How can an individual contribute in mitigating the risks of climate change? Here are some green lifestyle guidelines-

1. Switch off power at source- Not the power button of your TV remote but the switch that powers your TV.
2. Use public transport as much as possible.
3. Reuse packaging material wherever possible.
4. Carry your own carry bags made of jute or cotton to carry merchandise from a shopping mall or grocery store.
5. Use paper to write only when it is required.
6. Recycle waste
7. Respect all forms of life
8. Harness rain water for gardening
9. Do not buy more than what you need- impulsive buying adds to junk
10. Plant trees

Well, the list is long and unending. The green lifestyle means respecting all forms of life, reusing and then recycling. 

The Peak Oil theorists have a message to the whole world. The oil resources will run out quickly and the days are not far off for the Oil reserves to be exhausted.

When I pondered over this theory what struck me is a far more serious fact that is often neglected. The truth is the difference between oil demand and actual supply is fast widening. The reserves may last for another 40 years but – how fast do we consume and what is the rate at which the stocks are consumed is what determines the oil prices in future.

Renewable energy and alternative energy can not really bridge this gap effectively across all countries. The consumption and demand patterns are different for each country.

So the question is what we do about it and what are the solutions? I thought reading the blog on lifeaftertheoil.com deals this subject at length.

Any views?

I was watching an interview on the TV channel of Dr. Rajendra Pachauri (of IPCC fame). The interviewer asked a simple question to Dr.Pachauri- What it costs to mitigate the risks of Climate Change?

Dr Pachauri answered in one single word - It costs "Nothing" at an individual level. 

Does this mean the policy makers are unaware of this fundamental fact or they or playing politics in the name of Climate Change? The recent Bali conference debated the report without any global consensus. The Kyoto protocol is due for overhaul. Australia and the US have not ratified Kyoto protocol. Will they ratify after the overhaul?

The answers to these questions are dependent on political leadership of the respective countries. Individuals who believe the Climate Change is real and want to adopt Green Lifestyle need not wait for government action. They need to change their own mindset and act NOW.

The melting of icecap in Antartica, growth of vegetation in Greenland, the innumerable unseasonal storms and droughts (Australia has recorded 9 consecutive drought years) are all significant events that can't be pooh-poohed anymore. 

Will governments world over act NOW unitedly and create awareness and initiate programs to mitigate the risks of Global Warming at individual level?

Let us wait and watch for governments to act but for us to act the time is NOW.   

- Srinivas Vedula

The latest scientific data confirm that the earth's climate is rapidly changing. Global temperatures increased by about 1 degree Fahrenheit over the course of the last century, and will likely rise even more rapidly in coming decades. The cause? A thickening layer of carbon dioxide pollution and other greenhouse gases, mostly from power plants and automobiles, which traps heat in the atmosphere. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a group of the world's leading climate researchers, sees a greater than 90 percent likelihood that most warming over the last 50 years has occurred because of human-caused emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases.