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Solutions to slow climate change

July 24th, 2007 by Rebecca Henschke 

The message from climate change experts is very much we have to act now.

In this edition of Asia Calling we profile private and state projects that aim to slow global warming and reduce its negative impacts.



The ‘Raincatchers’ of Rajastan India

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Eastern Rajastan was once the driest state in India. Widespread marble mining and rapid logging cause the underground water supply to dry up.

Streams and rivers disappeared and so too farms. But in 1985 a water harvesting movement started in Alwar.

The architect of the ambitious movement, Rajendra Singh, figured out a way to efficiently capture rainfall. Now Alwar is water sufficient, and its people are back at the farms.

Vinod K. Jose reports from the villages of Alwar, a model being used in many water-starved areas.

Last Updated ( Wednesday, 10 June 2009 15:37 )
 

Indonesia buys living trees

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Indonesia straddles both ends of the global warming debate. With 17,000 islands and a biodiversity second only to Brazil, it stand to lose a great deal from rising sea levels and changing climate.

But it’s also one of the world’s biggest polluters.

Rapid clearing and burning of peat-land forests in Kalimantan has lead to its ranking as the world’s third biggest polluter of green house gases.

One man in Palangkaraya University in Central Kalimantan is trying to change this. Suwido Limin, the head of the Centre for International Cooperation in Management of Tropical Peatland or CIMTROP is fighting to save the peak forests.

Rebecca Henschke went to meet this inspiring man and see his work.

Last Updated ( Wednesday, 10 June 2009 15:15 )
 

Pigs, waves and wind the energy answer for South Korea

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According to the Chinese zodiac, this is the year of the pig. And for anyone born this year, good fortune awaits them.

In South Korea, environmentalists are hoping that pigs will not only bring them good luck but also halt climate change.

Reporter Jason Strother gives us a tour of Korea’s first and so far only farm where renewable energy comes straight from the pigs.

He has the story from I’chon.

Last Updated ( Wednesday, 10 June 2009 15:04 )
 

Energy Police fight climate change in China

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On a country by country basis, China is now the biggest emitter of greenhouse gases.

The Chinese government says much of this is due to the fact that China is the manufacturing capital of the world.

But what about on an individual basis?

With living standards and incomes increasing, sales of cars, air conditioners and other greenhouse gas emitting goods are on the rise.

This increase doesn’t sit well with the government’s new climate change strategy.

So it plans to reduce individual emissions in a number of areas, some of which will have a direct impact on the lives of Chinese residents.

One such area is building energy consumption, as Elise Potaka reports from Beijing.

Last Updated ( Wednesday, 10 June 2009 14:51 )
 

Australia explores the nuclear option

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Climate change might be bad news on many fronts, but in Australia it has revived the flagging fortunes of one former outsider of the energy sector - nuclear.

The uranium industry and its supporters are marketing nuclear energy as the only way to tackle climate change and preserve the economy.

As Erica Vowles reports, concern over how to reduce Australia’s high rate of CO2 emissions have revived an idea that many thought was dead and buried.

Last Updated ( Wednesday, 10 June 2009 14:37 )
 

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