Forest fires can also, do great damage; remember the Indonesian forest fires and its resultant haze of a few years ago that spread soot and haze all round the globe. The effect of the carbon soot from such sources and from wood or coal burning are yet to be properly analyzed and taken into account. The effects of clearing old forests, expecially in the Amazon basin and other equatorial forest areas, for agriculture and the resultant release of carbon are to be considered. The effect of soot from burning crop residue on farms is seen regularly in Delhi Perhaps it is time to pause and reflect, time to re-examine our data and try to understand what other activity or process could cause such climatic effects, especially the effect of Solar activity, and not time to panic. The Earth has seen and survived many similar changes over its 4.5 billion years history.

The last major catastrophe, we are now told, was caused around 13,000 BCE by the breakup of a 3-4 km size asteroid in the Earth’s atmosphere or a major Solar event. The 1908 Tunguska explosion in Siberia was also, another, thankfully much smaller, asteroid we are led to believe. Perhaps we need to search the skies and watch our Sun for such dangers with a greater urgency than only reacting to industrial activity.

A better spread of the research efforts and funds are called for across all these areas and other areas mentioned earlier.

Perhaps with better understanding of what is really happening and why, we can then try in our small way to smoothen the fluctuations and reduce the adverse efforts of such climate changes, so that we Humans, do not degrade our environment to our detriment and also, can be better prepared to meet any danger to our environment and to Earth, our Home.

Also, we need to encourage better, safer and more efficient methods of farming our lands and saving our soil; and of use of our water from all sources; desalination, water harvesting, check dams, water recycling and methods of prevention of contamination of such sources, are all methods we need to study and implement in a more urgent manner.

About 75 percent of our fresh water requirement is used by Agriculture, 18 percent by Industry and only about 7 percent in domestic consumption. Intensive and over use of fertilizers and pesticides and choice of water intensive cash crops and the flooding system for watering crops by farmers, and of chemicals and inefficient processes by Industry, have led to great damage to our environment and wasteful use of water which is a limited resource (See – Water Crisis – the Solution).

Perhaps we should pay more attention to the effect of chemical fertilizer subsidies and the damage due to excess use of such fertilizers etc.

Till then let us refrain from shouting that ‘The sky is falling’ blaming fossil fuel usage. We need more sources of energy and can really not do away with fossil fuels. What perhaps needs to be done is to seek more efficient and environmentally sustainable ways of using such fuels. There are enough rational reasons to reduce emissions without having to resort to conjuring catastrophic scenarios.

Perhaps the outrage many of the proponents of Global Warming are exhibiting is out of proportion, or atleast based on erroneous targeting of the causes. Yes, we must reduce or replace any known harm causing elements introduced by our industrial activities, but it is as important if not more so, to recognize the many other causes that also, seem to have an even greater effect on the Global Climate. It is also, important to recognize the many benefits of our Industrial developments and seek to use technology to help find practical solutions, such as what was done by replacing the ozone layer harming refrigerants with ones that do not cause such harm. It is all about thinking sensibly about how people behave in the REAL WORLD. All it requires is a balanced way of looking, of discerning, of measuring and of having an open mind to consider what others are saying even if it may be contrary to one’s own opinion or belief and to be optimistic about our ability to continually endeavor to bring Science and Technology to bear on any actual problem and find workable solutions thereto. It is unfair and selfish to want to continue having a multiple times size of carbon footprint per capita in the already developed countries while seeking to greatly limit that of those in the developing countries.

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