops/animals may not be able to survive in maximum temperatures and this will have an impact throughout the food chain.
Climate models have been used by scientists from 1979 to calculate the operational climate system while estimating the possible future climates.
However, climate science lacks the accurate recordings of past millenniums to compare with modern occurring changes thus it is difficult to know if the changes observed are a natural trend occurring over long periods of time or specific for post-industrial era.
Climate science uses sample measures eg. Rainfall measurements: ‘..even with 5 gauges, the total area over which the rain is sampled is less than one square metre’. The measurements might also be affected by wind speed/direction and/or presence of obstructions eg. Buildings.
The various stages of climate models include developing scenarios of future world population including the number, technology used, economic activities, energy uses etc. Then making projections i.e how much pollution will be caused by the population, calculate the concentration in the atmosphere, then calculating how this will influence the climate system in terms of weather elements e.g temperature, precipitation and other components including the state of the ocean, ice and vegetation cover. Lastly, climate models analyse likely impacts based on the model state of the climate system predictions.

(unfortunatelly scientific models couldn't be downloaded)


As observed, the uncertainty of climate science is based firstly on the limitation of sample data, methods of obtaining data and different interpretations made by scientists. Secondly, if even one condition within a scientific model changes eg. Energy used, positive and preventive checks and/or government policies promoting environmental sustainability, the projections made by a particular scientific model become invalid.
This is why recent projections for global temperature rise by climate models show a wide range of temperature (between 1.4 °C – 5.8 °C) over the period of 1990 to 2100.
More information can be found in the book ‘Changing environments’, Edited by Dick Morris, Joanna Freeland, Steve Hinchliffe and Sandy Smith

Why Recycling is important for environmental sustainability

Everyday that goes by, our Ecological footprint increases in strides. We have put an amount of focus on the damage caused by shipping industries, chemical industries etc. But we haven’t put enough focus on damage caused by unregulated dumping especially in developing countries.

Unregulated dumping are natural breeding places for mosquitoes, rats, flies and other beasts that are a source of multiple diseases including malaria, cholera, typhoid.
Also, rotting garbage emits greenhouse gasses that cause damage to the stratosphere as well as to our health. Many diseases of the lungs can be caused by poisonous gas emissions. Damage on stratosphere causes skin cancer.

Individuals can not control unregulated dumping. They depend on municipality and the governments to do their work.
Most individuals don’t understand the bigger picture and the long term health effects. Is it right that we should just let things slide? Shouldn't the municipality be held responsible for all the damage they allow to happen?
Sometimes it is easier, because our hands are tied in so many ways.........


Reported by www.ippmedia.com Saturday 17th October 2009
A woman washes her kitchen utensils near garbage surrounding her house at a Kigogo dumpsite in Dar es Salaam yesterday. The dump was reportedly closed by the Ilala Municipal Council but Omar Musa, a resident of the area, says garbage collection trucks still unload waste at the site.

W.I.F.E.S – Winning Initiatives For Environmental Sustainability:

W.I.F.E.S – Winning Initiatives For Environmental Sustainability:

Summary:
Under W.I.F.E.S several projects will be created. The main focus will be development of local communities and environmental sustainability promotion . relevant partnerships will be built.

Green Waters foundation believes everyone can make a difference. It is our aim to reach out to diverse groups and individuals who are not yet participating in development, so as to empower the development engine by more Green Energy (The people).

With more people involved in environmental sustainability initiatives, we will move a step forward towards achievement of UN Millennium development goal 1 – eradication of extreme poverty and goal 7 – Ensuring environmental sustainability.

The first project under W.I.F.E.S is creative recycling:
The short term goals for this project are:
- To raise awareness of environmental impact cause by our daily behaviour.
- Teach creative recycling skills
- To create product lines which use recycle materials
- To create outlets for the product lines

This project will be done in stages:

1. Creative recycling of waste:
We organise workshops that teach different ways of creatively recycling waste materials from households and various industries
2. Recycling Centres:
Waste collection centres that will also provide opportunities for internships, entrepreneurship and employment in sectors such as i.e cleaning & sorting of waste, recycling art workshops, awareness workshops, production.

3.Environmental sustainability awareness workshops:
Workshops offering various knowledge in environmental management.

We are currently on the first stage.


1.CREATIVE RECYCLING OF WASTE :
We started with creative recycling so as to transfer knowledge (capacity building) about different ways of recycling, that can have a positive impact on our household income and also on environment.
Our motivation is to reduce the ecological footprint (EF)
Ecological footprint:
Ecological footprint (EF) is an idea which was developed with a purpose to make people realise how their use of earth resources, limits the sustainability of the resources. Therefore, in the long run failure to reduce our EF will lead to the decline of the resources and the earth inhabitants won’t be able to survive or maintain existing lifestyles.
The earth is portrayed as a dome of which limited earth inhabitants and resources are trapped in. It is up to the inhabitants to learn the best ways of utilizing the resources in order to make them last longer and also to maintain the best quality and the possible renewal of the resources.

Our consumer habits impact environmental resources:
Examples:
1. The textile industry uses cotton as one of the main raw materials.
Cotton production requires use of large plots of land, and also use of pesticides. Most production is done in developing countries of which there is no regulation for use of pesticides such as DDT.
DDT is a highly poisonous pesticide and it’s use to kill insects that attack crops ensures a healthy crop.
However, DDT takes a long time o break down once it is sprayed on the grounds, during spraying the wind might blow the spraying to non targeted areas, and rainfalls carries DDT into rivers and other water sources used for human consumption and cause health damage i.e Poisoning, damage on the immunity system and Cancer.
2. The paper industry uses different kinds of trees for raw materials.
Trees are natural habitats for wild animals. Apart from providing living environment they are a main source for modern medicines.
They provide us with food and properties to make products such as sweets, chockolates, juices, hot drinks.
Other products made from trees are perfumes, food flavours,rubber, soaps, cosmetics, musical instruments, furniture, boxes, books and clothes.
Trees are used to capture greenhouse gasses emissions. This slows down global warming, which has caused extreme weather changes that have endangered human lives all over the world.

By extending the shelf life of products such as those made from the two examples we have discussed, we are reducing our ecological footprint.

Tired of old fashioned jeans? Recycle them into an inspiring product and make money from them!

Tired of receiving newspaper advertisements? Be creative, make splending products with low to zero investment costs.

Many examples can be found on google:

Background:
Habits are established from a young age, therefore family and communities are important in influencing children’s behaviour and developing future values.
The values that we learn early in life, also influence our environment and the way we act towards each other, and during the time of a crisis.

The current economic situation, has had a negative impact on household incomes. Job security is not as it used to be, many people are facing unemployment.
Governments are facing heavy burdens in health insurance and social welfare because more people can’t afford to pay taxes, and more businesses are going bankrupt. ...........

To read more about W.I.F.E.S visit our organisation website http://www.green-waters.org/

Ecological Footprint

The Ecological footprint of the world population is devastating when we look at the bigger picture.
We continue to analyse this based on categories of energy , water, natural resources,waste, transportation, pollution.
But whichever way we look at this picture, it comes down to one thing. We are all responsible.

Ecological footprint is currently a big issue, and the root for multidimensional problems including global warming and the resulting effects such as the changes on the weather/climate patterns, loss of plants biodiversity of which is a big significance on medical science etc
There are many problems resulting from the extremely high collective eco score of the world population (I'm sure we can all think of a few or research online).

Without a major change of human habits, environmental sustainability will continue to be just another academic subject and media hyper.

In my opinion, having community platforms to promote environmental awareness and creative green ideas that can be implemented at household levels, will have a positive influence on the mindset of the next generation.

Raising awareness should be a continuous non- isolated process.
Changed consumer habits will encourage producers to be more aware of their impact on the environment.
With consumers contribution, environmental sustainability could be the main price determining factor for the future.

Creative/innovative green ideas that are easy to implement on household level, can also be a way to save or earn extra money, and even become self employed.

Reducing EF is everyone's responsibility. It is a step by step progress that has to be sustained bottom -up and top-down.

Non sustainable hunting operations

Hunting Operations of the Ortello Business Company and their Impact on Maasai Rights, Wildlife, and the Environment

Few other African societies have been as romanticized and popularized by Europeans and Americans, while simultaneously neglected and underdeveloped, as the Maasai. Despite their image as ‘free and noble warriors,’ the Maasai have seen their grazing lands continuously reduced by colonial appropriation, the creation of national game parks, the steady incursions of agriculturalists, and most recently by the creation of private titles to individual ranches which are dividing the remaining land.
Prof. Elliot Fratkin, Ariaal Pastoralists of Kenya
In our Voices
This report explores the negative impacts on Maasai communities, wildlife, and their shared habitat of the Ortello Business Company, a United Arab Emirates hunting company operating in the Loliondo Game Controlled Area in northern Tanzania. A compilation of information gathered by the Maasai Environmental Resource Coalition (MERC), the report highlights environmental and human rights concerns, as well as the desperation of the Maasai people of Loliondo and adjacent areas in their efforts to be heard. The report calls for urgent action by the Tanzanian government and the international community to avert the looming ecological crisis in Loliondo. It also calls for a more in-depth, scientific examination of the important issues presented.
The experiences recounted herein are of those who have been most acutely affected–Maasai community members whose voices are so often neither heard nor heeded, like so many other indigenous peoples worldwide.
www.maasaierc.org