IITs join hands with CSE to set up climate research network
A website helps people observe and understand nature while gathering scientific data
by Sumana Narayanan
If there is a neem or jamun tree in your backyard, check it regularly and note down when they flower and fruit. You may soon realise you are collecting data for scientific research.
The National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), a research body in Bengaluru, plans to rope in people for creating an online database on the lifecycle of various plant species across the country and on the influence of climate change on them.
Today the threat of climate change is real and urgent. And to prevent the catastrophic impacts the world needs drastic reductions in the greenhouse gas emissions. Any solution or roadmap must be based on the well-entrenched principles of equity, historical responsibility and common but differentiated responsibility.
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Visiting the US, one thing came home to me: the country has very little political will to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Policy makers and media professionals talk about the climate change crisis. But any opinion on cutting emissions, based on historical or even current responsibility, is just dismissed. The public perception, seemingly carefully nurtured, is it is runaway pollution in China and India that will devastate the world. Indeed, talk about serious action by the US is hushed up, for it will play into the hands of the Republicans.
Somebody recently asked me why India supported the Copenhagen Accord. It is correct to say that the proposed accord has no meaningful targets for emission reduction from Annex 1 (industrialized countries). Global emissions will increase or reduce at best marginally.
This is a new book from Centre for Science and Environment that attempts to demystify the subject through a set of comprehensive and concise factsheets. A one-stop storehouse of information on climate change, as it is an aid towards understanding and appreciating the danger that stares us in the face.
Price: Rs 340.00 (USD 14)
Pages: 107