POP Papers Issue 16. Aug 2017 Message from Our Chief Mentor The news at the end of August has been dominated by the terrible impacts of Hurricane Harvey on the state of Texas in the US. While scientifically no single event can be attributed as a manifestation of human induced climate change, it needs to be kept in mind that the Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) clearly projected an increase in the frequency and intensity of extreme precipitation events. One of the observations of the IPCC AR5 was: “However, it is virtually certain that intense tropical cyclone activity has increased in the North Atlantic since 1970”. In a special report entitled “Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation (SREX)” the IPCC had clearly projected “It is likely that the frequency of heavy precipitation or the proportion of total rainfall from heavy rainfalls will increase in the 21st century over many areas of the globe. This is particularly the case in the high latitudes and tropical regions, and in winter in the northern mid-latitudes. Heavy rainfalls associated with tropical cyclones are likely to increase with continued warming induced by enhanced greenhouse gas concentrations. There is medium confidence that, in some regions, increases in heavy precipitation will occur despite projected decreases in total precipitation.” While at this stage of the terrible disaster which has covered Texas and neighboring states, the highest priority is to save lives, protect property, and rehabilitate those who have been affected, it is also necessary to understand the root of this problem and to put in place measures to prevent its recurrence. There is some reason to hope that despite President Donald Trump’s disdain for what science has told us in a compelling manner, the public is beginning to question the neglect of the link between climate change and extreme events like Hurricane Harvey. One particular meteorologist who provides information to the public has said “What we need right now is an informed, reasoned, intellectual debate on climate change and extreme events”. Another meteorologist has stated “ I am uncomfortable discussing as a human tragedy unfolds, but when the dust settles, the conversation needs to happen — and a recent National Academies report on attribution is a good place to start. Attribution studies on Harvey will happen.” The state of Texas, which has enormous economic wealth and a high level of education and skills has been one of the states where skepticism about climate science has prevailed for long, and yet Texas can boast of a large capacity of wind energy use, and it also is vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Yet Texas is generally unprepared for coming impacts, as clearly the response to Hurricane Harvey demonstrates, whether one accepts this as a manifestation of human induced climate change or not. Extreme events are on the increase across the globe, and it is essential that we create resilience not only in our cities, but also in rural areas, where in many parts of the world people are poor and infrastructure is totally inadequate to deal with the impacts of climate change. The POP Movement intends to organize a big march in the state of Texas a day before Earth Day 2018, and ending in Dallas, Texas, in the city which holds the largest event anywhere in the world annually on Earth Day. Dr. R. K. Pachauri Chief Mentor Visit to Guadalajara The Chief Mentor also visited Guadalajara which is the second largest city in Mexico, and held a meeting with the Mayor Senor Enrique Alfaro Ramirez. He also made a presentation to the cabinet of the Mayor emphasizing the need to involve youth through the POP Movement in the city. Meetings were also held with the senior staff of the University of Guadalajara, particularly Prof. Mauricio de Font-Reaulx Rojas who is Director General of Cultural activities in the University. This Institute is establishing a new Environmental Science Museum which could be crafted to help youth taking care of the environment and meeting the challenge of climate change. A suggestion was also made that the University implement the POP Movement, and this would be followed up in due course. Meeting with H.E. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and H.E. Mr. U Ohn Winn, Union Minister, Ministry for Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation The Chef Mentor had the privilege of meeting Her Excellency Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, State Counselor in Nay Pyi Taw, the capital of Yangon on Friday the 25th of August. Among various subjects that were discussed, Her Excellency the State Counselor put forward the plight of farmers in Myanmar who are already suffering from the impacts of climate change resulting in a decline in agricultural productivity. She highlighted the need for informing farmers on how they might be able to adapt to the impacts of climate change, which she asserted was already happening. The Chief Mentor highlighted the potential of the POP Movement in creating awareness and actions by youth, and for Myanmar equipping educational institutions with expertise by which they could become resource centers for efficient use of energy, and adapt to the impacts of climate change for the benefit of communities around our educational institutions. Her Excellency the State Counsellor also mentioned the fact that Myanmar was one of the most vulnerable countries in respect of the impacts of climate change. Further discussions were held with His Excellency Mr. U Ohn Winn, Minister for Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation as well as senior officials at the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation. One of the proposals put forward in the discussions was to launch the POP Movement in Myanmar, with a special focus on adaptation measures, since the country was highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. ​Mr. Richmond Mayo-Smith, Sustainability Investor joined these meetings and discussed some mangrove projects in Myanmar, for which efforts will be made to mobilize international financing. The good health of mangrove plantations is an important measure for adapting to the impacts of sea level rise and extreme sea level rise events. A Refreshing Case of Initiative by Youth It is always heartening to see youth taking the initiative in looking after the global commons, and accepting the challenge of making their respective institutions becoming centers of action on climate change. Reproduced below is an email received on August 31 from a group at Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM): “Hi Doctor, How are you? We hope you are fine! We have good news: Last friday (after holidays at our university), we had a meeting with our director: Dr. Jorge Vázquez, because he wanted to know about us, why do we had decided to do this and what would we do. After the reply to these questions, he was very enthusiastic with us that some students are going to do big things. Now we have the support of our director; the recognition (that it was our first objective in mind) and we got an specific place at our faculty where we are going to work better. Besides, we have the support of the next professors: * Jorge Núñez * Fernando Santiago Gómez * Héctor Ariel Rico * Rolando Javier Bernal * Jimena Otero They are going to help us in this movement too. In conclusion, we, as team, are very enthusiastic too, and our main objective is: Do the better and impact, in a good way, the conscience of our faculty, and after in our university. After all, POP Movement at UNAM begins in this moment! We will keep in touch, Dr. Pachauri and we look forward to hearing from you. Yours faithfully, Team POP Movement at UNAM PS: We would like to get a document which recognize us as team member in this movement, please." It is indeed nice to see students taking action to implement the POP Movement, as this email conveys. The POP team would be meeting this group in the next few days in Mexico City, and hope that UNAM can become a prominent center of action in Mexico. New Member of the International Advisory Board: Mr. Pradeep Tyle ​ ​We are delighted to welcome Mr. Pradeep Tyle ​ as a member of the International Advisory Board. Mr. Tyle is a veteran of the global flexible packaging industry, and a highly sought-after advisor to companies seeking operational efficiency and global expansion. He has developed his reputation in the industry over thirty two years, and delivered numerous addresses and papers worldwide on a range of subjects. He possesses vast experience in developing business relationships in over 130 countries, and has personally traveled to over a 100 countries. Mr. Tyle is a firm believer in society taking action to focus on tackling climate change and in the need to devote resources towards conserving the earth's ecosystems for the welfare of future generations. Additionally, Mr. Tyle believes education should be universal and not subject to economic barriers. Through his non-profit, the Tyle Family Foundation, he promotes education for the underprivileged in India. Wave Energy Concept Ready for Ship Propulsion An artist's impression, not the actual hull structure, presenting placement on the outside of the hull and leaving the deck space clear for normal operations. By The Maritime-Executive 2017-08-02 ​ Wave energy technology is ready to be combined with solar and wind power to create zero emission ships, says José Luis Gutiérrez-García, CEO, ZShips International CCC. ​ ZShips is a Canadian company readying a proprietary wave power system that uses oscillating water columns integrated into a ship's hull. ZShips' concept involves converting wave energy into stored energy in the form of compressed air. The compressed air can be stored as potential energy or used on demand to generate electricity. The company is initially looking to retrofit its technologies