Global Protocol/ Research Project

I.                    Contributions to Climate Change

All countries located in the South Asian region are in the process of development. They are dubbed “non-annex” countries under United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’s (UNFCCC) standards and thus do not have any guidelines to follow when developing. Without these guidelines and restrictions countries are practicing unsustainable forms of development. India is expected to be one of the highest contributors in 2031, where they are expected to double in their greenhouse gas contribution.  Though some countries have begun limiting their population, some countries do not have these limits and continue to increase in numbers.

II.      South Asia is facing record high temperatures and rapidly rising sea levels caused by the quickly changing climate. These effects of the climate change affect everyone living in the cities and along the coast because it changes the economy, the environment and it also has a negative impact on peoples health.  The record high temperatures have taken many residents of India by surprise because they are not accustomed to living with scorching weather that makes it difficult to work outside, and they aren’t familiar with the effects of heat stroke. The hot and dry weather also makes growing crops very difficult because most famers rely on the weather to bring the rain to nourish their crops, without rain there is no crops and no money.

            Since most of South Asia has a long low lying costal area the people along the coast are very concerned with the rising sea levels that could drown their villages and towns. The earths’ climate is slowly getting warmer and causing the ice all over the world to quickly melt and in return is raising the ocean levels. If the ocean submerges the coast then millions of dollars of economic revenue are lost and even more lives are lost. Losing hundreds and thousands of lives shouldn’t be the effect of climate change, but it is the reality that we are slowly seeing.

III.

Solutions to solving these problems are still being discussed. With exports being South Asia’s largest contributor to climate change, it would be simple to say they should cut back. This region is still in the process of developing and is contingent on their exports for survival. Currently the Kyoto Protocol has been working since 1987 to monitor country’s carbon exchange and help minimize their carbon footprint. Created by the UNFCCC, they are working to bring the Kyoto Protocol to under-developed countries like Nepal. Nepal and some other countries in the region are supposed to adopt this protocol sometime in 2012.

India and Nepal

http://www.thehimalayantimes.com/fullNews.php?headline=Climate+change+mitigation+strategy+&NewsID=274237

In 1994 the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) became active. Their main focuses are on controlling and stabilizing the amount of greenhouse gas that was being put into the atmosphere. They eventually want to bring it down to a safer level. The Kyoto protocol was enacted in 1997, and its target is to reduce the GHG emissions. This protocol follows the “the principal of “Common but differentiated responsibilities.” The countries that were included in this group were those that were highly industrialized, or were in transition to becoming industrialized. They were also referred to as Annex I countries. Nepal, which does not belong to the annex, does not have any legal commitment to what the UNFCCC had decided upon, however it has a “moral obligation to join hands with the international community to fight climate change problem.”

The Kyoto Protocol had one movement called the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). Its main purpose is to make underdeveloped countries aware of the GHG emission target range, and help them develop certain procedures to safely develop their countries. There has recently been one climate change policy that has been finalized, but government of Nepal has yet to agree to it.

There are a few other recovery plans that are in the works, which would help countries develop their technology, financing and capacity-building, in a measurable, less harmful manner. It is believed that it is in Nepal’s best interest to develop an adaption program to deal with the changing climate. “The country should have strategy of leveraging potential carbon projects (CDM and or VCS) as earliest possible before adaptation of National Appropriate Mitigation Action to maximize the benefit from carbon market. To achieve this objective, three actions should be taken immediately in parallel: preparation of national climate change mitigation strategy; carry out sector-oriented baseline study (i.e. sector-wise GHG inventory) and capacity building for development, implementation and management of carbon projects.

Nepal will most likely enter into the protocol in 2012 when the new cycle of the protocol is enacted.

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/india-second-in-world-for-natural-disasters-un/141401-2.html

                “India ranks second in the world for natural disasters.” They follow China, who is ranked number one in the world. India has failed to address the issues faced with their emissions and the changing climate. India has a total of 16 natural disasters that have occurred, following not that far behind China who has had 22.  The estimated cost of all natural disasters that occurred in 2010 was estimated to be $110 billion. China has experienced a higher death rate, and destruction to their property, as well as has seen an increase of earthquakes, landslides, and floods. Margareta Wahlstrom cautions that "weather-related disasters are sure to rise in the future, due to factors that include climate change. Other than the Haiti earthquake and the heat wave in Russia, other major disasters include the earthquake in China (estimate number of deaths 2,968), floods in Pakistan (1985 deaths), landslides in China (1765 people killed) and floods in China.” It is important for countries to start developing an adaption plan to deal with future unforeseen disasters due to the changing climate.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/07/world/asia/07kashmir.html?_r=1&ref=india

On August 6^th 2011, massive amounts of rain caused a mudslide in India, killing 125 people.  The location of the heavy rainfall was in Leh, which is the main city along the Himalayan border region of Ladakh. The village of Choglamsar, which is on the outskirts of this region, was hit especially hard. It is unknown how many people could be under the mud. Over 6,000 troops attempted to rescue the individuals trapped in the mud. About 125 bodies had been recovered, but the death toll is likely to increase since villages that were downstream of the mudslide had not yet been helped.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/05/world/asia/05flood.html?ref=nepal

August 5^th, 2007

On August 4^th, 2007 India was hit with a strong monsoon after heavy rainfall hit South Asia. Scientists believe that this “freak rain” is due to the present climate change. Weather scientists predict that the unnatural weather patterns, specifically the amount of rainfall that will visit South Asia, will increase over the years. More than half the districts in Bangladesh were under water during this time. About 58 people have been reported dead after the week’s heavy rainfall, and over a million families were affected by the flooding. Bangladesh was also affected by India’s overflowing rivers. Nepal’s southern plains were also put under water. “Nearly 10,000 people were displaced, and 84 had been killed, said Paul Handley, a field coordinator with the agency.” The United Nations has attempted to help Nepal in their time of need, with the heavy flooding, but their supplies have been tapped. “Pakistan has already had its turn with flooding. In July rains in Baluchistan and Sindh provinces, the death toll reached 329 and 90,000 families were made homeless, the United Nations said.”

In Silt, Bangladesh Sees Potential Shield Against Sea Level Rise

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/20/world/asia/20bangla.html?_r=2&ref=bangladesh

According to this article Bangladesh is one of the world's most vulnerable countries to climate change. It is very vulnerable because it has low lying coastal land and if the ocean rises just a little many towns and villages can be swallowed by the massive sea. To protect the low lying land people in Bangladesh are now using naturally found silt to slowly fill in dangerous living areas. Mr. Abdul Lateef and a few of his neighbors who live in Beel Bhaina discovered the silt potential when they punctured a hole in the mud embankment surrounding their village and watched as the water drained out and the silt got delivered by the high tide. In Beel Bhaina the silt has increased the land near the river bank about three feet and has made it suitable for the people of Beel Bhaina to grow things such as shrimp and fish, where as they couldn't cultivate before the silt increase.
The silt flows down from the Himalayan rivers and into the Bay of Bengal. Now with new technologies it is easier to harvest the silt and direct it to low lying areas. There are many skeptics who believe that the silt is not strong enough to withstand the strong current of the Himalayan river, and will get washed away creating a major loss in people, property and crops. Hopefully the silt will be able to withstand everything it faces and give people of Beel Bhaina a second chance at life because they are already trying to fix something that they may not be able to gain back again.

Earthquake in south-west Pakistan

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-12222081

In a desert area bordering Iran and Afghanistan, a 7.2 earthquake had hit on Wednesday, January 19. Initially it has said to have been only 10 km in depth, but it turned out to be 84 km underground which limited the effects. The earthquake was felt in neighboring areas, some shaking will continue with some moderate damages. This earthquake came after a devastating flood during the 2010 monsoon as well as batteling Taliban militants from different tribal parts.

Ayyy :)

Welcome to our page of South Asia! Woop woop!:)