My Science School

               Have you ever gone underwater? It is difficult to stay submerged in water for more than some seconds because our body is not designed like that of a fish or a frog. However, the cabinet of the Maldives Government went under the sea for an important meeting!

                Maldives is a tourist paradise primarily because it features coral reefs and white sandy-beaches. The islands lie just over one metre above the sea level. Scientists have warned that the whole nation could be devastated in a matter of a few minutes if sea levels rise due to global warming.

               The Maldives was facing a life-threatening situation. In order to grab the world’s attention, the Government of Maldives held the first-ever underwater cabinet meeting in October 2009. The president at that time was Mohammad Nasheed who dressed in full scuba gear, conducted the 30-minute meeting at a depth of six metres off the coast just north of the capital Male. While under-water, they signed a document ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December calling on all nations to cut their carbon emission.

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                Factories and manufacturing facilities discharge toxic industrial waste that pollutes. Many a time, the pollutant water is released into a large water body without being properly treated. This often leads to large-scale destruction of life because there are many micro and macro organisms living there. People in China protested against a company that would have caused major pollution in the environment. Their protest became successful, and the government had to scrap the proposal.

               All this began on 28 July 2012. The government had proposed a waste-water pipeline in the Chinese city of Qidong. The pipeline was part of a paper factory owned by Japan’s Oji Paper Company. The pipeline would have dumped industrial wastewater into the sea. The Qidong protest was an environmental protest against this proposal and its certain catastrophic results.

              People in thousands, came out of their homes demanding the cancellation of the project, citing environmental concerns. The protesters raided government offices as an estimated 1,000 people went on the rampage, overturning vehicles, and forcing the city’s mayor to strip off his shirt. The protesters then made him wear a T-shirt with protest messages.

             The protests ended after the government promised to suspend the project permanently.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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              Farming and agriculture date back to the origin of Man himself. Over the years, with scientific progress, Man has started using seeds that are genetically modified for better yield and resistance to pests. Such seeds might give good harvests; but they will also do much harm to organisms. Tami Canal, a homemaker from California, took her fight to Monsanto, an agro-chemical company that produced genetically engineered seeds and herbicides.

              The March Against Monsanto is an internationally acclaimed people’s movement and protest against Monsanto Corporation, a producer of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and Roundup, a glyphosate-based herbicide.

              The first march took place on May 25, 2013. Further such events took place in many other cities around the world, mostly in the United States. Monsanto, the company in question, reiterated that genetically modified foods were safe and improved crop yields. Similar sentiments were expressed by the Hawaii Crop Improvement Association, of which Monsanto is a member.

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              Conserving the environment and nature is not the responsibility of the intellectuals and activists alone. Each individual should consciously partake in the process of taking care of our Earth. Across the world, camps known as Camps for Climate Action have been held in order to raise awareness regarding climate change.

              The purpose of the Camps for Climate Action is to draw attention to major carbon emitters. The camps act as a base for direct action against these offenders too. Various levels of discussions are encouraged in these camps to develop ways to create a zero-carbon society.

              These camps do not generally follow any hard and fast rules. Anyone is free to attend the camp. The camps are supported by donations and run with inputs from everyone in the community for the day-to-day operation of the camp.

              Another interesting fact about these camps is that most of the materials used to create structures for the camp are from reclaimed waste from building sites. These materials would otherwise have been sent to a landfill. The power used in these camps for lighting, radios, mobile phones, and other equipment such as laptops or computers is supplied by solar panels and a wind turbine.

             Initiated first in the UK, these camps have been organised in many countries like Canada, Denmark, France, Ireland, Netherlands, Belgium, Scotland, Wales and Australia.

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          Factories and manufacturing plants are major sources of pollution. Toxic gases and dangerous elements emitted by them can contaminate air, water and soil. There have been many instances of environmental catastrophes and loss of life due to the hazards posed by factory emissions. The Xinfa Aluminum Plant is an example.

          The Xinfa Aluminum Plant protests occurred when villagers started complaining about pollution created by a factory of the Shandong Xinfa Aluminum & Power Group in China. A protest broke out in one of the village in Guangxi, in the People’s Republic of China.

          The demonstration by the people against the polluting factory was huge. More than 1,000 villagers marched on the streets in Jingxi County of Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. On July 13, 2010, almost all the residents in Lingwan village came out of their homes blocking the road to Jingxi County. Protesters pelted stones at the police. Many were injured in the ensuing commotion and sent to hospital. The agitators also obstructed the Plant gate and damaged some production facilities.

          During the clash, three people were killed and 18 were wounded. About 1000 police officers were on the scene to control the situation.

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Have you been to a dam site? Dams stop a large body of water such as river or lake from flowing on its natural course. While dams help us in power generation and irrigation, it displaces Man, animals and other organisms in a major way. Dams can also contribute to serious imbalances in ecosystems.

In 1952, a power project was proposed in Manapouri, New Zealand.

The ‘Save Manapouri Campaign’ was an environmental campaign waged against this project. The campaign, which took place between 1959 and 1972 was aimed at preventing the raising of the water levels of lakes Manapouri and Te Anau as part of the construction of the project, which was known as the Manapouri Power Project.

The plans for Manapouri Power Station were developed in the 1950s and it involved raising Lake Manapouri by up to 30 metres. The project involved merging Lakes Manapouri and Te Anau.

Although the Save Manapouri Campaign had commenced in 1959, it later provided impetus for the international awareness of the environment that came with the prosperity of the 1960s. In 1970, 264,907 New Zealanders, almost 10 percent of the population, signed the Save Manapouri petition. The campaign was a successful one.

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            Hugging is not just an act to show that you love somebody; it also helps you to protect whomever you are hugging. Large numbers of men and women in a village in Uttarakhand hugged trees to protect them from deforestation agents. The act soon became a movement called the Chipko movement, a non-violent way of protesting against deforestation.

             Sunderlal Bahuguna, a noted Garhwali environmentalist, was a Chipko movement leader. The idea of Chipko movement originated from his wife and Bahuguna put it into practice. For years, he has been fighting for the preservation of forests in the Himalayas as a member of the Chipko movement. Bahuguna later spearheaded the Anti-Tehri Dam movement starting in the 1980s, which continued to early 2004. He was one of the early environmentalists of India, and later he and people associated with the Chipko movement started taking up environmental issues, such as protests against large dams.

              Chipko movement started in 1973 spontaneously in Uttarakhand, in an effort to save trees and forests from felling by forest contractors. Sunderlal Bahuguna used the Satyagraha methods, and repeatedly went on hunger strikes on the banks of the Bhagirathi as a mark of his protest.

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            Sunita Narain was born in Delhi and she started her career as an environmentalist at the early age of 21. Passionate about nature and a sustainable environment, she is a true champion of green living.

            As an Indian environmentalist and political activist, Sunita Narain has been a major proponent of the Green concept of sustainable development. She is director general of the India-based research institute, the Centre for Science and Environment, which works as a think tank on environment-development issues in India.

            She is also the director of the Society for Environmental Communications, and editor of the fortnightly magazine, Down to Earth. She made it to Time Magazine’s list of 100 Most Influential People in 2016.

            Sunita Narain is a member in many organisations that work in the field of environment. In 1991, she co-authored the work Global Warming in an Unequal World: A case of environmental colonialism.

            She has also co-edited a book called Green Politics: Global Environmental Negotiations in 2000. The book analyses the emerging ecological globalization framework.

           Sunita Narain was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India in 2005.

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              You can express your love and concern for nature through art too! Mike Pandey is an environmentalist who has made several films on animals and plants that need attention from human society.

              He has won over 300 awards for his work to spread awareness about biodiversity and species conservation. His works focuses on helping to conserve and protect key species such as whale sharks, elephants, tigers, vultures and horseshoe crabs.

              Pandey was born in Kenya and he later became an Indian citizen. He is the first Asian producer/director to win the Wild-screen Panda Award, also known as the Green Oscar, for his film The Last Migration—Wild Elephant Capture in Surguja. In 2000, his film Shores of Silence: Whale Sharks in India, won the Green Oscar for the second time. The film also led to the ban on the killing of whale sharks on Indian shores.

                  Pandey made his country proud again in October 2004 by winning the Green Oscar for the third time for his film Vanishing Giants, a story of his passion and involvement with elephants. This film also led to the ban of cruel and outdated techniques of elephant capture in India.

                 Mike is now working on his latest film, The Return of the Tiger, which is supported by Hindi film industry actors Amitabh Bachchan and John Abraham.

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            Nature has a rhythm and its own set of rules. Man, one among the innumerable species of life, must respect it. Dams might be good for the economic development of a nation; however, if it is at the cost of nature, then we are doing a great disfavour to ourselves. Medha Patkar fought against dams in the Narmada River, because they were destroying nature.

          Medha Patkar came to public’s attention as one of India’s champions who supported the cause of tribal people. The dams on the Narmada River were affecting the life and environment of these people. Medha Patkar is best known as the leader of the Narmada Bachao Andolan.

        The Narmada Bachao Andolan also known as NBA is a social movement protesting against the dam on river Narmada, which began in 1985. The protest consisted of adivasis, farmers, fish workers, labourers and others in the Narmada valley. Patkar is the founder member of the 32 year old people’s movement in three states: Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat. The movement started as a protest against the Sardar Sarovar Dam. The protest is still on.

       She also participated in many other movements like the Ghar Bachao Ghar Banao Andolan. Medha Patkar has been arrested several times for her activism.