Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has ended its summit meeting in the Brazilian capital of Rio just & has come out with revelations that should shock none. The IPCC was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize along with Al Gore this year (& it still baffles me that Al Gore can get one but not Gandhi; not that he needs it) for its phenomenal work in regards to Global warming awareness program. The organization has now warned the world that the developing & under-developing parts of the world would have to endure the brunt of the effects caused by global warming. The IPCC vice chairman Mohan Munasinghe said;
“The results of the IPCC show very clearly the impacts of climate change will be … much more severe for the poorest groups and Latin America is included in that.’
Now, this makes you wonder if even Mother Nature is targeting its less privileged kids. But that is not the case. The statement merely means that when a disaster caused as an effect of Global Warming hits the poorer nations of the world, they just have scant resources to overcome the travesty. This points towards the quite obvious fact, that the poorer nations have limited infrastructure & scant resources to bounce back from a natural calamity; unlike a far richer nation of the world.
While the pollution emitted from the developed nations is no less harmful, the summit also addressed at the equally serious issue of deforestation, which is complicating the problem of global warming further. Large areas of the Amazon rain forest are being cleared to fulfill the ever growing needs of a more industrialized world. This only leads to less absorption of Carbon Dioxide & less release of Oxygen.
Clearing of the Amazon forests
The ironic fact remains that the wild forests of Amazon, with their lush green & exotic appeal, emit 70% of Brazil’s greenhouse gases & Brazil is the 4th largest emitter of these gases in the world!! Now how come forests emit CO2? Well, that is because most of the Amazon basin is being burned to clear land for agriculture & industrial needs. The forests that were supposed to save us have been turned in to systems that harm us & hasten our demise from the surface of the planet. Wow! Man does have a sense of irony!
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