By: Chandu Visweswariah In 1982, I registered for a class called “Communications Circuits” on the leafy campus of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Chennai, India. The instructor was Prof. Ashok Jhunjhunwala (picture on the left and bio here and here). Fast forward almost 40 years since then, and Prof. Jhunjhunwala (who I’ll call Prof. J. in the rest…
Of Carbon Budgets and Roulette Wheels
By: Chandu Visweswariah The recent United Nations IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) 6th Assessment Report has set off a frenzy of “after-market analysis” in the environmental community to help the public make sense of the scientific jargon in the report. There is no ambiguity that we must reduce emissions to a level that can be absorbed by natural systems;…
IPCC 2021: Code Red for Humanity
By Chandu Visweswariah “There is no time for delay and no room for excuses, the report is a code red for humanity.”— UN Secretary General António Guterres “Now is the critical decade for keeping the 1.5-degree target within reach.”— Jane Lubchenco, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy The United Nations released the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)…
Protecting the Environment by Making Your Home Green
By: Cyril Cabral Jr. How would you dress if you had to spend the day outside in Antarctica, with an average yearly temperature of -57 o F? You would probably not have any exposed skin – covered from head to toe with windbreaking garments – to minimize the chance of frostbite. Next, you may consider many layers and a down-like…
Make it and take it!
By: Bob DeAngelis I believe we can fix some significant environmental issues by placing responsibility in the right place. What I am proposing is a major change, but it is what is needed. If you have a better idea, I would sincerely like to hear it. The proposal for manufactured products is: If you make it, you have to take…
Biden’s Earth Shot vs. Kennedy’s Moon Shot
By: Chandu Visweswariah “We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to…
An Earth Day for the Ages
By: Chandu Visweswariah No. 46 outdid himself on Earth Day 51! The publication of Rachel Carlson’s book “Silent Spring” in 1962 led to the first Earth Day in 1970. Just last week, we celebrated Earth Day number 51. In our household, Earth Day has always had special significance because our first date with my wife was on Earth Day 1990….
What is Climate Change All About?
By: Cyril Cabral Jr Riding a bicycle is a complex task, with many of our 600 human muscles needed to keep us balanced and moving forward. As we have all experienced, an untied shoe, a sandy patch of ground, an animal running in our path or a fly landing on our nose, is all it takes for an unbalanced situation…
Sunshine Hotels and Trillion Dollar Bubbles
By: Chandu Visweswariah Editor’s note: this blog marks the 50th piece contributed by Croton100 in this series since Croton100 was launched on “Leap into the Future Day,” February 29, 2020. If you own a mutual fund or retirement account, this might be a good time to make sure you are not investing in stranded assets. Otherwise, you could be the…
I Beg to Disagree, Mr. Gates
By: Chandu Visweswariah Bill Gates’ book “How to Avoid a Climate Disaster” was published two weeks ago (Knopf, 2021). An easy read, an informative read, a well-written read, but having been immersed in climate-related literature for over a decade, my overwhelming response was, “Yawn, nothing really new here.” Nonetheless, pulling all the elements of climate stabilization into a single book…