As global CO2 breaks records, India faces dilemma

New Delhi: During the week of April 6 to 12, average carbon dioxide (CO2) levels touched 404.02 parts per million (ppm), the highest-ever in recent human history - and 15 percdent above the levels of 350 ppm scientists say is ideal for Earth.
The months of February, March and April had monthly average CO2 levels higher than 400 parts per million (ppm), the first time in recorded history all three months have reached such levels, according to the keystone Mauna Loa observatory in Hawaii.
These rising levels have growing relevance for India, as it struggles with a farm crisis brought on by uncertain rainfall, attributed increasingly to climate change, as IndiaSpend recently reported.
India is the world’s third-largest emitter of CO2, the chief greenhouse gas. A renewed push for industrialisation will have to be balanced against further climate change.
The 400 ppm mark is a milestone when it comes to CO2 levels in the atmosphere, and the first day to record such levels was May 9, 2013.
“Current (atmospheric) CO2 values are more than 100 ppm higher than at any time in the last one million years (and maybe higher than any time in the last 25 million years),” said Charles Miller, Principal investigator at NASA’s Carbon in Arctic Reservoirs Vulnerability Experiment after the 400 ppm threshold was passed. “Even more disturbing than the magnitude of this change is the fact that the rate of CO2 accumulation in the atmosphere has been steadily increasing over the last few decades, meaning that future increases will happen faster.”
Ever-upward global CO2 levels
Last April was the first month in human history with an average CO2 level above 400 ppm. April 2015 recorded a level of 403.26, nearly two points higher than the same month last year.
In other words, the records being set by CO2 levels are being consistently reset.
The observatory in Hawaii has been recording CO2 levels since 1958, and annual CO2 levels have risen by 82.58 ppm since then to reach 398.55 ppm in 2014, that’s an increase of 1.47 ppm per year.
Why this matters to India
The rising CO2 levels have been linked by the UN’s intergovernmental panel on climate change (IPCC), in a 2014 report, to rising ocean and land temperatures as well as rising sea levels over the past 35 years.
As to how rising CO2 levels have affected or would affect India specifically, it is not clear. Claims in a 2007 IPCC report that the Himalayan glaciers would melt away in the near future have proven to be not credible. However, as we said, a series of studies have shown that unseasonal rain and erratic weather unsettling the Indian farmer - and the nation’s agriculture, economy and politics - are no aberrations.
Disquieting data bring domestic pragmatism
As the world’s third-largest contributor of greenhouse gas emissions, India may be in a unique position to affect atmospheric levels of CO2. While its total emissions are rising, its per-capita emissions at 1.9 metric tons are a third of the global average, a quarter of China’s and tenth of the USA’s.
The path of industrialisation and urbanisation that India adopts will have a significant impact on the world’s warming and its own health status. Already, 13 of the world’s 20 most-polluted cities are in India.
India’s stance at various conferences, including the Climate Change Conference in Lima in 2014, has been that it was unfair to demand emissions cuts from developing countries. The argument being that these economies were still growing compared to the developed world, and that such emission levels would be unavoidable if they want to catch up.
However, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set India on an ambitious programme of using nuclear and renewable energy to power its industrialisation, as it attempts to move some of roughly 600 million people working on farms to factories.
“I think if you look at the whole world, and the whole issue of climate change, if there is one part of the world which can provide natural leadership on this particular cause, it is this part of the world,” Modi said in an interview to TIME magazine.
India may take an uncompromising position globally to protect its own interests, but it’s difficult to ignore the warning signs from Mauna Loa.

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The Turkish ghost town where Russell Crowe filmed The Water Diviner

Turkish hotel owner Mustafa is recalling the time he woke up to find Hollywood star Russel Crowe outside his bedroom window.'I opened my curtains and said, "Bloody hell!" I could see a film crew 300 yards away,' he says, pointing towards the hundreds of abandoned stone houses lining the hillside.We're in Kayakoy, one of the world's spookiest 'ghost towns' near Oludeniz in south-west Turkey, where Crowe filmed scenes for his latest movie The Water Diviner.Scroll down for video   The ghost town of Kayakoy was chosen as a location as it has remained largely untouched since the 1920sCrowe plays Australian farmer Joshua Connor, who travels to Turkey to discover the fate of his three sons, who went missing at the Battle of Gallipoli during the First World War.Crowe chose Kayakoy as a location as the area has remained largely untouched since the 1920s.It was once a thriving village but the population exchange agreement of 1923, following the Greco-Turkish war, saw Kayakoy's mostly Greek inhabitants sent to Greece, while attempts to settle Turkish-speaking people from Greece in Kayakoy failed.
Crowe plays Australian farmer Joshua Connor, who travels to Turkey to discover the fate of his three sons, who went missing at the Battle of Gallipoli during the First World War The lower church in Kayakoy is closed for restoration. When it will reopen is anybody's guessAlthough Kayakoy has been a protected archaeological site since the 1980s, there are plans to develop it.Opponents fear it will lose its authenticity and have set up a Facebook group to save it. Louis de Bernières, whose novel Birds Without Wings was inspired by the setting, is one of those uncertain about the ghost town's future. For now, there are few signs of mass tourism.A handful of restaurants sit at the entrance to the town, and the only attempts to lure tourists are souvenir stalls and a sign advertising camel treks. Looking for a nearby beach, try the beautiful heart-shaped sands of the Blue Lagoon in the Bay of Oludeniz Russell Crowe stayed at the Yacht Classic hotel in Fethiye, in one of its water villasWhen my husband and I enter, we discover the lower church, where Crowe filmed, is closed for restoration. When it will reopen is anybody's guess. It has been locked up for months with no sign of work. Locals shrug and say: 'Turkish time.

We follow a walking map that takes us round the town. It's 9.30am but already the sun is blazing and I feel my heart pounding as we take the steep, rocky path up the hill.The air is still except for the chorus of crickets. We stop to peer into one of the houses - its roof is missing and a tree is growing inside.A lizard scurries up one of the walls. It's hard to imagine the lively place this once was.After an hour of exploring, it's back to civilisation in nearby Fethiye and our luxury hotel, the Yacht Classic, where Crowe stayed in one of its water villas.Anatolian Sky Holidays  offers seven nights at the Yacht Classic Hotel in Fethiye from £659 per person. This includes return flights from Gatwick, transfers and B&B accommodation.Tours of Kayakoy can be arranged for £28 per person. Daniel Craig stayed in the penthouse while filming Skyfall and it was renamed the 007 James Bond PenthouseHe's not the only famous guest. Daniel Craig stayed in the penthouse while filming Skyfall and it has been renamed the 007 James Bond Penthouse.

At nearby Koca Calis beach, where Skyfall's beach scene was shot, every bar claims to be 'the 007 bar'. In reality, the film's purpose-built bar has long since been dismantled. Locally, it's worth visiting the blue lagoon at Oludeniz, taking a '12 islands' boat trip, and going to one of newsreader Michael Buerk's favourite restaurants, Oztoklu, in Fethiye. Here the owners take us to the neighbouring fish market to choose our dinner before it is cooked using a family recipe.

Yacht Classic owner Banuhan Argin tells us that Daniel Craig stuck to a diet of sea bass, salmon and spinach during his stay, while Russell Crowe loved a big steak.'They had different styles,' she says.'Daniel wanted to be alone but Russell had parties with 200 guests. There were wine barrels everywhere. I think they both loved Fethiye because when they were checking out, I saw the smile.

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Man on intense slingshot ride maintains straight face as he is thrown into the air

When people on amusement park rides are captured on video they can generally be seen screaming in fear or gripping the safety bars.But one man showed off the unique way in which he enjoys the thrill of a ride – by keeping a ‘stone cold’ straight face and staring down the lens of the camera.Huy Nguyen was filmed riding the Human Sling Shot – also known as a reverse bungee – in Kissimmee, Florida. Huy manages to maintain eye contact with the camera despite being thrown about in the capsuleThe video opens with Huy staring at the camera while sitting alongside a fellow passenger already in position.While she holds the handles in anticipation and looks up in excitement, Huy relaxes with his hands by his side as if sitting on any regular chair.Suddenly the slingshot is fired into the air and immediately the fellow passenger begins screaming.

Despite being thrown about and the wind moving his hair back and forth, Huy manages to maintain eye contact with the camera. Huy's fellow passenger screams throughout the ride that enables its users to experience total weightlessnessAs the ride comes to an end the fellow passenger laughs and puffs out her cheeks.Huy then reacts for the first time by putting his thumbs up to the camera.The hilarious video was uploaded to Reddit and Huy’s lack of a reaction – to what is considered an intense ride – has garnered many comments of approval. The video was uploaded to Reddit and Huy’s lack of a reaction has garnered many comments of approvalReddit user zaffaroni wrote: ‘This is so comfortably disturbing’.The slingshot ride was invented by Troy Griffin in 1978 as an alternative to the bungee jump.The capsule is catapulted vertically with a g-force of 3–5 and enables passengers to experience total weightlessness. 

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Lufthansa scraps Germanwings as cost cuts go deeper

Europe’s biggest airline Lufthansa is taking the knife to its business
as it continues its cost-cutting drive.

With the bottom line hard-hit by an ongoing pay and pensions dispute and deliberate crashing of the subsidiary Germanwings plane by a rogue pilot, Lufthansa made a first-quarter loss.

The cuts include Germanwings, which will disappear to be replaced by the established Eurowings brand.

All Europe’s major carriers are struggling to cut costs as they face cutthroat competition from the budget carriers and new rivals based in the Arabian Gulf.

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Areva to cut 6000 jobs and slash pay and bonuses

Areva looks set for a rough ride with the unions after announcing job cuts and an end to bonus pay and other perks in a bid to end abyssal losses.

While everyone agrees France’s state-owned nuclear utility has severe problems, no-one is sure of the solution.

“We’re facing job losses and the loss of rights and collective agreements; bonuses and overtime are threatened. The bosses want us to be more productive, but we’re offered no guarantees,” said the CFDT’s Jean-Pierre Bachmann.

“We don’t know if half the group’s going to be sold off, we don’t know what EDF is going to do, what our policies are towards China, we know nothing. The only thing we do know is the workforce has to be slimmed down,” was the opinion of the FO’s Josè Montès.

Areva has been struggling with cost overruns and delays with new technology and new reactors it is building, and has a huge debt that grew bigger last year by over four billion euros as the company lost money hand over fist.

The nuclear operator is unlikely to be privatised but the government has been looking at ways to hive off and sell parts of the company without compromising on safety.

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Charlotte a commercial hit for Britain's Royals

Just a few days old but Britain’s Princess Charlotte is already proving to be a welcome addition to Brand Windsor, getting the cash tills ringing for royal memorabilia.

The royal feel-good factor has yet to wear off, but before it does plenty are trying to cash in on the occasion, from commemorative mug makers to model village owners.

“The’ve created a seven centimetre tall double buggy for the new royal and she’s made up of just three tiny Lego bricks. We have welcomed the new royal baby in miniature into our Lego royal family in our world-famous mini land attraction”, said Legoland Windsor PR manager Lauren Moss.

It is not just tourists but many Britons who lap this up and go and buy mementos of all descriptions, and the media will ensure Charlotte will benefit from an extensive, and free, public relations campaign cementing her in the public eye as the fourth in line to the throne.
The profits from her entry into the world will ensure she pays her way right from the start.

“At the time of the birth of Prince George two years ago, the Centre for Retail Research estimated that birth would give us something like a 243-million-pound boost the the UK economy. I think we can expect a similar sort of figure this time around,” says economist at BGC Partners Michael Ingram.

It is estimated the royal household costs UK taxpayers 48.8 million euros a year, mostly spent on building maintenance, employee wages, and travel.

However through her land holdings worth 12.7 billion euros the Crown Estates makes a profit for the Queen; 362 million euros last year, all of which was given to the treasury.

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