Talking Climate Change with Yash Negi

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In this episode of the podcast, I have talked about the key points and the summary of the book "How To Avoid a Climate Disaster by Bill Gates." 

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/realyashnegi
Website: climatology.in
Email: [email protected]
Song: Ikson - New Day (Vlog No Copyright Music) 

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In this episode of the podcast, I talked about the “Climate Summit” which happened last week on Thursday. Four years after President Donald Trump began to pull the US out of the landmark Paris climate agreement, President Joe Biden and his top officials are reengaging with world leaders and making aggressive commitments to cut greenhouse gas emissions. The Biden administration has an unequivocal message at the two-day Leaders Summit on Climate this week: America is back.

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The biggest news out of the virtual event was the commitments various countries made to reduce their emissions. At the top, Biden formally pledged America would cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 50 to 52 percent relative to 2005 levels by 2030 — the most ambitious target the US has set to date. The message from Biden and US climate envoy John Kerry throughout the two days was that the US cannot do this alone. Historically, the US is the biggest emitter of carbon, and America is currently the second-largest greenhouse gas emitter, after China. Targets announced by other nations were more modest. The big pledge from Chinese President Xi Jinping is to reduce coal consumption between 2026 and 2030. But Xi’s announcement was short on specifics, and China’s overall targets — hitting peak carbon emissions by 2030 before getting to net-zero emissions by 2060 — remained unchanged. The effects of climate change can be expected to shave 11 percent to 14 percent off global economic output by 2050 compared with growth levels without climate change, according to a report from Swiss Re. If countries succeed at holding average global temperature increases to less than two degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels — the goal set by the 2015 Paris accord, an agreement among nations to fight climate change — economic losses by midcentury would be marginal, according to Swiss Re. The company found that most countries’ economies would be no more than 5% smaller than would otherwise be the case. But current emission levels are far from those targets. Global temperatures are likely to increase as much 2.6 degrees by 2050 based on current trajectories, Swiss Re reported. The United States endorses Race To Zero, a global campaign for net-zero targets from businesses, cities, and regions, and will work to seek additional U.S participants. The United States also announced an intent to commission analysis of the emission reduction potential from subnational leadership worldwide and to work with national and subnational partners globally to achieve this potential.

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/realyashnegi
Website: climatology.in
Email: [email protected]
Song: Ikson - New Day (Vlog No Copyright Music) 

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 Earth Day is celebrated all over the world on 22 April 2020. This day is founded by American Senator Gaylard Nelson. Gaylard Nelson, first, drew America’s attention to the environmental side effects caused by American industrial development. Earth Day aims to “build the world’s largest environmental movement to drive transformative change for people and the planet.” The movement’s mission is “to diversify, educate and activate the environmental movement worldwide.” The year 2021 marks Earth Day’s 51st anniversary. Each year, this day is assigned a different theme or area of focus; this year’s theme is “Restore Our Earth.”
Every country on this planet at some point was under lockdown for many months, and nature found a way to let Earth regain its lost wealth, during this period. No one was sure that there would be a day when they would see, at least in this lifetime, nature recovering after a fallow due to excessive pollution. But the lockdown had turned the tables. Not just the skyline became clearer with each passing day, the rivers were visibly purer, and the once-endangered flora and fauna came back to life.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/realyashnegi
Website: climatology.in
Email: [email protected]
Song: Ikson - New Day (Vlog No Copyright Music)

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In this episode of the podcast, I have talked about “Climate Models.” Climate models are an important tool for scientists to understand the complexities of Earth’s climate. These computer simulations incorporate both theory and direct observations of the past and present in order to project climate into the future. Because of this synthesizing role, and because their output takes the recognizable shape of maps, these models lay an important foundation for political action on climate change.

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Climate models can be tested through forecasts based on initial conditions. Climate models are closely related to the models that are used routinely for numerical weather prediction, and increasingly for extended range forecasting on seasonal to interannual time scales.
With Earth’s climate as their subject, these models have taken on an enormous challenge. Although climate is often thought of as just an average temperature or is confused with the weather of a single season, climate is generally defined as the average state of weather over a period of years at a given location. This includes the mean values and ranges of variables such as wind, temperature, precipitation, humidity, cloudiness, pressure, visibility and air quality. These variables are strongly connected to the rest of the natural world, meaning that climate also involves other aspects of the atmosphere, oceans, land surface and ice (the cryosphere). Therefore, climate is not a single thing, but instead a sprawling system of many processes that interact with each other in complicated ways. This system is affected by external factors, like radiation from the sun, volcanic eruptions, and changes in Earth’s orbit. The climate system also influences, and is influenced by, other natural processes like evaporation and photosynthesis. Consequently, climate models grow increasingly complex as they more accurately reflect these intricacies. Sophisticated models, like Coupled General Circulation Models, combine many processes to portray the entire climate system. The most important components of these models are the atmosphere (including air temperature, moisture and precipitation levels, and storms); the oceans (measurements such as ocean temperature, salinity levels, and circulation patterns); terrestrial processes(including carbon absorption, forests, and storage of soil moisture); and the cryosphere (both sea ice and glaciers on land). A successful climate model must not only accurately represent all of these individual components, but also show how they interact with each other. The obtained best-fit climate sensitivity estimates differ for various reasons from other estimates that were derived with alternative methods. Such alternative methods include, for example, regression estimates that use a global energy balance equation around the year of atmospheric CO2 doubling or the analysis of slab ocean equilibrium warmings. The resulting differences in climate sensitivity estimates can be partially explained by the non-time constant effective climate sensitivities in many of the AOGCM runs. Furthermore, tuning results of a simple climate model will be affected by the model structure, although simple, and other default parameter settings that affect the simple model transient response.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/realyashnegi
Website: climatology.in
Email: [email protected]
Song: Ikson - New Day (Vlog No Copyright Music)

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In this episode of the podcast, I have talked about "World Water Day", which is celebrated on 22nd March each year. World Water Day, 22 March 2021, is about what water means to people, its true value and how we can better protect this vital resource.

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A staggering 784 million people live without basic access to clean water. That’s roughly 1 in 10 people on earth.  For every $1 invested in safe water and sanitation, a yield of $5 to $28 USD is returned in increased economic activity and reduced health care costs. Climate change is also drastically affecting our water systems worsening existing water problems. In many parts of the world, human demands for water have outstripped the sustainably available supply. We know the value of water when we don't have access to it. In addition to water supply challenges, we also have water quality challenges. More quantity of wastewater is released back into the environment without any treatment which causes severe health hazards both for people and ecosystems. Water has become such an essential commodity that we have witnessed water wars between states in the process of sharing of river waters.
Access to safe water stimulates the economy for the long-term. India is facing a fresh water crisis. India has just 4% of the world’s fresh water — but 16% of the global population. The total potential area to be brought under the micro irrigation (drip and sprinkler) in India is 42.2 million hectare of land, however only 3.9 million hectare of land or 9.2% of the potential is currently under micro irrigation. Across India as a whole, it is estimated that women spend 150 million work days every year fetching and carrying, equivalent to a national loss of income of INR 10 billion/ 160 million USD.
The problem is huge, but it is not unsolvable. For over 40 years, Lifewater donors have helped millions of people get safe water and practice life-saving healthy habits. Every year, the number of people worldwide without safe water is reduced. The water crisis is retreating. We can solve this crisis in our lifetime, and we expect to. Still, there is still a long way to go.

Follow me on Twitter for daily climate change news and feel free to email me regarding suggestions to improve and how do you feel listening to my podcast. I would like to say to you all that leave feedback on whatever platform you are listening to this podcast, it will help me to better understand my audience.
Twitter:  https://twitter.com/realyashnegi
Website: climatology.in
Email: [email protected]
Song: Ikson - New Day (Vlog No Copyright Music)  

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In this episode of the podcast, I have talked about “Polar Vortex” and  Professor Darryn Waugh investigation on  how polar vortices interact with the rest of the atmosphere, and the ways in which they can impact our weather. 

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The strong circumpolar westerlies that define the stratospheric polar vortex maximize at around 60o latitude, from just above the tropopause (~100 hPa) into the mesosphere (above 1 hPa). The stratospheric vortex can also be defined by the coherent region of low geopotential height that is enclosed by the westerlies. The stratospheric polar vortex appears each winter as a consequence of the large-scale temperature gradients between mid-latitudes and the pole. It forms in fall when there is no solar heating in polar regions, strengthens during winter, and then breaks down as sunlight returns to the polar regions in spring, and the high latitude winds become weak easterlies. Every now and then, about every two winters, there is a strong warming of the stratosphere due to warmer air flowing in. Greenland and the North Atlantic, for example, are said to throw the vortex particularly out of balance with their warmth. The polar vortex stumbles — or rather squiggles — and air currents can assert themselves more frequently. This split causes temperatures in the stratosphere to rise by 60 to 80 degrees Celsius within a very short time. To put it more graphically, you can imagine a flying circle of pizza dough that is jerking through the air out of shape. In the worst case, the pizza (the vortex!) loses its shape completely or even splits. Then there is a lot of whirling up there, which also has an effect on the entire Northern Hemisphere: Arctic air provides for icy temperatures. This is exactly what happened on January 5, 2021, and will probably hit us again soon. Forecasters say we can expect the cold snap in mid to late January, and it could last in spurts into February. Again, key word: could.
The chemistry of the Antarctic polar vortex has created severe ozone depletion. The nitric acid in polar stratospheric clouds reacts with chlorofluorocarbons to form chlorine, which catalyzes the photochemical destruction of ozone. Chlorine concentrations build up during the polar winter, and the consequent ozone destruction is greatest when the sunlight returns in spring. These clouds can only form at temperatures below about −80 °C (−112 °F). Accordingly, the seasonal reduction of ozone levels over the Arctic is usually characterized as an "ozone dent", whereas the more severe ozone depletion over the Antarctic is considered an "ozone hole". That said, chemical ozone destruction in the 2011 Arctic polar vortex attained, for the first time, a level clearly identifiable as an Arctic "ozone hole".

Follow me on Twitter for daily climate change news and feel free to email me regarding suggestions to improve and how do you feel listening to my podcast. I would like to say to you all that leave feedback on whatever platform you are listening to this podcast, it will help me to better understand my audience.
Twitter:  https://twitter.com/realyashnegi
Website: climatology.in
Email: [email protected]
Song: Ikson - New Day (Vlog No Copyright Music)  

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In this episode of the podcast, I have talked about “Fossil Fuels.”
Topics:

• Fossil Fuels
• Origin
• Examples of Fossil Fuels
• Disadvantage of Fossil Fuels
• Environmental Effects
• Hydraulic Fracturing 
• 8 reasons why we need to phase out Fossil Fuel Industry
• Co2 emissions due to fuel combustion
• Applications for Hydrogen

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Decomposing plants and other organisms, buried beneath layers of sediment and rock, have taken millennia to become the carbon-rich deposits we now call fossil fuels. These non-renewable fuels, which include coal, oil, and natural gas, supply about 80% of the world’s energy. They provide electricity, heat, and transportation, while also feeding the processes that make a huge range of products, from steel to plastics. When fossil fuels are burned, they release carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, which in turn trap heat in our atmosphere, making them the primary contributors to global warming and climate change. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the burning of fossil fuels was responsible for 76% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in 2016. These gases contribute to the greenhouse effect and could lead to potentially catastrophic changes in the Earth’s climate. Technologies such as CCS may help reduce the greenhouse gas emissions generated by fossil fuels, and nuclear energy can be a zero-carbon alternative for electricity generation. But other, more sustainable and less risky solutions exist: energy efficiency and renewable energy. An odorless gas composed primarily of methane, natural gas often lies in deposits that, like those for coal and oil, formed millions of years ago from decaying plant matter and organisms. Both natural gas and oil production have surged in the U.S. over the past two decades because of advances in the drilling technique most people know as fracking.  Without energy, people will be deprived of heating, cooling, and light in their homes and workplaces. They would not have access to television and the internet.

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/realyashnegi
Website: climatology.in
Email: [email protected]
Song: Ikson - New Day (Vlog No Copyright Music)  

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In this episode of the podcast, I have discussed about "Microclimate."

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Microclimate is the suite of climatic conditions measured in localized areas near the earth's surface. These environmental variables—which include temperature, light, wind speed, and moisture—provide meaningful indicators for habitat selection and other ecological activities.
The most striking characteristic of the urban microclimate is the Urban Heat Island (UHI). The UHI effect causes the temperature to be warmer in the city center than in the surrounding area. The difference in temperature can reach several degrees for large conurbations under certain weather conditions. Even though the effects of the UHI phenomenon are usually not catastrophic for megacities they can nevertheless intensify heat-related stress, especially at night during heat waves, and can lead to tragic consequences for public health. The UHI phenomenon has been extensively investigated during the last decades and is quite well reproduced in models. Across a permaculture site, there are few things that are uniform. With biodiversity and the maximization of edge key principles in permaculture gardening, you site is unlikely to look very uniform, not to mention that each individual plant grows in its own unique way. But also, your site is unlikely to feel uniform. Across a single location, there can be a significant number of different microclimates. These microclimates have different atmospheric conditions from the areas they are next to, with variations in temperature, light and water all likely to be present. The shape of the land is a significant influence on microclimates. While on a large scale, weather systems have a certain predictability (related to the rotation of the earth and the interplay between ocean and land), these patterns can get disrupted at the local level by topographical features such as aspect and slope.
Aspect refers to the direction that a slope faces. This will determine how much solar radiation it receives, which in turn impacts upon temperature and shading. The composition of the soil affects microclimates primarily through how much water it retains or which evaporates from it. A soil that has a large proportion of clay retains more moisture than one that is predominantly sand. The degree to which a soil retains moisture affects the humidity and temperature of the air above it. After heavy rains, the soil can contain a lot of water and modify microclimates much like a body of water such as a lake. It is not just the moisture level within the soil that can affect a microclimate, the water stored on the surface of the land is also important. The vegetation on a permaculture site interacts with the soil and water to affect the microclimate. Your house can impact upon microclimates by absorbing heat during the day and releasing it at night, by deflecting wind and creating sheltered spots, and reflecting sunlight. Microclimates are dynamic things. As your site changes through maturation of planting, siting of artificial structures, and even contouring of the land, so the microclimates will alter.

Follow me on Twitter for daily climate change news and feel free to email me regarding suggestions to improve and how do you feel listening to my podcast. I would like to say to you all that leave feedback on whatever platform you are listening to this podcast, it will help me to see if you are liking it or not.
Twitter:  https://twitter.com/realyashnegi
Website: climatology.in
Email: [email protected]
Song: Ikson - New Day (Vlog No Copyright Music)  

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In this episode of the podcast, I have talked about “Texas Power Outage” which led millions of people without electricity.

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El Paso, Texas, which is on a different grid than the rest of the state, largely kept its power on despite seeing the same bone-chilling temperatures. About 3,000 electricity customers had an outage lasting less than five minutes, CBS affiliate KDBC-TV reported. And while the Great Plains and Midwest also saw rolling blackouts, they were far smaller than in Texas, in part because the grid in the Midwest was able to pull electricity from a grid in the East, according to the American Council on Renewable Energy.
"There have been arguments that fossil fuels are necessary for resilience. I think this shows that that's an argument that needs to be interrogated," said McNamara of the Union of Concerned Scientists. She is one of many energy experts who are advocating for more distributed power generation as a way to hedge against inevitable extreme weather events.
According to Rich Sorkin, founder and chief executive of Jupiter Intelligence, a company that helps governments and companies manage climate change risks, the power industry is not well-prepared for the extremes it faces and therefore has a lot of work to do to be more resilient to what climate change could bring. The power sector is better prepared for extreme events in parts of Europe, New York, Florida and Hawaii, Sorkin said, “and very, very far behind where it needs to be pretty much everywhere [else].” “It’s the same dynamic whether we’re talking about fire in California and Spain, heat in Dubai and Phoenix, flooding in Florida and Tokyo, cold, wind and flooding in Texas, etc., etc. The vast majority of these places are livable with sufficient planning and investment for quite some time,” Sorkin said via email.“Without that planning and investment, a hellscape will be upon us.”
In a future likely to feature more destructive storms potentially causing more damage to infrastructure, some power outages are inevitable, experts warn. Rather than relying on centralized large power plants, they advocate investing in backup power in the form of battery storage run by utilities and individual homes. In such a scenario, if a central power plant stops operating, each neighborhood or block could have a source of power and heat for emergencies.
Follow me on Twitter for daily climate change news and feel free to email me regarding suggestions to improve and how do you feel listening to my podcast. I would like to say to you all that leave feedback on whatever platform you are listening to this podcast, it will help me to see if you are liking it or not.
Twitter:  https://twitter.com/realyashnegi
Website: climatology.in
Email: [email protected]
Song: Ikson - New Day (Vlog No Copyright Music)  

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In this episode of the podcast, I have talked about “Uttarakhand glacier burst” which occurred on Sunday 7th February 2021.

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Two persons were rescued while 168 are still missing following the glacier burst in Chamoli, District Magistrate Swati Bhadoriya on Friday said. Earlier on Thursday, the rescue operation was temporarily halted following a rise in the level of water in the Rishiganga River. Around 30 people are feared trapped inside the tunnel. The Chamoli Police also informed that the water level in the Rishiganga is rising and the people living in nearby areas are being alerted. The police have requested people to be on alert and not to panic. A glacier broke in the Tapovan-Reni area of Chamoli District of Uttarakhand on Sunday, which led to massive flooding in Dhauliganga and Alaknanda rivers and damaged houses and the nearby Rishiganga power project. Many aerial recces have been done. An 8-member SDRF team sent today on foot to assess the situation. Further action to be taken after evaluation. A team of Garhwal scouts is at standby near the Tapovan Project Site. Apart from that an engineering team and a medical team are present at the site. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat on February 7 had announced an ex-gratia of Rs 4 lakh each to the kin of those who lost their lives. The Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) personnel are distributing rations and essential items in Suki, Lata and Bhalgaun villages that were cut off due to a flash flood in Dhauli Ganga.
A glacier broke in the Tapovan-Reni area of Chamoli District of Uttarakhand on Sunday, which led to massive flooding in Dhauliganga and Alaknanda rivers and damaged houses and the nearby Rishiganga power project. An editorial in the Nepali Times says that the flood is “almost identical” to Nepal’s Seti River flash flood of 2012, which killed nearly 80 people. The article warns that “it is clear that the countries that share the Himalaya from Afghanistan to Burma have to be prepared for more frequent disasters of this type. Many villages were earlier evacuated as authorities emptied two dams farther down the river to stop the floodwaters from reaching towns of Haridwar and Rishikesh. Two C-130J Super Hercules with 3 teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been deployed in the rescue mission. According to the director-general of the NDRF, the rescue efforts could take up to 2 days. Emergency crews managed to rescue 16 workers who had been trapped inside a tunnel. Another 35 to 40 workers are thought to be trapped in a second tunnel. At the Tapovan Vishnugad Hydropower Project site which is being built by the NTPC 5 km (3.1 mi) downstream, rescuers have been attempting to cave their way into a tunnel to rescue at least 30 workers who were said to be trapped.

Follow me on Twitter for daily climate change news and feel free to email me regarding suggestions to improve and how do you feel listening to my podcast. I would like to say to you all that leave feedback in whatever platform you are listening to this podcast, it will help me to see if you are liking it or not.
Twitter:  https://twitter.com/realyashnegi
Website: climatology.in
Email: [email protected]
Song: Ikson - New Day (Vlog No Copyright Music) 

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