The Oath

PRESS CONFERENCE On Noise and Air Pollution at Mumbai Marathi Patrakar Sangh on 3:30 PM, Thursday, 18 October 2007 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Association of Medical Consultants, Marathi Vidnyan Parishad, Awaaz Foundation and Noise In Moderation Activists' of Mumbai, Thane and Pune - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

We are in the midst of Navaratri, having just celebrated Eid. Deepavali is just three weeks hence and it is the right time to share the joys of the festivities and take proactive measures to make it joyous for all. While we all celebrate the festivals, let us take the opportunity it offers us to see that we do not make them jarring to many who may like to enjoy the same in a quiet manner. Our festivities are getting celebrated with Noise in order to share the happy moments with everyone around, not realising that amidst us there are the babies, the children, the elderly and the aged and those who are unwell and of course the expectant mothers to be. Many of us adults too like to have a reasonably noise free celebrations. Along with the noise, which emanate essentially from bursting of fire crackers, we tend to pollute the air by bursting them excessively individually. Most of us get adversely affected by the excessively polluted air. Besides the normal commuting by personal motor cars, festivals also have considerable usage of personal motor cars, leading to constant traffic congestion, further leading to additional noise and air pollution. It is proposed by the active members of the Anti-noise Campaign that one way to get this message spread wide in the society is by making the school going students to take a suitable Oath. We would like all the media to carry a campaign against air and noise pollution, which we are going to carry out by asking every school/college to have the students take an oath, an oath that compels their parents, uncles and aunts to buy fire crackers for them, if at all, in moderation. Also to ensure that they will not use the motor car horn excessively if not entirely. The culture of celebrations with moderation must be resurrected in our society at all levels.The text of the Oath is as under:

We are young citizens of this great country. We are Proud Students of Our School We are Civil and are Caring towards the elderly, the infirm, babies and mothers to be. We take an oath that we will do everything that will keep our environment clean and pollution free. We will minimise or not burst fire crackers individually and there by reduce increase in Air and Noise pollution. We will not burst any fire crackers after 10 PM at all. We will ask out parents and all enthusiastic elders to help us in meeting our resolve. - - - - - - 2007 - - - - - -

*** Noise is not just nuisance but is Health Hazard *** More information on Noise: Visit websites: http://personal.vsnl.com/aspirations http://www.awaaz.org Send Noise Rule Violations to Police and to noise.in.moderation@gmail.com ....................................................................................................... .

Are petrol-powered cars to be banned by 2040?

Race to save the planet has resulted in the buzz for green tax, carbon free, non-nuclear electricity and now it is a bid to ban petrol-powered cars by 2040.

In the UK, the Lib Democrats have backed a drastic series of proposals to tackle climate change and this is one of them. They hope to turn Britain into a carbon-neutral economy within 40 years; proposals also include investing billions in the railways and pouring resources into renewable power to give Britain a network of non-carbon emitting electricity generators.

They are lined out in bullet points for you to ponder:

• Introduce green mortgages to encourage more environmentally friendly homes
• Charging lorries to use the UK’s roads in order to double rail investment, possibly creating a high speed line running north to south
• Boosting spending on flood defenses to respond to climate change
• Encouraging micro generation by paying a higher rate to producers who export energy to the National Grid
• Creating a climate change levy of £10 on domestic flights

The hammer seems to be hitting at car makers about emissions. They must concentrate on cars fueled by a hydrogen cell. This year Britain has been badly whip lashed by wild weather. From torrential rains to floods, the people have really suffered. They need better flood defense systems and a brake on the unpredictable climate, which seems farfetched… To combat the same, they claim that these proposals are a leap towards protecting the environment. However, is stability actually possible? Its unlikely people are going to vote for a party that is firstly going to raise taxes. At the rate, gasoline prices have been increasing; liquid gold will be excessively costly for most to afford by 2040. Probably petrol will not even reach many local stations around the world as oil deposits get totally depleted.

Is the ozone layer healing?

The yawning hole in Earth’s ozone layer has shrunk 30 percent in size compared to last year, according to new measurements made by the European Space Agency’s Envisat satellite. This has lead people to wonder whether the ozone layer could actually be healing inspite of the increasing global warming.

The hole in the ozone is not a hole in the literal sense because ozone still exists over the continent but significant amounts of the gas are destroyed in this area because of the temperature and presence of damaging gases such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). Chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, once widely used in spray cans and refrigerators, deplete the earth’s protective layer. The hole has been forming in the extremely low temperatures that mark the end of Antarctic winter every year since the mid-1980s. Generally the hole is biggest around late September. Ozone is a form of oxygen. Its protective qualities make life as we know it possible. It keeps out ultraviolet radiation, which is dangerous to humans and animals. Less protection could increase risks of skin cancer and cataracts and affect biodiversity, scientists say. Researchers are not certain if this year’s smaller ozone hole means the radiation-blocking layer is healing. One of the reasons put forward for the shrink is that this year’s ozone hole was less centered on the South Pole as in other years. This allows the cold air it to mix with warmer air, reducing the growth of the hole because ozone is depleted at temperatures less than -78 degrees Celsius.

Atmosphere is not a market place for sale of emissions

What is it that can save our earth from turning into a pressure cooker? Is it the carbon trading or carbon offsetting or carbon capping that would become the savior of mother earth? Think and you will get the answer. No matter when the question of global warming erupts anywhere and everywhere in the world, the options discussed are always the carbon trading for all those polluting nations that cannot just say no to their relentless emissions. But, just think, is it the real medicine for our ill earth, made sick by our continuous polluting and pumping of poisonous, dangerous and toxic gases that are warming the atmosphere and turning the earth into a pressure cooker?

We have no rights for either selling the atmosphere or polluting it. Even if the carbon-trading option clicks and succeeds, how much will the earth benefit from it? Will the pollution ever stop? No, it is only that richer culprit nations would excuse themselves from the not polluting the earth notion and enjoy a fruitful, blossoming and burgeoning economy, out of which only few dollars would be paid as ‘fine’ for polluting the atmosphere. Rest all the resurgence of the air would be left to the poor developing nations, who have their own economic and social problems and excuses for pumping the atmosphere with hazardous gases, citing need for development as the reason.

Who will then save the earth? Who will come to the rescue of the earth? Who will save the innocent wild creatures from the claws of a dragon in the form of climate change ready to devour them? Their food habits, migration, incubation, posterity, sexual habits have all changed to a significant extent, harming the natural food cycle, in turn endangering the living cycle.

Carbon trading or offset or capping would not solve the problem. We have no right of privatizing the atmosphere for our benefits. Atmosphere is not a market that can be traded in. The need of the hour is a curb on emissions and not excusing the culprits of environment with fines. Our earth, today, needs our help for sustaining life on it.

Are we ready?

Climate Change

Increase or decrease in the earth's temperature is a very natural phenomenon. But the temperature is increasing very steadily during last few decades and which is not a natural process. Green house effect is a major reason behind it. Large amount of emitted carbon dioxide, methane,nitrous oxide, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) are responsible for green house effect and because of which percentage of absorption of solar energy is increased and finally resulted in increase in earth's temperature and change in the climate.

What are the effects of climate change?

The major effects of climate change are seen and studied on the following heads:

• Increase of forest fire
• Melting of polar caps
• Increase in sea level

The solutions available for this problem are as follows:

• Use of CFL lights
• Use of non conventional energy resources
• Eco housing
• Avoid the maximum use of natural resources
• Use the automobiles which are consuming less fuel
• Use of public transport
• Water harvesting
• Use of bio fuels
• Try to reuse and recycle the non degradable material
• Grow native plants. Avoid exotic ones
• Less use of plastic
• Public awareness for this subject

Many of the NGO's working for the said problem. One of them is Centre for Social Markets (CSM). I mentioned the web link, please go through it and decide what we can do.

Act today to preserve our tomorrow.............

Web address of CSM: www.csmworld.org

Environment conservation is everybody's business

Hi all....... This is my first blog. While creating my blog I read about 'Blog action Day' and this year's theme 'environment' and got a good subject to start. Very good and appreciable initiative from blogger.com. As the title suggest this is our first step towards the environment conservation. We can conserve our environment in our day to day life without any major change in our lifestyle.

• Minimise the use of non degradable goods and increase the use of degradable goods.
• Don't throw plastic goods (especially non degradable goods) in the environment and dispose it in proper manner.
• Try to minimise the use of automobiles.
• Use non conventional energy resources like solar energy, wind energy
• Plantation : Promote the plantation activity by supporting it financially or by actual participation.
• Create an awareness among the people.

All these small steps will help to control climate change and conserve environment.