Fossil fuel consumption in Asia is one of the contributors to a brown cloud of pollutants stretching across the region.
Pilots and astronauts have been talking about it for years. Now
the United Nations and climate scientists have made it official:
there's a giant cloud of brown haze stretching across Asia. And
unless they get their heads out of the fog, they'll do exactly what
pilots and astronauts have done: talk about it for years.
But hold on a minute. Scientists say the cloud is playing havoc
with rainfall patterns, could be dramatically affecting monsoons in
the region, and destabilising the agricultural output of the
region. According to UNEP chief Klaus Toepfer, the cloud is caused
by:
- The burning of fossil fuels by vehicles, industries, and power
stations
- The burning of agricultural wastes
- Emissions from millions of inefficient cookers burning wood,
cow dung, and other bio-fuels
- Forest fires
That's funny.
Global warming is supposedly caused by all
those things, and having the same impact.
So isn't the answer to these problems the same? Astute reader,
the answer is "Yes." And it's already on the list of demands that
the Earth Summit in Johannesburg will be considering in a few
weeks' time:
Get renewable energy into the hands of
two billion people without power. Take 10 years to do it if you
must, but get on with it now.
A majority of the world's powerless (electrically speaking at
least) live in Asia. Unless we get clean, renewable energies into
their hands, the haze is only going to get thicker. How do we know
that?
Well, consider the following story, from the BBC's Science and
Technology pages:
"Scientists from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography
in San Diego, which coordinated the project, say the pollution is
unprecedented in the region's history, and will get worse as the
population increases.
Tiny particles in the cloud reflect the sun's rays,
cutting its heat by up to 10 percent.
In the ocean, less sunlight could threaten the survival of
water-plants and plankton - key organisms in the world's food
chain. Reduced sunlight also means that less water evaporates from
the ocean - leading to lower rainfall and increasing the risk of
drought.
Scientists now want to discover how permanent the cloud
is, and whether it is growing."
Guess what? That's not a story from this week. It's from a story
dated June 11, 1999 - three years ago - and entitled "Pollution
Cloud Threatens Asia."
In 1999, the cloud was detected only over the Indian ocean, not
the whole of Asia. So the answer to one question is "Yes, it's
growing." Now, is it permanent?
Not if we can help it. What can you do to help clean up the
haze? Sign the petition that Greenpeace and the Body Shop will be
presenting to the Earth Summit in Johannesburg, demanding renewable
energy for two billion people within 10 years.
If we can put human beings on the moon, we can put clean energy
into the hands of a fraction of the earth's population - without
just talking about it for years.
Click here to tell the Earth Summit to shut up and take
action.