Cement, Energy and Environment

-- the impact of global warming . On the contracy, prof.. Goswami said, incidents of heavy monsoon rainfall are on the rise in the central part of the country. Moreover, Indian monsoon has become less predictable now. The study of the monsoon rainfall data of the country for the past 50 years has led to the above conclusions. It needs mention here that the North East is generally known as one of the regions receiving high amount of rainfall with heavy rainfall incidents taking place regularly. Prof. Goswami was delivering the Prof. A N Sarma Memorial Lecture on the theme 'Indian Monsoon in a Changing Climate' on the occasion of the ninth annual general meeting of the Assam Engineering College Alumni Association . Courlesy: TERI (The Energy Resources Institute) Newswire, 1-15 October 2010, P12. WARMER ARCTIC PROBABLY PERMANENT, SCIENTISTS SAY The signs of climate change were all over the Arctic this year - warmer air, less sea ice, melting glaciers which probably means this weather making region will not return to its former, colder state, scientists have reported. In an international assessment of the Arctic, scientists from Canada, Denmark, Russia, and US other countries said, "Return to previous Arctic conditions is unlikely." Conditions in the Arctic are i.nportant because of their powerful impact on weather in the heavily populated middle latitudes of the Northern He; !"'isphere. Courtesy: TERI (The Energy and Resources Institute) Newswire, 16 -31 Oct. 2010, P18. CROP FAILURES TO INCREASE WITH CLIMATE CHANGE Huge crop failures such as Russia's wheat crisis this year are likely to become more common as climate change causes more extreme periods of heat and drought, a new study finds. Researchers at the University of Leeds simulated climate change's effect on spring wheat in northeast China and found that about 20% to 30% of crops could fail. Their study appears in Environmental Research Letters. The study says farmers may be able to adapt to climate change with greater investments and new crops that better tolerate heat and drought. It looks only at crops in China, but the authors said they plan to use their methodology to study other agricultural regions worldwide . Courlesy: TERI (The Energy Resources Institute) Newswire,1-15 October 2010, P15. LARGE PORTIONS OF EARTH DRYING UP: STUDY The soils in large swathes of the world , including vast areas of central India, Australia, Africa, and South America have been drying up, a new study has found, warning that this could intensify global warming and reduce vegetation growth. The Oregon State University study, which looked at the natural phenomenon of "evapotranspiration" on a global scale, discovered that important regions in the Southern Hemisphere are losing their soil moisture and drying up. Evapotranspiration, or the movement from the land to the atmosphere, is a key component of the global climate system. It returns about 60% of the annual precipitation back to the atmosphere, in the process, using more than half of the solar energy absorbed . by land surfaces. Courlesy: TERI (The Energy Resources Institute) Newswire, 1-15 October 2010,P17. WAR AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE "Climate change is a reality. It is serious issue. We are going to be affected the most by climate change. But we are taking steps to mitigate it," said Jairam Ramesh, Union Minister for Environment and Forests, Government of India, while announcing that the Indian government has made a provision for Rs . 25,000 crore to mitigate the impact of climate change. The money is being raised through a cess on coal and compulsory afforestation fund, replied the minister to a debate on a private member's resolution for setting up a fund, for dealing with climate change. In addition, the Ministry of Finance, Government of India, has sanctioned Rs 5000 crore for the same cause, as recommended by Thirteenth Finance Commission. Giving a breakup of the fund plan, Ramesh said that Rs. 10,000 crore is already available under the Compensatory Afforestation and Management Planning Authority (CAMPA). Contributions to the CAMPA come from business establishments that take up activities in forestland . The first tranche of Rs.10,000 crore will be distributed to the state governments. Another Rs. 10,000 crore of the fund would be generated by 201 5 from a clean energy cess on coal. The cess has become operational , and this fiscal year, 53