What can be done to prepare for and adapt to the impacts of climate change?
Climate change is already affecting earth’s ecosystems and the welfare of the billions that depend on them. Even assuming focused, deliberate efforts to aggressively reduce global greenhouse gas emissions and reverse the course on a global economy dominated by fossil fuels, we have already committed our planet to a certain level of climate change. We will need to adapt to those aspects of climate change that are irreversible in the short term.
Climate change is a global problem whose challenges will be met at the local and regional level. Scientists have predicted its impacts to include changes in precipitation, heat waves, increased magnitude of extreme weather events and disaster intensity, increased flooding, reduced fresh water resources, sea level rise, changes in disease patterns, and more. Even if we were able to aggressively reduce global greenhouse gas emissions, mean sea levels may rise between 26-54 cm by 2100 under conservative scenarios, and most projections are higher (IPCC, 2013). Mean global surface temperature is likely to increase by 2-5 degrees Celsius, causing an acceleration of the hydrologic cycle and an exacerbation of precipitation extremes. The impacts of climate change will increasingly affect plant, animal and human life. This contest seeks to explore innovative institutional, educational, financial, and other means by which we can increase global and local preparedness for climate change on both domestic and international scales.
Uses of Jatropha Jatropha has many uses in today's world. Each and every part of the plant is useful in some ways. Even the seed cake produced as a by product is used as an excellent organic fertilizer. Some parts of the plant are used for medical purposes. In short all the parts of the jatropha plant can be used or sold. Here are some of the uses of jatropha plant: The non edible vegetable oil extracted from the jatropha plant can be used as an alternative to the diesel oil. The jatropha oil has advantageous physicochemical and the characteristic that is equal to diesel. So cars can use this oil with little change in their design. The oil can be used as an illuminant without refining. The jatropha oil burns with clear free smoke and flame. Because of its high saponification the oil is used to make soap in some parts of the world. Jatrophine an alkaloid material is present in the latex of jatropha which is assumed to have anti cancerous properties. It is used on the domestic livestock for skin diseases, sore and rheumatism. The tender wing of the jatropha plant is used for cleaning. The juice of the leaf is used for piles as an external application. The roots are believed to act as an antidote for snake bites. A dark blue dye is extracted from the bark of jatropha. This dye is used as a coloring matter for clothes, fishing nets, and lines. Jatropha oil cake is used as organic manure since it is rich in potassium, phosphorous, and nitrogen. Silkworms consume the leaves of the jatropha leaves for their diet. Jatropha oil is used as a lubricant for machinery and is also used to soften leather. Apart from the above uses the main use of the jatropha land is that it turns the waste land into money making one. Thus increasing the income and lessening the poverty for women and children of small farmer families. Other Uses Jatropha Seeds Seeds are used to produce insecticides Jatropha seed is used as a medicine for constipation Oils extracted from jatropha plant is used as biofuel Oil The oil is used in torches and lantern as it burns with clean free smoke The oil is used to soften the leather Used as a lubricant in machinery Also used for making soap Because of excellent combination of potassium, phosphorous and nitrogen the jatropha oil cake is used as organic manure. Plant Used to fight against the skin diseases, rheumatism and as a curative for sores on domestic livestock Dark blue dye from the bark is used for coloring cloths and fish nets Leaves and Twigs Leaves of jatropha are used as a massage material for strained muscles It is used as a brewed tea to combat malaria Jatropha plant twigs are used to clean the teeth The young leaves of jatropha can be safely eaten by steaming them or cooking it. Powdered jatropha leaves are applied to horses eyes to get rid of the flies since hydrogen cyanide is present in the leaves Flowers Because of HCN the flowers of the jatropha is listed as honey plant Nuts Used as a contraceptive Roots Root ashes are used as substitute for slat since they contain HCN and Rotenone. Bark Bark of jatropha is used as a fish poison Latex Strongly suppresses the mosaic viruses Shrub Shrubs of jatropha act as a host for the lac insects It is also used for controlling the erosion Apart from the uses, the jatropha plant has many advantages. To see complete list of jatropha advantages refer to Advantages of Jatropha.