PLANT-BASED FOODS TO CURB CLIMATE CHANGE ========================================== A new United Nations science panel, released at Washington, USA, on August 8, 2019, says that if the world eats less meat and more plant-based food it will help fight climate change. But scientists emphasize they are not telling you what to eat. Intergovernmental Panel on 'Climate Change' chairman, Mr Hoesung Lee, at Washington on August 8, 2019 said that the panel does not make consumer choices, just recommendations for government leaders. When pressed, however, about half a dozen of the scientists raised their hands to say they have reduced their personal diets because of climate change, with of of them saying it helped him lose weight and feel healthier. Mr Hans-Otto Porner, a panel leader from Germany, told a reporter that if she ate less ribs and more vegetables " that is a good decision and you will help the planet reduce green-house gas emissions." (Source: Agencies, Washington, USA, August 8, 2019). ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Food For Thought =============== Report written by 100 scientists proposes possible fixes and makes more dire warnings. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- On the ground, climate change is hitting us where it counts; the stomach - not to mention the forests, plants and animals. A new United Nations Scientific Report examines how global warming and land interact in a vicious cycle. Human-caused climate change is dramatically degrading the land, while the way people use the land is making global warming worse. August 8, 2019 science-laden report, released at Washington, USA, says the combination is already making food more expensive, scarcer and even less nutritious. "The cycle is accelerating," said NASA climate scientist Ms Cynthia Rosenzweig, a report co-author. "The threat of climate change affecting people's food on their dinner table is increasing." But if people change the way they eat, grow food and manage forests, it could help save the planet from a far warmer future, scientists said. Earth's land masses, which are only 30 per cent of the globe, are warming twice as fast as the planet as a whole. While heat-trapping gases are causing problems in the atmosphere, the land has been less talked about as part of climate change. A special report, written by more than 100 scientists and unanimously approved by diplomats from nations around the world at a meeting in Geneva, proposed possible fixes and made dire warnings. "The way we use land is both part of the problem and also part of the solution," said Mr Valerie Masson Delmottee, a French climate scientist who co-chairs one of the panel's working groups. "Sustainable land management can help secure a future that is comfortable." Scientists on August 8, 2019 press conference emphasized both the seriousness of the problem and the need to make societal changes soon. (Source : AP, Washington,USA, August 8th, 2019).

RISING SEA LEVELS COULD COST US$14 TRILLION WORLDWIDE

RISING sea levels could cost US$14 trillion worldwide annually by 2100, say scientists who warn that failing to limit global warming to 2 degree centigrade will lead to dire global economic consequeneces. The researchers from UK National Oceanographic Center (NOC) also found that upper-middle in