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C A M P A I G N - dr sanjay tomar
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India is vulnerable to the occurrence of extreme events due to climate change
which may alter the distribution and quality of our natural resources and adversely affect the livelihood of people. Here’s how to reverse the ecological clock |
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Wake-up call |
Nobel laureate Dr RK Pachauri argues that if unchecked, global warming
could lead to extinction
of certain species |
Mother Earth is being affected by the human race in a manner that would leave the natural resources - which provide us sustenance - in a progressively degraded and damaged condition. Our water bodies have been seriously polluted. Air quality, not only in our towns and cities, but also in poor homes, which use inferior quality biomass for cooking, is at an unacceptable level. Deforestation continues in several parts of the world and now, added to all these problems is the global threat of climate change, which is affecting all forms of life.
Human society has to wake up and ensure that the welfare of future generations and their ability to pursue sustainable livelihoods are not compromised. Climate change, if unmitigated now, would in future cause changes in precipitation patterns and decline in yields of major |
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| crops, which, in turn, would threaten global food security. Sea levels across the globe are rising, and there is also evidence of increase in the frequency
and intensity of heat waves, floods and droughts. Even more serious is the possibility of abrupt and irreversible changes, such as the danger of sea-level rise of several metres, in case the West Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets were to collapse. Also possible, if temperatures exceed 1.5 °C to 2.5 °C, is the danger of extinction of 20 per cent to 30 per cent of the species assessed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change). |
While there are economic and technological solutions to the problem of cumulative degradation of natural resources and increasing concentration of greenhouse gases in the earth's atmosphere, at the core of corrective measures lies the need for lifestyle changes. For this reason it is critical that people and especially the youth, who is going to be at the vanguard of action tomorrow, understand the nature of the
problem so that they can alter their behaviour to prevent further degradation.
Today, national and international action on climate change is urgent and essential. Indeed, there can no longer be any debate about the need to act, because climate change is an unequivocal reality beyond scientific doubt.
The author is Director General, The Energy
and Resources Institute (TERI) and Chairman,
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change |
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2009 New York International Auto Show |
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2009 Consumer Electronics Show Supercut |
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