Half of the Arctic’s sea ice is already gone, and the rest could disappear within 10 to 15 years.
‘Mo College Abhijan’ and OSA’s Webinar created awareness regarding ‘Global Warming’ among College students by International Expert.
Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Society of Americas (OSA) in association with ‘MoCollege Abhijan’ conducted a webinar titled, “Global Warming and its Impact on Snow and Ice”under the Dhauli Webinar Series. The online program was attended byvarious students and college authorities across the state.
Prof. Durwood Zaelke was the key speaker at the Webinar who enlightened everyone about the strategies that cut non-CO2 super pollutants, particularly short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs), including methane, black carbon, hydrofluorocarbons, and tropospheric ozone, which can slow loss of Arctic sea ice. In his speech, he said ‘half of the Arctic’s sea ice is already gone, and the rest could disappear within 10 to 15 years. At the South Pole, the Antarctic sea ice cover is at a record low, and at the third pole, glaciers in the Hindu Kush region in the Himalayas are melting at the fastest rate ever and could shed as much as 80% of their ice by the end of this century. As these glaciers melt, their waters contribute to avalanches, flooding, landslides, and inundating farmland, impacting the livelihoods of billions of people in Asia. Declining summer Arctic sea ice has direct correlations with the strength of the Indian Summer Monsoon (ISM), through a phenomenon known as ‘teleconnections’. The ISM provides more than 70 percent of India’s annual precipitation, and its disruption directly impacts the livelihood of more than a billion people. He also stressed on the need for transitions at every step to make the world a better place to live. Later an Interactive questionanswersessiontook place wherethe Key speaker of the webinar, Prof. Durwood Zaelke answered all the questions.
About Prof.Durwood Zaelke– He isthe founder and President of the Institute for Governance & Sustainable Development (IGSD) in Washington, DC, and Paris, where he focuses on fast mitigation strategies to protect the climate, including reducing short-lived climate pollutants.In 2022 Prof. Zaelke was recognized by Washington Magazine as one of the 16 most influential people for Climate and Environment, among Washington, DC’s 500 Most Influential People.
Shri Upendra Tripathy, Principal Advisor of (Education) to Hon’ble CM Shri Naveen Patnaik was present at the meeting while it was coordinated by Prof. Durga Mishra (Department Head Electronics and computer science NJIT, Prof.Ajay Mohanty and Aditya Chowdhury of ‘Mo College Abhijan’.
Commissioner-cum-Secretary of the Higher Education Department, Shri Aravind Agrawal encouraged everyone to join this monthly webinar by OSA to enhance their own intellectual ability following up with a vote of thanks. All the officials of ‘Mo College Abhijan’were present throughout the Webinar.
