What is the issue?
- The impact of climate change is being felt around the world irrespective of whose contribution it is.
- UN and climate experts have called for the declaration of climate emergency worldwide.
How can it be said that climate change is real?
- A few generations from now, our descendants may not see the animals and plants we now regard as commonplace.
- We are depleting 25% more natural resources than the planet can sustain right now.
- Mankind is teetering dangerously close to the precipice of extinction.
- We thought that the impact of climate change would never really be felt by us and it would take a long time, perhaps a couple of centuries.
- Now the effects of climate change are at our doorsteps.
- Cyclones such as Fani, Thane, Vardah, Ockhi, Gaja and Vayu had affected India in different times.
- Floods caused havoc in Assam, Himachal Pradesh and Bihar in 2019. Kerala witnessed floods for the second consecutive year.
- Meanwhile, Europe saw the highest temperatures ever in recorded history. In July 2019, Paris recorded its highest temperature of 42.6°C.
- All these are because of climate change.
Why is it happening?
- Humanity is paying the price for the indiscriminate use of fossil fuels.
- The increase in global temperatures started with the industrial revolution.
- If our current lifestyle continues, the global temperature will increase further and that will have catastrophic consequences.
- Industries, vehicles, burning of fossil fuels, thermal power plants and large-scale rearing of cattle are emitting heat-trapping greenhouse gases.
- The increase in these gases is trapping the sun’s heat and increasing the earth’s temperature.
What could be its impacts?
- Global warming will drastically affect agriculture — the production of rice, wheat, maize and soya will decrease significantly.
- Apart from malnutrition, climate change will give birth to newer infections and illness.
- This imbalance will, in turn, affect the economy which will lead to conflict, war and global unrest.
- Global warming is already melting the polar ice caps. If this continues, sea levels will rise and submerge coastal cities.
- These natural disasters will make millions of people climate refugees.
- The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report - Averting a climate crisis will require reinvention of the global economy.
- By 2040, there could be global food shortages, inundation of coastal cities and a huge refugee crisis, it says.
What steps should be taken?
- UN and climate experts have called for the declaration of a global climate emergency.
- Countries like the U.K., Canada, France and Ireland have already declared climate emergencies. So have some local bodies and NGOs.
- Unfortunately, India and the U.S. are still slow to act.
- Global warming will affect every individual in every country. It’s the duty of every human and government to take steps to stop the climate crisis.
- The Indian government should declare a climate emergency immediately.
- Immediate policy changes should include,
- Reducing the usage of fossil fuels by half by 2030,
- Encouraging the use of public transport,
- Increasing forest area,
- Promoting non-conventional energy,
- Devising good water management policies,
- Implementing the plastic ban stringently,
- Banning the burning of waste,
- Promoting innovative urban planning policies
- Reducing mass rearing of cattle for human consumption.
Source: The Hindu
