NGL's Xtreme Climate, etc Events / Trends Diary – Aug 2017

NGL's Xtreme Climate, etc Events / Trends Diary – Aug 2017

The past month has further shown that in all continents 1 in 100 year extreme climate events are now occurring 2/3 times in 10 years.  

1.  Canada: How many more homes must burn? We're drowning in evidence of climate change, Alex Paterson writes.  "We're going to have to understand that bracing for a 100-year storm is maybe going to happen every 10 years now, or every few years," our prime minister said after the floods in Ontario and Quebec. I've been watching footage of the raging forest fires in B.C., only a few months after homes flooded across Quebec and Ontario, only a year after Fort McMurray went up in flames, not even five years since downtown Calgary was submerged by floods. I have disaster fatigue. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/opinion-alex-paterson-climate-change-natural-disasters-1.4225717

 
2.       Europe: From intense heat waves to severe flooding, Europe is a continent of extremes at the moment. Severe weather conditions have caused mayhem and destruction in many countries. Italy has experienced one of its driest springs in some 60 years, meteorologists say some parts of the country have seen rainfall totals 80 percent below normal. Ilaria Salvadori an Italian agronomist says “The loss in sunflowers, like soft and durum wheat, is about forty to sixty percent. Sunflowers sowed at the right moment are ready to be harvested one month before their time.” In Portugal, more than a thousand firefighters were deployed to extinguish two forest fires in the provinces of Castelo Branco and Santarem, which have forced authorities to evacuate surrounding villages. http://www.euronews.com/2017/07/29/extreme-weather-hits-europe---scientists-blame-climate-change
 
 
3.       Russia: Mysterious craters blowing out of Russia could mean trouble for the whole planet. Rising temperatures are causing Siberia's long-frozen ground, called permafrost, to thaw. The permafrost last melted 130,000 years ago, but the rate of melting this time is unprecedented, a scientist says. The thawing could worsen global climate change. https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2017/07/30/siberian-craters-big-releases-of-methane-could-pose-broad-problems.html
 
4.       Australia: A large portion of northern and central Australia just experienced its warmest July on record in terms of maximum temperatures. Towns and communities from the Pilbara in WA across to the Central Coast of Queensland recorded average daytime temperatures that were a whopping 2-4 degrees warmer than usual during July. http://www.9news.com.au/national/2017/07/31/13/13/record-july-heat-across-multiple-states-and-territories-weatherzone
 
5.       Global roundup: Climate Disruption Dispatches, With Dahr Jamail. The reality of Anthropogenic Climate Disruption (ACD) continues to outstrip our ability to model worst-case scenarios, as it is happening so much faster than was ever anticipated. Sixty-three percent of all human-generated carbon emissions have been produced in the last 25 years, but science shows us that there is a 40-year time lag between global emissions (our actions) and climate impacts (the consequences). Hence, we haven't even begun to experience the worst of our emissions, and won't, until at least 2054. http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/22521-climate-disruption-dispatches-with-dahr-jamail
 
6.       INDIA: The frequency of extreme events is increasing. This appears to be the year for breaking records. Mt Abu, in Rajasthan, has had record rainfall this July — the highest in over 100 years. The combination of runoff from here, unusually heavy rain in Banaskantha and a canal breach have flooded parts of northern Gujarat. Ahmedabad may break a 100-year record for heaviest rainfall in July, receiving three times the normal amount. Several places in Gujarat received a large fraction of an entire season’s rainfall in 24 hours. In another part of the country, Assam is flooded. Forty percent of the state’s area is flood prone – making this an annual tragedy. This year has been particularly potent: resulting in 15 times the usual economic damage. http://www.firstpost.com/living/gujarat-assam-floods-why-blaming-climate-change-while-customary-is-also-unhelpful-3893631.html
 
7.       Global Wildfires: The world is currently on fire. Massive blazes burn in the United States, Canada, Russia, South America, and across Europe. To give you a sense of the scale of the inferno, we’ve included maps of the wildfires, as well as images from some of the fiery scenes. Here is the lowdown. An increased number of wildfires is one of the scenarios predicted under climate change. Warmer temperatures lead to more evaporation and drier soils—perfect conditions for wildfires. Especially out West, warmer temperatures mean that snow melt happens earlier (if it builds up at all) which means soils are drier for longer—extending fire season. At the same time, an indirect climate change threat in the form of an increase in tree killing insects have left behind a lot of dead plant matter for fires to feed on. So now when a fire breaks out, say, after a lightning strike, the conditions are such that it can burn hotter and spread further. https://flipboard.com/@flipboard/-this-is-how-much-of-the-world-is-curren/f-239b58c5ee%2Fpopsci.com
 
8.       India Drought: Shivaji Thomre has 13 acres of farmland. Meandering across his ploughed fields being readied for cotton, jowar and corn, we come upon a patch of dried  trees under which round yellow fruits – akin to sucked-up lemons – lie scattered. “This is mosambi  (sweet lime),” says Shivaji, picking one up. “It  needs 60 litres of water per plant per day in ideal conditions. The mosambi have totally dried up.” From 2012 onwards, Marathwada witnessed four consecutive years of drought and a water shortage. “Forget the harvest, because of the paucity of water, even the plants have barely survived,” says Shivaji. “Even the relatively good monsoon of 2016 did not help. In this area, the rainfall wasn’t that great.” https://ruralindiaonline.org/articles/marathwadas-mosambi-are-all-squeezed-out/
 
9.       Global: Yesterday, the New York Times published the final draft of a broad-based U.S. climate change report. The report carries with it a monumental scientific gravitas. It includes a culmination of research coming from thousands of peer-reviewed studies resulting in the accumulated work of tens of thousands of scientists. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) served as the lead government agency conducting the report. Representatives from three other federal agencies joined with NOAA along with a team of 54 scientist authors and reviewers drawing from both public and private sector institutional knowledge in compiling the report.The 673 page report represents a massive body of the latest scientific findings on climate change. It includes numerous key advances in understanding which we will take a shot at briefly highlighting for you here.
 
·         Humans Are the Primary Cause of Warming by a Huge Margin
·         Future Warming is Locked in, But it Can be Dramatically Reduced by Cutting Carbon Emissions
·         Extreme Weather is Becoming More Common and More Attributable to Human Caused Climate Change
·         Harmful Impacts to Oceans are on the Rise
·         Serious Risk of Unanticipated Changes
https://robertscribbler.com/2017/08/08/denying-the-storm-climate-change-report-findings-the-trump-administration-doesnt-want-you-to-know-about/
 
10.   USA. Hurricane Harvey is the biggest flood threat of any U.S. storm in modern times. Hurricane Harvey is expected to hit the middle Texas coast late Friday night as the most intense such storm to strike the U.S. since Hurricane Wilma in 2005. But its winds, which will rank as at least a Category 3 storm on the Saffir Simpson Scale, are not the biggest threat Texans face. http://mashable.com/2017/08/25/hurricane-harvey-unprecedented-flood-risk/#U1r904OiSOql
11.   South America Desert Rain. Desert erupts in floral beauty after unexpected rain falls in driest place on Earth http://flip.it/Vy7qP-. Changing face of planet.
12.   Italy Drought. Police clear migrants from Rome piazza with water cannons http://flip.it/lpuFSi . Europe's migrant crises deepening. Root  climate change.
13.   UK Rain Bomb Flood. Scarborough flash flood turns streets into rivers http://flip.it/vf7hz1 . XXtreme event. RAIN BOMB. Frequency rising. Climocalypse.
14.   Global. Inexorably being sucked into climocalypse. disruptive unusual & extreme climate patterns across all continents. http://newgrammaroflife.blogspot.com/2017/08/inexorably-being-sucked-into.html …
15.   USA. Zombie storm comes back from the (mostly) dead to threaten Gulf Coast with biblical flooding http://mashable.com/2017/08/23/tropical-storm-harvey-flood-threat-texas-louisiana/#8a.aP.TLQEOW … via @mashable.
16.   USA Chemical bombs. New Hazard in Storm Zone: Chemical Blasts & Noxious gas https://nyti.ms/2wVZOKW . Dystopian times. Globally so many xtrm clmt chem bombs.
17.   India / Asia Floods: Half a World Away From Harvey, Global Warming Fueled Deluges Now Impact 42 mn People |robertscribbler. Climocalypse. Unprecedented floods in India and SE Asia. 

Inexorably being sucked into climocalypse….

Inexorably being sucked into climocalypse….

As I write this blog…there are unmistakable signs that disruptive unusual and extreme weather and climate patterns have started breaking out over all continents and oceans… added to this are similar disruptive unusual and extreme patterns of economic and societal trends… everything seems to be spinning out of control… future shock magnified almost infinitely… some of the major non-climate trends of this veritable theatre of the absurd are:

1.     1.  Debt at country, corporate, local govts, individual levels mounting much beyond all safe levels… leverage assuming bubble proportions…4x of global GDP, 15-20x including derivatives…
2.       Inequalities increasing sharply over most societies… the inherent greed and avarice of humans coupled with the overarching full-blown features of capitalism…are accentuating the divide between haves and have nots...
3.       Violence at all levels is spiralling out of control…countries, urban, family, individual…
4.       Terrorism at various planes…religious, predominantly Islamic, unhinged dictators like Kim, cyber, ethnic, nationalistic…. becoming more terrifying with the ease of owning dirty bombs (nukes), biological pathogens, hacking financial systems, power grids, sewerage and water systems….
5.       Digitisation, robots, TV, entertainment, internet and AI gaining total control of our lives… with humanity morphing towards singularity…dehumanisation….
6.       Family breakdown with traditional marriage fading out as an institution, more wanting to live alone, divorces, same sex living/marriages, rising promiscuity, robot partners, three/multi-some marriages…
7.       Rampant urbanisation stressing out infrastructure of cities, power woes at peak demand, heat stress with global warming where temperatures get upto 8C higher than normal due to concrete heat sinks, flooding due to vanishing urban green covers and run off surfaces...
8.       Food shortages over vast tracts of humanity coexisting with excess food in affluent pockets…due to inequalities, climate change induced famines….
9.       Migrants from war, terror, genocide, famine infested areas like Syria, Africa….rising immigrants into cities, rich countries…

The above are a few of frightening trends which are getting stronger…but finally as I have often written and lamented about is that climate is going to be the ultimate game changer… most of us are watching the onslaught of climocalypse like zombies …. too deep into the trance, addiction and morass of modern life to react… satisfied with the few puny incremental measures being taken up by countries, corporates to make our world less carbon intensive …..

A few of the future shockean climate change trends which are ravaging the planet with increasing intensity, frequency, amplitude, standard deviation are listed below:

     1. Rising number of heat records over all continents, oceans, poles, ice caps in terms of highest temperature ever, no of days of high average temperatures…
2.       Extreme climate events which used to occur once in hundred years now occurring 2/3 times per decade….
3.       Melting poles shrinking to lowest levels for max no of days..icebergs and glaciers breaking away from ice shelves…
4.       Increase in storms, tornadoes, precipitation
5.       Flooding
6.       Sink holes
7.       Drought and famines
8.       Wildfires…
9.       Rising sea levels
10.   Rivers drying up
11.   Pollution, garbage
12.   Acidification of oceans and water bodies
13.   Extinction of animals, fish, fauna and flora.

Multiple theatres of extreme climate events like heat and flooding, heat and storms, heat, wildfires and flooding are being enacted simultaneously in all continents and also in several countries like USA, Peru, Portugal, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Spain, UK….. Need for a site to report on all these in a dashboard format. Predictive engines need to be designed for all countries and top say 1000 cities of the world starting with top 100. Constant coverage of these climate stories will only help in mobilising awareness.

On a time bound basis  in addition to the action points under the Paris Accord, all countries, top 1000 cities, all coastal cities, all cities which have currently reached 40c for 7 days a year, experienced above 3” per hour rain for more than 3 hrs at a stretch or more than 15’ in a day events in a year, experienced extreme climate events should prepare and implement action plans for: climate, heat, storm & flooding, drought, coastal sea level. New Grammar of Living action plans for some of these will be published in these blogs within the next few months.

Coping and survival guides, kits and training should be implemented in all countries. It has reached a stage where one can safely state that no country is safe anymore. There was a theory that tropics are most affected and temperate regions are going to be safe. But that is no longer true in view of the recent climate events in Canada like wild fires, rain, flooding… Even the Antarctica has been plagued recently by of all things wildfires!!!  

NGL's Xtreme Climate, etc Events / Trends Diary - July 2017

NGL's Xtreme Climate, etc Events / Trends Diary - July 2017

Sr Details

1 Deadly freak storm hits Istanbul with hailstones as large as golf balls & floods sweep city http://flip.it/5GuowA . 20 mins storm. Xtreme.

2 Torrential rains in Myanmar since early July has caused massive floods in the country, displacing more than 100,000 people. Video:Buddhist pagoda gets swallowed up by floodwaters in Myanmar http://flip.it/fapk-f . Xtreme climate events.

3 Climate change related hydrological events. Rain bombs. Strange Summer Nor’Easter Drops 3 Inches of Rain in 45 Minutes Over Parts of D.C. Area. Robert Scribbler.

4 Kolkata world’s most heat stressed city this century. Veritable frogs in boiling water. https://www.skymetweather.com/content/climate-change/kolkata-to-remain-worlds-most-heat-stressed-city-this-century/ …

5 Climate change blamed as EU’s forest fires treble in 2017. There have been 677 blazes in 2017 – a huge increase on the 215 the bloc saw annually on average over the previous eight years. https://flipboard.com/@flipboard/-climate-change-blamed-as-eus-forest-fir/f-53d9c66423%2Feuronews.com

6 Men's sperm counts have fallen dramatically in last 40 years — Is modern life the reason? http://flip.it/fph2.9 . Stress, diet. Dystopic.

7 If the worst climate-change predictions come true, hundreds of coastal US towns and cities — from Atlantic City, New Jersey, to Galveston, Texas — could disappear underwater by 2100. https://flipboard.com/@flipboard/-6-major-us-cities-could-be-underwater-w/f-e9557e827d%2Fbusinessinsider.com

8 Vatican turns off fountains as Rome gasps in drought https://www.yahoo.com/news/vatican-turns-off-fountains-rome-gasps-drought-011507579--finance.html?soc_src=social-sh&soc_trk=tw … via @YahooNews. Climocalypse @ hand. Like zombies we r hurtling

9 Foreign animals and plants can cause huge damage, with the march of Argentine ants in the UK a new example of how climate change is boosting the threat. Alien species invasions and global warming a 'deadly duo', warn scientists. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jul/25/alien-species-invasions-and-global-warming-a-deadly-duo-warn-scientists

10 A planet devastated by climate change may seem like a distant future. But Earth is already experiencing the effects of rising global temperatures today. Worldwide, the mean rate of sea level rise increased 50% in the last two decades. In 2017, temperatures have already reached their highest levels in history in some areas, from California to Vietnam . The past three years were the hottest on record . http://www.businessinsider.in/Even-if-every-country-on-the-planet-cuts-emissions-the-climate-would-still-be-screwed/articleshow/59564688.cms

11 It's not just you.The months are indeed getting warmer
http://www.huffingtonpost.in/entry/monthly-temperature-shift-gif-climate-change_us_597b63ece4b02a8434b630df …. alarming graph. analysis paralysis. we r horribly trapped.

12 Alarmism Is the Argument We Need to Fight Climate Change. New York magazine’s global-warming horror story isn’t too scary. It’s not scary enough. http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2017/07/we_are_not_alarmed_enough_about_climate_change.html

13 Record rains and floods in Japan. ASAKURA, Japan (Reuters) - Torrential rains battered southwestern Japan for a second day on Thursday, killing three people, with 100,000 ordered to evacuate their homes and while thousands of rescuers, some in helicopters, searched for survivors.
Parts of Fukuoka prefecture, on the island of Kyushu, were hit by 556 mm (22 inches) of rain in the 40 hours to 4 p.m. (0700 GMT) on Thursday, about 1.6 times the amount that usually falls in the whole of July, the weather agency said. http://www.reuters.com/article/us-asia-storm-japan-idUSKBN19R01O

NGL’s Radical Core Manifesto for averting Climocalypse: Survival Kit

This contains the most radical measures of New Grammar of Living which are needed to be implemented if we need to become in one year's time zero carbon and environmental degradation. 

Climate objectives:

Try to halt and reverse the relentless march of climate change through back to nature movement…

Strategic climate policies

All government, education, commercial, manufacturing, infrastructure, logistics, agriculture and food, environment, transportation, administration bodies/organisations/social groups/etc will need to recast their strategic objectives / action plans in terms of priorities aligned with the needs associated with coping and combating and reversing rapid climate change, environmental degradation….

Climate Measures

1.    Stop using air conditioning and heating for temperatures between 10C and 30C in cold countries and up to 35C in warm countries across the world.

2.    Running hot and cold water to be stopped except in hospitals. 

3.    Stop using internal combustion engine cars, SUVs, vans, and all kind of trucks except for food transport, medical needs.

4.    Ban usage of washing machines, dryers, dish washing machines due to their intensive use of water and power. 

5.    Stop usage of fossil fuel and other non-renewable energy production except in hospitals. 

6.    Strict family planning and population control / reduction through one child limits and no child rules in required cases. 

7.    Closure of all non-essential manufacturing units. All products to be subject to strict water and carbon limits. Products to be water and carbon positive. 

8.    Planned and sparing use of lifts.  

9.    No neon and bright lighting.

10. Strict water control and caps on uses. Rationing of potable water.

11. Limiting cloud usage of all social network websites. 

12. Ban on smoke emitting activities.

13. Clamp down on non-green conspicuous consumption.

14. Reduce high carbon agriculture.

15. Reduce air travel by 75%. Permit only essential and humanitarian travel. All other travel by bus, train, etc to be based up urgency, essential services, critical industries…

16. No new coal plants. Phased closure of existing coal plants in one year framework. Stop new hydel projects.

17. No ironing of clothes. Ban on suits above 20C. 

18. Phase out non-vegetarian food. Water intensive meats first. 

19. Climate police, surveillance, information, networks, etc to be set up for ensuring strict implementation with stringent 360 deg punishment process. Existing departments in these areas to work closely with climate bodies and report to them.

20. Ministry of Climate with overarching powers to eradicate the root causes which have led the present climocalypse state….

Strategic Initiatives

1.    Top priority to climate, environment studies and research at all educational, technology institutions. 

2.    Climate change mitigation plans for top 1000 cities of the world. 

3.    Map all major geographical locations, especially those which could be safe in terms of potential climate changes and events, and prepare historical grids of temperature, rainfall, flooding, aquifer levels, storms, etc. Then applying auto regressive models make projections for next 30-50 years. Arrive at best places to stay during 2050-2100. 

4.    Similar research for top cities and try to find out their respective breaking points in terms of becoming inhabitable due to action of one or more of climate perils / hazards as they increase exponentially. 

5.    Prepare action plans for shifting/ migration population from collapsing cities when clichange intensifies to the safe places identified from above research. 

6.    Climate proof ratings for cities, buildings, complexes, organisations, homes. 

7.    Green action plans for cities, buildings, complexes, organisations, homes.

8.    Deurbanisation action plans.

9.    Decarbonisation action plans. To include reducing cars on roads. Stop producing internal combustion engine cars. 

10. Rehabilitation and restructuring action plans for implementing Climate Action Plans under which many carbon intensive products and industries are going to be banned, controlled, phased out, remodelled, merged, closed for individuals, companies, sectors, industries. 

11. Universal income scheme of Zuckerberg especially since several industries like car, fossil fuel based, etc would need to close.

12. Carbon and water values for all consumer products, food, buildings, manufactured items. 

13. Carbon and water monitoring and meters for homes, offices, buildings, complexes, organisations and cities. 

14. Above points 6 to 13 to be linked to salary structures, individual and company tax rates, GST, interest rates both for deposits and loans.

15. Processes and systems for all above. 

Strategic Coping Plans for Climate Change

Espouse, write, help in implementing radical or moderate versions of the following action points: 

1.    Heat Action Plans for cities and rural areas.

2.    Flood action plans. 

3.    Sea level rise action plans

4.    Back to nature and roots movements for urban people.

5.    Integrated climate plan for alternative lifestyles and eco systems for Zero carbon societies. 

The above list is not a comprehensive or exhaustive one. Further details of the above will be published in this blog periodically…each of the above points need to be expanded and fleshed out into draft action plans….then maybe with the collaborations of educational and research institutions these drafts can be finalised….next get in touch with agencies which can implement these and convince them about the usefulness of these action plans for combatting climate change… we must try to minimise the ravages of climocalypse by being better prepared….

Urgent need for Holistic Manifesto for combating CLIMOCALYPSE

Today we are at the most critical crossroad of human history...we have reached or crossed tipping points in most spheres...this juncture of human history is characterised by the following mega trends: 

• population has crossed 7 bn which is far beyond what the resources of our dear planet can support...

• debt levels of the globe are highly over leveraged at least three times total GDP of all countries at about $ 300 trillion ... if we include derivatives the financial weapon of mass destruction then the debt to GDP ratio could be in the numbing 10 to 20 range...

• urbanisation is reaching unsustainable proportions thanks to proliferation of media and transportation which is making it easy for rural population to migrate to cities in search of modern lifestyles, jobs, education and better prospects .... resulting in growth of urban concrete jungles with attendant nightmarish problems of heat stress, garbage disposal, sewerage, pollution, crime and violence, water scarcity. Urban areas which constitute only 1% of global land mass emit 60% of carbon....

• rampant high energy / carbon intensive lifestyles due to cars, ACs, surfeit of electrical, consumer durable & electronic gadgets, air travel....

• societal transformation marked by rise of divorces, single parents, permissiveness, drugs, guns, tv and entertainment.....

• rise of tech, Internet and AI which are now synonymous with life with the ubiquitous mobile becoming our alter ego......our robotesque future close at hand.. and the hurtle towards the age of singularity ….

• widening inequalities across the world giving rise to dissatisfaction with political parties of past, inner cities and slums, decline in effective demand a prerequisite for keeping the wheels of capitalism moving, ….

• surge of migrants due to inclement climate, religious persecution and terror, .....

• Wars and terror...to some extent both are intertwined... terror has made inroads into Europe... and the proliferation of nukes and especially the nuke programs of Iran and North Korea are creating global tension mainly after Trump's arrival.....but what is probably as scary is the possibility of terror groups acquiring nukes or dirty bombs along with fallen states like Pakistan with large nuke piles....

Though each of the above is game stopper by itself ...the combined cross impact of these paints a very grim picture...but last but not least it is climate change which is fast threatening to become the ultimate game changer....climate change (clichange) is also integrally intertwined with most of the above mega trends....except for the probability of a nuclear war, clichange is 100% probability event which is insidiously spreading its tentacles on all parts of the globe with increasing frequency, intensity and amplitude...through unusual unseasonal extreme weather events, global warming especially at the poles, urban heat stress, increasing precipitation and resulting flooding, storms and tornados, rising sea levels, snow, pollution, dust storms, warming oceans....

Yogi's Climate Action Plan

Climate Action Plan: Espouse, write, help in implementing radical or moderate versions of the following action points: 

1.       Heat Action Plans for Indian cities and rural areas.

2.       Flood action plans. 

3.       Climate proof ratings for cities, buildings, complexes, organisations, homes. 

4.       Green action plans for cities, buildings, complexes, organisations, homes.

5.       Deurbanisation action plans.

6.       Decarbonisation action plans. To include reducing cars on roads. Stop producing internal combustion engine cars. 

7.       Back to nature and roots movements for urban people.

8.       Integrated climate plan for alternative lifestyles and eco systems for Zero carbon societies. 

9.       Rehabilitation and restructuring action plans for implementing Climate Action Plans under which many carbon intensive products and industries are going to be banned, controlled, phased out, remodelled, merged, closed for individuals, companies, sectors, industries. 

10.   Universal income scheme of Zuckerberg especially since several industries like car, fossil fuel based, etc would need to close.

11.   Carbon and water values for all consumer products, food, buildings, manufactured items. 

12.   Carbon and water monitoring and meters for homes, offices, buildings, complexes, organisations and cities. 

13.   12 linked to salary structures, individual and company tax rates, GST, interest rates both for deposits and loans.

14.   Processes and systems for all above. 

The above list is not a comprehensive or exhaustive one. Further details of the above will be published in this blog periodically…each of the above points need to be expanded and fleshed out into draft action plans….then maybe with the collaborations of educational and research institutions these drafts can be finalised….next get in touch with agencies which can implement these and convince them about the usefulness of these action plans for combatting climate change… we must try to minimise the ravages of climocalypse by being better prepared….

Why I am a climate hippie wanting to become a climate yogi...

I know all my mad rantings in newgrammaroflife.blogspot.com, Facebook's New Grammar of Living and twitter @pkd603 for the past decade or so and my diaries since the 70s have come to nought....fallen on deaf ears of a civilisation bent on climate hara-kiri (in a lighter vein and very likely my blogs are being read only by bots!!).... we are too addicted to the ever-increasing comfortable life of modern civilisation enabled by technological progress over the past two centuries or so spearheaded by the western societies...

Indeed it's a Faustian choice and bargain for society...all of us including yours truly have been sucked into the entails of the devilish charms of all the energy intensive goodies which the capitalistic societies are offering through supermarkets... now just a click away on the ultimate celestial mall of amazon...there is simply no escape ...it's sheer digital nirvana...the opium of the masses….

As billions of people in the developing and emerging markets join the rapidly increasing global urbanscape... fed and tempted daily by the alluring ads and serials on the ubiquitous TVs and internet...consumerism is spreading across all nooks, crannies and crevices of human settlements .... due to the aggressive trickle down sales and distribution networks of manufacturing ...the aspiration levels of billions are rising fast... fuelled by movies and telly serials which have been influenced by the puerile Hollywood over the past century .. yes, the entire planet has been effectively and suitably americanised…wearing jeans which require 2000 to 3000 litres of water to manufacture, drinking coca cola and pepsi, eating burgers and pizza, listening to rock n roll, driving SUVs and other toys of doom, frequenting and super markets……

Consumer goods form a major step in the upward movement of humans to a so called better life...followed by household durables .. housing .. two wheelers ... cars... electronics... air conditioning...in the process driving nail after nail into the sputtering climate coffin...mass consumerism, urbanisation, energy intensive lifestyles...with attendant environmental degradation and pollution…are driving us towards a climocalypse...

We are indeed on the horns of mankind's most difficult dilemma...to progress or not to...human race has emerged out of a long evolutionary process...biogenetics which is the root of the nature's evolutionary process… where natural selection ensures that the best of the species adapt and survive.... and there is continuous move towards so called superior and higher species...hence now the moot question is where do humans evolve from here onwards...

Human civilisation has peaked....with its brains which have been improving over the past ten thousand years or so...humans have evolved from discovering how to ignite fire ....to inventing nuclear weapons..  It has indeed been a long journey...in the process of continuous improvement the western world has over past four centuries or so (starting with Europe and then along with America) leapfrogged ahead of the east ..mainly India and China which had dominated the global wealth till then ....by inventing the steam engine, locomotives, ships, guns, electricity, cars, aeroplanes, nuclear weapons and energy, internet.....

Now we are at the inflexion point... technology and knowledge has spread to all continents... Russia and China have emerged as superpowers...Japan and South Korea. ...India.. manufacturing and the service industry have matured in all the top countries.... meanwhile the population of humanity has crossed 7 billion... clearly an unsustainable number.. planet's resources are grossly inadequate to support the ever-increasing demands of rising  humans and per capita requirements... 

There is no way we can curb the hunger for higher volumes and sophistication of goods and services of the planet's rising population ...the mantra of capitalism is forever rising GDP .... even though inequalities are widening ... all the measures outlined in the Paris accord are vague and too little too late...though intentions are honest but no one can think of radical solutions to tackle the root causes of climate change...the stark reality is that it’s an unequal world with high inequalities. Hence the top 10% of the global population would be emitting over 70% of the carbon. Hence the actions of the top 10% have accelerated the climate change for entire world. Sadly but ironically the major 90% are facing the brunt of the climate change events and suffering huge financial losses which they can ill afford. It's indeed an unfair world where the rich who are the main cause of climate change are able to continue their comfortable lives well protected from the ravages of climate....

Hence the only way to satisfy my conscience is to become a climate hippie ...not for the first time…I have been a hippie since 1970..it's interesting to note that the earliest rebels who revolted against the establishment were rock n roll musicians...during the 60s which was the most defining decade for the world in more than one way ..in fact the rock n roll musicians like led zeppelin, pink floyd...were some of the earliest to protest against consumerism, rampant industrialisation and impact on nature....perhaps the best way to cope up with the insane demands of modern society and senseless damage to environment by our high energy lifestyles is to get comfortably numbed...during the early 70s I had shoulder length hair with mid parting for a couple of years like the sage Sri Aurobindo whom I used to admire...

But now I am quite ready to give up urban living and spend the rest of one’s life near the sea or at my ancestral village in Odisha… a most cosmic state ...in spite of the heat there… this is not a new fad for me....in fact during my schooldays (class 7 during 1965) I used to take cold showers in the midnight of winters in Kolkata when the temp was about 10C .... to strengthen my mind...kind of a renunciation and self-mortification … during the height of summer my younger brother and me used spend hot afternoons during holidays without the ceiling fan when the temp used to peak at around 38C (with maybe a feels like index of maybe 42C)....it was kind of divine madness during ones teens...there was this strong spark within one to lead a spartan life of monks...at that age I wanted to reduce my dependence on electricity....kind of abhorred an energy intensive life....intuitively both of us brothers wanted to reduce our carbon imprint....

All along since my childhood I was quite accustomed to walking.....to school, markets, the British council library, later after working home from office, to the bank....in Kolkata we used the public transport for going further.....even after I bought a car in Bengaluru which was quite late in life when was 41....I still liked to walk wherever I could....even the car I was forced to buy because in Bengaluru public transport was poor in the 90s....and plus the bank where I was working gave us interest free loans and petrol, driver, etc....luckily my wife had no hang ups that we must own a car....now I very rarely use the car... walking to do all my chores like bank work, groceries... 

Since we moved to Bengaluru in 1992...we never felt the need for air conditioners....gradually over past 20+ years the average temp in Bengaluru has risen by over 2C...in our previous apartment all the flats had at least one AC while we had none....it was only in 2014 we installed ACs since we were on top floor...which we use only for about two months a year..

So now being totally disillusioned in Bengaluru by the phoney and plastic scene, energy intensive lifestyles, concrete urban nightmare, environmental disaster, density of population..... ....I wish to become a climate yogi and go and live in a village....my ancestral village near Bhubaneswar in Odisha....practising my manifesto for climate change...the manifesto has been drafted....it needs to be completed...

Basically as a yogi...I will have to lead the deenergised lifestyle which I have been espousing all these years....solar power which will provide basic electrical gadgets like lights, fan, small fridge, TV, music, laptop, tablet, phone .. I should get deeply involved as a climate activist in creating Heat Action Plans for cities and villages of Odisha…I have been trying my best to convince my wife…but so far she has not been in favour…neither does my daughter with all  me in this role in Odisha … feel deeply troubled… would not mind also to stay in Bhubaneswar the capital of Odisha .. or wage my struggle to spread awareness about climate change right here in Bengaluru the city which is collapsing under the its weight as one of the fastest growing cities in the world……with all the banes of modern civilisation and urbanisation…will outline my role as climate yogi soon in my next blog….