Country, Peaks,  Height in metre

Asia
Everest (Himalaya-Nepal/Tibet)
8,848

Asia
Godwin Austen (Karakoram-India)
8,611

Asia
Kanchenjunga (Himalaya India / Nepal)
8,598

Asia
Lhotse (Himalaya-Nepal-China)
8,501

Asia
Makalu (Himalaya-Nepal)
8,470

Asia
Dhaulagiri (Himalaya-Nepal)
8,172

Asia
Nanga Parvat (Himalaya-Nepal)
8,126

Asia
Gasherbrum (Karakoram-Tibet)
8,068

Asia
Gosainthan (Himalaya-Tibet)
8,013

Asia
Nanda Devi (Himalaya-India)
7,817

South America
Aconcagua (Andes-Argentina)
6,960

North America
McKinley (Alaska-USA)
6,194

Africa
Kilimanjaro (Solitary-Tanzania)
5,888

Europe
Elborus (Caucasus-CIS)
5,633

Europe
Mont Blanc (Alp-France)
4,810

Antartica
Vinson Massif
5,139

Oceania
Caestensz (Nassau Range-New Guinea)
5,000

The  amendment  to the treaty on United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, called Kyoto Protocol,  aims at cutting global emissions of Green House Gases (GHG). The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has predicted an average global rise in temperature of 1.4°C to 5.8 °C between 1990 and 2100. Current estimates indicate that even if successfully and completely implemented, the Kyoto Protocol will reduce that increase by somewhere between 0.02 °C and 0.28 °C by the year 2050 (source: Nature, October 2003).

Objectives: Kyoto is intended to assign mandatory  targets for the reduction of global emissions of greenhouse gas to signatory nations. The objective is the “stabi-lisation of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system” UNFCCC-2.

Status: The treaty was negotiated in Kyoto, Japan in December 1997, opened for signature on March 16, 1998, and closed on March 15, 1999. The agreement came into force on February 16, 2005 following ratification by Russia on November 18, 2004. As of July 2006, a total of 164 countries have ratified the agreement (representing over 61.6% of emissions from Annex I countries). Notable exceptions include the United States and Australia. Other countries, like India and China, which have ratified the protocol, are not required to reduce carbon emissions under the present agreement.

Hydroponics:- The technique of growing plants and agricultural crops without soil.They are planted directly in water containing nutrients.