Lessons from Coronavirus could help Reform Humankind

The COVID-19 virus is a tough story to wrap your head around and so many questions are asked. Where and why did it originate, how did it turn pandemic, are we over-reacting, why is it so much more dangerous than tuberculosis, which is an ongoing pandemic and still kills 1.5 million each year.

The one clear take is that this new virus and the panic-demic, has spread like wildfire thanks to a dense and interconnected world. Budget airlines hastened its reach, and modern day social & electronic media were prompt in spreading its infamy. And our human world is still shaking, hard !

Stop Food Loss to Counter Climate Change

Artificial refrigerant gases cause global warming... and so do decomposing gases from wasted food

India has the world’s largest footprint in cold stores. Recent estimates indicate that over the last few decades we have created 130 million cubic metres of refrigerated warehousing space. Most importantly, 97% of these happen to be users of natural refrigerant gases – in effect this is the world’s largest collection of users of ammonia based refrigeration. This is not a petty matter, as most of the developed world has cold stores that deploy artificial refrigerants. Unlike ammonia, these artificial fluids - Hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) and Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) - either caused Ozone depletion or are negatively impacting Global Warming.

In Europe alone, reports indicate that almost 50% of their food chain refrigeration is using such gases with a thousand times higher global warming potential (GWP) than CO2. Ammonia on the other hand, extensively used in India, has zero GWP.

El Niño story

In December 2014, the Japan Metreological Agency had declared the onset of El Niño, on the basis of a rise in the ocean temperature alone, though other atmospheric conditions had yet to manifest. In March 2015, the Climate Prediction Center of USA confirmed the arrival of the El Niño conditions. Though these conditions are weaker than expected, and have manifested much later than was foretold, scientists have predicted that 2015 will be the hottest year in recorded history.

The El Niño effect results in not just a momentary peak in air temperatures, but higher than expected temperatures that can last for weeks! At the last major El Niño in 1998, the Indian Ocean temperatures rose by 3°C with associated weather impact. We shall have to wait and see how the 2015 predictions fructify, for a final measure of the extent of increase in temperatures. The eventual impact to India, of a 'minor El Niño' event, is not always correctly predictable due to various factors. Nevertheless, cold-chain users are advised not to take lightly any preliminary forecast of hotter than normal temperatures. 

Preparing for hot temperature operations:

MAP and ODP glossary

Modified Atmospheric Packaging (MAP) involves passive self-inducement of atmospheric parameters inside any enclosed package. Such specialised packaging exploits advantages of the normal respiratory activity of living fruits and vegetables which cause a change to air composition inside an enclosed pack [much like in a plastic film placed around our head]. The packaging material is designed with semi-permeable material so as to allow a minimal exchange of gases and oxygen with outside air, as a way of keeping the fresh food alive, yet extending its shelf life. MAP does not work to the exclusion of temperature control and both must be used hand-in-hand. Temperature control reduces the respiration rates to a level that can be safely handled by the MAP film or bag.