Monday, February 16, 2009

An Inconvenient Truth

You can go home again...... as long as you understand that home is a place where you never have been

- Ursula Le Guin

Today marks the 4rth anniversary of the Kyoto Protocol. As we continue to grapple with issues such as global warming, emission control and carbon credits to name a few, I wanted to showcase some very powerful illustrations that depict our current standing and where we are headed.

A divided world




Fragments of disaster

(History of changes in the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide taken for direct measurements made in Mauna Loa, Hawaii since 1958.)


(Shows the timescales over which emitted carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere. Mixing in the biosphere and oceans remove 70-85% of emissions after 200 years, but the remainder establishes a new equilibrium that may persist for hundreds of thousands of years.)

Slayers-in-arms



Closing Statements - 12:39 PM IST, February 16, 2009

World Population 6,749,524,000

Number of people born 3300

Number of people died 2000

600,000 tonnes of CO2 have been emitted.

Footnotes

The Kyoto Protocol - Full Text

Inputs & Graphical Representations from Global Warming Art

Other Inputs from

Wikipedia,

Earth Communications Office,

Breathing Earth; and

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

23 comments:

  1. That was a very thoughtful post and more importantly timely! two weeks back, Dr R K Pauchauri was here in the campus to give a talk on the global climate change.. But it is disastrous to know that developing countries are the one that are more subjected to these ill-effects of growth as US and other European countries chose India to establish their industries, and polluting our country, while we give a red carpet welcome to those people who invest in India,

    of course we can't deny industry and technology all together but some efforts should be taken on our part (country's and every individual's) to preserve, protect and not pollute and more importantly conserve enough for the generations to come....

    ReplyDelete
  2. Climate change as it goes is a very controversial topic...with each lobby presenting evidence to substantiate their claims...

    its got things to do with global economics and politics :)

    anyway, checks and balances are always welcome, Rak

    wishes,
    devika

    ReplyDelete
  3. Yeah Totally true!
    Sadly its technology we have to sacrifice to leav esomething for the future generations.
    Hopefully Mars is a possibility!
    There's already too much GAS here!
    :D

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hey !! Nice post..this is what I call life is about..
    Am delighted to be adding you as a friend..

    ReplyDelete
  5. greed and short term egocentrism have much to answer for...
    thought-provoking post.

    ReplyDelete
  6. It is an informative post. Change is something we can’t stop fully globally, but each step we take carefully could turn better the situation. We give more importance to economic and least to its adversary effects created. We are developing by destroying something to future.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Too bad with statistics !!! The only thing I understood was that we all are in danger !!!

    ReplyDelete
  8. hey this is by far the best post specially coz it conveyed a lot of imformation which normally i woundnt have bothered to go through

    ReplyDelete
  9. Trust that the red part of the first map will change colour with the new president!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Very nice...
    Darwin said.."how does thought a mere liquid became more important than gravity the greatest force on earth..?"
    when will we all remember again that great connection...
    that which connects earth to thought...and both are of the same matter..living and non living in the dancing chain..
    wishes
    take care..

    ReplyDelete
  11. Bharath

    Thanks very much! Dr. Pachauri is a world authority on Climate Change and also heads the IPCC!

    Regarding the post, yes, I made it in such a way that it showcased current happenings which to many of us is surprising!

    Time to think and act!

    Cheers

    Rakesh

    ReplyDelete
  12. Devika Chechi

    Yes, Climate Change is a very controversial area, one that is puzzling, intriguing and often uninteresting!

    Hopefully, the world should take a collective stance on this issue and do something rather than just talking!

    Cheers

    Rakesh

    ReplyDelete
  13. Vivek

    Mars is surely a possibility! And then ther'll be Martians ;)

    Cheers

    Rakesh

    ReplyDelete
  14. Actve

    Thanks for visiting my space and leaving me a very informative link! Will trackback!
    Do keep visiting!

    Cheers

    Rakesh

    ReplyDelete
  15. Rahul

    Thanks very much for visiting my space and leaving me an appreciative comment!
    Also, thanks much for adding me to your list!

    Do keep visiting!

    Cheers

    Rakesh

    ReplyDelete
  16. Polona

    Indeed, greed and short term egocentrism have much to answer for...but hopefully its not too late!

    Rakesh

    ReplyDelete
  17. Jeevan

    Thanks very much! Right you are when you say "each step we take carefully could turn better the situation."
    Respect your thoughts!

    Cheers

    Rakesh

    ReplyDelete
  18. Vimmuuu

    Yes, we are in danger....grave danger! Hopefully we will set right things for our children to live well!

    Rakesh

    ReplyDelete
  19. Rakesh

    Thanks very much! I'm glad this post appealed to you!

    Cheers

    Rakesh

    ReplyDelete
  20. Peter

    Hopefully, the new President does something about it and soon!

    Cheers

    Rakesh

    ReplyDelete
  21. MIP

    Thanks very much! And also for sharing Darwin's statements

    Cheers

    Rakesh

    ReplyDelete