2010: The global turning point

First of all thank you for your gift of time. In a couple of days from now the year 2009 will move back
to the pages of history and year 2010 will take up it's place. It's amazing that this placement is
happening for billions of years and we only have been counting it for a few thousand years. The sun
which is more than 25 billion years old is appearing new everyday. It is the source of all energy on this
small solar system which is located at the outer part of our vast milky way galaxy.

The sun is the sole energy provider of the 11.4 million creatures * (1.4 million known species and 10 million
undiscovered species) on this earth . And we the man , the homosepiance are happen to be just one creature
among them. Except only one important trait we don't differ much from the other creatures. We also do
the same things what the other creatures do on earth.

Only it is we the human being , who can decide our own reaction when an action takes place. We can
choose our reply , we can choose our reaction , we can choose our destiny and also it is we, the human
being who can choose our very own destruction and still behave it's not my fault.

We the super intelligent creature on earth are now passing through a state where we are playing blind to
our very own destruction. Yes it is the carbon economy which has made us the most powerful among
all creatures on earth is also causing our very own destruction. Our never ending lust for power and
comfort is slowly but surely pushing us to the limit of this poor planet. The situation is no different
from that of an addicted smoker or an addicted drunkard.

Year 2010 is now going to give us new challenges to build courage to say no to the carbon economy. It
does not mean to stop it altogether but we have to use it with sense. The machines that produce
electricity is hardly turning 35% of coal into electricity. The remaining 65% is just increasing our
global temperature , resulting in more cyclone , thunderstorm , melting down of polar ice, raising sea
levels , sunami , earthquake , prolonged summer , flooding of desert ,drying up of fertile lands, drought,
shortage of drinking water, pollution, surge of various kinds of illness and what not.

Everyone , rich or poor is going to be affected by it. Time has come to give serious thought to the
renewable energy resources. After all our very existence is at stake now. The mighty Sun gives us 1000
watt of power in every square meter of earth. Have we had proper technology we could harness
enormous power from it but alas! we are hardly paying any attention to the requisite R&D nor do we
have any long term firm target to achieve it.

Year 2010 will force us to make some tough decisions for good of mankind. One such decision will be
the use of electricity more sparingly and development of a long term firm target of development of
renewable energy resources and efficient machines.

In demand side management we have miles to go. Whenever I travel in chhattisgarh or in MP I find the
village people are still using the old inefficient incandescent bulb which hardly lights up their home. If
we could provide him with CFL bulbs and T5 tube lights he could light up all his rooms with the same
amount of electricity he consumes. T5 or CFL costs little more but does it really more than what a
politician spends for his election campaign ? We need to develop a socio political will to provide all
our villagers to replace the Incandescent bulbs by T5 or CFLs.
In the Urban society , even in rich downtown plush bungalows I find people are still running the 10 / 12
year old AC for cooling. Not that the owner does not know that it consumes more electricity, that it is
using CFC which is extremely harmful for the protective ozone layer. He only thinks that the cost of
replacement is high. He never bothers to consider the cost of global warming. His society , our
government never taught him to take it so seriously.

In 2010 every government of every country will be forced to link every activity either individual or
collective in terms of global worming. Though the Copenhagen summit has turned out to be a big
blame game and some countries are behaving completely irresponsibly but global warming is global in
every sense . It is going to affect every country rich or poor ,developed or developing because our sky
is one , our seas are connected and our air is omnipresent in all the countries.

So on the onset of 2010 , I wish we all take pledge and let us commit to make this world a better place,
commit us to make less use of electricity , commit us to use efficient machines , commit us to run our
car less and commit us to think sensibly that this world is not only our home it is also the home of 30
million other creatures whose fate we cannot decide because of our irresponsible act.

Lets 2010 be a global turning point.

S. Bera
powai

* Data from "The Diversity of Life" by E. O. Wilson provide us the breakup of the 1.4 million species identified:
Bacteria 4,800 species
Fungi 69,000 species
Algae 26,900 species
Trees, shrubs and higher plants 248,400 species
Protozoa 30,800 species
Sponges 5,000 species
Corals and jellyfish 9,000 species
Flatworms 12,200 species
Roundworms 12,000 species
Earthworms 12,000 species
Clams and other mollusca 50,000 species
Seastars and relatives 6,100 species
Insects 751,000 species
Spiders and other non insect anthropods 123,400 species
Fishes 18,800 species
Amphibians 4,200 species
Reptiles 6,300 species
Birds 9,000 species
Mammals 4,000 species
----------------
1402,900 species
Scientists estimate that the deep ocean floor could be home to another 10 million undiscovered species.