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I have chosen this image because this shows the destructive path man has chosen to walk on and its result,i.e,our extinction.
A sustainable world:
A sustainable world is one which can meet its needs without compromising the ability of the future generations to meet their needs.
My vision for a sustainable world :
My vision for a sustainable world is one where the world develops without endangering our resources and environment, and where everything is in balance , for example , the amount of carbon di-oxide produced and the number of trees producing an equivalent amount of oxygen; a world where there is clean,breathable air in every country and clean water and food is in abundance,and where governments work with the people to maintain this sustainable world.
A sustainable world would also use more sustainable energy sources , such as solar, wind , hydro , geothermal , and bio energy , as opposed to using non-renewable sources of energy.Though the cost of producing and using sustainable energy would be greater , it would greatly help the environment.
Sustainable energy:
Sustainable energy is energy that will never deplete.It is inexhaustible.
Energy sustainability can be achieved through improved energy conservation and efficiency.The energy sources used by us currently may meet our needs for now , but at the rate at which we're using these sources,we'll burn through them , leaving nothing behind for the future generations.Thus,people need to turn to sustainable energy for fulfilling their needs.
Enabling technologies for sustainable energy:
Heat pumps and thermal energy storage are technologies that can enable utilisation of renewable energy sources which would otherwise be inaccesible due to a temperature that's too low for utilisation or a time lag between when the energy is available and when it is needed.The heat pumps , while enhancing the temperature of the energy source also have the property of leveraging electrical power by using it to extract additional energy from a low quality source.
Thermal storage technologies allow heat or cold to be stored for periods of time ranging from hours to overnight to interseasonal and can involve the storage of sensible energy(by changing the medium's temperature) or latent energy(through phase changes of a medium , such as between water and ice).Types of storage for sensible energy include insulated tanks , borehole clusters and deep aquifers .Latent heat is typically stored in ice tanks.
Energy efficiency:
Moving towards energy sustainability will require changes not only in the way energy is supplied , but in the way it is used, and reducing the amount of energy required to deliver various goods and services is essential.Opportunities for improvement on the demand side of energy equation are as rich and diverse as those on the supply side , and often offer significant economic benefits.
Renewable energy and energy efficiency are sometimes said to be the "twin pillars" of sustainable energy policy. Both resources must be developed in order to stabilise and reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Efficiency slows down energy demand growth so that rising clean energy supplies can make deep cuts in fossil fuel use. If energy use grows too fast, renewable energy development will chase a receding target. A recent historical analysis has demonstrated that the rate of energy efficiency improvements has generally been outpaced by the rate of growth in energy demand, which is due to continuing economic and population growth. As a result, despite energy efficiency gains, total energy use and related carbon emissions have continued to increase. Thus, given the thermodynamic and practical limits of energy efficiency improvements, slowing the growth in energy demand is essential. However, unless clean energy supplies come online rapidly, slowing demand growth will only begin to reduce total emissions; reducing the carbon content of energy sources is also needed. Any serious vision of a sustainable energy economy thus requires commitments to both renewable energy and efficiency.
Climate change:
Climate change is a change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns when that change lasts for an extended period of time (i.e., decades to millions of years). Climate change may refer to a change in average weather conditions, or in the time variation of weather around longer-term average conditions (i.e., more or fewer extreme weather events). Climate change is caused by factors such as biotic processes, variations in solar radiation received by Earth, plate tectonics, and volcanic eruptions. Certain human activities have been identified as primary causes of ongoing climate change, often referred to as global warming.
Effects of climate change:
Even small increases in Earth’s temperature caused by climate change can have severe effects. The earth’s average temperature has gone up 1.4° F over the past century and is expected to rise as much as 11.5° F over the next. That might not seem like a lot, but the average temperature during the last Ice Age was about 4º F lower than it is today.
Rising sea levels due to the melting of the polar ice caps (again, caused by climate change) contribute to greater storm damage; warming ocean temperatures are associated with stronger and more frequent storms; additional rainfall, particularly during severe weather events, leads to flooding and other damage; an increase in the incidence and severity of wildfires threatens habitats, homes, and lives; and heat waves contribute to human deaths and other consequences.
Climate change in India :
Extreme Heat
| What we know | India is already experiencing a warming climate. |
| What could happen | Unusual and unprecedented spells of hot weather are expected to occur far more frequently and cover much larger areas.Under 4°C warming, the west coast and southern India are projected to shift to new, high-temperature climatic regimes with significant impacts on agriculture. |
| What can be done | With built-up urban areas rapidly becoming “heat-islands”, urban planners will need to adopt measures to counteract this effect. |
Changing Rainfall Patterns
| What we know | A decline in monsoon rainfall since the 1950s has already been observed. The frequency of heavy rainfall events has also increased. |
| What could happen | A 2°C rise in the world’s average temperatures will make India’s summer monsoon highly unpredictable.At 4°C warming, an extremely wet monsoon that currently has a chance of occurring only once in 100 years is projected to occur every 10 years by the end of the century.An abrupt change in the monsoon could precipitate a major crisis, triggering more frequent droughts as well as greater flooding in large parts of India. India’s northwest coast to the south eastern coastal region could see higher than average rainfall. Dry years are expected to be drier and wet years wetter. |
| What can be done | Improvements in hydro-meteorological systems for weather forecasting and the installation of flood warning systems can help people move out of harm’s way before a weather-related disaster strikes.Building codes will need to be enforced to ensure that homes and infrastructure are not at risk. |
Droughts
| What we know | Evidence indicates that parts of South Asia have become drier since the 1970s with an increase in the number of droughts.Droughts have major consequences. In 1987 and 2002-2003, droughts affected more than half of India’s crop area and led to a huge fall in crop production. |
| What could happen | Droughts are expected to be more frequent in some areas, especially in north-western India, Jharkhand, Orissa and Chhattisgarh. Crop yields are expected to fall significantly because of extreme heat by the 2040s. |
| What can be done | Investments in R&D for the development of drought-resistant crops can help reduce some of the negative impacts. |
Groundwater
| What we know | More than 60% of India’s agriculture is rain-fed, making the country highly dependent on groundwater.Even without climate change, 15% of India’s groundwater resources are overexploited. |
| What could happen | Although it is difficult to predict future ground water levels, falling water tables can be expected to reduce further on account of increasing demand for water from a growing population, more affluent life styles, as well as from the services sector and industry. |
| What can be done | The efficient use of ground water resources will need to be incentivized. |
Glacier Melt
| What we know | Glaciers in the northwestern Himalayas and in the Karakoram range - where westerly winter winds are the major source of moisture - have remained stable or even advanced.On the other hand, most Himalayan glaciers - where a substantial part of the moisture is supplied by the summer monsoon - have been retreating over the past century. |
| What could happen | At 2.5°C warming, melting glaciers and the loss of snow cover over the Himalayas are expected to threaten the stability and reliability of northern India’s primarily glacier-fed rivers, particularly the Indus and the Brahmaputra. The Ganges will be less dependent on melt water due to high annual rainfall downstream during the monsoon season.The Indus and Brahmaputra are expected to see increased flows in spring when the snows melt, with flows reducing subsequently in late spring and summer.Alterations in the flows of the Indus, Ganges, and Brahmaputra rivers could significantly impact irrigation, affecting the amount of food that can be produced in their basins as well as the livelihoods of millions of people (209 million in the Indus basin, 478 million in the Ganges basin, and 62 million in the Brahmaputra basin in the year 2005). |
| What can be done | Major investments in water storage capacity would be needed to benefit from increased river flows in spring and compensate for lower flows later on. |
Sea level rise
| What we know | Mumbai has the world’s largest population exposed to coastal flooding, with large parts of the city built on reclaimed land, below the high-tide mark. Rapid and unplanned urbanization further increases the risks of sea water intrusion. |
| What could happen | With India close to the equator, the sub-continent would see much higher rises in sea levels than higher latitudes.Sea-level rise and storm surges would lead to saltwater intrusion in the coastal areas, impacting agriculture, degrading groundwater quality, contaminating drinking water, and possibly causing a rise in diarrhea cases and cholera outbreaks, as the cholera bacterium survives longer in saline water.Kolkata and Mumbai, both densely populated cities, are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of sea-level rise, tropical cyclones, and riverine flooding. |
| What can be done | Building codes will need to be strictly enforced and urban planning will need to prepare for climate-related disasters.Coastal embankments will need to be built where necessary and Coastal Regulation Zone codes enforced strictly. |
Agriculture and food security
| What we know | Even without climate change, world food prices are expected to increase due to growing populations and rising incomes, as well as a greater demand for biofuels. Rice: While overall rice yields have increased, rising temperatures with lower rainfall at the end of the growing season have caused a significant loss in India’s rice production. Without climate change, average rice yields could have been almost 6% higher (75 million tons in absolute terms). Wheat: Recent studies shows that wheat yields peaked in India and Bangladesh around 2001 and have not increased since despite increasing fertilizer applications. Observations show that extremely high temperatures in northern India - above 34°C - have had a substantial negative effect on wheat yields, and rising temperatures can only aggravate the situation. |
| What could happen | Seasonal water scarcity, rising temperatures, and intrusion of sea water would threaten crop yields, jeopardizing the country’s food security.Should current trends persist, substantial yield reductions in both rice and wheat can be expected in the near and medium term.Under 2°C warming by the 2050s, the country may need to import more than twice the amount of food-grain than would be required without climate change. |
| What can be done | Crop diversification, more efficient water use, and improved soil management practices, together with the development of drought-resistant crops can help reduce some of the negative impacts. |
Energy Security
| What we know | Climate-related impacts on water resources can undermine the two dominant forms of power generation in India - hydropower and thermal power generation - both of which depend on adequate water supplies to function effectively.To function at full efficiency, thermal power plants need a constant supply of fresh cool water to maintain their cooling systems. |
| What could happen | The increasing variability and long-term decreases in river flows can pose a major challenge to hydropower plants and increase the risk of physical damage from landslides, flash floods, glacial lake outbursts, and other climate-related natural disasters.Decreases in the availability of water and increases in temperature will pose major risk factors to thermal power generation. |
| What can be done | Projects will need to be planed taking into account climatic risks. |
Water Security
| What we know | Many parts of India are already experiencing water stress. Even without climate change, satisfying future demand for water will be a major challenge.Urbanization, population growth, economic development, and increasing demand for water from agriculture and industry are likely to aggravate the situation further. |
| What could happen | An increase in variability of monsoon rainfall is expected to increase water shortages in some areas.Studies have found that the threat to water security is very high over central India, along the mountain ranges of the Western Ghats, and in India’s northeastern states. |
| What can be done | Improvements in irrigation systems, water harvesting techniques, and more-efficient agricultural water management can offset some of these risks. |
Health
| What we know | Climate change is expected to have major health impacts in India- increasing malnutrition and related health disorders such as child stunting - with the poor likely to be affected most severely. Child stunting is projected to increase by 35% by 2050 compared to a scenario without climate change.Malaria and other vector-borne diseases, along with and diarrheal infections which are a major cause of child mortality, are likely to spread into areas where colder temperatures had previously limited transmission.Heat waves are likely to result in a very substantial rise in mortality and death, and injuries from extreme weather events are likely to increase. |
| What could happen | Health systems will need to be strengthened in identified hotspots. |
| What can be done | Improvements in hydro-meteorological systems for weather forecasting and the installation of flood warning systems can help people move out of harm’s way before a weather-related disaster strikes.Building codes will need to be enforced to ensure that homes and infrastructure are not at risk. |
Migration and conflict
| What we know | South Asia is a hotspot for the migration of people from disaster-affected or degraded areas to other national and international regions. The Indus and the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna Basins are major trans boundary rivers, and increasing demand for water is already leading to tensions among countries over water sharing. |
| What could happen | Climate change impacts on agriculture and livelihoods can increase the number of climate refugees. |
| What can be done | Regional cooperation on water issues will be needed. |
What I will do to make my vision a reality:
OWSC
More than 80 percent of the population now resides in urban areas, a number that is projected to continue to increase. Cities and their suburbs account for a proportion of the urban economy far higher than their share of population. Urban areas have been associated with several environmental and social inequities, such as disproportionate levels of air and water pollution, loss of biodiversity, increased rates of poverty, and high rates of wealth inequity. Despite these problems, urban centers may have the potential to be more sustainable than suburban or rural areas. Through smart land-use planning, they can locally greatly reduce environmental impacts with lower per capital energy and water use.
Oceans comprise 97% of the Earth's water bodies. According to several surveys around 3 billion people reside within 200 kg of coasts and the numbers keep increasing everyday. They can tap ocean energy using the Oscillating Wave Surge More than 80 percent of the population now resides in urban areas, a number that is projected to continue to increase. Cities and their suburbs account for a proportion of the urban economy far higher than their share of population. Urban areas have been associated with several environmental and social inequities, such as disproportionate levels of air and water pollution, loss of biodiversity, increased rates of poverty, and high rates of wealth inequity. Despite these problems, urban centers may have the potential to be more sustainable than suburban or rural areas. Through smart land-use planning, they can locally greatly reduce environmental impacts with lower per capital energy and water use.
Oceans comprise 97% of the Earth's water bodies. According to several surveys around 3 billion people reside within 200 kg of coasts and the numbers keep increasing everyday. They can tap ocean energy using the Oscillating Wave Surge Converter (OWSC) device. This device extracts energy from the surge motion in the waves. These are generally seabed mounted devices in near-shore sites with water depth of 10-20m.
Using solar energy: Solar energy is most efficient type of renewable environment friendly energy.
Once brought, there is absolutely no cost to use it. It is renewable.
Problems: Not available during cloudy weather and at night.
Simple solution:- The energy harnessed can be stored in generators, of which 30-40% can be spent right away and the other 60-70% stored by night time or cloudy weather. The value depends on rainfall amount and latitude.
For example, a city like Cairo, which is at desert and near equator, only 55% can be stored for night, as it is rarely cloudy.
Another example can be the city of London, where in winter, only 15-20% can be used right away due to long nights of 16 hours and short days and cloudy weather.
Sustainable agriculture:
As the world's population is dramatically increasing every year, the demand for food and resources are continually growing as well. Therefore, we have to be able to replenish the resources we consume at an efficient and sustainable rate in order to create a balance between production and consumption. If immediate action isn't taken the world will run of out resources and food.For this,we have to create sustainable agriculture.
Sustainable agriculture is the production of food, fiber , or other plant or animal products using farming techniques that protect the environment, public health, human communities, and animal welfare. This form of agriculture enables us to produce healthful food without compromising future generations' ability to do the same.In contrast,industrial agriculture helps produces large amounts of food at low prices,but only by using methods which threaten the environment , human health and animal welfare.
The primary benefits of sustainable agriculture are:
Environmental preservation
Sustainable farms produce crops and raise animals without relying on toxic chemical pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, genetically modified seeds, or practices that degrade soil, water, or other natural resources. By growing a variety of plants and using techniques such as crop rotation, conservation tillage, and pasture-based livestock husbandry , sustainable farms protect biodiversity and foster the development and maintenance of healthy ecosystems.
Protection of public health
Food production should never come at the expense of human health. Since sustainable crop farms avoid hazardous pesticides, they're able to grow fruits and vegetables that are safer for consumers, workers, and surrounding communities. Likewise, sustainable livestock farmers and ranchers raise animals without dangerous practices like use of nontherapeutic antibiotics or arsenic-based growth promoters. Through careful, responsible management of livestock waste, sustainable farmers also protect humans from exposure to pathogens, toxins, and other hazardous pollutants.
Sustaining vibrant communities
A critical component of sustainable agriculture is its ability to remain economically viable, providing farmers, farm workers, food processors, and others employed in the food system with a livable wage and safe, fair working conditions. Sustainable farms also bolster local and regional economies, creating good jobs and building strong communities.
Upholding animal welfare
Sustainable farmers treat animals with care and respect, implementing livestock husbandry practices that protect animals' health and well-being. By raising livestock on pasture, these farmers enable their animals to move freely, engage in instinctive behaviours, consume a natural diet, and avoid the stress and illness associated with confinement.
Using social media to bring awareness:
Our environment is a shared resource, one that has increasingly been threatened by the rapid expansion of extractive activities to keep up with demands driven by consumerism and shaped by industry. Generally speaking, technology has given us the ability to change some of our behaviours and conduct “greener” business, but we’re still not keeping up with the pace of the environmental changes happening because of our overuse of resources. Social media has become an important tool for providing a space and means for the public to participate in influencing or disallowing environmental decisions historically made by governments and corporations that affect us all,and also for creating environmental awareness. It has created a way for people to connect local environmental challenges and solutions to larger-scale narratives that will affect us as a global community.
Social media can be used as a pressure point to prompt and encourage support during specific campaigns. For instance, Greenpeace targeted Shell Oil operations in the Arctic Circle, but used media such as YouTube to indirectly influence Shell partners, including Lego. Applying highly visible, public pressure to call for specific environmental changes has increasingly become a tactic of the environmental movement.
This is what the earth will look like if man continues to go down this destructive path.
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2 Comment(s)
WOW! What a comprehensive blog post - thanks for your comments! Can you please include your country name in your blog post so that other students and mentors know where you're from?
Thanks,
Carrie
nice one rithvik
Carrie Karsgaard
Sep 26, 2017