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Earth A Live: Focus on environment
The encroaching sea
During the twentieth century, sea level rose by 10-20 centimetres, more than half as much as it had risen during the preceding 2,000 years. If the earth’s temperature continues to rise, further acceleration is in prospect. The model used in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 2001 Assessment projects that sea level could rise by as much as 1 metre during the twenty-first century.
The most easily measured effect of rising sea level is the inundation of coastal areas. Donald F. Boesch, with the University of Maryland’s centre for environmental sciences, estimates that for each millimetre rise in sea level, the shoreline retreats an average of 1.5 metres. Thus if sea level rises by 1 metre, the coastline will retreat by 1,500 metres, or nearly a mile.
With a 1-metre rise in sea level, more than a third of Shanghai would be under water. For China as a whole, 70 million people would be vulnerable to a 100-year storm surge. The rice-growing river flood plains and deltas of Asia would be particularly vulnerable. A World Bank analysis shows that Bangladesh would be hardest hit, losing half of its rice production — the food staple of its 140 million people. At current rice prices, this would cost Bangladesh $3.2 billion. Residents of the densely populated river valleys of Asia would be forced into already crowded interiors. Rising sea level could create millions of climate refugees in Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam.
Coastal real estate prices are likely to be one of the first economic indicators to reflect the rise in sea level. People with heavy investments in beachfront properties will suffer most. A half-metre rise in sea level in the United States could bring losses ranging from $20 billion to $150 billion.
Many developing countries already coping with population growth and intense competition for living space and cropland are now facing the prospect of rising sea level and substantial land losses. Some of those most directly affected have contributed the least to the buildup in atmospheric CO2 that is causing this problem.
State of the World 2003
If we are going to reverse biodiversity loss, dampen the effects of global warming, and eliminate the scourge of persistent poverty, we need to reinvent ourselves — as individuals, as societies, as corporations, and as governments.
In State of the World 2003, the 20th anniversary edition of a Worldwatch classic, the Institute’s highly respected interdisciplinary research team argues that past successes — such as the elimination of smallpox and the encouraging drop in birth rates in many countries — prove that humanity is capable of redirecting itself in positive ways.
Most encouraging, the world is sitting on the cusp of similar successes that could usher in a sustainable human civilization. The use of clean, renewable energy technologies, like wind turbines and photovoltaics for example, is growing at over 25 per cent per year, and they are increasingly competitive with fossil fuels. Organic farming is the fastest-growing sector of the world agricultural economy, with the potential to rejuvenate rural communities from the Philippines to Sweden. And a quickening of religious interest in humanity’s place in the natural environment could awaken a powerful new constituency to the cause of sustainability.
The challenges are still immense, of course, as the book also documents, but the building blocks for a historic reinvention of human civilization are now within reach.
Award for special climber
Jamie Andrew, the Scottish climber who lost both hands and feet to frostbite in 1999, collected an award recently for the Swiss Summit, a joint climb by Indian and Pakistani Alpinists to promote protection of the environment and peace zones through sport and cultural links. The award was presented at the 2nd Global Summit for Peace through Tourism in Geneva by the International Institute for Peace through Tourism (IIPT).
Between August 24 and 29, 2002, a seven-member team climbed several peaks in the Swiss Alps, notably the Monch (4099m). Jamie Andrew showed that mountaineering is accessible to all.
The purpose of this IUCN-The World Conservation Union and the International Mountaineering and Climbing Federation (UIAA) supported climb was to underline the importance of protecting mountain environments. The climb also promoted the creation of transboundary protected areas, in particular for the Siachen Glacier between India and Pakistan, the scene of the longest running military conflict in the world.
Pollen problem in Islamabad
The main cause of respiratory allergy in spring season in the federal capital is the pollen of male plants of the Paper Mulberry tree and also the white mulberry tree.
Islamabad has been facing the problem for a long time, but the Capital Development Authority (CDA) is not willing for mass eradication of Paper Mulberry in the light of a report prepared last year by a joint committee of National Institute of Health (NIH) and Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS). The report neither suggested mass eradication, nor did it encourage further plantation, putting CDA in a state of uncertainty.
Pollen allergy develops into asthma in old people and causes death. Headache, running nose, pain in stomach and itchy eyes are common symptoms of pollen allergy. Many patients living in Rawalpindi-Islamabad leave their homes during this period.
A CDA official maintains that the general impression that Paper Mulberry was the only source of pollen allergy was wrong because pollen of other trees coupled with dust and fragrance also contributed a lot in spreading the allergy. The Environment Protection Council (EPC) concludes that eradication of Paper Mulberry trees would spoil the beauty of the capital and ruin its greenery.
Paper Mulberry is native to China and Japan where the inner bark has been used in making paper, hence the common name. In parts of the South Pacific and in Hawaii people have made cloth from the bark. In the United States landscapers use Paper Mulberry as an ornamental tree. In many areas it has become naturalized and grows wild, but only in warmer areas. The young twigs and branches do not tolerate severe winters.
The writer works in Communications for IUCN-The World Conservation Union, Pakistan
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