Our Environment

Rounding the south west corner of Kos

A comfortable sail from Leros brings us to Kos. Here we see the magnificant sheer cliffs that form a part of the south west corner of the island. They are about 150 to 200 meters high.

The third largest island in the Dodecanese, after Rhodes and Karpathos, Kos lies between Kalimnos and Nissiros. It is mainly flat with a mountain chain running along the south coast. Famous as the birthplace of Hippocrates, the father of medicine, Kos is also known for its lovely, gentle scenery. It is both lush and fertile, with an abundance of springs and streams, gorgeous beaches and a marvelous climate. I wonder what Hippocrates would think of his birthplace now – has the climate changed?

Kos today has developed into a cosmopolitan resort, which is becoming more and more in demand. Apart from its physical beauty, it possesses some remarkable archaeological sites and important monuments.

Today we also sailed into Ormos Kamares. This small bay is located on the South end of Kos. It offers good shelter from the Meltemi and there is a small mole to moor on to. Water is also available at the mole as well as a few tavernas where I hope to talk to the locals about changing weather patterns, particularly the Meltemi. During my sailing in the Cyclades this time last year, the Meltemi was at it strongest and most violent that many sailors I encountered could remember.

The natural arch at the end of Ormos Kamares

A toxic brew of smog, carbon particles and noxious chemicals is blotting out the sun, fouling the lungs of millions of people and altering weather patterns in large parts of Asia, according to a report released Thursday by the United Nations.

Over the last couple of weeks India and China have topped the news again by demonstrating their complete disregard for the environment.? The Asian brown cloud a layer of air pollution up to one mile thick. The Brown Cloud now covers parts of the northern Indian Ocean, India, Pakistan, and parts of Southern Asia, and of course China.

Viewed from NASA satellite photos, the cloud appears as a giant brown stain hanging in the air over much of Asia and the Indian Ocean every year between January and March. Lately though this period seems to be getting longer with the density of the brown cloud also increasing.

The foul cloud is caused by when a certain level humidity forms haze in the atmosphere and combines with a range of airborne pollutants from a variety of sources including wood fires, motor vehicles, factories and especially (where China is concerned) the production of electric power via the burning of coal.

China switches on a new Coal Burning Power Station at the rate of about 10 new plants a month. The expected life of these power stations is reported as being up to 50 years. The total damage to the environment by these plants over the next few decades can hardly be estimated, safe to say that the impact will be devastating.

Research indicates that some of the local Chinese results include glaciers that feed into the Yangtze, Ganges, Indus and Yellow rivers are absorbing more sunlight and melting much more quickly than they were during the middle of last century.

According to the Chinese Academy of Sciences, those glaciers have shrunk 5 percent since the 1950s and at the current rate of retreat could shrink by an additional 75 percent by 2050.

Veerabhadran Ramanathan leader of the UN scientific panel said “We used to think of this brown cloud as a regional problem, but now we realize its impact is much greater. When we see the smog one day and not the next, it just means it’s blown somewhere else.”

The Brown Cloud now is having its effects felt as far a field as California and shows no sign of getting any better. A recent CSIRO study found that the Asian Brown Cloud is also affecting rainfall in Australia.

TheTeam – Our-Environment.com