To save your world, act before it is too late

| Last updated less than one minute ago

Submit :

News Photos Just In Debate Topic Latest News Articles Local News Blog Posts Pictures Reviews Recipes

alok kumar nath mishra

06 June, 2010

WHEN CERTAIN certain leaders announced their ideas for extensive teach-ins on the issue of the deterioration of environment, about three decades ago, they were greeted with a certain amount of skepticism. Though growing public attention was applauded as an important awakening and though supporters included conservatives, businessmen, and citizens and anti communists a section believed “certain militants” were conspiring a total overthrow of the business community. The skepticism is still persistent. Now that, gory facts have started to speak apprehension and dread permeate the world. And it is heartening.

It is customary for hundreds of thousands of environment conscious people across the world to gather together at different events to mark World Environment Day. They organise concerts to air awareness and clean-ups and tree plantings to slacken the gradual deterioration of the world by trying to slacken the deterioration of the climate. They euphorically lap up small steps such as returning your bottles, bringing your own bags, turning off water while you brush your teeth and putting lights out when not in use hoping that they would limit the damage or at least check the climate deterioration. Such small steps are of minor impact, when we compare them with our ecological footprints and they are basically meaningless without larger and systematic action as well. With the increased visibility of the danger, looming large on the horizon, it calls for a sustainable and comprehensive global environmental movement rather than the continuation of a meaningless movement.

The attention of the world ––– which has been indulgent in excesses against nature, oblivious to the consequences –– is now on the changing climate and warming world. Now that danger is knocking hard at our doors we have awaken to the reality. Global warming has already started taking its toll ––– by conservative projections the climate change kills an estimated number of 1,50,000 people a year ––– thanks to the ever increasing emission levels. It is unfortunate that the world is tearing its hair to control the damage which has already been done rather it should be more worried to prevent further damages.

The science of climate change could be a very complicated one but consequences are very clear. Indirect indicators of warming such as borehole temperature, snow cover, and glacier recession data are in substantial agreement with the more direct indicators of recent warmth.

Fourth assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has clearly laid out the dreadful future prospects. There are projected to be major changes in ecosystem structure and function with predominantly negative consequences for biodiversity. By mid-century water availability is projected to increase by 10-40% at high latitudes and in some wet tropical areas, and decrease by 10-30% over some dry regions at mid-latitudes and in the dry tropics. Approximately 20-30% of plant and animal species assessed so far are likely to be at increased risk of extinction if increases in global average temperature exceed 1.5-2.5°C. Projected climate change-related exposures are likely to affect the health status of millions of people, particularly those with low adaptive capacity, through increases in malnutrition and consequent disorders, with implications for child growth and development; increased deaths, disease and injury due to heatwaves, floods, storms, fires and drought.

The highest body on scientific study of the situation, though its reports and projections have been challenged by some, further claims that by 2020, between 75 million and 250 million people are projected to be exposed to increased water stress due to climate change. If coupled with increased demand, this will adversely affect livelihoods and exacerbate water-related problems. Glacier melt in the Himalayas is projected to increase flooding, and rock avalanches from destabilized slopes, and to affect water resources within the next two to three decades.

It is only due to the extravagant lifestyle and consumerism of the minority rich. But the threat is looming disproportionately large on majority poor. Climate change is hardly an issue in countries where farmers resort to suicide, child mortality rate refuses to decline and the prices of food items continue to soar and tens of hundreds of people die due to a lack of food. Across the globe talks on climate change and cutting carbon emissions really don’t mean anything to a vast majority who live below the poverty line.

It is worrisome that instead of taking up steps to limit rises in temperature –– 11 of the past 14 years have been the warmest on record —– the world is still hesitating, countries are falling into disputes and blaming one another. It is unfortunate that the world’s response to hardcore facts as well as some abstract findings has been lackadaisical and feeble. The unexpected failure of the Copenhagen Submit to reach a general consensus on fighting the climate change and sharing the burden between the rich world and the poor world bears testimony to that.

The future of the environment would depend in part upon whether the public sentiment, being mobilized through the celebrations of environment days, from past three decades will endure to force real change, whether corporations and acrimonious governments across the world would be interested in cleaning up the land and the rich in abandoning themselves to what the affluent unperturbedly call ‘asceticism’. Knowing that apocalyptic predictions from different quarters only tend to paralyze the masses we should bear an upbeat viewpoint and implore world leaders to do something constructive for us and the generation to follow.