Features

Forget politicians and bureaucrats: Why we, the public, need to understand Climate Change (Part 3)

Published

2 years ago

2023/09/15

by Dr. Ranil Senanayake

Another largely unaddressed fact that frames Climate Change is that global Oxygen concentration is falling. According to two graphs, one from the US and the other from Australia, this loss is global. The only process that can add free molecular Oxygen into the atmosphere is photosynthesis carried out by leaves of plants and phytoplankton of the ocean. Given such a significant impact on the Global Commons of atmosphere and the fact that a warming ocean holds less Oxygen, understanding the role of Oxygen in climate change is important.

It is a fact that the sustainability of Oxygen production is endangered by the fossil-driven economy. The expansion of fossil energy-based industrial farming at the expense of vast regions of forests not only destabilises the atmosphere by accelerating global warming but also removes the very basis of life by burning biologically created Oxygen without paying for its replacement. Around 26 million tons of Oxygen are needed to maintain the current rate of global consumption of oil––about 90 million barrels of oil per day. It would require over 225 million trees working for one year to produce an equivalent amount of Oxygen.

The signs are all around. A recent study on the levels of Oxygen in the ocean found that the oceanic Oxygen levels had decreased by 2 % over the last 50 years. On land, the font of Oxygen are the leaves of trees. Another study published in the journal Nature suggests that 15 billion trees are cut down each year and the global tree count has fallen by 46% since the beginning of human civilisation.

Anthropogenic fossil fuel combustion is the largest contributor to the current O2 deficit, which consumed 2.0 Gt/a in 1900 and has increased to 38.2 Gt/a by 2015. This way, approximately 100 Gt (gigatonnes) of O2 will be removed from the atmosphere per year until 2100. A human needs about 750kg of Oxygen per year. All humans consume about 7 Gt per year. The trajectory is disturbing. Sri Lanka, in the Country statement to COP 21 suggested a solution, it stated:

We are aware that the critical Ecosystem services such as; production of Oxygen, sequestering of Carbon, water cycling and ambient cooling is carried out by the photosynthetic component of biomass. This is being lost at an exponential rate, due to the fact that these Ecosystem Services have not been valued, nor economically recognized

As the inception of all ecosystems begins with primary productivity, its first measured outputs are termed Primary Ecosystem Services (PES). These are the actions of photosynthesis in a leaf. These actions are, Oxygen generation, Carbon Dioxide sequestration, water cleansing and ambient cooling.

This suggests a way forward, recognising the value of PES can provide a huge economic boom; it also creates an incentive for the public to participate in the essential work of environmental repair. There are other benefits in recognising the value of photosynthetic biomass as the proxy for PES. Photosynthetic biomass can retain value only as long as it is living. A leaf on a tree, for instance, has value only as long as it is carrying out the activity of photosynthesis and producing PES; pluck that leaf and the activity cease; so does the value.

The economy will for the first time begin to put a value on life. Such an economy will increase photosynthetic biomass everywhere and render that area rich in environmental services as well in economic opportunities. It will change urban – rural relations into a more equitable and sustainable state and rapidly increase the biomass capital of the planet locking up Carbon Dioxide.

The initial ideas for marketing the growth of photosynthetic biomass was presented at the Forestry Congress in Havana, Cuba in 2011. There would be an increase of Oxygen generation, Carbon sequestering and water cleansing throughout the planet. Additionally, because the degraded ecosystems around the planet offer the space where a large amount of biomass can be gained and as these areas are also home to the world’s rural poor, these degraded ecosystems have great growth potential for generating photosynthetic biomass of high value and generating wealth for its occupants.

If the restoration of these degraded ecosystems to achieve optimal photosynthetic biomass cover becomes a global goal, the amazing magic of photosynthesis could indeed help change our current dire course, create a new paradigm of growth and make the planet more benign for our children. There is capital to power such activity. The current estimated annual value of ecosystem services is US$16–54 trillion. Living photosynthetic biomass is an ideal substance to capitalise on it.

Yet, currently, it is only one product of this photosynthetic biomass, sequestered carbon, usually represented by wood/timber or fruit and vegetable that is recognised as having commercial value in the market for mitigating climate change. The ephemeral part, the leaves, are generally ignored, but the living photosynthetic biomass in terrestrial ecosystems, is a component that needs a value placed on it for its critical ‘environmental services’.

One suggestion is to create processes that create positive externalities and place value on things that externalize their input into the Global Commons. This process of ‘giving back’ or externalizing the output of contracted entities are valued and recorded. Each unit of the system is measured for its production of contracted Primary Ecosystem Services (C-PES), which are the products created by photosynthetic biomass, Oxygen, Carbohydrate and clean water.

Recorded over time, these products protect the health and sustainability of a myriad of natural ecosystems on terrestrial landscapes. The transaction history maintained as a certificate or on a blockchain will create wealth by monitoring and recording the transaction values to the Global Commons.

The Sri Lankan government has already recognised the value of this approach to the rural sector. Instead of flogging the dead horse of fossil energy-based growth as ‘Economic Development’, we can respond to the call for a change in our systemic thinking by appreciating the value of photosynthetic biomass and become the first country in the world to propose setting such a value.

The realisation of Ecosystem Service values, reflected as rural wealth, has the capacity to reverse the destructive path we are on. It can redirect the current economic dialogue based on profiting from negative externalisation, which is leading us to death and destruction, to an economic dialogue based on the profit of positive externalization, leading to life and restoration. One company has already picked up the baton (www.restore.earth), hopefully many more will follow this new path and create a livable future for humanity.

Climate Change is real and will impact all of us one way or another; it is accelerated by the consumption of fossil fuels that drive ‘economic growth’. But there are ways in which we can respond. Many have been known for long time, some are new, but unless we inform and prepare ourselves to respond to the oncoming changes, Climate Change could bring some very unpleasant surprises.

The public need to be informed on probabilities and responses on a constant basis, Climate Change means, floods, droughts, fires, rising seas, heat, etc., may happen at very short notice unless we have response plans for each scenario; it means that some of us will suffer the consequences. This is a full obligation of the authorities to be fully cognisant of the regional climate predictions and advise vigilance in advance. Remember that for agriculture, breeding heat tolerance and salt tolerance is a critical need and cannot be done in a short time frame.

In a future with a rapidly changing climate, we, the public, must strive to protect each other. Looking at each other as a wolf does a sheep, cannot create a nation or protect it.

(Concluded)

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Features

Maduro abduction marks dangerous aggravation of ‘world disorder’

Published

5 hours ago

2026/01/8

Sahan Weerasooriya

Venezuelan President Maduro being taken to a court in New York

The abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro by US special forces on January 3rd and his coercive conveying to the US to stand trial over a number of allegations leveled against him by the Trump administration marks a dangerous degeneration of prevailing ‘world disorder’. While some cardinal principles in International Law have been blatantly violated by the US in the course of the operation the fallout for the world from the exceptionally sensational VVIP abduction could be grave.

Although controversial US military interventions the world over are not ‘news’ any longer, the abduction and hustling away of a head of government, seen as an enemy of the US, to stand trial on the latter soil amounts to a heavy-handed and arrogant rejection of the foundational principles of international law and order. It would seem, for instance, that the concept of national sovereignty is no longer applicable to the way in which the world’s foremost powers relate to the rest of the international community. Might is indeed right for the likes of the US and the Trump administration in particular is adamant in driving this point home to the world.

Chief spokesmen for the Trump administration have been at pains to point out that the abduction is not at variance with national security related provisions of the US Constitution. These provisions apparently bestow on the US President wide powers to protect US security and stability through courses of action that are seen as essential to further these ends but the fact is that International Law has been brazenly violated in the process in the Venezuelan case.

To be sure, this is not the first occasion on which a head of government has been abducted by US special forces in post-World War Two times and made to stand trial in the US, since such a development occurred in Panama in 1989, but the consequences for the world could be doubly grave as a result of such actions, considering the mounting ‘disorder’ confronting the world community.

Those sections opposed to the Maduro abduction in the US would do well to from now on seek ways of reconciling national security-related provisions in the US Constitution with the country’s wider international commitment to uphold international peace and law and order. No ambiguities could be permitted on this score.

While the arbitrary military action undertaken by the US to further its narrow interests at whatever cost calls for criticism, it would be only fair to point out that the US is not the only big power which has thus dangerously eroded the authority of International Law in recent times. Russia, for example, did just that when it violated the sovereignty of Ukraine by invading it two or more years ago on some nebulous, unconvincing grounds. Consequently, the Ukraine crisis too poses a grave threat to international peace.

It is relevant to mention in this connection that authoritarian rulers who hope to rule their countries in perpetuity as it were, usually end up, sooner rather than later, being a blight on their people. This is on account of the fact that they prove a major obstacle to the implementation of the democratic process which alone holds out the promise of the prgressive empowerment of the people, whereas authoritarian rulers prefer to rule with an iron fist with a fixation about self-empowerment.

Nevertheless, regime-change, wherever it may occur, is a matter for the public concerned. In a functional democracy, it is the people, and the people only, who ‘make or break’ governments. From this viewpoint, Russia and Venezuela are most lacking. But externally induced, militarily mediated change is a gross abnormality in the world or democracy, which deserves decrying.

By way of damage control, the US could take the initiative to ensure that the democratic process, read as the full empowerment of ordinary people, takes hold in Venezuela. In this manner the US could help in stemming some of the destructive fallout from its abduction operation. Any attempts by the US to take possession of the national wealth of Venezuela at this juncture are bound to earn for it the condemnation of democratic opinion the world over.

Likewise, the US needs to exert all its influence to ensure that the rights of ordinary Ukrainians are protected. It will need to ensure this while exploring ways of stopping further incursions into Ukrainian territory by Russia’s invading forces. It will need to do this in collaboration with the EU which is putting its best foot forward to end the Ukraine blood-letting.

Meanwhile, the repercussions that the Maduro abduction could have on the global South would need to be watched with some concern by the international community. Here too the EU could prove a positive influence since it is doubtful whether the UN would be enabled by the big powers to carry out the responsibilities that devolve on it with the required effectiveness.

What needs to be specifically watched is the ‘copycat effect’ that could manifest among those less democratically inclined Southern rulers who would be inspired by the Trump administration to take the law into their hands, so to speak, and act with callous disregard for the sovereign rights of their smaller and more vulnerable neighbours.

Democratic opinion the world over would need to think of systems of checks and balances that could contain such power abuse by Southern autocratic rulers in particular. The UN and democracy-supportive organizations, such as the EU, could prove suitable partners in these efforts.

All in all it is international lawlessness that needs managing effectively from now on. If President Trump carries out his threat to over-run other countries as well in the manner in which he ran rough-shod over Venezuela, there is unlikely to remain even a semblance of international order, considering that anarchy would be receiving a strong fillip from the US, ‘The World’s Mightiest Democracy’.

What is also of note is that identity politics in particularly the South would be unprecedentedly energized. The narrative that ‘the Great Satan’ is running amok would win considerable validity among the theocracies of the Middle East and set the stage for a resurgence of religious fanaticism and invigorated armed resistance to the US. The Trump administration needs to stop in its tracks and weigh the pros and cons of its current foreign policy initiatives.

Features

Pure Christmas magic and joy at British School

Published

5 hours ago

2026/01/8

Sahan Weerasooriya

Students of The British High School in Colombo in action at the fashion show

The British School in Colombo (BSC) hosted its Annual Christmas Carnival 2025, ‘Gingerbread Wonderland’, which was a huge success, with the students themseles in the spotlight, managing stalls and volunteering.

The event, organised by the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA), featured a variety of activities, including: Games and rides for all ages, Food stalls offering delicious treats, Drinks and refreshments, Trade booths showcasing local products, and Live music and entertainment.

The carnival was held at the school premises, providing a fun and festive atmosphere for students, parents, and the community to enjoy.

The halls of the BSC were filled with pure Christmas magic and joy with the students and the staff putting on a tremendous display.

Among the highlights was the dazzling fashion show with the students doing the needful, and they were very impressive.

The students themselves were eagerly looking forward to displaying their modelling technique and, I’m told, they enjoyed the moment they had to step on the ramp.

The event supported communities affected by the recent floods, with surplus proceeds going to flood-relief efforts.

Features

Glowing younger looking skin

Published

5 hours ago

2026/01/8

Sahan Weerasooriya

Hi! This week I’m giving you some beauty tips so that you could look forward to enjoying 2026 with a glowing younger looking skin.

Face wash for natural beauty

* Avocado:

Take the pulp, make a paste of it and apply on your face. Leave it on for five minutes and then wash it with normal water.

* Cucumber:

Just rub some cucumber slices on your face for 02-03 minutes to cleanse the oil naturally. Wash off with plain water.

* Buttermilk:

Apply all over your face and leave it to dry, then wash it with normal water (works for mixed to oily skin).

Face scrub for natural beauty

Take 01-02 strawberries, 02 pieces of kiwis or 02 cubes of watermelons. Mash any single fruit and apply on your face. Then massage or scrub it slowly for at least 3-5 minutes in circular motions. Then wash it thoroughly with normal or cold water. You can make use of different fruits during different seasons, and see what suits you best! Follow with a natural face mask.

Face Masks

* Papaya and Honey:

Take two pieces of papaya (peeled) and mash them to make a paste. Apply evenly on your face and leave it for 30 minutes and then wash it with cold water.

Papaya is just not a fruit but one of the best natural remedies for good health and glowing younger looking skin. It also helps in reducing pimples and scars. You can also add honey (optional) to the mixture which helps massage and makes your skin glow.

* Banana:

Put a few slices of banana, 01 teaspoon of honey (optional), in a bowl, and mash them nicely. Apply on your face, and massage it gently all over the face for at least 05 minutes. Then wash it off with normal water. For an instant glow on your face, this facemask is a great idea to try!

* Carrot:

Make a paste using 01 carrot (steamed) by mixing it with milk or honey and apply on your face and neck evenly. Let it dry for 15-20 minutes and then wash it with cold water. Carrots work really well for your skin as they have many vitamins and minerals, which give instant shine and younger-looking skin.