Energy demand is increasing worldwide. The energy market situation is heating up and energy prices are on the rise. Instabilities in many exporting and transit countries are a cause for concern and the increased combustion of fossil energy sources is accelerating climate change. An expansion of energy supply options is costly and will take time. On the other hand, increasing energy efficiency curbs energy prices, reduces dependency on energy imports, counteracts energy distribution conflicts and cuts climate-damaging carbon dioxide emissions, saves wildlife habitats, safeguards the planet, and makes sure there is energy left for future generations.
Efficient energy use, sometimes simply called energy efficiency, is the goal to reduce the amount of energy required to provide products and services. There are many reasons why homeowners should consider energy efficiency, from the clear environmental and financial benefits of cutting energy use to potential improvements in mental and physical health. Improvements in energy efficiency are generally achieved by adopting a more efficient technology or production process or by application of commonly accepted methods to reduce energy losses.
Energy efficiency is playing an increasingly vital role in our lives, for three main reasons:
The environment: The more energy we use, the more carbon emissions are pumped into the atmosphere and the more our reserves of natural resources such as oil, coal and gas are depleted. We need to reduce our reliance on these energy sources, and one way to do that is to make sure we all use energy as efficiently as possible.
The economy: The global economy is based heavily on oil and gas, and as these resources dwindle their cost will increase, causing financial imbalances around the world and resulting in energy poverty in many areas of society.
Bank balance: Nobody wants to pay more than they have to for everyday necessities like heating and hot water, so it makes sense to be energy efficient. That way you fulfill your energy needs while paying as little as possible.
For a household it means you are using less energy to do the same jobs, reducing your home’s energy waste and saving money. To effectively increase your energy efficiency involves more than just using less energy – it requires you becoming aware of how energy is used, where it’s wasted, and how it can be used more effectively and efficiently in everyday life.
The concept of Coke Studio begun in Brazil in 2007 with a one-time promotional project called ‘Coca Cola Zero Studio’. This was organized by the company Coca Cola and it was accompanied with the launch of a new music phone by Nokia. A year later, this format was adopted in Pakistan as ‘Coke Studio’, a live music television reality show which showcased live versions of songs performed by artists of various music genres. Highlighting fusion music as its USP, Coke Studio became one of the most successful television programmes in Pakistan. The credit for this is often given to the show’s producer, Rohail Hyatt. This concept was then adopted in India, the Middle East and later, in Africa. In India, Coke Studio@MTV, a collaboration of Coca Cola India and MTV India started in 2011. Leslie Lewis was the producer of the first season. While Coke Studio Pakistan has completed 12 seasons, Coke Studio@MTV has done 4 seasons until now.
The cultural music of India not only includes the two main traditions of Indian classical music called Hindustani and Karnatic classical but also involves the huge diversity of folk music. Various modifications of Hindustani classical music called the semi-classical consists of forms like thumri, dadra, qawwali, ghazal, bhajan, tappa, hori and so on. The classical music of Pakistan is also based on the Hindustani classical music which has patronized by various empires that historically ruled the south asian region. It’s semi classical forms include ghazal, qawwali etc. Religious music like hamd, naat and nasheeds as well as its folk music are extremely popular throughout the nation.
India and Pakistan are countries that are blessed with highly diverse forms of music as well as musical instruments. Coke Studio not only takes up traditional music genres but it also incorporates several local musical instruments in each of their sessions. Fusion of different musical forms, instruments, lyrics and styles is what defines the essence of the show. This show provides a stage to both the mainstream popular singers and also to the folk or ghazal singers with no power hierarchy. This has brought the ‘not so popular’, marginalized and even unconventional music forms in a studio setting and fused it with the much successful and popular music types. It provides visibility, success and exposure to the local artists that perform in it. A survey conducted on people of age 17-30 years found that a majority of them thought that Coke Studio not only promotes culture but also, believed that it has opened a platform for folk/regional music.
It seems that video game companies are giving us more reasons to stay indoors and stay safe by rebooting/remastering or even completely remaking our favorite video games. Remember the times, when you used to live out your gangster fantasies in Mafia or Saints Row, or run from the Nemesis of Resident Evil 3? Well, get ready to that all over again in your sweet new 4k monitors.
Resident Evil 2 Remake
The trend of remakes took off in 2019 with the Resident Evil 2 remake, which was a complete overhaul of the 1998 version and the entire game was redone in a new engine from scratch. It received positive reviews from both fans and critics and became one the bestselling games of 2019. Continuing the trend, 2020 has turned out to be the year of video game remakes. Games like Resident Evil 3 and Final Fantasy VII are re-made on completely new engines and been given a full makeover. While resident evil 3 received mostly positive reviews, Final Fantasy VII broke sales record. Activision followed suit with the release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 remaster.
2K and Activision also announced the release of Mafia trilogy with Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven getting a complete makeover and Mafia II getting an HD remaster. People are now eagerly waiting for the remade Mafia (2002), one of the best video games in history. Not only that, Saints Row 3 remaster was released by Deep Silver games on 22th May and has been received well. Fans of Tony Hawk Pro skater can also rejoice as the games being remade with better graphics and a complete new look. The gameplay demo looked amazing and looks like we’re are getting another record braking remake.
Mafia Remaster
In a year of big AAA releases like Doom Eternal, Cyberpunk 2077, Ghost of Tsushima etc it feels amazing to find out that people are still excited to play these older classics. Apart from that it reintroduces these games to an entire new generation of gamers. Of Course, the video game companies are quite happy to cash in on the nostalgia factor associated with these classic games. Why take the risk of creating something new when they can milk money out of older IP’s. Old is literally gold for them.
Climate change is the greatest global threat to coral reef ecosystems. Scientific evidence now clearly indicates that the Earth’s atmosphere and ocean are warming, and that these changes are primarily due to greenhouse gases derived from human activities.
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, so far the oceans have taken up 90% of the excess heat generated by human-caused global warming. Even if emissions are aggressively curtailed, the oceans will continue heating at an accelerating rate for decades. What’s more, the oceans are acidifying. They’ve soaked up an estimated 20–30% of human carbon emissions; as carbon dioxide dissolves into these waters, their pH plummets.
Warming and acidification are stressors for corals (and for many other marine organisms). Heat causes coral to lose its algae and bleach. At the same time, increasing acidity makes it difficult for individual corals, typically millimeters in size, to build the calcium carbonate deposits that form large reef structures. If the pH is low enough and the corals unhealthy enough, reefs can even start to dissolve, making them vulnerable to shattering during storms.
Unhealthy reefs threaten not only the organisms that inhabit them but also the livelihoods of the people who depend on them. Reefs are the backbone of near-shore ecosystems around the world, providing a home for thousands of species of fish as well as mollusks, crustaceans, sea turtles, and countless other creatures. Without their associated reefs, nearby fisheries are at risk of collapse. The world’s reefs are valued in the tens to hundreds of billions of dollars annually. Each year, for instance, the Great Barrier Reef contributes about A$5.6 billion (US$3.84 billion) to Australia’s economy.
Scientists around the world are looking for all kinds of ways to protect and maybe even revive corals. One option is to create more marine protected areas—essentially national parks in the ocean. Scientists say creating marine refuges, where fishing, mining, and recreating are off limits, make the reefs healthier, and so more resilient.
What is yoga, and why is it so popular? Yoga is a series of stretches and poses that you do with breathing techniques. It offers the powerful benefits of exercise. And since yoga is gentle, almost anyone can do it, regardless of your age or fitness level.
Yoga is a 5,000-year-old discipline from India. It was developed as a practice to unite the mind and body. There are many branches of yoga. All yoga styles can help balance your body, mind, and spirit, but they achieve it in various ways.
A study in The Journal of Alternative and Complimentary Medicine (among others) shows that yoga can build strength in addition to flexibility. And flexibility is the key to strength. When your muscles and the tissues that surround them are super tight, you’re not able to move as much weight with a full range of motion in the gym. Doing yoga helps loosen up those tissues so you can get more out of your strength sessions.
Research in the International Journal of Yoga shows that yoga not only reduces stress, but can help lower anxiety and depression, too. (It can also help battle insomnia, helping people who have it to sleep sounder at night, per researchers in Southern India.) There are as many types of yoga as there are machines in the gym, each having their unique benefits. There’s something for everyone: From hot yoga to aerial yoga to a good ‘ol Vinyasa flow to Ashtanga and Kundalini.
A study in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology found that yoga can ward off heart disease helping to keep your heart in good form. Since that’s one of the key reasons people do cardio in gyms, to boost heart health, it’s interesting to note that similar benefits can be reaped from a yoga class. The twisting, stretching and folding of a yoga practice are good for the digestive system, the circulatory system, the lymph system and more. It’s a great way to detox the body and can improve your cardiovascular system. And all this while developing stronger muscles. A gym workout is focused just on strengthening muscles and boosting cardio.
Yoga is a different experience in a yoga studio, but you can easily practice yoga at home, outside or in small spaces. All you need is about 6 feet by 4 feet and you have your own yoga studio. A gym workout requires more equipment and more space.
Yoga eases your aches and pains. A gym workout increases them. Yoga slowly stretches muscles and opens the energy channels of the body. The increased flexibility keeps muscles and joints lubricated and healthy. Weights and treadmill can cause strain which leads to soreness and injuries.
Yoga helps you breathe easier. During times of stress, it’s easy to forget to breathe, really breathe, and not just shallow breaths. Without deep breaths, it’s harder to think clearly and fatigue can set in. Yoga focuses on the breath so that when you need it most, those deep breaths are the norm.
People nowadays are more concerned about their health and are going to the gym to achieve their fitness goals. Many exercisers find that running on a treadmill is easier, and therefore more preferable, than running outdoors. Those who face seasonal allergies or live in cold temperatures seem to have no option but to remain indoors for their workouts. There is also a sense of encouragement from joining a gym. By getting on the treadmill at their local club, they are now a part of a group who strive to be healthy. But by jumping on a piece of exercise equipment they may be helping their bodies but are harming the environment.
While the treadmills these gym-goers choose appear to be rather simple machines that wouldn’t require high amounts of power, one treadmill can burn the equivalent of fifteen 75-Watt light bulbs while in use. Most people would never want to have five lights on in their house, let alone fifteen, yet most people have no problem using a treadmill. While most treadmills are not constantly running, treadmills and other equipment still use energy while in standby mode. Some local gyms are also crowded enough that their machines are in almost constant use, burning large amounts of energy. The temperature raises in the gym, causing the use of fans and air conditioning in addition to the level that it is constantly running at. The lights at most gyms are consistently on and using electricity, even if no one is working out. The soda vending machine alone at a local gym can use about 10 times the amount of a home refrigerator.
An amazing alternative to the conventional gym is the Green Gym, a concept that allows gentle exercise out in the countryside in fresh air. Green Gyms involve members ‘working out’ by planting trees, rebuilding damaged forest footpaths or rebuilding walls. Participants have been found to exercise moderately over a period of about four hours – equivalent to a short session on a treadmill. However, the advantage is that the air is completely pure and, more importantly, the energy expended goes into producing a tangible product. This form of gentle exercise has been found to reduce heart attacks and strokes by about 50%.
Mental health organizations have commented on the well-being effects of the Green Gym. They say that people have a natural biological attraction to nature, which is often referred to as biophilia. Connecting with the natural environment can have therapeutic benefits and can significantly lower stress levels. Not only that, it can improve physical health too.
Carbon-neutral gyms are also starting to appear around the world. Many of these have environmental policies that aim to reduce waste, increase recycling and encourage users to think about the effects of their workout on the environment. Some gyms are even levying a charge on users so that tree planting projects can be resourced. One gym is able to reclaim over 800 cubic metres of rainwater from the roof. This is enough to fill their 25metre swimming pool.
So, going to the gym on a regular basis can have a great effect on your health and body. But it comes at a cost. For the discerning environmentalist, using a gym may be an acceptable option, but it is always a good idea to check that the establishment has an environmental policy, with aims and objectives clearly stated.
Teflon-coated cookware is the ultimate in cookware convenience. It keeps food from sticking to the pan, allows the diet conscious to use less fat while cooking, and makes washing up easier. Teflon, known chemically as polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), is a plastic-like substance made up of a complex mixture of perfluorinated chemicals (PFCs). All good non-stick coatings intended for use in cooking are made with PTFE. The difference between brands lies in the proportion in which PTFE is blended with other materials.
Teflon is composed of several toxic chemicals that can be released from heated pans into the air and into food. The more often you use your pans at high temperatures, the quicker the coating will break down and emit tiny particles and gases into the air. As this happens (usually within about two years of continual use), washing Teflon-coated pans by hand or in a dishwasher with harsh detergents may accelerate the process further.
The chemicals emitted by Teflon are harmful to humans and deadly, even in minute amounts, to pet birds. Even if you’ve never used a Teflon-coated pan, there’s a good chance that you are carrying some of Teflon’s breakdown products in your body because the substance has a wide range of uses outside the home. PFCs have been shown to accumulate in human organs like the liver, gall bladder and thyroid gland. In other primates, exposure to one of Teflon’s breakdown products, PFOA, has led to hypothyroidism (the condition of having an underactive thyroid). This effect is also apparent in human studies. A prolonged state of hypothyroidism is a risk for obesity, insulin resistance and thyroid cancer.
Teflon may reduce the amount of fat we cook with, make washing up easier and clothes and carpets last longer; but it is a frivolous and unnecessary substance the benefits of which pale beside the possibility of killing beloved pets and raising your risk of heart disease, diabetes, birth defects and cancer.
Biogas is obtained from anaerobic digestion process, a fermentation process, which takes place in a closed airtight digester where organic raw materials such as manure, food waste, sewage sludge and organic industrial waste are converted into biogas and digestate as products. The produced biogas is a mixture of 50-70% methane and 30-50% carbon dioxide and smaller amounts of water vapor, hydrogen sulphide and other minor components and trace elements. The wet digestate results from anaerobic digestion of the substrates, which are pumped out of the digester tank, after the extraction of biogas.
Very simple biogas digesters have been in use in China, India and many other Asian countries for many years. Industrial applications of biogas production started well over 50 years ago as a means of stabilizing sewage sludge at waste water treatment plants. The biogas industry expanded in the 1970’s and 1980’s as increased production of different organic materials (such as manure and industrial wastewater from sugar refinery and pulp mills) became more widely used. Starting in the mid 1990’s extraction of landfill gas (low quality biogas) came to the fore, along with the construction of farm-based biogas plants and anaerobic digestion of solid wastes from food industry and food waste. After 2000’s, there was an increased interest in biogas and so, construction of farm-based biogas plants took place and an industrial sector was established.
The multiple functions of biogas in circular economy:
1. Biogas: a part of the modern society’s energy supply system
Biogas, made from organic waste streams, does not add to the carbon dioxide load in the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide produced during combustion of biogas is offset by either the carbon dioxide consumed by the biomass, which is digested. Biogas is thus a “green” sustainable energy vector and has a significant role in shifting to a sustainable decarbonized society. Biogas has many uses in the sustainable society that can be utilized in a broader perspective than today. Industries, as well as households, can use biogas for heating and hot water supply. Biogas can be used to supply warm air for drying, for example, in laundries, carpentries, industrial coating facilities and other places where there is a need for fast and efficient drying. The exhausts from upgraded biogas combustion are clean and do not generate odours or particles.
2. Biogas used for heat and electricity production
The most common use of biogas is in a non-upgraded form for production of electricity and heat production. The default use of biogas is for CHP (Central Heat and Power) production, which is in fact production of renewable electricity and heat, also known as cogeneration. The heat from the CHP engine can also be used to drive an absorption chiller to give a source of cooling, resulting in a combined cooling, heat and power (CCHP), also known as trigeneration. The utilization of the renewable heat is very important, as it brings about significant additional economic and environmental benefits, on top of the utilization of biogas for renewable electricity production.
3. Upgraded biogas or ‘bio-methane’ used as vehicle fuel
Raw biogas can be upgraded in a process which removes hydrogen sulphide, water, particles and CO2 present in the gas. The process creates a gas consisting mainly of methane and thus increases its energy content. Clean upgraded biogas is used as fuel for cars, buses and trucks of various sizes. In several countries, there is a well-developed infrastructure for vehicle gas, and it is possible to fuel natural gas vehicles (NGVs) in the most densely populated areas of such countries. Today, vehicle gas like CNG, LPG is used mostly for buses, trucks and passenger cars.
4. Upgraded biogas ‘bio-methane’ injection into the gas grid
Biomethane from renewable sources is also fed into the national transmission network for natural gas in several countries.
5. Reduction of Green House Gas (GHG) emissions
One of the main reasons for a transition from fossil energy and fuel to renewable energy and fuel is the reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The production of biofuels and bioenergy contributes to a significant reduction of GHG emissions. In many areas around the world, organic substances, considered as waste, are still deposited in landfill sites where they decompose, releasing methane (CH4) with a global warming potential (GWP) 21 times that of CO2. When these streams of organic waste are redirected from landfill to a biogas facility, a significant reduction in methane emissions from landfills occurs.
6. Improved nutrient up-take efficiency in agriculture
Intensive agriculture is one of the major greenhouse gas sources worldwide. These emissions are associated with enteric fermentation, management of manures and production of synthetic fossil fuel based fertilizers. Anaerobic digestion systems remove the easily degradable carbon compounds in feedstocks such as slurries, and converts them to biogas. When the remaining digestate is applied as biofertiliser, the slow to degrade carbon is recycled back to soils, contributing to build up of the humus content of the soil and its long-term suitability for agriculture. Macro and micro-nutrients contained in digestate are predominately in mineral form which makes them easily accessible to the plant roots, compared with nutrients in raw manure and slurry, which are mainly organic compounds, and must be mineralized in order to be up-taken by the plants. As such digestate has a higher nutrient uptake efficiency, compared with raw manure and slurries.
Organic matter in digestate can build up the humus content in the soil; this is a benefit unique to organic fertilizers, which is particularly crucial for arid and semi-arid lands with low carbon content. The destruction of weed seeds in the AD process is another significant benefit to organic farmers.
7. Energy security
Fossil energy is still in abundant use around the world. This energy comes in the form of coal, oil and natural gas from a relatively limited geographical region and is used worldwide. Many countries are thus dependent on a few countries for energy supply. A transition to a bio-based/renewable energy production system would better balance the energy supply situation around the world; more countries and regions would be able to become energy self-sustainable.
8. Optimal utilization of resources
In a sustainable society where resources are used efficiently, what previously was considered to be waste is instead included in a production circle where organic material and nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus are returned to the soil to replace chemical fossil fuel sourced fertilizer. When digesting municipal and industrial food waste such as waste from super markets and restaurants or slaughterhouse waste, biogas is produced, and valuable nutrients accumulate in the digestate where they are easily used as fertilizer. One ton of digested food waste produces 1200 kWh biogas energy, which is enough fuel to drive 1900 km with a gas fueled car. The food waste from 3000 households can fuel a gas bus for a year.
Some countries already have targets for energy recovery from food waste. The Swedish government, for example, has a target that at least half of all generated food waste from households, shops and restaurants be separated and treated to recover nutrients and that 40% is treated to recover energy by 2018.
9. Generating income in rural areas
The biogas plant itself is not labor intensive but it can create new business opportunities in rural areas which otherwise suffer from depopulation. Through collaboration with different farms, the biogas plant can create different job opportunities along the process chain, such as raw material cultivation and collection. By increasing local energy production, income stays in the local area instead of going to global energy markets.
In the future bio-economy, wastes will be transformed to highvalue products and chemical building blocks, fuels, power and heating; biogas facilities will play a vital role in this development, and in the implementation of the novel production paths that arise in the transition to a bio-economy.
The future of the biogas facility is a factory where value is created from previously wasted materials. This ensures sustainability of the environment and potential for financial gain for the local community. The flexibility of the anaerobic digestion system and its ability to digest a multitude of organic feedstocks, while producing a significant range of products ensures the role of anaerobic digestion and biogas in the circular economy.
Ayurveda is a holistic system of medicine that is indigenous to and widely practiced in India. The word Ayurveda is a Sanskrit term meaning ‘science of life.’ Ayu means ‘life’ or ‘daily living’ and Veda is ‘knowing.’ Ayurveda is a medical system that deals with health in all its aspects; physical health, mental balance, spiritual well-being, social welfare, environmental considerations, dietary and lifestyle habits, daily living trends, and seasonal variations in lifestyle, as well as treating and managing specific diseases The origin of Ayurveda is lost in prehistoric antiquity, but its characteristic concepts appear to have matured between 2,500 and 500 B.C. in ancient India. The earliest references to drugs and diseases can be found in the Rigveda and Atharvaveda.
Ayurveda is all about Dharana and Dharma, both Sanskrit words denoting a sustainable complex of life and living: the first within the organism itself and the second within society and the world. Ayurveda is almost – in a positive sense – preoccupied with ‘sustaining life’: as a science it focuses on preserving life down to the cellular level of each living organism, and first and foremost of human beings. One of the reasons that sustaining and preserving human life is so important in Ayurveda, is a result from the fact that it is a spiritual science which sees this life – and our bodies as temples for our souls – as a way to evolve spiritually. This evolution is not for a personal gain, but for the greater common good: Ayurveda sees life as one, and not as a fragmented event.
Ayurveda gives clear guidelines for lifestyle and nutrition, which all fit within a framework of Dharma. Dharma naturally supports something that carries responsibility for the whole of society and humanity, and thus also regarding ethical and environmental matters. Lifestyle – according to Ayurveda – should be helping to preserve a healthy environment and support of nature, in all possible aspects. This cannot but lead to supporting responsible behavior in keeping our water, our nature, our forests, our cities, our air, and in short our whole life, as clean and pure as possible. It also implies a natural care for good and sustainable food sources, and agriculture which preserves not only life in the sense of clean and pure production, but also responsible and safe nutritional methods. Good examples include active support of organic and biodynamic farming, support for natural agricultural systems such as permaculture, as well as active resistance of technical and not safe-proof production methods such as with GMO foods. It also promote the wise and respectful use of animal products.
According to the sustainability goals of Ayurveda, organic and other forms of responsible farming should be used to grow the herbs Ayurveda uses for its remedies. Use of local herbs has been advised over procuring exotic and rare herbs. Commonly availabe spices such as cumin and turmeric have profound healing properties, and are powerful additions in the arsenal of medicinal substances. Ayurveda is the makes use of small shrubs to big trees for various purposes and to that Ayurvedics follow certain guide lines for collection and cultivation. So in order to obtain herbal medicine Ayurvedics also engage forestation and cultivation. The use of medicinal plants is oriented to take advantage of their ability to harmonize the balance between the patient and the basic influences of life, such as diet, work, and family life. With more than 2700 plants at its disposal, it is clear that Ayurveda in quite close with nature and its powers. In this way both doctors and patients easily see their connections to nature.
The Hospital wastes of Ayurveda are almost biodegradable. The medicines are of Herbal or Mineral or a mixture of both which are easy to dispose in to the earth after their expiry or their use. The pharmaceutical waste of Ayurveda is also biodegradable and some of them make good manure for cultivation. The plastic and other artificial materials not used for treatment makes Ayurveda an Eco friendly system. In Ayurvedic system each and every part of the environment is given importance which makes the optimum utilization of natural resources from Daily usage to the Drug. For example, neem- plant is used for Twigs, tooth brushing and tongue cleaning; Leaves-for medicating the bathing water; Seed oil, for external application over scalp for healthy hair etc.
This approach to nature as the source of healing and to personal care, as a source of loving health care, with emphasis on the preventive side, is a very welcome feature of Ayurveda, which could permeate and facilitate our approaches to sustainability and to the rich relationships between people (society), things (economy) and nature (ecology). Environmental sustainability is highly related to conscious mental and bodily good practice, of which Ayurveda could be considered as a very useful model, not only in the countries where it is traditionally applied, but everywhere. Ayurveda not only teaches to live healthy, but also teaches to love nature and live with nature.
NASA describes climate change as a long term change in the average weather patterns preexisting in local, regional and global climate. Most of the changes observed in Earth’s climate since the early 20th century are primarily driven by human activities, particularly fossil fuel burning which releases greenhouse gasses like methane, nitrogen dioxide and most importantly, carbon dioxide (CO2). These gasses are heat trapping in nature and are raising the Earth’s average surface temperature. The temperature increased caused by man-made activities is referred to as global warming.
Global warming is causing extreme weather events like floods, cyclones, draughts, forest fires, heat waves, and hurricanes and melting polar ice caps of the planet. India being a tropical country faces floods every year. We also have huge coastline spanning 7,500-odd km and runs past nine states which are very vulnerable to flooding. The rapid melting of polar ice caps because of Global warming has accelerated the rise of sea levels as observed by study conducted by an IPCC panel. This is going to impact people living near the coastal areas and in islands. Mumbai, one of the largest cities in the world, with a population of 20 million is projected to be completely submerged by rising sea levels. Glaciers are also melting in the Himalayas, which is projected to increase flow rates in the Ganges and Brahmaputra Rivers. In 2013, heavy rain followed by a glacial lake outburst caused devastating floods in the state of Uttarakhand. The floods 4,000 people, destroyed and caused damages of 3.8 billion dollars.
Monsoon in 2019 witnessed 560 extreme rainfall events, a 74% jump from 324 events recorded in the year 2018. The heavy rainfall caused floods that led to a death toll of 1685 lives, spread across 14 states of the country, with Maharashtra accounting for the maximum deaths. According to Home Ministry officials heavy rains and floods fully damaged 1.09 lakh houses, partially damaged 2.05 lakh houses and destroyed 14.14 lakh hectares of crops. Responding to floods in different areas at the same time as happened last year strains emergency response efforts. NDRF, Army and the Air Force were deployed to rescue people across six states in northern and western India. An estimated 1.2 million people were living in government relief camps.
According to IPCC panel, the frequency of freak weather events like floods would drastically reduce if the rise in temperature was limited to 1.5 degree Celsius, however it is highly unlikely that we are able to achieve that target. In a study conducted by IIT Gandhinagar, it was found that short bursts of heavy rainfall, lasting only hours, are likely to increase by 20 percent if the global mean temperature rises above 1.5 degree Celsius. Such extreme events will be responsible for most cases of urban flooding.
International Journal of Research (IJR) 