Australia’s wildfire disaster

Since September, at least 27 million acres of Australia have burned in one of the country’s worst fire seasons on record. That’s an area larger than Portugal, and more than 14 times the area that burned in California in 2018, the state’s most destructive year for wildfires.

The fires have now killed at least 29 people and destroyed some 2,500 homes. The destruction to the country’s land and biodiversity is harder to fathom. An estimated 1.25 billion animals have been lost, and scientists fear long-term damage to many sensitive ecosystems.

The severity of the widespread fires is a symptom of global warming, and the blazes may even contribute to it — at least in the short term. Australia’s bushfires have released 400 megatons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, according to the European Union’s Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service. Burning huge swaths of forest introduces carbon stored in biomass back into the atmosphere, and that carbon will stay there essentially as long as it takes the forest to regrow.

Australia is facing an unprecedented national crisis, as bushfires tear through rural communities across the nation. Since September, at least 25 people have died and more than 2,000 homes have been destroyed. The scale of the threat is immense, and fires continue to burn, with authorities calling for people to evacuate their homes. Eerily, the bushfire season has just begun and Australia is bracing for continuous weeks of catastrophic danger. 

Australians caught up in the crisis are taking to social media and pleading for help. Entire towns have been flattened as fires snaked through bushland, across highways and up mountains. In New South Wales and Victoria, the most populous states in the country, people tried to outrun the blaze and highways were clogged with cars. South Australia's Kangaroo Island experienced some of the worst conditions in early January, with a third of the island ablaze. The Army reserves were called in to help the relief effort across the nation, while major cities, such as Sydney and Melbourne, continue to be covered in a dense smoke that has not lifted for months. Some regions of the country recorded air quality measurements 20 times above the hazardous level.

Here’s what everyone should know about the crisis down under.

1) The fires ignited amid a record-breaking heat wave

2) Climate change is partly to blame. But so is weather variability.

3) The bigger trend: Australia’s fire season is getting longer and more dangerous

4) Australia is a biodiversity hotspot and millions of plants and animals are in danger

5) There’s lots of smoke

6) Thousands of people’s lives are being disrupted, and the government’s response hasn’t been inspiring

7) The disaster won’t end when the fires go out

8) You can help

What caused the fires?

This is a complex question. Australia is a continent familiar with bushfires, bushfire management and the importance of fires I’m regenerating the land. The indigenous people who have lived across the island continent for tens of thousands of years have long known the importance of fire management and how it contributes to the health of ecosystems. Bushfires are a well-understood threat, but the fires now burning across the nation have been described as "unprecedented" in their ferocity and scale. Fires can start in a number of ways -- from carelessly discarded cigarettes to lightning strikes and arson -- but they're fueled by a dizzying amount of factors. A lack of rain and low soil moisture can help enable small fires to grow in size, and coupled with the high temperatures and fierce winds that Australia has experienced in the last few months, these small fires can become huge infernos. In addition, with the fire season getting longer, the window to perform critical hazard reduction burns has decreased, giving fires a chance to really take hold.

The bushfire risk for the 2019 season was well known to Australian firefighting chiefs, who had been trying to meet with Scott Morrison, the Australian prime minister, since April, worried that a crisis was coming, but they were constantly rebuffed.

What is the connection to climate change?

A greenhouse gas cannot start a fire on its own. Bushfires aren't started by climate change, but they are exacerbated by the effects of global warming. The Climate Council, an independent, community-funded climate organization, suggests bushfire conditions are now more dangerous than they were in the past, with longer bushfire seasons, drought, drier fuels and soils and record-breaking heat. The link between bushfires and climate change has become a political football, but experts agree climate change explains the unprecedented nature of the current crisis.

Notably, Australia experienced its hottest year on record in 2019, climbing 1.5 degrees Celsius higher than the average, according to a report by the Bureau of Meteorology. Rising temperatures increase the risk of bushfire, and in November, Sydney experienced a catastrophic fire danger for the first time ever. 

There is also a horrifying feedback loop that occurs when great swaths of land are ablaze, a fact the globe grappled with during the Amazon fires of 2019. Bushfires release carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere. The gas, which makes up only a small percentage of the total gases in the atmosphere, is exceptionally good at trapping heat. In just three months, Australia's fires are estimated to have released 350 million metric tons of carbon dioxide. Experts warn a century or more will be needed to absorb the carbon dioxide released.

What areas are affected?

Fires are raging in every state, with some of the greatest conflagrations in NSW and Victoria. The Gospers Mountains fires, in NSW, have burned over half a million hectares, and scientists suggest it could be the largest single-ignition point fire in Australia's history. The total area that's been burned is rapidly approaching 8 million hectares (almost 20 million acres). That's almost ten times the amount of burnt area the Amazon experienced in 2019 and about three times the amount burnt in California's 2018 wildfires.

By,
Sheetal Lamani
Government polytechnic tarihal Hubli Karnataka

Technology and Environment will have to go together for sustainable Development

Air is polluted so is the water,

Resources are depleting so are the fuels.

What we see as an environment is far more than our surroundings. A green flourished park, chirping birds and roaming animals, rivers and aesthetic natural view comes to our mind when we think about the word environment. But it’s more than these boundaries; it is more diverse at cellular level and more rooted in soil layers. Sustaining the environment means sustaining ourselves. We too exert an influence on this ecosystem. Hence eco friendly techniques becomes the important tool for development and making people realize that how their small water foot prints or carbon foot print are creating big impact on environment. We need to realise that we have polluted our world to such an extent that even a new life in this world comes with an environmental debt of his/her parents. Climate crisis is no more a debatable topic, every person in this world is being affected and we have to admit it.  

Though environment has its own self sustaining process, but it can sustain itself only up to a certain limit. Remember the Hook’s Law, which teaches us the extreme limit of an elastic body beyond which, if it is stretched then it cannot come back to its actual size. Same is the case with earth’s limits. It can recover itself only up to a certain limit. The fresh example of it would be the level of CO₂ in atmosphere. Latest studies have showed that the level of CO₂ is so high in atmosphere that even “only planting trees” won’t be helpful in reducing the level of CO₂.

Today the whole world needs a new technological approach that would result in equal access to the environmental benefits of the planet, without exceeding its carrying capacity. I have read it that in order to enhance the quality of life and to avoid wholesale ecological destruction, a deeper understanding of life and the formation of a new system of environmental ethics is required. The impact of technological development and their application can be seen and now they have become so serious that they threaten the stability of the ecosystem and human society. Hence a rethinking of the expectations and responsibilities of the scientific community is required. We all are a part of this big ecosystem hence it become responsibility of every person to maintain the integrity of the environment as a whole system. We must accept our accountability for our responsibility in our everyday life. These individual efforts can be enhanced by enhancing each level of civil society and govt., industry and business, and NGO.

In today’s world the need for sustainability is the main goal, Sustainable Lifestyle is the need of the hour, so does the importance of embedding it in children’s programs. Through hands-on experiences and better educator pedagogies, children can explore and learn about their surroundings and environmental issues. They can develop the creativity and critical thinking skills needed to make decisions for change, improving the quality of their lives, and those of future generations. And as said by Swami Vivekananda children are not tomorrow’s but today’s citizens, their one step towards change will be benefitting the upcoming generation and the whole humanity.

Enough of talking and talking, enough of protesting and shouting! It is high time that we should take initiative on our own, start from our own home, our community and it all begins with ourselves first. Instead of getting involved in the vicious circle of polity and administration let’s present an example in front of people, let us be an example for people to do something instead of demanding something. I started it when I realized the risk, risk getting near and near day by day.

Sustainable Lifestyle is the current solution and the very first and mandatory step which everyone should take immediately. It includes everything, each activity of our day to day life, the way we brush, we take bath, we dress, the clothes we wear, the food we eat, transport system we use, from things we buy to the things we do in our whole day and night everything should be sustainable. Zero waste week challenge, plastic-free week challenge, Kiss the coconut, No stitch September, etc., are such wonderful movements initiated by the people to practice a lifestyle that would cause the least harm to the environment. This not only makes us a responsible consumer but also reduces our ecological footprint. It also makes us more conscious regarding the things we use; we become more alert on how to use a thing so that it can lasts long. In today’s a world where things are a click next to you, it will be little challenging to go and find a shop and then buy in bulk to avoid plastic but it’s the only option we have and it is the need of the hour. Because if you think of ordering a bamboo comb and brush online, getting it to deliver from far miles (fuel consumption and pollutant release), removing the plastic cover(packaging) and then clicking a selfie-and putting it with #ecofriendly #saveearth caption then sorry buddy, you have already released more carbon than you have sequested by avoiding plastic comb or brush. 

Sustainable lifestyle empowers you to do new experiments, get out of your comfort zone and work with a more holistic approach. It allows one to explore terms like food miles, water footprint, virtual water, etc. It also makes your life much simpler and easy, whether it’s about choosing clothes to wear every day or letting go of unnecessary new things. Our consumption pattern improves and we find that this world is more beautiful if lived simply. We as in Indian have this principle of APARIGRAHA, which means that we should take only as much we require; so sustainability is in our genes, it is just we are not used to it. We will have to remove this materialistic glass and see the world through our naked eye. When I started living this idea of “Sustainable Lifestyle” and I came to know about the term water footprint, I was shocked! I was shocked to know that my one jean takes around thousands of liter of water! Just one pair of jeans! My 1kg of rice takes around three thousand liters of water! I can see myself surrounded with so much water while sitting in a room with things that are non recyclable or non reusable. From that moment onwards I had decided no more extra water footprint. I reused my old jeans made a bag out of it and now I use it for my college purpose, I searched for a shop got my new bamboo brush and comb(old ones were broken so instead of getting new plastic one), made my body scrub, I made my paper body pen, have selected only two pair of clothes per month for college and two pair for elsewhere, steel bottle and a steel tiffin is always there in my bag so in case if I want to eat something outside I can ask the shopkeeper to give me directly into my steel Dabba. I have also reused my plastic bottles because the main idea behind this all is to reduce waste production especially single used plastic. During my studies I had read somewhere, “We are the first generation that can eradicate poverty and we are the last generation which can fight climate change”. I believe this, because if you understand the food miles, and water footprint of food items I am sure you will rethink before dumping anything anywhere. And yes we are the last generation to fight climate change, if we can understand the sustainable lifestyle and start practicing it, I am sure we will combat climate change. If we fail, I have doubts, but who will be there to tell the story of our failure? Hence I believe “The choices we make today will affect our common future tomorrow”. Therefore along with Reduce, Recycle and Refuse we should also add Rethink!  The main purpose of technology is to make work easier, wouldn’t it be good if technology will make “achieving the sustainability goal” easier?

Sources

·       https://youtu.be/3VHQ5bicbHA  Alternatives to plastic things

·       https://youtu.be/BvvKTMaawjA  Paper body Pen

By,
Garima Upreti

Department of Geology

University of Lucknow

TECHNOLOGY and ENVIRONMENT will have to go together for SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

“If everyone used energy and resources the same way they do in the Western World, we would need three more earths at least. And we have only one.”-Mona Sahlin.

Sustainable Development! A widely used terminology trending after the 1990’s in political discussions, corporate websites, institutions and civil society organisations. It has become a kind of conceptual touchstone, gaining popularity over the years. “Our Common Future”, given by the Brundtland Report was one of the first report that the world witnessed the idea for Sustainable Development since the 1980’s.

Sustainable Development Goals came up in the year 2015 which was adopted by the United Nations calling all member countries to come up with efficient ways in joining closely with this Global Partnership. Such Organisations have come up with these goals to bring about positive changes in various countries, providing they initiate their own methods to make sure that these goals are met.

Easier said than done?

Countries have adopted their own methods in order to achieve these goals. They are left to the State government of various countries to look into the matter and adopt goals that are in sync with the aims. The Policy making process especially when it comes to sustainable development may have happened in paper but we do not see the actual goals achieved. With this idea in mind I have searched instead the various methodologies adopted by the local villages of Meghalaya which in their own capacity have adopted means to ensure sustainability though they have no idea of this worldly concept, but have implemented strategies that are eco friendly.

A story from the Scotland of the East:

Let me introduce you the village of Mawhiang, which is about 50km away from the Shillong City. This village is located near Mawsynram which receives rainfall throughout the summer and even during the winter. With most of their forests being utilised for their daily survival it has come to a point where they are losing their forests and the produce which had sustained them for decades. The people of this community realised that the climate has changed rapidly over time and the humidity level is on the rise. The Panchayat called for an immediate Darbar to address the issue and come up with plans and solutions to tackle this problem since it was witnessed that their agricultural fields are becoming dry and lies barren with no habitation. Their paddy fields are addicted to pesticides every year because of the deterioration of soil health. The community have called stakeholders to address the issue also pressing that the solution should not be done through technical procedures again, since the government have adopted means earlier through the use of urea to control pests. They have made a strict deal instead to implement procedures that are friendly and efficient taking high consideration on the soil health, since most of their livelihood activities are based on agricultural production. Earlier these decisions were made by the stakeholders mainly government officials which imposed on them the various ideas.  But this time, they have asked the officials to let the community be part of the decision making process as their traditional values should be followed after witnessing the repercussions.

The Strategy:

The community have simplified the strategy instead for the stakeholders and wanted them to take forward this strategy to other villages too. The solution was “Tree Plantation.”  It did sound a little mundane at first because this was not a new strategy and people have been doing it everywhere. But the community spoke differently on tree plantation. One of the   village elders said “You all will probably laugh at us for calling this meeting regarding tree plantation which is not a new topic, but let me tell you, most of the tree plantation that happened, half of the trees died because we only celebrate the idea and not critically analyse what kinds of trees to plant, method of plantation and what benefits they can provide/improve both on production, environment and soil health.”  Their main idea was making sure there is comprehensiveness in their strategy. With the help of the stakeholders, it was possible by bringing in the method of plantation through the Bio-Dynamic Calendar, a calendar that gives a holistic, ecological and ethical approach to farming gardening, food and nutrition. Our future generations are relying on us to ensure that there are resources for them and instil in their minds to use resources judiciously.

Incorporating Science and Traditional Knowledge

Teaching students the importance of traditional knowledge and not relying on science always is the main motive they are trying to achieve because these two can do wonders when clubbed together in the right ways. To take forward the tree plantation, selection of samples was the most crucial step. Without having much to rely on scientific knowledge, the community decided on taking the tree samples prevalent within the community. After selecting the samples, it was found that there trees with nitrogen fixation properties which will enrich the soil with fast growing leguminous trees were selected because they can improve soil health and release a huge amount of oxygen, followed by Alder trees which has the similar kinds of properties. Alongside these trees, the community have initiated the a action of incorporating fruit trees on the periphery of the hill especially banana trees since they are known for sucking the toxins out of the soil and improves water content in the soil.

Conclusion:

In conclusion we can say that both Science and Technology can do wonders when incorporated in a friendly manner. We cannot afford to leave behind Traditional Knowledge because these can be tested concepts which can be adopted when found effective. This is one particular community that have made an example to other communities as well  to not rely on the government agencies but to take that step forward in identifying the resources within the community. This activity I would say, it has been implemented in the most exceptional way, since the main target was mobilising school children and youths. They even took this step of planting fruit trees even in the school premises to supplement the Midday Meal Scheme besides relying heavily on the Scheme.

By: 

Jennifer Suchiang

Post Graduate- Tata institute of Social Sciences, Guwahati

Food we eat has major implications on climate change!

Scenario-1

“Mahaprasad” or “Abadha” is food for the gods, steam-cooked in earthen vessels, and is unique to Odisha’s temple culture. This food cannot be cooked in any other medium. Pockets of artisans belonging to “kumbhar” or potter community have been making these earthenware for generations and supplying them to Shri Jagannath Temple at Puri, and, Ananta Vasudev temple at Bhubaneswar.

In the aftermath of Cyclone Fani in May 2019, Chasapada, a pottery village near Chandanpur in Puri, was completely decimated. Five families of kumbhars in this village, who make the earthen cookware for Shri  Jagannath Temple and Ananta Vasudev temple, were left homeless, as the cyclone razed their huts to the ground. More helplessness and hopelessness followed, when they realized that along with their homes, their studios which housed the kilns, which were the only means of livelihood for them, were also destroyed.

This potter community of Odisha has been a victim of ‘climate change’.                 

Scenario-2

“Can a Hamburger Help Solve Climate Change?” - As a clueless kid, Kavya, aged 5, read this on a doodled wall hanging in a restaurant and quizzed her mother seating beside her. ‘It might be a good idea to watch what you put on your plate, because it will ultimately affect our beautiful planet’ – mother replied to Kavya firmly.  The mother said again, so we must fight climate change with our diet change.

A recent report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) foretells a grim future if humans don’t reduce their impact on climate. If average global temperatures rise 2 degrees Celsius over the pre-industrial average, weather will continue to become more extreme, posing a risk to agricultural food supplies that could trigger a global food crisis, the report states. About 25 percent of climate change today is fueled by agriculture and factory farming, according to Johnathan Foley, a world-renowned environmental scientist, sustainability expert.

It’s important to understand that food and climate both influence each other. If we make small changes in our daily lives, especially the way we eat, we can alleviate much of the effects of climate change.

                                                          In this write-up, we will briefly examine ‘What exactly do we mean by climate change?’ and ‘How our diets impact climate change?’ In the end, we will explore sustainable solutions as to how we can overcome this challenge of climate change and build a sustainable ecosystem.

Climate Change – A Daunting Challenge

Let’s keep the science lesson simple: Gases in the atmosphere act like a blanket to keep the planet warm and habitable. Some human activities release harmful greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and cause the Earth to warm too much, significantly changing climate patterns around the world. You know what releases more greenhouse gases than any other human activity? Raising animals for food, transporting them to slaughter, and processing their bodies.

More powerful hurricanes, intense rain, flooding, severe droughts, more wildfires, insect irruptions, and record temperatures are some of the signs of climate change that we’re currently experiencing. Melting glaciers, rising sea levels, a warmer and more acidic ocean, and shrinking sea ice are also symptoms of a warming planet, with serious global impacts on coastal and marine life.

Changing Dietary Patterns

A slew of high-level reports produced over the last few months all argues that if the world is to make an impact on the climate crisis, the food system needs to be radically reshaped.

‘The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAOSTAT) analysed the consumption patterns of countries across the world over a period of 50 years (1961-2011). The average daily protein consumption has risen from 55g per day to 59g per day in the past 25 years (from 1990-2015) with the protein from animal consumption increasing from 9g per day to 12g. The share of dietary energy supplied from cereals and roots has decreased from an average of 66g per day to 59g.’ – The above statistics show that the consumption of meat and animal-based products has increased and the consumption of grains has decreased whilst the average daily sugar and fat intake has also increased.

Food systems contribute 21% to 37% of global greenhouse gases, and are significant contributors to deforestation, biodiversity loss and declining water tables. The recent incident of Amazon forest fires in Brazil are directly related one way or another to food production.

Animal Agriculture vs. Climate Change

Feeding massive amounts of grain and water to farmed animals and then killing them and processing, transporting, and storing their flesh is extremely energy-intensive. And forests, which absorb greenhouse gases, are cut down in order to supply pastureland and grow crops for farmed animals. Finally, the animals themselves and all the manure that they produce release even more greenhouse gases into our atmosphere.

Producing animal feed requires significant amounts of fertilizer. Every year, growing feed for cows, pigs, chickens, and other animals requires 17 billion pounds of nitrogen fertilizer, which, when applied to the soil, generates nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas that has 300 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide are all-powerful GHGs, and together, they cause the vast majority of climate change.

‘BACK TO BASICS’ - Sustainable healthy diets

We can all develop better more sustainable habits around food.

·        Adopt a more plant-based diet – Fewer animal products we consume, the more sustainable our diet. If we collectively adopt a more plant-based diet we could reduce the equivalent of up to 8 gigatons of carbon dioxide per year, according to the IPCC report.

·        Go 'flexitarian' - The “flexitarian” diet is a semi-vegetarian diet where vegetables, fruits, grains and pulses (like beans, peas and lentils) are the main portion of the meal. “Three-fourths of your plate would be filled with plants, and maybe one-fourth would have your animal food.”

·        Adopt a Mediterranean Diet - The Mediterranean Diet replaces meat with fish, which has a smaller environmental impact and it’s very plant-based, filled with whole grains and vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, pulses, with just small amounts of fish as the main animal protein.

·        Eat more whole and locally grown foods - Processed foods require more harvesting, processing, and transportation, and have a much larger impact on climate than whole foods. Buy more whole foods from local farms.

·        Reduce food waste - An estimated 1.3 billion tons - about 30 percent of the world’s food goes to waste annually, according to the UN Food and Agricultural Organization. Landfills are oxygen-starved environments where food cannot decompose properly, causing it to leak methane into the atmosphere.

·        Eat smaller portions - Eating too much makes us unhealthy and overeating contributes to food waste.

·        Compost your plant-based food waste - Putting plant-based food scraps in a composter recycles your food waste and returns it back to the ground as vital nutrients for plant life.

Tryst with Nature

The Chinese philosophy of Daoism tells us that “if the pursuit of development runs counter to the harmony and balance of nature, even if it is of great immediate interest and profit, people should restrain themselves from it.”

Insatiable human desire and diet will lead to the over-exploitation of natural resources. To be too successful is to be on the path to defeat. In the long run, the excessive use of nature will bring about disaster, even the extinction of humanity. Daoism has a unique sense of value in that it judges affluence by the number of different species. If all things in the universe grow well, then a society is a community of affluence. If not, this kingdom is on the decline.

Eat as if the Earth Matters … Because It Does!!!

Climate change is already threatening life on Earth, and if we don’t change our ways far more significantly than by just changing our light bulbs, we will destroy the planet. Raising animals for food is “one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global” - says IPCC. 

Anyone who cares about the planet and the future of its inhabitants can make one simple choice to help halt climate change: Eat plant-based diet. The United Nations has said that “a substantial reduction of climate-change impacts would only be possible with a substantial worldwide diet change, away from animal products.”

By,

Somesh Ranabijuli
Madhusudan Law College, Cuttack, Odisha

Food has a major implications on global warming

Yes you heard it right, the food we eat actually is responsible for about one quarter of the planet warming-greenhouse gases that human generate each year. That includes raising and harvesting all the plants, animals and animal products we eat –chicken, beef, fish, milk, lentils, kale, corn, and more. Well if you’re eating this then you are the part of the system.

Here’s how its effecting, when forests are cleared to make room for farms and livestock on a daily basis in some part of the world, I guess you know the element carbon which you must have come across in your chemistry textbooks, yes this carbon are released into atmosphere, which heats up the planet, when cows sheep and goats digest their food, they burn up methane, another greenhouse gas contributing to climate change. Animal manures and rice paddies are also big methane sources. Finally fossil fuels used to operate on farm machinery, make fertilisers and ship food across the globe, all of which generate emissions.
A slew of high level reports produced over the last few months all argue that if the world is to make an impact on climate change, the food system needs to be radically reshaped. The way we produce food and is manipulated and moved around the world, and what we as citizen decide to put on our plate matters. Food systems contribute to 21% to 37% of global greenhouse gases and are significant contributors to deforestations, biodiversity loss and declining ground water reserves.

“Surely we have a responsibility to leave for future generations a planet that is healthy and habitable by all species”

                                                            -Sir David Attenborough

One bowl of rice can have six times the climate impact of another. Beef from a bottle can result in more greenhouse gas emissions than beer from the Biere club. The world’s food and agricultural systems produce more than a quarter of man- made greenhouse gas emissions, the study notes, and nearly two thirds of those emissions are linked to animal products. If consumers switched to a plant-based diet-or even cut their consumptions or animal products in half – the shift could have substantial environmental benefits.

Research has, for some time made it clear that a plant-based diet high in animal products. In addition to greenhouse gas emissions from acidification and eutrophication – the excess runoff from agricultural fertilizers that starves plant life of oxygen.

BEEF: The main cause in the food system to cause climate change

Beef requires 20 times more land and emits 20 times more GHG emissions per gram of protein than common plant proteins.

Beef is now being compared to cars and airplanes and as with so many public sphere lately. Animal food are nutritious and are important to livelihoods and diet in developing nations but at the same time inefficient resource users. Because of beef the forest is being cut down to allow more pasture example, the great Amazon fires.

How does beef production cause greenhouse gases?

Cows and other ruminant animals like goat and sheep emit methane, a potent greenhouse gases as they digest grasses and plants. This process is called “enteric fermentation” and it’s the origin of cow burps. More indirectly and also importantly rising beef production requires increasing quantities of land, new land is often created by cutting down trees

A 2013 study by the U.N food and agricultural organisation (FAO) estimated the total annual emissions from animal agriculture were about 14.5% of all human emissions, of which beef contributed 41% that means emissions from beef production are roughly on par with those of India.

Even after accounting for continued improvements in beef production efficiency, pastureland could still be roughly 400 million hectres, an area of land larger than the size of India, to meet growing demand. The resulting deforestation could increase global emissions enough to put the global goal of limiting temperature rise or 1.52 degrees Celsius out of reach

Let’s now focus on food waste.

Fight climate change by preventing food waste –

Today, and estimated one third of all the food produced goes to waste. That’s equal to about 1.3 billion tons of fruits and vegetables, meat, dairy, seafood, and grains that either never leave the farm, get lost or spoiled during distributions, or are thrown away in hotels, grocery stores, restaurants, schools, or home kitchens. It could be enough calories to feed every undernourished person on the planet.

But wasted food isn't just a social or humanitarian concern—it's an environmental one. When we waste food, we also waste all the energy and water it takes to grow, harvest, transport, and package it. And if food goes to the landfill and rots, it produces methane—a greenhouse gas even more potent than carbon dioxide. About 11% of all the greenhouse gas emissions that come from the food system could be reduced if we stop wasting food. In the US alone, the production of lost or wasted food generates the equivalent of 37 million cars’ worth of greenhouse gas emissions.

As the world’s population continues to grow, our challenge should not be how to grow more food, but to feed more people while wasting less of what we already produce. Thankfully, there are plenty of actions we can take at the consumer level to make a significant difference. From delivering leftovers to those in need to freezing food, shopping smarter, and composting to keep inedible scraps out of landfills, we can all take small steps to curb our emissions.
Changes you can implement in your daily food habits to reduce climate change:

The world’s leading scientists are highlighting the increase impact on the environment of the food we eat and how it adds to climate change. Food is responsible for around 30% of greenhouse gas emissions globally, and if we don’t take take action this number is predicted to grow.
Agriculture is the biggest cause of rest loss, meaning that our current food system is responsible for 60% biodiversity loss worldwide.

1.    Eat more plants

2.    Eat a variety of food

3.    Waste less food

4.    Moderate your meat

5.    Buy food that meets a credible certified standards

6.    Eat fewer foods high in fat, salt and sugar

Consuming less red meat and dairy will typically have the biggest impact for most people in wealthy countires.That doesn’t mean necessarily mean going vegan. You might just eat less the foods with the biggest climate footprints, like beef, lamb and cheese. Substitutes for these are pork, chicken, eggs, and mollusks have a smaller footprint. But plant based foods like beans, pulses, grains and soya tend to be most climate friendly options of all

How should consumers make the shift? People could consider being a vegetarian by day and allow themselves small servings of animal source foods in the evening; go meatless on Mondays, as some schools and institutions already have; embrace tasty Asian cuisines, which tend to be more plant-based; or try out alternative plant protein . Start with kids – school meals are a great way to form healthy and sustainable habits early on. Learn where your food (and meat) comes from. Who produced it and how Support food producers who make efforts to produce low-impact meats. If you are going to go for red meat, choose quality over quantity: eat more meat cuts and less processed meat. And waste nothing.

But for the world to make this shift, we need governments and the food industry to make it easier. We need investment in public health information and the implementation of policies that promote healthy eating that is affordable, safe, convenient and most of all, tasty.

What we eat matters. Not only for ourselves and the planet, but for the youth who were out marching on the streets in the name of their future and right to live on this planet.

By,
Siddarth dayasagar
Jain University (school of engineering and technology)

Food we eat has major implication on climate change

Livestock production accounts for 70 per cent of all agricultural land use, occupies 30 per cent of the planet’s land surface and is responsible for 18 per cent of greenhouse gases such as methane and nitrous oxide .Growing animals for food is also inefficient. It takes about five to seven kilograms of grain to produce one kilogram of beef. Each of those takes energy and water to produce, process, and transport. As global meat consumption increases, so does its climate impact.
Synthetic pesticides and fertilizers are often made from fossil fuels. Manufacturing and transporting them uses energy and produces greenhouse gases.
Studies show that chemical farming uses more energy per unit of production than organic farms. Synthetic nitrogen fertilizers in soils produce nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas about 300 times more powerful than carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere

The average meal travels 1,200 kilometers from the farm to plate. Food grown closer to home produces fewer transportation emissions, is fresher and supports local farmers. As the distance food travels decreases, so does the need for processing and refrigeration to reduce spoilage.
The Food and Agriculture Organization has issued a caution on the repercussions of climate change on fisheries and aquaculture. It is this climate change that is seen in the oceans and seas will have direct implications for food security. This is particularly relevant to developing countries, where about million people work directly in the sector and 2.8 billion depend on fish products for 20% of animal protein.
Although the impact of higher temperature is more pronounced in certain geographical location and more intense in surface waters. A study on the oceans has confirmed that warning in the ocean can go deeper than 700 meters. This would have adverse effect on the ocean ecosystem.
The warming of surface water has already led to changes in species composition the northern hemisphere as warm water species replacing cold water fishes, ice bound regions being invaded by aquatic species and fresh water species taking the place of marine species. The warming has also led to algae blooms in the hostile northern hemisphere oceans, raising alarm signals for the survival of fish.
The changes in the ocean salinity and acidity are also affecting fisheries and aquaculture. There is also emerging evidence that marine organisms are responding faster to global warming than previously.
According the FAO, climate change will increase uncertainties in the supply of fish. Owning to changes in fish species, the impact of climate change will mainly be felt in the availability and access to food. Already, the United States and Canada are negotiating access to certain fish species whose spatial distributions are determined by environmental variations. However, the major contributor of aquaculture Asia will be most vulnerable region. All these suggest the fact that cutting emission becomes more urgent than ever.
Agriculture has always been at the mercy of unpredictable weather, but a rapidly changing climate is making agriculture an even more vulnerable enterprise. In some regions, warmer temperatures may increase crop yields. The overall impact of climate change on agriculture, however, is expected to be negative—reducing food supplies and raising food prices. Many regions already suffering from high rates of hunger and food insecurity, including parts of sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, are predicted to experience the greatest declines in food production. Elevated levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) are also expected to lower levels of zinc, iron, and other important nutrients in crops
With changes in rainfall patterns, farmers face dual threats from flooding and drought. Both extremes can destroy crops. Flooding washes away fertile top soil that farmers depend on for productivity, while droughts dry it out, making it more easily blown or washed away. Higher temperatures increase crops’ water needs, making them even more vulnerable during dry period
Certain species of weeds, insects, and other pests benefit from higher temperatures and elevated CO2, increasing their potential to damage crops and creating financial hardship for farmers. Shifting climates also mean that agricultural pests can expand to new areas where farmers hadn’t previously dealt with them.
With higher temperatures, most of the world’s glaciers have begun to recede—affecting farmers who depend on glacial melt water for irrigation. Rising sea levels, meanwhile, heighten flood dangers for coastal farms, and increase saltwater intrusion into coastal freshwater aquifers—making those water sources too salty for irrigation.
Climate change is also expected to impact ecosystems and the services they provide to agriculture, such as pollination and pest control by natural predators. Many wild plant species used in domestic plant breeding, meanwhile, are threatened by extinction.
Food system activities, including producing food, transporting it, and storing wasted food in landfills, produce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that contribute to climate change. Of these sources, livestock production is the largest; accounting for an estimated 14.5 percent of global GHG emissions from human activities.6 Meat from ruminant animals, such as cattle and goats, are particularly emissions-intensive.
World leaders have agreed that in order to avoid the most catastrophic climate change scenarios, average global temperature rise must not exceed 2° Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Even if this goal is met, many climate impacts, such as sea level rise, will likely still continue for centuries.
Imagine a scenario in 2050 where societies have transitioned away from coal and natural gas to wind, solar, and other renewable energy sources. In this scenario, public policy and infrastructure investments have made walking, cycling, and public transit the most accessible and popular forms of transportation. Air travel is used only as a last resort. In what is otherwise a best-case scenario, if global trends in meat and dairy intake continue, our chances of staying below the 2° Celsius threshold will still be extremely slim. This is why urgent and dramatic reductions in meat and dairy consumption, alongside reductions in GHG emissions from energy use, transportation, and other sources, are crucial to avoiding catastrophic climate change. The responsibility for eating lower on the food chain falls most heavily on countries like the U.S. with the highest per capita consumption of meat and dairy. Changing diets on an international scale will require more than just educating consumers – national policies will need to shift in ways that support more plant-centric diets.
Farmers in the developing world face challenges to produce enough food for growing populations. Climate change, which is increasing the frequency of extreme weather events and making growing seasons less predictable, makes the challenge of increasing food production more difficult. Moreover, agriculture contributes to the greenhouse gas emissions that drive climate change. IFPRI researchers are dedicated to helping farmers achieve the triple win of adapting to climate change, increasing crop yields, and mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. The Institute develops adaptation and mitigation strategies as well as computer models that show how alternative policies, institutions, and investments to address climate change can benefit agriculture, food and nutrition security, and poor economies to revive. You know that to make a pound of beef, 50,000 gallons of water is used. So food we eat not only has major implication on climate change but also has major implications on water also.

By,
Shashwath. N. Shastry
M.E.S. Kishora Kendra, Bengaluru