Global Warming – Ramana's Musings

Rains.

Global warming and Climate change are two terms interchangeably used and or used to establish a cause effect relationship. I am not very well versed in this phenomenon but something that has been happening this year makes me want to learn more about it, and rather than interrupt what I am in the process of learning now, I shall save it for the immediate post surgery period in October.

In Maharashtra in India where I live, the rains traditionally should have left with the Visarjan festival which was on the 11th inst. As I write this, it is raining cats and dogs and the photograph on top and the one below are of the rain’s intensity in my small garden today. Our press reports that the monsoon has not withdrawn as usual, and is expected to continue till the end of September.

My regular reader, known to other readers as Cheerful Monk, has had forest fire followed by flash floods which caused much damage to her property. The Eastern Sea Board of the USA was lashed with hurricanes and the UK and Ireland have been lashed with high winds and rain the last two days. Texas is still experiencing bush fires due to drought conditions. In all these places, I have friends who have been affected one way or the other.

In Pakistan and North and North Eastern parts of India floods have been playing havoc and causing loss of lives and crops/property. Pakistan particularly has been experiencing much damage for the second year running.

My personal experience the last three years has been very erratic behaviour of the seasons in India and particularly where I live.

I believe that something needs to be done but as with most important matters regarding our earth and its inhabitants, politics plays an important part and I have decided to let events unfold and merely be a spectator. I suppose that I can afford to take that stance as unlike Cheerful Monk, I haven’t lost anything. Yet.

Climate Change.

As I write this, Pune where I live is colder than Mahabaleshwar. The latter is a hill resort about 800 Mts higher in the mountains than Pune and much cooler. Here is an article in the local news paper about this phenomenon.

There are other areas of India where lives are being lost due to cold wave conditions. Here is another article that talks about that reality,

I quote from a post by Madhav Khandekar – “There is an urgent need to analyze the impact of cold weather extremes the world over. In the 2002/03 winter, several hundred people died of long cold exposure, mostly in January 2003, in countries as far south as Bangladesh and Vietnam. Also in eastern Europe in January 2010, many people died in Poland and elsewhere due to extreme cold.”

I am convinced that climate change is now in full swing, as is obvious from the various bloggers’ experiences in the UK and the USA, as well as what is happening here.

I hope that Mike is reading this. What say Mike?

Climate Change, Copenhagen, Mike And Me.

My blog friend Mike is firm in his conviction about Climate Change. Many others are not. I as usual sit on the fence.

Copenhagen has been hogging all headlines here in India but I find all reports insipid and dull.

I want to do something to lighten up the whole issue and hope that Mike will not mind. At the least, he will get some traffic to his site and perhaps even laugh.