Back to square one

Days have been so hectic that blogs have taken a backseat. Got a day off today after nearly two weeks. During these days, I neither posted anything nor checked any post of my favourite bloggers. Will catch up soon.

Just as we are planning to go back to full-attendance in the office from December 1, emerges Omicron. Early days still. We only know that this variant has an unusually large number of mutations. We will get a clearer picture in the next week or so.

But borders are slamming shut again. It's at best a temporary measure, that will help slow down the spread of virus.

One day before Omicron was identified, India had announced that normal commercial flights will resume on December 15. Now, the plan has been revised, and a whole lot of regulations have been put in place for fliers from abroad from Dec 1. Even within India, states are making testing compulsory from travellers from some states where the numbers are high.

It will be too unrealistic to believe that one day Omicron won't surface in India. We have been doing extremely well with vaccinations, and our only hope is that the vaccine will be good against Omicron, at least keep the infection mild.

Work - home balance

Poland has made it illegal for companies, that have over 10 employees, to contact their employees during off-duty hours. If they do, they could be penalised. 

Apparently, a demand by some MPs to allow the employees the "right to disconnect" -- meaning they could switch off work-related devices outside office hours -- was rejected.

Another interesting initiative is that parents with small kids, can choose to work from home till their children turn eight years old. They don't have to seek permission from their bosses.

I doubt if any other nation has gone down the legal route this far to make WFH comfortable.

Quite a game-changer, considering COVID-19 has upended our lives in a variety of ways, and that work from home will continue even after we have banished the coronavirus.

Now everyone is saying Poland has the best bosses!

Source: Euronews, India Today, WION.

Podcast: The Great Climate Conundrum

Image credit: Pixabay

Here is the link to the latest episode The Great Climate Conundrum of the Time and Tide and podcast. It's 12 minutes long.

If you prefer reading to listening, here's a gist of what's in the podcast episode:

This episode is about understanding climate change, what is making the earth warmer, what are different countries doing, what is net zero emissions target, and why India doesn’t believe in it.

The United Nations 26th Climate Change Conference is getting underway today at Glasgow in Scotland.

GREENHOUSE EFFECT

At the core is global warming -- a gradual rise in the overall temperature of the atmosphere. And it’s caused by greenhouse effect.

It's a process by which the earth's atmosphere traps the heat from the sun. That heat is good for all of us, plants and animals.

But now there is more heat on the earth than what is ideal. The last 30 years was the warmest period in more than 800 years. And the most recent decade, that from 2010 to 2019 was the warmest decade since 1850.

GREENHOUSE GASES

Why is the earth’s atmosphere getting warmer? It’s because of greenhouse gases, like carbon dioxide. 

Now this is how it all works:

• Radiation from the sun reaches the earth.
   
• Some of that is reflected back into space.
   
• The rest of the sun's energy is absorbed by the land and the oceans, heating the Earth.
  
  
• This heat radiates from the Earth towards space. 
  
  
• Some of this heat is trapped by greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, keeping the Earth warm enough to sustain life.

But many of our activities are increasing the concentration of greenhouse gases.

WHAT IS NET ZERO EMISSIONS TARGET

Every country is trying to achieve what is called net-zero emission. 

You have achieved net zero emission when the amount of greenhouse gases produced is less than the amount that has been removed. Many nations are aiming to achieve this by 2050.

WHY IS INDIA IS AGAINST NET ZERO TARGET

India says what is more important is to have a pathway to reduce such emissions. Mere announcement of a target means nothing. 

But India is doing its bit. Its environment minister Bhupendra Yadav said India was on track to achieve targets set at the 2015 Paris conference. 

INDIA'S CHALLENGE 

India relies a lot on processes that create greenhouse gases. For example, nearly 70% of electricity generation in India is coal based.

If India has to cut off or even reduce these processes it would have serious implications on the country's economy and on the general public unless there is a viable alternative to the conventional processes.

WHAT CAN YOU AND I DO 

Whatever politicians might do or might not, you and I can do our small bit to make this earth a habitable place. 

Reduce, reuse and recycle is one such step. 

Turning off electrical appliances like fans, air conditioners or lights when not being used is another simple step. 

Not wasting water, or walking instead of taking the elevator or the car.

They might not in themselves make a big difference. But if more people adopt these measures, it can cumulatively add up to quite a lot.