Time to declare war on climate change
Non-stop torrential rains and resulting floods in Uttarakhand in North India and Kerala in South India last week took a heavy toll on life and property, and are rude reminders of what climate change can do.
These are linked to a series of recent incidents of unseasonal heavy rains, floods, cyclones, hurricanes, wildfires and weather pattern changes causing severe health concerns across the globe with a higher frequency. These are a result of global warming—a rise in the earth’s atmospheric temperature due to the increased emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs).
In 2015, the most abundant manmade GHG, carbon dioxide (accounting for about 75% of all GHGs), crossed the benchmark of 400 parts per million and stood at 414.3 ppm as on 23 October 2021, reveals data from Hawaii’s Mauna Loa Atmospheric Baseline Observatory. This is a result of centuries of burning organic materials. Other GHGs in lesser quantities are known to be deadlier at atmospheric heat-trapping capabilities than CO2—methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O) and industrial gases including chlorofluorocarbons and hydrofluorocarbons.
Climate change has the potential to subject us and our future generations to a range of miseries that include displacements, food disruption, epidemic outbreaks and increased air pollution, and painfully diminish the human population. This apart, we are bound to see a number of species disappear, unable to survive the changes that occur. However, it is not that solutions are not available. What is not is a concerted effort on a war-footing that can defend us against the onslaught of climate change.
Measures should include replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy sources, inhibiting industries from taking to carbon emissions and encouraging energy-efficient processes. India is among the top contributors to GHG emissions after China and the US. With repeated incidents of natural calamities affecting India, it is time the country declared war on climate change and led the fight against it.