Image source: Pic by Neil Palmer (CIAT). Burning of rice residues in SE Punjab, India, prior to the wheat season. Wikimedia Commons A version of this article first appeared on Firstpost on Nov 10, 2019. Policy – follower not leader Policy is a manifestation of astute follower-ship, a balancing act, an act of judgement of …
Continue reading Why are we not solving the pollution crisis?
(A version of this piece first appeared in Firstpost on Apr 09, 2019) Last time we saw how the Indus Water Treaty (IWT) defanged the dam as a geopolitical source of advantage. But the more relevant question to ask is – will securing the Indus secure India’s water future? To answer that question, we need …
Continue reading Provision vs Management – the Eternal choice of the Indus Waters
Why did India deactivate its own hydro-disciplining tool against Pakistan? Travel from Partition, through the Cold War, China's takeover of Tibet, Drought to the signing of the IWT.
Something very unusual took place in 2014, that changed the course of the global economy. In June 2014, global oil prices began to fall. Brent Oil prices almost reached $115 in late June, and then began to fall precipitously. In early October 2014, with Brent prices about 20% lower at $90 per barrel, the PIRA …
Continue reading The fall of crude and the death of king coal
The climate change problem can be analysed using the prisoner's dilemma game. This is because there are winners as well as different types of losers in the warming world. My take: http://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/climaction-the-differentiated-impacts-of-climate-change/article6962958.ece But Europe is doing something very interesting indeed to impact the outcome: http://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/climaction-the-differentiated-impacts-of-climate-change/article6962958.ece Based on this, I believe action, quick and meaningful action on …
First, apologies for the long break. Source: Khalil Bendig, http://otherwords.org/climate-change-we-can-believe-in/ So, do we have a problem with a global warming? Pretty much everyone agrees that the world has warmed, and 97% of climate scientists agree that humans have caused it. Most of those also agree that it is going to get worse, and we should definitely …
Continue reading Who caused climate change (and who should act)?
So, last time we spoke about two ways by which cities around the world are coping with climate change: slum relocation and waste management - with different degrees of success. Today, let's discuss a big one: sea level rise. The sea has been rising faster in the last 25 years than it has in the …
Today let's explore what the world thinks of climate change: First, consider who is impacted by climate change: Now, let's look at what they think: In China: broadly believe climate change is ooccurring it is not good and the world as a whole should shoulder the responsibility of mitigation: http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2014/09/30/heard-in-the-hutong-global-warming/ In the US: The richer you …
Read this: great interactive map on several issues on climate change: whose affected, who contributed the most to cumulative CO2 emissions, who has the money etc. One thing stands out: the US has one of the highest CO2 emissions (both cumulative and current) and is least vulnerable. So what's the incentive to change? http://interactive.guim.co.uk/embed/kiln/carbonmap/index.html?header=hidden&v=201409230753#Historical Still: …
Climaction 