Stubbornness, Tomatoes and Nationalism

Changing human habits and life styles have altered the world. What was predictable till yesterday is no more so today. Occasionally changes seem erratic or abnormally fast. Those, which affect supply chains result in dramatic spiking of prices. Albeit for short periods, these spikes gather news value because of our stubborn attitudes. Take the case of tomato prices which are already 'heavenly'.

Intense summer heat incident on impervious surface has evaporated the last remaining moisture in the soil. Tanking production of agricultural commodities, especially vegetables were only to be expected. Today, if we are caught unawares; it exposes our lethargy or serious deficiency. Instead of  lamenting, let us make every experience, a teacher.

However, till the time of next harvest, can we, as responsible citizens, not restrict our consumption? Since we are very poor in shedding our habits let us continue to remain stubborn and avoid tomatoes for a couple of days. The prices will fall down form 'heaven'.

Once fallen, let's pick up tomatoes!

For those who bother to think beyond their pockets, there is another reason to stubbornly avoid tomatoes. Your small sacrifice will go to strengthen our nation.

Renewability of Renewable Resources

Renewability of Renewable Resources

Human beings are indeed strange creatures. We are perpetually involved in a game of snake and ladder with nature.  

A couple of centuries ago, when muscle power got replaced by machine power, there was wide spread celebration. We started ascending an almost vertical ladder. Little did our great grandfathers realize that the celebrations were hinged on their absolute ignorance about accumulated consequences. 

Pretty high up the ladder, we realized that it opens into the mouth of a snake! Today we are tired, gasping and the lower steps of the ladder have disappeared! We can only continue to climb into the reptilian mouth. 

The good part is; we have moved up, considerably. However, there still exists a slim chance that we might escape being completely devoured by the snake, if we can climb softly without provoking it. Hence, after every few steps, we reaffirm ourselves and jointly agree to climb up softly so that we leave behind minimal or no foot prints. 

In this endeavor we have developed an infatuation for renewables. It is an appealing adjective that is currently trending.Like our great grand fathers who danced at dawn of mechanical era, we are today celebrating the prospects of renewable energy to help us live in a manageable environment. 

Do we have a scale to measure our level of ignorance?

How renewable are our renewable resources?

Let us consider the case of solar power. Albeit modest space requirement estimated to power our planet exclusively on solar energy, we will end up trapping about 700 quadrillion Btu (estimated global energy consumption by 2030 - US Projection) energy on the Earth.

Going by documented history of human energy consumption, our greed will make us eventually transform the surface of Earth to become heat absorbers and thereby again intervene in the radiative balance. Hence it is highly likely that a couple of centuries later, our great grandchildren will continue with the snake and ladder game and debate global warming. The principle culprit will be solar panels!

Todays' hero will become tomorrows' villan. There is nothing in nature that is perpetually renewable. We only expose our ignorance by labelling certain things, renewable.

Precipitation of probabilities

Less than 40 cm rain in a day was all that was needed to make infrastructural and technological marvels crafted over a century, redundant.

Food, health and security are the three essential things for human survival. As a society, we need to ensure these before we concentrate on structural and virtual empires.

The wise learn from their past. Are we wise enough?  Perhaps the only thing that a hawkish economy will learn is the need to insure. We can expect attractive immovable property insurance!  

Chennai- XII/2015 is just one incidence of precipitation of probabilities about which the climate change bandwagon has been highlighting. Till yesterday, if rain of this magnitude used to occur once in a century, from tomorrow, it will become once in 50, 40 or 60 years. Well over 80% Chennains are likely to experience this at least once, if not more times.

Haridwar, Chennai, ………. The list will swell. What is be the magnitude of economic losses? Can we recoup it? The important but perpetually overlooked question remains ……. . Could we have reduced the intensity of deluge? Let us keep it aside till the next one.

COP21: The Yard Stick and Climate Consensus

As global torch bearers meet in Paris today, they carry with them aspirations and hopes of 7+ billion people. Whilst COP 21 will find a place as a landmark event in modern history, it need not necessarily present a DoD (Do or Die) scenario.

Change is inevitable. It is the only constant in an increasingly complex world. Any action that will aid slowdown of the rate of change will give us more time to rehearse adaptive living. Slower the change, the softer it would be. (Pl see my noting in an earlier occasion on the faster changes in the past and their contribution to the present situation). Had we been slow then, there would be less to worry now.

There is a latent danger of disagreement due to wrong measuring scale carried by the torch bearers. The world, in the past too had found itself entangled when values, growth rights and commitments get debated.       

Human tendency to appropriate and valorize resources has led us to the present predicament. Not far from today, the oil era will sublimate. Water is a strong replacement candidate. If physical might to wage wars and redraw borders was the strategy of the in the 20^th century, the approach now is fiscal might. Underlying motto - Ends justifying means remain unchanged. 

#changetheyardstick

 

How one of my students' humbled me

Thank you Sajid Idrisi. 
In a world where we seldom have time even for ourselves, you took time to remember me.

Thank you for the wonderful teachers' day greetings.

 

A supplementary note to Differentials of Development

Request you to kindly read the idea of aerial transport of goods to decongest our terrestrial network mentioned in the notion differentials of development.

For those of who, if any had thought of this as quixotic.
Please visit:


Project Wing, Google's unmanned delivery vehicle program.
http://googleforstudents.blogspot.in/2015/07/q-with-dave-vos-head-of-googles.html
 

Differentials of Development

Pl visit

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/280095263_Differentials_of_Development