WHY "SAVE WATER"? = WHY "LIVE"?

       Submitted by: Karan Saggi


"Go water the plants outside"

"But it's raining"

"So what? Take an umbrella and go"

           You may have heard the joke before. It's funny, no doubt, but the sense of humor indirectly shades a truth: We waste water. If not, we tend to waste water on unnecessary things. The man is foolish enough not to realize that there is no need to water the plants when it's already raining. .It's not exceptional to see someone utilize water in a similar sense. When was the last time you turned off your tap while brushing, just to save those few seconds of needless water flow; or when did you make that slight effort to turn off the shower while applying soap? You know the answer and that is the truth.

A day without water? Not possible. A day without wastage of water? Not possible till date I guess. We already know how much water is important to us. After all, we all are 70% each. I hope we soon understand why we need to save water. The answer, in the simplest form, is because water gives life. Less water means less life and no water, obviously, means no life. Rather than researching whether Mars has those "incredible" traces of water, I'd prefer to stay here and save those "depleting" huge traces of water on Earth.

It only takes a little imagination to come up with water(life)-saving tips. For instance, park your car on your lawn and then wash it; the water is used up by plants. Or don't use your toilet as a trash-can for tissues because each flush uses up to 9 liters of clean water. Or water the plants with the fortune of swimming pool water you don't know what to do with. Or while doing the dishes, turn down the pressure to the flow of tap water; the dishes may come out cleaner.

When a guest visits our house, we offer them water. Someone who is unfortunately out of water may offer him soda. Wait, that's made of water again. So maybe the host has some supply of water. But I really wish my child or grandchild doesn't have to ask his guest, "How much water do you want?"

India and world after Copenhagen

     submitted by: Angadbir Singh

I read this pearl of wisdom somewhere "AS ONE WE ARE A DROP, AS TOGETHER, WE ARE AN OCEAN"
So hence each one of us has to stand up to face this issue gripping the society. Climate change may seem rhetoric but it is the need of the hour.
“We need to stand up, it is not about me or he but WE!”
With more than 6 billion people and ever increasing numbers; the resources are swiftly vanishing- it is just a matter of time if things go on like this. Tropical forests are being cut down for economic reasons and for construction due to increasing population. The main method for clearing land is burning, which releases a lot of CO2 into the atmosphere. Thus the damage of deforestation is 45 billion dollars but what about the air we breathe, such large scale destruction of trees jeopardizes the quality of the very air we breathe.
“Nature has enough for man’s need but not enough for man’s greed.”-Mahatma Gandhi
This was rightly said as until now every step of man till date on this planet of ours-The Earth, has been stringing on both sides of a coin. With the rushing expanse of technology we had harmed our own environment for which we are repenting but-the time is now;
When we can choose a path, a path for a greener environment and earth.
The millions of people in countries like India who depends on melt water from mountain glaciers for irrigation; drinking and hydropower could be left scorched. Sometime in the next decade, the polar ice will be thin enough to float. Once that happens and the ocean intrudes, a chain reaction of collapse would follow. Paddy fields in Punjab continue to sweat methane and suck water table dry, while the SEZS have taken their giant carbon footprints everywhere. SO WE Need TO ADOPT NATURE AND DEVELOPMENT-BOTH.
CLIMATE CHANGE IS REAL-WAKE UP!
Since India is still in the early stages of development trajectory, it is better equipped to demonstrate a low carbon lifestyle, which other societies could emulate.
After all, it is not carbon we want, but development. It is not coal we want, but electricity. It is not oil we want, but transport.

"Kindly-use-a-dustbin"

   submitted by: Karan Saggi

"Don't throw that mess on the floor!" yells a mother to her 8 year old son. But when the same kid throws a plastic bag on the street, she doesn't say a word. Why should anybody admonish him now? The street is public property. Of course it is beautiful this time of the year with the blooming spring trees, but ostensibly, everyone has a right to use it as a trashcan. We tend to "use" things that we are responsible for, while "take advantage of" what others take care of. It’s nothing personal; it’s the way God made us. The same God also gave us the Earth. So by "taking advantage of " what Earth has gifted us, we are misusing something that belongs to us. For the more sophisticated readers, replace "taking advantage of" in the previous line to "polluting". In other words, by throwing that plastic on the street, the kid is trashing his own property. There, maybe now his mother will scream at him again.
A sense of ownership is what it takes for us to look after something. It is high time to realize that earth's natural resources are our own. We are responsible for any harm our activities bring to nature. I may go on and on and showcase all my knowledge on pollution but I know you already learnt about it, and about all the other nature degradation theories in school. So what is stopping us from making an effort to preserve nature when we know what's going wrong? Maybe we're just too busy with our office work or have family problems or are busy learning Latin. I call any excuse we make a NIMBY syndrome. "NIMBY" Syndrome or "Not-In-My-Back-Yard-Syndrome" is a common human disorder whose symptoms are selfishness, a tendency to trash others' territories and sometimes simply having an anti-plantation nausea. Patients generally get fever when their own place is messy but feel better when the same mess is dumped in someone else's region. If you have ever thrown any plastic anywhere except in the actual dustbin or done anything that invites malaria, you might have caught the disease. The cure? "Plant-a-tree" or "Use-the-dustbin" pills are available everywhere. If they are too bitter, homeopathy offers the "Please-plant-a-tree" and "Kindly-use-a-dustbin" medicines.
It is time we abolish our tradition of trashing the neighborhood and start preserving all that is there Earth has given us. But first, we need to stop pressing the snooze button and wake up to the alarming calls of pollution, or if it's too late, Nature will wake us up in its own unpleasant way.

30*C : The Future Winters?

submitted by: Karan Saggi

Ever wondered why summers are getting longer than winters? Why each year we face even hotter summers? Why snow falls as late as in february rather than during christmas? These trivial signs of Climate Change all lead us to one answer- Global Warming. Global Warming is a phenomenon which basically leads to a rise in the temperature of earth`s atmosphere, disturbing all life-forms on earth.

Global warming has innumerable causes, most of which are due to our activities. Mainly, they are deforestation and uncontrolled emission of carbon dioxide. Global warming started long ago and is happening everyday because of us. It may be by superficial activities like use of perfumes or by an epochal period like that of the industrial revolution. The scientific explanation of Global Warming says that gases like carbon dioxide and methane ( called the `greenhouse gases`) have the ability to trap solar heat near earth`s surface. When these gases are present in the atmosphere in excess, which they are today, they do not reflect the trapped heat back into space and thereby increase the temperature of our planet. Even the tiny dust particles in air have this ability to trap heat!

It is said that a storm is preceded by an ominous silence. If Global warming is the storm, then today is the its silent phase. Global warming is inimical to all living forms on earth. We may not be affected by it today but studies have shown that since 1970, temperatures have gone up at nearly three times the average for the 20th century! The on-going effects of climate change include melting of ice caps and increase in sea levels. It means that by 2100, sea levels are likely to rise between 7 to 23 inches and a monstrous flood only requires 4 inches rise in water levels.

It is our call to prevent climate change and save our planet. It is in our hands to change our attitude towards our earth. We shouldn't contribute to spoil the climate of our planet neither do we have the right to do so. So the next time you travel, prefer a CNG vehicle or the next time you buy a deodorant, prefer the one with no CFC (usually mentioned at the back of the bottle). Or the next time your car is at a stop at the traffic light, turn off the engine. It is every individual`s responsibility to preserve planet earth. As it is said, "We didn't inherit the earth from our fathers, but we have borrowed it from our children."