Climate : will the young people pay the bill !?!?

Will the resources disappear ? Which are the social and economic consequences regarding the global warming ?

About those questions, the engineer and polytechnician Jean Marc Jancovici (who is also a member of scientific council of the Nicolas Hulot Foundation) tries to answer.

He announces to the teens that they are confronting, on the long view to the climatic change and at short term to the rise of the price of the barrel.

In fact, J.M. Jancovici tries to specify the environmental issues to the young generation, by explaining to a child the human impacts of his/her future life.
He gives especially a reflection about the consequences that would have those variations, an economic then a social disaster, if the children aren't more wise than their parents (have been).

According to the author, the climatic change is a doomsday, an irreparable processus. For example, we can notice the level of the sea is going to rise, the selling out of oil by reserting to the coal and gas to generate energy, that it raises the green house effect. Then, the rise of the price level would cause a social crisis.

However, simple modifications of behaviour in the life can only reduce the serious future disasters.

2009 Earth Hour

Yesterday, on Saturday March 28th at 8.30 PM, about one billion people all over the world was asked to switch off the light during one hour : the Earth Hour.

The action was to remember people that the fight against global warming is still relevant today.
With Sydney, Australia opened the Earth Hour by switch off the lights of its famous opera and bridge. From the Eiffel Tower to the Empire State building including the Gizeh Pyramids or the Acropolis, the most famous ancient monuments took part to this.
In few months, the international community is going to reconvene in Copenhague. There, countries' representatives will have to find solutions against gas emissions and global warming. They will deal with an extension of the Kyoto protocol which expires in 2012 too.

The 2009 Earth Hour is a symbol in ecology and now people must react.

Have a look on : http://www.earthhour.org/home/

Climatic Change Undervalued

According to an American and European study, published on February, 23rd, the risks of negative impacts of the climatic change onto the humans and the environment are all the more important that we thought few years ago.

Indeed, the ecosystems reveal a high sensitivity to the CO2 emissions and the intense futur events increase.

The Aral sea

We decided to speak a little more about water issues after the 5th World Water Forum. Water is such a main ecologic issue that we have to devote some time to it.
If you are really fond of the debate around water, just have a look on Don't touch to my water ressources ! http://eaumenacee.blogspot.com/

Now, let's talk about the Aral sea.

It is a continental sea astride Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan in which the rivers Syr-Daria et Amou-Daria used to flow. Unfortunately, since 1960's dams built by the Soviets stop the outflows of water. And now, the Aral sea is disappearing even if improvements have been done.

To fight against desertification, Uzbek agricultural engineers suggest to plant trees on the area created by the fallback of water. There is a double-acting goal:
plants stop the erosion and salt dispersal in the air
plants also absorb carbon dioxide and rejet oxygen
It is thought that one hectare of 4 years old saxaoul (a regional tree) can absorb 1158 kg of carbon and rejet 835 kg of oxygen!!

The future of the area is under-controlled of these trees because it seems to be the last solution the Aral sea and the population around it have to survive.

World Water Forum

The 5th World Water Forum took place in Istanbul, Turquey during one week.
Since 1997, it gathers countries each three years trying to find solutions to water issues. On March 09, the World Water Forum tried to answer to the problem of « Bridging Divides for Water ».

Water is one of the main issues in development in terms of ecology, energy but also human growth.
It is thought that the world population will increase from 6 to 9 billion about 2025 and it is necessary to provide safe water to every body.
And yet, most part of water is used in agriculture (70%) and industry (20%). These two activities create contamination and negative effects on the climate&on the earth.
Moreover, water is such a tense issue : there are many conflicts for it. Just an example : Washington blames Mexico to pollute the Rio Grande's water which constitutes a natural border between the 2 countries.

You can find other examples on arte website (it is in French).

http://www.arte.tv/fr/Comprendre-le-monde/L-eau-en-danger/2460324.html

During the WWF, Argentina&South America countries, Spain, France and others suggested to establish a water right. Unfortunately, they failed...

Water is an issue increasing with time, an explosive issue...

Canada is in big trouble...

Canada signed the Kyoto Protocol on April, 29th in 1998 and ratified it in 2002.

According to the protocol, Canada has to reduce its discharge of gas carbon : a decrease of 6% compared with the 1990's rate. But studies show the gas carbon didn't reduce at all.

On the website Environment Canada, figures are eloquent : Between 1990 and 2003, the gas discharge increased in all sectors except in Industrial Processes. Canada seems to be the dunce's cap of the Kyoto Protocol member countries.

Moreover, The Globe and Mail, a newspaper from Toronto, announced Canada is the industrialized country where the rate of greenhouse effect gas increases the fastest.

What a shame!! While its US neighbour, which even did not sign the protocol, shows best results !!
All that raise once again the difficulties to apply the Kyoto Protocol even for invested countries.