Hillary-Didi Touched the Hottest Topics: Energy Poverty/ Water Scarcity

Yes there was the standard push for FDI retail (bad idea for India growth) and outsourcing (good idea for US growth), but the true critical subject matter was mentioned as a basis point of creating sustainable economy with India's neighbors and evidence of the increasing reality that politics as usual will not carry us through the transplantation from conventional economy to sustainable. The issues of water and energy on the lips of Hillary and Didi, and on such a high profile platform is a bellweather of things to come.

Regarding water scarcity and conflict, Secretary Clinton said: "We have to do a better job of trying to find a win-win solution for everybody because the alternative will be perhaps worst than conflict, leading up to dislocation, destabilisation, refugee flows, famine and other kinds of problems that we are seeing in places like north Africa." "We have to work together in the international community," she said.

For perhaps the first time publically Clinton acknowledged what conservationists  and economists have been predicting for years: "... we know from working on our own projections what will be the hard issues in future unless water issues are properly dealt with,"

The reality is that there continues to be an ever shrinking bubble of economies that because of their uber-infrastructure remain able to maintain the status quo despite massive shifts in climate and natural resource security. In these economies, the conventional wisdom that technology has outgrown the need for nature and its resources, some going so far as to deny the very existence of a problem. And in fact, as is human nature, as long as the AC is running at home in office all seems well.

However, at the frontlines of climate change and sustainable economic development, a story is slowly unfolding and not carried by mainstream media. Throughout India, and specifically in the south, the story of India Inc. is changing complexion ... it's five minutes to midnight and Cinderella's coach is still out about town living a hapless dream. The two rents in this reality are a widespread power-poverty and a rapidly and potentially irreversible water security crisis. 

For those in India, this article only highlights the present reality and crisis for not only Bengal but throughout India...for those in the U.S. with a more limited world view of the coming escalation of power poverty, this may come as an eye opener of the new normal - in the cases illustrated below-in south India.

The question really becomes "Does the conventional definition of 'development' really apply in terms of the necessity for a sustainable economic and political model? Are we all therefore 'undeveloped' or 'under-developed' until these issues are rectified and power and basic necessities are sustainable?

 This year, city is hottest summer destination

A Selvaraj TNN

Chennai: It’s that time of the year when Chennaiites pack their bags to visit their native places in the state. But this summer they have chosen to stay put in the city; otherwise, it would mean jumping from the frying pan into the fire in the season of power cuts.
    Even while cursing the two-hour power cut in Chennai, residents take solace that it is much better than in some other districts, where power supply is disrupted for up to 12 hours a day. In fact, relatives from other parts of the state are thronging the homes of residents in the city.
   

 “My children never miss visiting their cousins in Salem but the moment I told them that there would be no electricity there, they wanted to cancel the tickets. I’ve asked my sister in Salem to come over with her family,” says Sudha Mani of Nanganallur.
 

   A Ponmani Thangam, an employee of Canara Bank in Tirunelveli, has come to Chennai to visit relatives and, well, get away from the “land of constant power cuts,” as she puts it.
    “At my place, we wake up early because of the heat. We are lucky to have power supply for an hour in the morning. We have an inverter, but the few hours of supply are not sufficient to charge it,” she says.
 

    Maheswari, a revenue department employee in Coimbatore, has gone a step further. “I have appealed to the higher officials in Chennai seeking a transfer to the state capital. My son can’t stand the heat,” she says. K Manikandan, a school teacher from Tuticorin, says he will spend a couple of weeks in Chennai, “where you at least know when there will be a power cut”.
 

   President of the Tamil Nadu Omni Bus Owners Association A Afzal says many buses from Chennai to other towns in the state are plying with at least 15% of unoccupied seats. “Usually our buses run full, but not this year,” he says.
 

    Many people who travelled to other parts of the state have got back before schedule.
  

 Summer travellers to hill stations, however, are happy. “People are asking for details of trips to Ooty and Kodaikanal,” says Afzal.
    selvaraj.a@timesgroup.com 

 

THE HEAT IS ON

Govt report sees 4 degree rise in temperature in 10 years

Nitin Sethi TNN

New Delhi:  If the freakish cool weather across India has lulled you into forgetting about the dangers of global warming, here’s a reality check. In a report to be submitted to the UN in a few days, the Indian government has said alarming climatic changes are taking place in the country and projected even more serious trends for the future — including a 4 degree Celsius rise in maximum temperatures in some parts as early as the 2020s.

    The report says that more than three out of four weather stations across India had witnessed an alarming rise in intensity of rains (over 24 hours) in the period between 1980-2009.

    It says intense warming was witnessed between 1998-2007 and the intensity has been rising since the 1970s. The mean temperature during winters have risen by 0.7 degree Celsius and post-monsoon mean temperatures by 0.52 degree Celsius in the last 100 years. The mean temperature in India rose by 0.2 degree Celsius every decade between 1971-2007 with minimum temperatures rising more than maximum temperatures, which increased 1.02 degree Celsius in 100 years. 

Number of rainy days on the decline: Report
New Delhi: In a report to be submitted to the UN in a few days, the Indian government has said alarming climatic changes are taking place in the country.
    While the trends show evidence of warming, there is, however, no conclusive proof that these are linked to human-induced climate change.     The most alarming findings in the report are the predictions it makes based on scenarios that greenhouse gas emissions would continue to rise unchecked over the coming decades.      Projections show that total monsoon rainfall could rise between 9-16% by the end of 21st century. By that time, annual mean temperatures could rise by 3.5-4.3 degree Celsius with 1.7-2 degree rise taking place as early as 2030s.      The report says the number of rainy days could decrease but 

rain could become more intense – thereby causing more damage – almost all across the country.

    Both the minimum and maximum temperatures recorded in a day will rise, according to the findings. Areas in Rajasthan and Kutch could see more than a 4-degree rise in maximum temperatures by as early as 2020s. A similar rise could take place in more than half the country by 2080.     Night temperatures are projected to rise by 4.5 degrees across a large part of the country by 2050 and the jump could spread to almost the entire country by 2080.     The frequency of cyclonic storms could decrease with time but the intensity with which they wreak havoc will rise, according to these simulation models.
    

Separate studies have been conducted to measure the impact of increasing GHG gases on water availability in river basins and on agricultural productivity. The government assessment notes, “Water scarcity levels will be crossed in Cauvery, Mahi, Sabarmati and westflowing rivers of Kuch, Sau and Luni, while Ganga, Tapi and Narmada basins will hit water stress limits.”

    The report says, “Ganga downstream, Brahmaputra and Surma-Imphal show high vulnerability to climate change in the northern and eastern basins.” Ganga upstream and Mahanadi will also become vulnerable by 2070, it says.
  

  Two different measures are used to quantify the net impact on water basins – the yield of water and the evapotranspiration from river basins. A majority of rivers show increasing precipitation, with exceptions such as Brahmaputra, Cauvery and Pennar.

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