The UnEarth Bulletin

Hot, Wet and Depressed

#169・ Jan 26, 2022

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Issue #169 • View online

Weekly Roundup of Environmental News by Laveesh Bhandari

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My Take

A message from THE AUTHOR

Hot, Wet and Depressed

2021 is clearly among the warmest years since records have been available, with surface temperatures being at the top seven. Ocean heat is increasing significantly since 2020, this was the warmest year ever in 25 countries and the warmest summer ever in the northern hemisphere. Extreme events such as heatwaves, wildfires, and rainfall events were also among the highest. The other-wise hot Delhi had the wettest January in recorded memory, and there are some days yet to go. The winter rain was accompanied by stubborn clouds for long periods of time. The result was days and weeks without sunlight worsened by the Covid-curfew blues. Climate change is not only about temperatures and uinpredictable rain. It will affect the mind in ways difficult to predict as we can all feel in Delhi.

My Views this Week

Population fall a worry says Musk

Elon Musk is right, if we look far enough, the world will start to see a decline in population and also those in the working age. The population is already declining in many countries of the west, and the number of working-age people is falling even in some Asian countries. The challenge in the next century no doubt would be the falling global population, but let’s worry about it then. For now, let each woman decide for herself how many children she wants.

www.deccanherald.com • Share

Who needs another bureaucracy?

An Environment Service would be a group of officers who are specialized in environmental issues and therefore can then help the government better manage forests, rivers, monitor pollution, and release stuck infrastructure projects. The expertise required spans complex biological systems to particle physics, natural law to engineering, project management to policing. Seems like a not-so-great idea drawn from a much-criticized report on the environment, but let’s wait for more from the government.

www.hindustantimes.com • Share

California Garbage

California is bringing in more and more stringent laws for people to properly segregate their trash. I feel segregation is unlikely to work in developing countries. The bulk of people being poor, punishments for not segregating are difficult to institute. An alternative would be to persuade them with morality, something that rarely works on a large scale. A workable universal solution is for governments to motivate communities to manage their segregation and reward and punish them rather than individuals.

www.latimes.com • Share

The zombie river

The Thames was declared biologically dead in 1957. Since then both England and London cleaned up their acts and many fish, birds, and plants have once again been observed in the river. Except that even after 65 years, the river is not completely back to its original self. Bringing rivers back to their original self, it seems, is not so easy.

news.yahoo.com • Share

Wildlife crime falls

Wildlife crime has been falling steadily in India along with a steady rise in the numbers of many animals. There could be many reasons for this and greater government action is also one of them. More raids, joint ops with neighboring countries, greater policing, and greater institution of cases are some contributory factors.

weather.com • Share

My News this Week