Top

US walks away: No-climate deal won't impact us, say scientists

Say no unanimity on the cause of rising temperatures.

Hyderabad: While US President Donald Trump is receiving global condemnation over exiting a deal which aimed to bring down global temperature, city-based scientists feel it won’t make much difference to the global climate.

They feel there is no unanimity among the scientific community over the impact of greenhouse gases. While the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) claimed a one degree Centigrade increase in global temperature, an analysis done through surface measurements’ method show only a 0.35 degree Centigrade increase.

Dr S. Jeevananda Reddy, who has been studying climate change since 1970, said that there were conflicts between reports by the surface measurements and the satellite measurements.

“A group of scientists across the world are emphasizing that the emission of greenhouse gases is leading to global warming. Another group is denying it and stating that the emission of carbondioxide is not the only cause behind global warming,” he said.

Explaining the greenhouse gas effect, he said, “The impact of the Greenhouse Gases is greater than 0.5 degrees Centigrade and the non-green house is less than 0.5 degrees Centigrade. Surface measurement involves the urban belt and it can measure the Urban Heat Island Effect but the satellite measurement covers even the rural belt and the remote areas. The impact of global warming led to 0.15 degrees C of increase in temperature and it is expected to rise by 0.3 degrees C more by 2100. This is clearly saying that global warming due to the emission of green house gasses is not a major cause of the increase in temperature.”

Mr Reddy said that climate change depended upon the climate cycle variations. “India has been recording rainfall since 1871. As per the climate cycle, in 60 years, half of India would have good climate and the other half will not have a good climate. Our research since 1976 proved that natural variability and human mistakes were leading to the increase in temperature. Initially scientists claimed that global warming caused the Uttarakhand floods in 2013, later it was proved to be due to human mistakes. Human mistakes were behind the floods in Hyderabad, Jammu and the floods in Chennai and Nellore. We should be more concerned about air, water and food pollution instead of the emission of carbon, which is a part of our lives,” he said.

Associate Professor from JNTU, V. Himabindu said that the emission of carbon was not the only cause behind global warming. “We have been working on a research on hazards by Fly Ash and we are expecting the report by the end of this month. Adopting renewable technology is the major alternative and disposal of fly ash is a major challenge ahead. We should concentrate on it,” she said.

Global warming

  • As per the estimations of IPCC and other agencies working on climate change, Countries across the globe is emitting 5,400 crore tonnes of green house gasses, of which 1/5 part is being emitted from the US.
  • The Paris Climate Agreement’s goal is to reduce the emissions by 4,200 crore tonnes by 2030. But, experts say that without US support, it won’t be possible.
  • China, which has stuck to the agreement, has closed more than 100 thermal power plants in 2016 and adopted renewable energy.
  • India is planning to introduce 40 per cent renewable power by 2030 apart from increasing forests to reduce 300 crore tonnes of carbon.
( Source : Deccan Chronicle. )
Next Story