The change in the weather pattern has led to change in the economic growth and change in the environment, which is affecting the health of human beings and animals. The balance in all spheres is disturbed. The root cause is global warming and the resultant climate change.

 

The excessive warmth in the atmosphere causes the snow and ice sheet to melt. Melting of ice on a large scale means more water than the rivers can handle and this causes floods. It is seen that over a period of time, even the water level of seas and oceans rises. If the rise in water level goes on, some low lying islands are bound to disappear from the map of the world. The sea will be eating the land and land area available to human beings and animals for habitation, agriculture, forests, minerals on will keep on reducing.

 

This reduction of land, combined with our speed of population growth will lead to social tension and violence. When violence disturbs peace, prosperity takes a back seat. The lack of food for self and fodder for the animals will cause disease and death. Thus the global climate change may endanger the existence of many species, including homo sapiens, on planet earth.

 

In the name of economic progress, mankind encouraged industrialisation which led to wide scale emissions of hazardous compounds. They also caused the green house effect which led to the climate change.

 

With a view to save our life and even our Earth, it is in our interest to strike a happy balance between economic growth and ecological purity sans pollution. Many a nation expresses doubt about emission causing climate change or the end result being so disastrous.

Do we allow nations like Maldives or metropolitan cities like Mumbai or London or other low lying coastal areas, to disappear from the face of Earth forever? No, certainly not. So, where do we go from here? Now that we have identified the problem and the root cause, we have to identify nations that are causing maximum damage to our ecology and polluting our environment.

 

Over a period of time, international conferences have been held and action to combat the problem has also suggested but the end result was not encouraging. Nations met, debated, discussed in the midst of wining and dining but were back to square one.

 

It is indeed international consensus that the two nations that cause maximum green house effect to disturb our ecology are the People's Republic of China and the United States of America. In China, 70 per cent energy is coal based. It means the emissions are too high and unless brought under control, will cause maximum damage to the ecology. On the other hand, although the Americans are highly industrialised with modern technology, their volume of consumption of energy and resultant emissions are indeed high. Americans stand at number two place in emissions of green house gases.

 

President Hu Jintao of China and President Obama of America will be discussing the issue, with leaders of a hundred nations from September 22 onwards, in New York under the aegis of the United Nations.

 

The Kyoto protocol of 28 articles signed on December 11, 1997 was the first formal agreement among nations to proceed in the right direction to curb emissions. However, the developed nations thought that their economic growth would be slowed down since the developing nations would just not do a thing to cut green house gas emissions in the name of protecting their development. So, USA also did not do anything as China was most reluctant to slow down its production. A bill on the subject was passed by the House of Representatives of America but got stuck in the Senate.

 

Meanwhile, the latest pictures from the Arctic show that the ice cap is melting so fast, that the day of destruction is not far off. Ban Ki Moon, Secretary General of the UNO is himself hosting the present conference and consultations so that it does not get bogged down owing to procedural wrangles. The ecology watchers sitting in the wings are indeed hopeful of positive outcome of genuine effort to solve the vexatious problem.

 

The North-East sea passage, the Arctic route linking the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean provides a direct route that is 4,000 nautical miles shorter than the southerly route via the Suez canal but it spells disaster for our ecology. The ice sheet there is now a flowing river.

 

It is time to unite under the aegis of the United Nations to save planet Earth and usher in real prosperity that will not be suicidal.