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TO THE EDITOR
Global warming
Biodiversity is a popular way of describing the diversity of life on earth, it includes all life forms &the ecosystems of which they are a part. The biological resources of each & every country are important, but not all are equally endowed. In general, a small number of countries lying in the tropics and subtropics account for a very high percentage of world's biodiversity. Thus, biodiversity provides the raw materials, combinations of genes, that produce the plant varieties and animal breeds upon which . agriculture depends.
Global warming is perhaps the-
most pervasive of the various threats to the planet's biodiversity. Unlike other threats also caused by human development, it has the potential to influence all ecosystems, including those that are far from human populations and are still classified as wilderness. Unfortunately, despite this insidious nature, there have been few efforts to assess the potential effects of greenhouse warming on global ecosystems. The global warming effects on biodiversity are:
1. Global warming has the potential to cause extinctions in a great majority of the world's especially valuable ecosystems. Losses af >hab»Cat Types are
predicted within the eco-regions and, based on speciesarea relationships, can be expected to result in losses of biodiversity.
2 .Depending on species responses to the warming, especially their ability to migrate to new sites, habitat change in many eco-regions has the potential to result in catastrophic species loss.
3 . The fact that certain eco-regions are of high value from a biodiversity perspective did little to protect them against the effects of global warming. Although some eco-regions were more vulnerable than others, on the whole they fared little better than random regions of the globe.
High migration rates were nut
isolated occurrences within the eco-regions. Future migration rates may need to be unprecedented if species are to keep up with climate change. It is safe to conclude that although some plants and animals will be able to keep up with the rates reported here, many others will not. Some species with low dispersal capabilities may fail to migrate at all. Global warming is likely to have a winnowing effect on the ecosystems within eco-regions, filtering out species that are not highly mobile and favouring a less diverse, more "weedy" vegetation and ecosystems that are dominated by pioneer species, invasive species, and others with high dispersal capabilities. The effects of global warming are influenced significantly by species geographic distributions and climatic tolerances.
Md. Mahbubur Rahman Department of Environmental Science and Resource Management Mawlana Bhashani Science and Technology University
Obama's move
From the newspapers, we have learned that Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama wants to have talks with Iran. It is a good decision from Obama's side which will serve the cause of sustainable peace in the region.
Diplomatic effort, rather than war, is the best solution to any conflict.
MushfiqueWadud Departmen t of English Stamford University
Punish the killers
The report of the murder of two little boys (Jewel and Biplob) touched me so much that I couldn't hold my tears. I cannot forget this for a single moment.
1 cannot think how they were tortured, how they begged for their lives until their souls departed! The two little boys couldn't understand what was happening and helplessly cried for mom! Nothing could change the minds of the killers!
Dear editor, I sincerely request you to write strongly and create pressure on the police to arrest the killers of Jewel and Biplob. The parents should get some sort of solace.
Hasanul Alam
Canada
Police station needed
Violent incidents taking place in front of Dhaka College arc a common sight these days. Besides political clashes, often the students of this college are seen battling with shop-owners and employees, hawkers, drivers and commuters and finally with the police. Thus the vehicles and passengers face a miserable situation. Women from all areas of Dhaka, shopping at New Market, Gauchhia and other adjoining markets and the school going girls along with their mothers often fall victim to such circumstances.
So, I would request the authorities concerned to set up a permanent police station in this area to deal with the problem. Harun-or-Rashid Sobhanbag, Dhaka
Jaipurblasts
We condemn the bomb blast that occurred in the Indian tourist city of Jaipur a couple of days ago. A previously-unknown militant group has claimed responsibility for a string of blasts that killed 63 people. This is an act of barbarism. Whoever has done this barbaric act should be brought to justice. How long will the peace-loving ordinary citizens continue to suffer?
Our deepest sympathies for the victims.
Minhaj Ahmed Uttara, Dhaka
Medical college
Recently, the government declared that five medical colleges would be set up in the country. We welcome this decision and hope the government will soon establish a medical college in Kushtia which has been the demand of the local people for a long time. In June 1980, the then president of the country had laid the foundation stone of this much cherished medical college, which is yet to be built. There is a general hospital in Kushtia with two hundred and fifty beds. A Medical Assistant Training School and a Nursing Training Centre are also there. So if a medical college is established, these buildings can be used for classes at the initial stage. The other infrastructure could be built gradually as there is no need to buy land, for the required land is already there. So, it would not cost a lot of money to start a medical college here which could
serve the poor and unfortunate people of this district with good treatment facilities.
Kushtia is the centre of all businesses in this region as its communication with other adjacent districts is very good.
Every day a lot of people from the border areas go to India for advanced treatment and spend valuable foreign currency.
We urge the government to consider all these points and take immediate steps to establish a medical college in Kushtia. Mohammad Nurul Huda HaatBoalia
Alamdanga, Chuadanga
Rice production
Dasgupta's proposed solution for ending our rice crisis (May: 15) is rather an informative essay on global rice situation covering its production, sale and inventory levels. Tucked away in the concluding paragraphs, he proposes support for the farmers directly to increase their acreage under rice planting. The banning of rice export, by the major rice exporting countries, is their way to ensure their own rice inventories. May be it is a shrewd policy for increasing rice export prices by curbing supplies which will naturally boost up prices!
However, the proposal for encouraging rice production is a pragmatic approach for us. Not just by increasing the acreage under rice cultivation, but also productivity (yield/acre) needs to be addressed. Acreage may be increased through direct cash subsidy to farmers, so that they prefer planting rice as against the options of other cash crops. But productivity increase is a collaborative effort of researchers, agriculturists and field level technical support officials. Incentive for this needs a rather long-term approach and the authorities' attention and commitment
Although incentives for such experimental work are difficult to quantify, the task is not impossible. This has to remain our continual long term perspective.
Alongside this, diet diversity cannot be ignored. For this, the direction is through mass awareness and all round publicity. The government should take it up in right earnest by encouraging the habit of eating potatoes and mushrooms. The latter has remained an ignored subject and needs to be popularised from growing up to putting it on the table. The farming of mushrooms, planting, reaping and marketing have to be widely popularised through the ■government's all round media
endeavours, like wheat was encouraged way back in the 1950s. The potatoes and mushrooms will ease the pressure on demand for rice.
SA. Mansoor Dhaka