Tiny island with a global warning

The island, part of a chain called the Sundarbans, was first settled by farmers in colonial times when the authorities decided to expand rice production to feed the multitudes in the city of Calcutta.

But when I visited Ghoramara there was powerful evidence that soil erosion caused in part by farming and the rising surrounding sea level caused by global warming were gradually making the island disappear.

...The factors which are impacting on food production include soil erosion caused by intensive farming, and global warming which could reduce the yield of staple grains or make weather patterns less predictable for farmers.

..."In terms of the basic cereals like rice, wheat and maize, we probably need 50-60%t more production by, say, 2030", warns Mark Rosegrant of the International Food Policy Research Institute in Washington.

Earlier coverage: Rising sea levels engulfing Indian world heritage islands

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Tiny island with a global warning

From a Rapt Audience, a Call to Cool the Hype

Apparently while scientists are applauding the attention Al Gore is bringing to the issue of global warming, they're (some of them) concerned about the little details and wish he would cool the hype. It's not clear whether this article is the typical bashing that's been aimed in the direction of Al Gore and his movie An Inconvenient Truth, bashing that says he's full of bunk or that there is a legitimate debate going on. The article is in the mold of cover the controversy which is the tactic used by, for example, those pushing the Intelligent Design concept to establish some credibility for themselves when very few scientists buy into those ideas. By covering the debate the news media helps to establish in the publics mind that a debate exists when the debate may not be very strong or well thought of.

The statements sound very nice ... that they're concerned Al Gore is going "beyond the science". That's a real and legitimate concern alright. Would Al Gore, in the quest for publicity, go to creating a controversy to help him ride the wave of publicity? I don't know about that, but what I do know is there's an alarming series of news articles I've seen about environmental problems. Problems that threaten the survival of all of us, and are scary enough in consequence that we should be thinking of solutions now rather than debating. The solutions for the problems unfolding before us will take years to have a serious effect, making time of the essence.

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From a Rapt Audience, a Call to Cool the Hype

Climate Change vs Mother Nature: Scientists reveal that bears have stopped hibernating

Bears are supposed to hibernate in the winter, right? That's what we were told as school children, etc. Climate Change vs Mother Nature: Scientists reveal that bears have stopped hibernating discusses changing habits of brown bears in Northern Spain. They are most decidedly not sleeping off the winter any longer.

The article describes that since the temperature has risen the bears are now finding it energetically worthwhile to make the effort to stay awake and hunt for food.

The article reports researchers with La Fundación Oso Pardo who have been tracking bear habits in Spain, and have been seeing clear signs over the years of bears remaining awake through the winter.

Rising sea levels engulfing Indian world heritage islands

Rising sea levels engulfing Indian world heritage islands concerns islands in the Sunderbans that are being submerged by rising water levels. Where are the Sunderbans? Glad you asked because I didn't know until reading this article...

The article describes these as being islands in the Ganges river delta, an area shared between India and Bangaladesh. There are 102 islands, officially, in the group. There would be 102 islands except unfortunately 2 of the islands have gone missing. The two missing islands were home to 10,000 people, and all told there are 1.8 million people living on these islands.

This river delta made for one of the more alarming scenes in An Inconvenient Truth (DVD). While discussing the possibility of ocean levels rising are shown dramatizations of the effects of a 20 foot sea level rise in several locations, including the Ganges river delta. All told there are over 100,000,000 people who would be affected just in that one area, largely because that is one of the most overpopulated areas in the world. Another of the dramatizations pictured my home area, Silicon Valley.

The environment is not waiting for George Bush to leave office.

UPDATE: Further coverage from The Independant (London) The time is now. Disappearing world: Global warming claims tropical island this article refers to this event as the first recorded disappearance of an inhabited island. The island is so remote that researchers didn't learn about its disappearance for a couple years. Now some neighboring islands are also in danger of being swallowed by the ocean and all told 75,000 people are in immediate danger of being made homeless as their islands are swallowed.

There are no more Snows of Kilamanjaro

Climate Change Melts Kilimanjaro's Snows ... in An Inconvenient Truth one of the factoids Al Gore mentions is the melting of the glaciers at the peak of Mount Kilamanjaro and some neighboring mountains. One of my co-workers was born in Kenya and last year he made a special trip there so he could climb that mountain one time before the snow on the mountain disappears.

These retreating glaciers are part of a global pattern of long-standing mountain-top glaciers disappearing.

This is first a clear indication of global warming. Beyond that it is threatening the societies that grew over millennia around those mountains, their lives relying on the water melting off those glaciers. Once the glaciers are gone, how can those people grow their crops, have water to drink, etc?

Gore urges scientists to warn public about global warming

Gore urges scientists to warn public about global warming discusses a speech given by Al Gore to the American Geophysical Union in which he repeats his call for more awareness and urgency to solve the problems of Global Warming. He described television as the cause for the apathy over global warming in this way: "The well-informed citizenry has become the well-entertained audience ... The age of print that began with Gutenberg essentially ended."

An Inconvenient Truth

Interview: Al Gore explains how you can fight global warming

Interview: Al Gore explains how you can fight global warming: Is an interview of Al Gore about what people can do to decrease their carbon emissions, and steps individuals can take to fight global warming. An Inconvenient Truth