What the Earth would look like if all the ice melted

Fascinating video...Don't forget that 40% of world's population lives on coast today. That's a major relocation challenge as the coast shift inwards... 

Survival of the Great Barrier Reef Depends on Halting Warming |Video

Watch this video:


Survival of the Great Barrier Reef Depends on Halting Warming |Video

31% Budget Cuts at EPA (US)

31% budget cuts at EPA would mean

• 20% reduction in staff from a current strength of 15,000
• That would in turn make the agency less available to emergencies around various states
• Many R&D projects need to be canceled (cut by half)
• US is back to 2004 budget level
• 2010 budget was $10.3B compared to $5.7B now
• Clean air, water and climate change projects will be affected
• Superfunds, used for cleaning toxic sites, will be cut by 34%
• ....and more
• ...and more
• ....and some more

Read some good coverage here:

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/03/environmental-protection-agency-budget-cuts/


https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/15/us/politics/budget-epa-state-department-cuts.html?_r=0


http://www.newsweek.com/trump-budget-make-people-sick-epa-veterans-say-569637

Volkswagen pleads guilty in U.S. court in diesel emissions scandal

So, finally Volkswagen has come out in the open and pleaded guilty for the first time. This is a good gesture on their part as they see that odds are stacked against them and they are not doing any favors to themselves by not accepting it.


In fact, this has helped them cut the losses by about $15B.


http://www.reuters.com/article/us-volkswagen-emissions-idUSKBN16H1W4

Who's CO2 is it?

I was wondering the other day whose CO2 is it? I did some google search and of course wikipedia knew it. I am just amazed how much data is out there.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_carbon_dioxide_emissions


The top 10 countries are:


China, US, EU, India, Russia, Japan, Germany, Internation Shipping, Iran and South Korea.


Some quick observations:


1. China and US combined emit 44% of CO2. Now, that's quite an imbalance given that these two countries have 25% of global population. However, they contribute 40% to world economy. so, it appears there is a correlation to the contribution to world economy and contribution to CO2 emission.


2. Per capita emission for US is 16.1 ton which one would think will be the highest in the world but the middle eastern countries are beating that...Saudi Arabia is 16, UAE is 21.8, Kuwait is 24.4, Qatar is 39.7 and Oman is 17.5


3. 18% of greenhouse gases comes from cattles (there are 1.5B of them)


http://graphs.net/air-pollution-infographics.html


4. Look at the trend of how per capita emissions have changed over the years by country


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_carbon_dioxide_emissions_per_capita


Singapore has done very well for a developed nation.

Good TED Talks on Climate Change

Al Gore's talk filmed recently will surely rank at one of the highest:

https://www.ted.com/talks/al_gore_the_case_for_optimism_on_climate_change


He has delivered 4 talks between 2006 and 2016. Catch them here: https://www.ted.com/speakers/al_gore


Here is a full playlist for all inspiring talks related to climate change: https://www.ted.com/playlists/78/climate_change_oh_it_s_real

Some surprising facts...

Found this great article which lists 35 surprising facts about global warming...


http://www.conserve-energy-future.com/various-global-warming-facts.php


Here are some of my favorites (or should i say, concerning ones):

1. Fact # 3: If the sea level indeed rises by 7-23 inches by the end of the century, according to this business insider article, these islands will vanish. http://www.businessinsider.com/islands-threatened-by-climate-change-2012-10/#kiribati-1 .  Some names include the beautiful Maldives and Seychelles. Even Bangladesh will see disastrous effect.
2. Fact # 8: By 2040, Artic will have ice free summer!
3. Fact #15: About 100 million people live within 3 feet of sea level.

and more...which ones do you find disturbing?

Welcome

I am starting this blog to share the learnings and awareness around global warming. Awareness is the first step and if we all do our part, together, we can save the earth.