The science of global warming has never been 100% certain because the weather pattern of the earth is incredibly complex, but we are finally starting to see some of the bad effects of global warming in terms of melting of glaciers, loss of polar ice, and so on. It would be a bit naive to blame global warming for the increase in number of cases of extreme weather such as hurricanes, droughts, etc, but it is also true that the incidence of these cases of extreme weather have been increasing over the years. And as recently as last year, an international panel of experts came out with a report that confirmed the dangers of global warming, including an urgency to act now to make changes; the impact of the changes caused by global warming could be massive and affect a large number of countries in terms of increased water levels that would threaten low-lying regions, would increase the threat of drought and famine and increase the occurrence of extreme weather.
Many years ago, a beginning was made whereby the countries that were responsible for most of the emissions that caused global warming got together and signed an agreement known as Kyoto (it is now recognized as imperfect, but was a good first step). However, when President Bush came to power as President of the country with the most emissions, he deemed the science as imperfect and also raised the worry about the economic impact of the measures needed to correct the emission levels – hence he decided to pull the US out of the Kyoto Act in a major shock to people concerned about global warming. Ever since then, the US has been seen as a laggard in the move towards limiting the emissions contributing to the spread of global warming. The US has been advocating a separate track recently in which the world’s top existing and growing polluters would get together. However, in the current such discussion, the plan proposed by Bush has finally convinced people that the US under Bush will not do anything significant, and that it is better to wait for him to go:

continue reading "Bush’s plan for global warming evokes derision"

Seems like a very obvious statement to make, given how China has reacted in the past. Ever since China took over Tibet in 1951, it has been extremely touchy about any external reaction on Tibet, dismissing all reaction as being an interference with its internal affairs. A lot of it is due to how China’s Communist politicians decipher any external reaction – any reaction from a politician outside China is seen as interference, not to be tolerated. The other part of the reaction is internal politics. China’s political system, with the politburo being at the peak of the political system, is in a system of constant tension. Any sign of relaxation, of letting things go out of control, or of letting people start to lead a protest, can lead to a weakening of the position of the President, and maybe slowly start his fall. The past history of Zhao Ziyang, who made the ‘mistake’ of being sympathetic to student protesters in 1988, and was then overthrown and put under house arrest until his death in 2005 (17 years later). Even after death, there was no mourning allowed for him. This is the precedent that any China leader would want to avoid. Hu was the leader in charge of Tibet at the time of the last protest in 1988, and he was the one who made his name by suppressing the protest; and it was even more impressive politically for him because he did in a fairly ruthless manner. Read what he said:

continue reading "Hu affirms that Tibet will continue to be suppressed"

Australia had always shied away from ratifying the Kyoto Protocol on global warming, due to the non-inclusion of target setting on China and India. This was a position on which it had the prime support of the US Administration under George Bush (who at many points professed not to believe in global warming). It is only when the Australian people voted out John Howard and brought in the liberal party under Kevin Rudd that Australia has finally reversed course and ratified the Kyoto Protocol. In a speech at the Bali conference, the Aussie Prime Minister accepted that richer countries have to take on the responsibility of lending support to the poorer countries in form of financing and technical help:

Australia recognizes the particular responsibility of developed countries to assist developing countries,’ Rudd told the United Nations-sponsored climate change conference in Bali, Indonesia. “In the form of technology transfer, in the form of financial incentives and in the form of support for adaptation. None of us can do it alone.”
We expect all developed countries to embrace a further set of binding emissions targets and we need this meeting at Bali to map out a process and timeline for this to happen,” Rudd said, according to speech notes. “We need developing countries to play their part – with specific commitments for action.”

continue reading "Australia reverses itself on Kyoto and Global warming"

China has suffered massively in terms of a loss of confidence and an almost sure public relations disaster; and by now, you would all be knowing what I am talking about – the frequent recall of toys and other goods made in China due to lead contamination, or other similar safety problems. Mattel Inc, a leading toy maker, has had multiple blows in terms of recall of many of its popular products, and this also has had a grievous impact on the revenues of the company. The greatest impact however has been on the mind of the anxious parent who is no longer sure which is the next toy being used by their kid which will turn out to be unsafe.
Well, here’s another series of recalls:

continue reading "More recalls of China made toys"