DONE BY APARNA P

On June fifth, we celebrate World Environment Day. According to

Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, “we have to rebut the

myth that there is conflict between economic and environmental health.”

This year’s WED focus is on small island states. While small island states barely produce any greenhouse gasses, they are at the forefront of the battle against climate change. Many of these islands suffer the brunt of increasingly severe storms and some of them may soon disappear completely if sea levels continue to rise. “Raise your voice, not the sea level,” Ban declares in his message for the day. “Planet Earth is our shared island. Let us join forces to protect it.”

WHY UN DECLARED THIS YEAR TO PROTEST PLANET EARTH AND IT’S SHARED ISLANDS

In light of the future impacts of climate change, Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are faced with several water distribution and sourcing challenges. Ironically, SIDS such as Papua New Guinea are extremely water rich.

As a result of the ‘brain drain’ and limited funding for knowledge building and sharing in the country, information on climate change and its impacts within the local community is lacking.

WHY………….

What is global warming?Global warming is a potential increase in the temperature of the earth’s atmosphere caused by the green house effect.

THE PRESENT SITUATION

Climate change is overwhelmingly viewed as a foreign-induced influence and as such, the international community should be responsible for addressing and understanding it. While there is a certain level of validity to this in that these islands are the least responsible for climate change (while they are the most affected), the urgency of the issue requires action on all parts of the spectrum – not just from the international community. It is imperative that mitigation is advocated through a grand reduction in global greenhouse gas emissions by developed countries, but at the same time, adaptation strategies to the inevitable and current climate change effects requires action by all key players (including the local community) in order to be sustainable.

As water gets warmer, it takes up more space. Each drop of water only expands by a little bit, but when you multiply this expansion over the entire depth of the ocean, it all adds up and causes sea level to rise. Sea level is also rising because melting glaciers and ice sheets are adding more water to the oceans.

For millions of years,gases in the earth’s atmosphere have trapped sufficient heat from solar radiation to sustain life. However an increase in human activity may now be raising levels of ‘green house gases’such as co2 ,so that excess heat is trapped in.

Global warming ;causes sea levels to rise. As carbon-dioxide traps more heat on the

planet, the oceans get warmer and expand in volume.

Second, ice caps in Greenland and Antarctica as well as other glaciers start melting, pouring more water into the oceans. Once these processes get underway, they won't stop quickly, even if we ceased putting carbon-dioxide into the atmosphere tomorrow.

The NCAR paper estimated that if emissions go unchecked, we could warm the planet 4°C over pre-industrial levels by 2100, causing sea levels to rise between two and five feet. By contrast, if we get really proactive at cutting emissions, we could probably keep the temperature increase below 2°C. But sea levels would still rise by between 11 inches and 3.5 feet. (The wide range is due to the uncertainties in modeling the behavior of glaciers and ice sheets—if the ice sheets destabilize, a bigger rise is possible.) That's progress, but not total victory.

DUE TO GLOBAL WARMING RISE IN SEA LEVEL

What's happening now? Average sea level around the world has been rising for many years. In this graph, the shaded band shows the likely range of sea level, which depends on the number of measurements and the methods used at different times. 

Over the past 100 years, the average sea level around the world rose by nearly 7 inches. Did you know that sea level can change by different amounts in different places? 

What will happen in the future?

If people keep adding greenhouse gases to the atmosphere, the average sea level around the world by the end of this century (the year 2099) could be anywhere from 7 to 23 inches higher than it was in 1990. Sea level could rise even more if the big ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica melt faster.

Why does it matter? Rising sea level is a

threat to people who live near the ocean. Some low-lying areas will have more frequent flooding, and very low-lying land could be submerged completely. Rising sea level can also harm important coastal ecosystems like mangrove forests and coral reefs.

Impacts of Sea Level Rise During the 20th century, global sea level rose by roughly seven

inches. In a particular location, the change in sea level that is observed will

be affected by the increase in global sea level as well as land movement up or down. The motion of land can be caused by melting ice or tectonic movement. The terms "local" or "relative" sea level refer to both the global change in sea level and the effects of motion.

Where the land mass is sinking, relative sea level rise rate is larger than the global rate. Some of the fastest rates of relative sea level rise in the United States are occurring in areas where the land is sinking (or “subsiding”), including parts of the Gulf Coast. For example, coastal Louisiana has seen its relative sea level rise by eight inches or more in the last 50 years,  which is slightly faster than twice the global rate. Subsiding land in the Chesapeake Bay area is also projected to worsen the effects of relative sea level rise, increasing the risk of flooding in cities, inhabited islands, and tidal wetlands. 

DO YOU KNOW?*Melting glaciers are giving rise to new lakes in Himachal Pradesh!*World’s marks hottest June since 1880 :us scientists.

DO YOU KNOW?*Melting glaciers are giving rise to new lakes in Himachal Pradesh!*World’s marks hottest June since 1880 :us scientists.

WHAT IS TO BE DONE Capacity building will have a large part to play in this.

Institutions in SIDS need well-educated and skilled manpower, work tools and favorable institutional environment to implement the objectives for which they have been established.

In addition to ‘doing’, the institutions also need to be able to conceive new ideas to sustain life and to bring about purposeful change. This can only be assured through streamlined capacity building of the institutional manpower, which requires additional funds and time for projects.  Unfortunately, donor agencies and countries that are interested in fast results often disregard this.

SIDS must improve the performance of the public sectors if they are to achieve their goals of reducing poverty, accelerating economic growth, and providing better services to their citizens.

Achievement of such improved performance will require countries to complement any reforms and projects with sustained acquisition of knowledge, skills and capability needed by an institution in its core activities to effectively manage change.

WHAT IS TO BE DONE

WHAT I S TO BE DONE Finally, there is so much that needs to be

done in order to improve water sourcing and distribution throughout the whole world – whether a developing island country or not, particularly as the effects of climate change actualize. But a radical change in behavior is key. Developed and developing countries alike need to address behavior change as pertinent to long term sustainability and capacity building will have a significant part to play in this.

Can ants save earth from global warming?Ants may be cooling the Earth by helping trap carbon dioxide from the environment, a new study has claimed.

“RAISE YOUR VOICES It’s a peak time”

SMALL ACTIONSBUT MAKES ,BIG CHANGES

SAY NO TO Single-use Plastics for Good

Support Sustainable Enterprises

SAY NO TO FOOD WASTAGE

IF YOU HAVE NOT RAISED

YOUR VOICE ,DO IT NOW

TOGETHER WE CAN PLEDGE FOR A,

SAFE AND PROTECTED PLANET