My Science School

              Since it is the second most populated country, India is one of the most polluted nations in the world. Pollution has been creeping into the rural areas of the country as globalization and urbanization started spreading. Vandana Shiva has been vocal against the unhealthy practices in India that lead to polluting and harming the environment.

              Vandana Shiva, an Indian environmental activist, is also a renowned scholar, food sovereignty advocate, and alter-globalization author. She is one of the leaders and board members of the International Forum on Globalization. For her contributions to the Indian environmental scenario, Vandana Shiva received the Right Livelihood Award in 1993, an honour known as an ‘Alternative Nobel Prize’.

              Her contributions include the assistance to grassroots organisations of the Green movement in Africa, Asia, Latin America, Ireland, Switzerland and Austria with campaigns against advances in agricultural development via genetic engineering.

            In 1982, she founded the Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology. This led to the creation of Navadanya in 1991, a national movement to protect the diversity and integrity of living resources, especially native seeds, the promotion of organic farming and fair trade.

 

              David Brower was a mountaineer and environmentalist. As an accomplished mountaineer, he had 70 first ascents to his credit! As was the case with most ecologists, Brower became an environment enthusiast due to his passion for nature.

             As a prominent environmentalist, Brower founded many environmental organisations. Some of the most important ones include the John Muir Institute of Environmental Studies, Friends of the Earth, the League of Conservation Voters, Earth Island Institute, North Cascades Conservation Council and Fate of the Earth Conferences. From 1952 to 1969, he served as the first Executive Director of the Sierra Club, a prominent environmental organisation.

            Brower founded ‘Friends of the Earth’ in 1969. The aim of the organisation was to prevent further development of nuclear energy. FoE set up its head-quarters in San Francisco.

           A monument ‘Spaceship Earth’ was erected in his honour at Kennesaw State University. The intention is that the monument will serve as a permanent reminder to future generations about the delicate nature of our planet.

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            The earth breathes through forests. If forests are destroyed, the level of oxygen in the atmosphere will steadily come down and this will result in the annihilation of life on Earth. Chico Mendes was a conservationist who fought until his final breath for the cause of forests.

            Chico Mendes was born in Brazil in a family of rubber tappers. His family supplemented their income by sustainably gathering nuts and other rainforest products. Chico Mendes is best known for his efforts at saving the rainforests of Brazil from logging and ranching activities. Alarmed at the devastation of the Amazon rainforest, he helped to ignite international support for its preservation.

            His activities, however, drew the ire of powerful ranching and timber interests, who were exploiting the Amazon forest, slowly destroying it. They conspired to murder him to get rid of his menace. Mendes was assassinated by cattle ranchers at the age of 44 on December 22, 1988. The Chico Mendes Institute for Conservation of Biodiversity, a body under the jurisdiction of the Brazilian ministry of the environment is named in his honour.

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            Who, after one’s studies, would not like to get a white-collar job with a high salary in the busiest city in the world? Education today has taken Man away from nature and placed him in concrete jungles. However, Wangari Maathai, a Kenyan ecologist, thinks that education should instill in people respect for the earth and nature.

            Wangari Maathai was an environmental and political activist in Kenya. She studied biology in the United States and returned to Kenya to begin a career that combined environmental and social concerns. Maathai founded the Green Belt Movement in Africa. This movement helped to plant over 30 million trees, providing jobs to the unemployed while also preventing soil erosion and securing firewood.

            She was appointed Assistant Minister in the Ministry for Environment and Natural Resources. In 2004, Maathai was awarded the Nobel Prize for peace. She continued to fight for the rights of women, the politically oppressed and the natural environment in Kenya and other parts of the world. In 2011, Maathai died of complications from ovarian cancer.

            Have you ever felt calmer and more at peace with yourself when you are in the wild? Many people have left the hustle and bustle of the urban life to live a more harmonious life in the lap of nature. Henry David Thoreau was a nature mystic, who found peace in simple living and closeness to nature.

            Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) was one of America’s first philosopher-writer-activists. His legacy is still strong in the country as he is one of the most influential personalities even today.

            In 1845, Thoreau became disillusioned with much of the contemporary life. Therefore, he set out to live alone in a small house he built near the shore of Walden Pond in Massachusetts. He spent two years there living a life of utter simplicity. These years were the inspiration for his acclaimed work, Walden, or Life in the Woods, a meditation on life and nature. The book is considered a must-read for all environmentalists.

            Thoreau also wrote an influential political piece called Resistance to Civil Government (Civil Disobedience), which inspired Mahatma Gandhi to try the Civil Disobedience Movement in, India successfully.

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            Is Man the custodian of the earth? For thousands of years, Man had thought that he had absolute authority over all the animate and inanimate things in the world because he was endowed with superior intelligence. However, men like Aldo Leopold have taught us that Man is like any other organism in nature and he, on account of his intelligence, should devote more time and energy in conserving nature.

            Aldo Leopold, an American ecologist and conservationist, is considered by some to be the godfather of wilderness conservation and of modern ecologists. Born in 1887, in the American State of Iowa, Leopold studied forestry at Yale University and worked for the U.S. Forest Service.

            Aldo Leopold was originally asked to kill bears, cougars and other predators, because of protests from local ranchers. However, he adopted a more holistic approach to wilderness management. His approach and attitude resulted in the return of many animals which would have otherwise become extinct.

            His best-known book, A Sand County Almanac, remains one of the most eloquent pleas for the preservation of wilderness ever composed. He emphasized biodiversity and ecology and was the founder of the science of wildlife management.

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          Form the latter part of the 19th century onwards, individuals had raised their voices against exploiting nature. However, until the mid-20th century, there was neither general awareness among people regarding the impending danger nor solidarity among nations to fight against it.

          Rachel Carson, a renowned environmentalist, on account of her persistent battle against anti-environmentalist forces and incessant guarding of nature’s cause, is considered by many the founder of modern environmental movements.

          Rachel Carson was born in Pennsylvania. She went on to study biology at Johns Hopkins University and Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory, She later worked for the US Fish and wild-life Service; and this provided her the opportunity to be closer to the marine life. Carson published her noted work, The Sea around Us and many other books during this time.

          Her most famous work however was 1962’s Silent Spring. In this book, she described the devastating effect that pesticides had on the environment. She had to face severe criticism from chemical companies and others because of the book. However, Carson’s observations were proven Correct later. Her efforts bore fruit when pesticides like DDT were eventually banned.

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            Great men are those who walked ahead of their times and showed the world a path worthy of following. The world has given birth to many such great visionaries who foresaw the future of our planet. John Muir, a Scottish environmentalist, was a leader and visionary, and above all was instrumental in bringing about awareness among people regarding the need to conserve nature.

            While John Muir was born in Scotland in 1838, his family had to immigrate to Wisconsin when he was just a young boy. As a young man, he had an opportunity to hike to the Gulf of an opportunity to hike to the Gulf of Mexico. This experience ignited in him his life-long passion for hiking. Muir spent much of his life wandering in the wildness of the United States.

            Muir worked tirelessly and his efforts led to the creation of Yosemite National Park, Sequoia National Park and many other conservation areas.

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            Our planet today is not what it used to be a hundred odd years ago. While science and technology has made significant advancement, global security and extent of habitability in our planet has only decreased. Therefore, we should keep an eye on our atmosphere as every passing moment is crucial. There are many international organizations that are set up to monitor the developments in the atmosphere. GAW is one of them.

            The Global Atmospheric Watch or GAW is a global network organised by the UNO and WMO. The growing rate of pollution and environment hazards in the 1960s was the main reason for the establishment of GAW. The organisation was set up to measure the state of the atmosphere and to detect physical and chemical changes in it. GWA was established out of concerns for the state of the atmosphere. A partnership involving 80 countries is behind this endeavour.

            GAW represents a series of observing stations across the globe and various supporting facilities providing data for atmospheric assessments. There are more than 65 countries that currently host and operate GAW’s global or regional measurement stations.

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            Climate is changing fast. One of the greatest environmental threats to all the nations in the world is global climatic change. Our planet is heating up faster than we thought. Even the smallest rise in heat is a potential threat to the survival of various organisms including Man. Even a modest rise in sea level, which might look negligible in the ordinary sense, will inundate at least four low-lying Pacific island countries and damage many more.

            In this scenario, smaller countries that will be directly affected by climate change came together in solidarity. AOSIS stands for the Alliance of small Island States. It has 42 members and observers from all over the world. The alliance represents 28 of the developing countries and 20 per cent of total UN membership.

            AOSIS was established in 1990, with the aim of making the voice of low lying coastal regions and small island countries heard. Much research has been done recently as to know how the island nations will be affected and the results show that potential liability for climate change-related losses for the Alliance of Small Island States is over 570 trillion US Dollars.

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            Nature is a treasure trove of resources. A conscious and controlled utilization of the natural resources could have ensured Man a safer and more comfortable environment. However, Man’s greed for more and persistent exploitation of natural energy sources for hundreds of years have landed him in great trouble. If we do not look for more renewable energy sources, we would be digging our graves.

            The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), an intergovernmental organisation, promotes adoption and sustainable use of renewable energy. The agency was founded in 2009. The Director-General of IRENA is Adnan Amin, a national of Kenya. IRENA is an official United Nations observer. The agency is headquartered in Abu Dhabi.

            Nations across the globe had felt the need for an international agency for renewable energy for a long time. The first suggestions for such an agency can be found in the 1980 Brandt report activities. The Founding Conference of the International Renewable Energy Agency was held in Bonn, Germany, on 26 January 2009.

            Seventy-five countries signed the Agency’s statute. IRENA aims to become the main driving force in promoting a transition towards the use of renewable energy on a global scale.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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                Man has brought about so much harm to nature. Now, to repair the damage done, much more effort and money is necessary. The Global Environment Facility is an organization that funds efforts across the globe in conserving nature.

            The Global Environment Facility (GEF) was established on the eve of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit. The organization was set up to help tackle our planet’s most pressing environmental problems. One hundred and eighty three countries are united under the flag of the GEF in partnership with international Institutions, civil society organisations (CSOs), and the private sector to address global environmental issues while supporting national sustainable development initiatives.

            GEF is an independently operating financial organisation. The organisation provides grants for projects related to biodiversity, climate change, international waters, land degradation, ozone layer, persistent organic pollutants (POPs), mercury, sustainable forest management, food security, and sustainable cities.

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            As the world is getting more conscious of the precarious situation our planet is in due to global warming, more and more research is conducted in that area. Nations have come to realize the need to spend more energy and time on analyzing the problems and finding solutions to them. The International Union for Conservation of Nature, abbreviated as IUCN, is founded keeping these requirements in mind.

            Officially known as International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, IUCN is an international organisation working in the field of natural resources. It is involved in data gathering and analysis, research, field projects, advocacy, and education. The organisation was established in 1948.

            While most other international environmental organisations try to mobilize the public in support of nature conservation, IUCN pursues many other objectives. It tries to influence the actions of governments, thereby persuading them to make new policy decisions.

            The organisation has observer and consultative status at the United Nations, and plays a role in the implementation of several international conventions on nature conservation and biodiversity. IUCN has a membership of over 1400 governmental and non-governmental organisations.

           

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              We know beyond any doubt the disastrous effects of climate change upon the world. We tend to think about the calamities in terms of their physical impact. However, climate change can have many socio-political and economic effects. A scientific body such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) aims to assess the risk of human-induced climate change, its potential impacts, and possible options for prevention.

              The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is an intergovernmental body established under the auspices of the United Nations. The organization is set up at the request of member governments and is dedicated to the task of providing the world with an objective, scientific view of climate change and its political and economic impact.

              IPCC was established in 1988 by two United Nations organisations, the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The agency was endorsed by the United Nations General Assembly later. It provides an internationally accepted authority on climate change, producing reports, which have the agreement of leading climate scientists and the consensus of participating governments.

 

              Constant vigil and incessant attention is necessary for the conservation of nature. An over-sight or dereliction in duty can result in a serious setback for humanity. Therefore, we need people dedicated to continually keeping an eye on the climate and the environment.

              The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) was originally known as the International Meteorological Organisation (IMO), which was founded in 1873. WMO is an intergovernmental organisation that provides a framework for international co-operation in keeping an eye on the changing weather patterns, climatic conditions and the environment in general across the globe. The organization has a membership of 191 member states and territories. WMO is the specialised agency of the United Nations for meteorology (weather and climate), operational hydrology and related geophysical sciences.

              Its current Secretary-General is Petteri Taalas. The President of the World Meteorological Congress, WMO’s supreme body, is David Grimes. The head-quarters of the organisation is in Geneva, Switzerland.

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