Al-Falih: 1,238 foreign investors obtain premium residency in Saudi Arabia    Irish PM apologizes for walking away from care worker    Several dead as Storm Bert wreaks havoc across Britain    Most decorated Australian Olympian McKeon retires    Adele doesn't know when she'll perform again after tearful Vegas goodbye    'Pregnant' for 15 months: Inside the 'miracle' pregnancy scam    Ukraine losing ground in Russia's Kursk region, says military source    Hezbollah fires rocket barrages into Israel after deadly Beirut strikes    Al Ittihad claims top spot in Saudi Pro League after victory over Al Fateh    Do cigarettes belong in a museum?    Al-Jubeir discusses with EU officials enhancing bilateral cooperation    Saudi Arabia to host 28th Annual World Investment Conference in Riyadh    Saudi Arabia allows licensed flour milling companies to export flour    Saudi Arabia joins international partnership initiative to boost hydrogen economy    With 25 million monthly active users, Snap Inc. expands presence in Saudi Arabia to serve thriving community of creators, partners and clients    Riyadh Emir inaugurates International Conference on Conjoined Twins in Riyadh    Saudi delegation participates in the 7th U20 Deans Summit in Brazil    Al Khaleej stuns Al Hilal with 3-2 victory, ending 57-match unbeaten run    Al Khaleej qualifies for Asian Men's Club League Handball Championship final    Katy Perry v Katie Perry: Singer wins right to use name in Australia    Order vs. Morality: Lessons from New York's 1977 Blackout    India puts blockbuster Pakistani film on hold    The Vikings and the Islamic world    Filipino pilgrim's incredible evolution from an enemy of Islam to its staunch advocate    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Choking air, melting glaciers: how global warming is changing India
Published in The Saudi Gazette on 18 - 11 - 2015

Its Himalayan glaciers are melting fast, its agricultural heartland is drying up and its capital is choking on the world's filthiest air.
Yet India's government is one of the few major economies refusing to pledge to cut greenhouse gas emissions, ahead of this month's major climate conference in Paris.
Global warming is already changing the face of rapidly developing India, a nation forecast to become the world's most populous, overtaking China, in less than a decade.
"No one has done less to contribute to global warming than India and Africa. No one can be more conscious of climate change than Indians and Africans," Prime Minister Narendra Modi told a recent Delhi summit.
In the Himalayas of Kashmir, scientist Shakil Ahmad Romshoo fears for the future of the pristine region which relies heavily on its more than 100 glaciers for water.
At least two major ones have disappeared completely in the last 50 years, while those in a key basin have shrunk by more than 27 percent over the same period, Romshoo's studies show.
"The impact of climate change in Kashmir is loud and clear. We have noticed a significant decline in stream flow from the glaciers," the glaciologist, from the University of Kashmir, said.
In villages nestled in the foothills downstream, less water flowing into rivers and ponds has forced farmers to completely change their way of life. Instead of rice paddies dotting the landscape, farmers have switched to growing apples which use less water, raising concerns about a drop in India's grain supplies.
As snow melts faster on the peaks from warmer temperatures, farmers, who have stuck with traditional crops, have been thrown into turmoil.
"All the snow melt on the mountains now melts away by April when we actually start needing it for agriculture," said Haji Mohammad Rajab Dar in Chandigam village.
"I used to get 230 to 260 sacks of rice from my fields. It is reduced to just 90 this year," the 70-year-old said, explaining that his land is not conducive to growing apples.
"So we are ruined and turning into beggars slowly."
India's landscapes are changing — from the melt in the Himalayas, to the increasingly arid farm belts in the middle and the stunning coasts where fishermen talk of rising, warmer seas eroding their shores.
"Changes in sea level and temperature have affected our livelihood. Over the last decade, the amount of fish caught has reduced by 40 percent," said Ayub Hajji whose family has been fishing off Gujarat's coast for generations.
India says developed countries are mostly to blame for climate change, and heaping demands on developing nations to cut emissions is both unfair and hypocritical.
Authorities insist they must focus on meeting the growing needs of its 1.25 billion people, 300 million of whom lack access to electricity.
In its action plan for the Paris COP21 meet, India pledges to reduce its carbon intensity — a measure of a country's emissions relative to its economic output — by 35 percent by 2030, rather than an absolute cut in emissions.
Globally, India is the third largest carbon-emitting country — though its per capita emissions are only one third of the international average — according to the World Resources Institute.
While the government has an ambitious programme to ramp its use of renewables, including solar energy, it has also vowed to continue expanding its use of coal.
It plans to double coal production to one billion tons by 2020 — saying it was vital to meet the needs of its burgeoning economy, which grew seven percent last quarter.
But the increasing emissions are taking their toll on health, with Delhi now officially the world's most polluted capital, a problem compounded by the steady rise in car ownership.
At one of Delhi's leading chest hospitals, Dr. Manu Madan said the corridors are full of patients suffering asthma and other ailments linked to the dirty air.
"We see more than 600 patients a day in the out-patients department," said Madan, who normally skips lunch to try to keep the queues down.
Madan said his team from the Vallabhbhai Patel Chest Institute are bracing for winter, when heavy cloud cover traps the pollution.
"Children suffer the most because of less immunity. At least two to three months during the winter are the worst. In many cases, we recommend they move out of Delhi."
In the fields of western Maharashtra state, large numbers of farmers are reeling from erratic rains which experts suspect are linked to climate change.
Sudden heavy downpours followed by weeks of no rain at all are accelerating topsoil erosion and leading to less fertile and even barren fields, said Shantaram Sakore, director of a local farmers' NGO.
With no access to irrigation and heavily reliant on the annual monsoon, farmers are increasingly competing to dig deeper borewells to tap groundwater to cope with drought.
"Collectively they have depleted the ground water level substantially," said Sakore, calling for more education on climate change.
Rice farmer Narayan Nipurte, from Thane district north of Mumbai, knows little of the complexities of global warming. But he understands the drier monsoons are making it more difficult to feed his family.
"There will be some seasons when there is no rain, so what do you do?" Nipurte asked.


Clic here to read the story from its source.