CEE Oct-Dec 2012

Last but not least, it is recommended that professional advice is sought when choosing air supply solution, since the various types of blower have very different characteristics hence, a simple comparison can easily lead to misinterpretation, unwise investment and as shown unnecessarily high energy consumption. Courtesy: Water Today, Aug. 2012, Pp 78-86. Environmental Protection &Resource Management Climate Change & Global Warming REVAMPING THE NAPCC The Planning Commission has suggested reworking and upgrading of the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) in order to ensure effective implementation. In 2008, the government had laid down the NAPCC, comprising eight m1ss1ons, in order to address the development concerns and challenges posed by climate change. The preliminary estimate for implementing the eight missions was Rs 230 billion . The Planning Commission has now observed that the progress on some of these missions has been slow and in some cases, the budgetary allocations have been in adequate. It has recommended a reduction in the number of missions to seven and suggested designating some of the missions that have a common purpose as policy thrust areas. The final decision on these suggestions will be taken by the Prime Minister's Council on Climate Change. In addition to the suggestions on revamping the NAPCC, the commission has advised that a separate mission be implemented for the promotion of wind energy. Courtesy: Renewable Watch, Oct. 2012, P4. INDIAN TEMPERATURES PREDICTED TO SOAR Temperatures in India will rise sharply within decades just as it overtakes China to become the world's most populous nation, while monsoon rains will be more intense and variable, according to predictions by Indian and British Climate scientists. "Towards the end of the present century (2080s), the annual average temperature in India is projected to increase between 2.9°C and 4.3°C from the 1961-90 baseline," is the main conclusion of a report published on 27.9.2012 by senior UK and Indian government scientists. Using a different set of climate models, the scientists say warming will be noticeable in the 2020s, with rises of 3°C by the 2050s and about 5°C by the 2080s. ''The maximum warming is projected over northern parts of the Indian landmass and the Himalayas." Both forecasts assume continued high em1ss1ons of greenhouse gases. Such rapid temperature changes, coupled with an expected 10 per cent increase in monsoon rainfall over central and peninsular India from the 2050s, are significant because of India's large population and the country's vulnerabil ity to rising sea levels and changing rainfall patterns. India already has more than 1.2bn inhabitants, most of whom depend on farming, and its fast growing population is likely to be larger than China's within two decades. The new report, based on collaboration between India's environment and forests ministry and the UK energy and climate change department; focuses on two Indian states - Madhya Pradesh and Orissa- seen as particularly vul nerable to climate change. "Overall yields of wheat and soyabean are projected to decline, whilst rice yields increase," it says, adding that floods in both the Ganges and the Mahanadi rivers will probably be more severe and rainfall more variable. "The severity of both deficit and excess monsoons will increase. Cyclonic disturbances over the Indian Ocean during the summer monsoon are likely to become more intense, and they may form slightly to the south of their current location." Increasingly urgent warnings from scientists on the need to curb the greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming have prompted only half-hearted responses from governments and businesses in the largest emitting nations, including those such as India and China that could be the biggest victims. "We have to prepare for a world in which climate changes," Nick Butler, energy expert and former BP executive , wrote in an FT blog last month in which he urged "adaptation" to climate change in the absence of moves to cut emissions. "Volatility is much more likely," he said. "Extreme heat and floods can occur in the same 21