By: Ch Meenakshi Chanu & Sundari
The celebration of the World Environment Day on the 5th of June just recently, brings us to an important reminder of our perception and outlook towards our nature(prakriti). It’s time! Once again UNEP seeks to make the biggest global call and mobilization for action on 5 June, World Environment Day (WED).
Mother Earth has enriched us with all the natural resources that we need to make lives breathe easy. She has given us food to feed our body, wood to build our house and clothes to wear. She has nourished us with water , forests and other basic essentials we cannot do without in our day-to-day survival. But how are we showing our gratitude- perhaps ironically filling it up with all waste matter and pollutants of all types thereby toxifying the whole ecosystem .
GLOBAL WARMING AND CLIMATE CHANGE
The huge effort by contemporary advanced and developing countries to achieve rapid economic growth involve colossal consumption of energy in the industrial & other economic sectors resulting in massive release of toxins, gases and pollutants that heat up the atmosphere, pollute the environment and in due course of time, may render this earth uninhabitable. Thus global warming can be seen as a direct consequence of development policies that have not only ignored environmental issues, but also lost sight of the interest of the future generations due to their entire focus on achieving higher income and better living only for the present generation.
GREEN HOUSE GASES(GHG)
Green house gases include carbon-dioxide, methane, water vapour etc. These gases keep the earth’s surface warm, habitable and full of human, animal, vegetation and marine life. With excessive build-up of green house gases, the earth’s atmosphere warms up to unnaturally higher temperature thus leading to melting of glaciers, increased and untimely precipitation(rainfall),damage to marine life, etc.
Many of the Earth’s ecosystems are nearing critical tipping points of depletion or irreversible change, pushed by high population growth and economic development. By 2050, if current consumption and production patterns remain the same and with a rising population expected to reach 9.6 billion, we will need three planets to sustain our way of life. Living well within planetary boundaries is the most promising strategy for ensuring a healthy future.
IMPACT AND IMPLICATION OF CLIMATE CHANGE
Global climate change, due to rising levels of green house gases or GHGs and deletion of ozone layer in the atmosphere, is one of the most serious environmental concerns of our time. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC),established in 1988 by the World Meteorological Organisation and the United Nations Environment Programme, have worked extensively on evaluating past trends and the future prospects of climate change. The Fourth Assessment report (AR4) of the Panel was released in November 2007.
The IPCC reports present a grim picture. It concludes that the fact of global warming is unequivocal and there is enough evidence to indicate that this is largely associated with human interferences causing the release of excessive amount of green-house gases.
Changes in the water cycle:
Increasing global temperature and resultant faster retreat of most glaciers are expected to affect the snow-fed perennial water regimes.
Rise in sea levels:
Through the 20th century, the average rate of global sea level rise has been 1.7_+0.5mm/yr. The maximum rise since 1992 has been observed in the Western Pacific and the Eastern Indian Ocean. This trend could result in loss of land due to inundation, erosion, floods, and salt-water intrusion, adversely affecting coastal agriculture, tourism, fisheries and aquaculture, human settlements and health.
Changes in profile of species and forests:
Changing environmental characteristics are sure to affect the animal and bird species and the profile and composition of forests are also likely to change. The degree to which forests and oceans will continue to be net sinks for carbon is uncertain. In arid or semi-arid areas, productivity is expected to decrease. Trends of drying up of wetlands and degradation of ecosystems will be aggravated.
Change in productivity and crop output:
Estimated crop yield responses to climate change vary widely, depending upon crop type, cultivation practices and soil properties and direct effects of (CO2) on plants. Even though increased CO2 concentration can stimulate crop growth and yield, this benefit may not always overcome the adverse effects of excessive heat and drought. The assessment report of IPCC projects a decline in global rice production by 3.8% by the end of 21st century.
Spread of diseases and epidemics:
Changes in the severity and frequency of extreme heat and cold, and of floods and droughts, coupled with local air pollution and aero allergens may result in changes in infectious disease occurrence in local food production and also cause under-nutrition, leading to impaired child development. There will also be adverse health consequences of population displacement and economic disruption. For India, the risks of malaria and heat stress-related mortality have been projected by IPCC .Increase in floods and droughts is associated with increased risk of drowning, diarrhoeal and respiratory diseases, and hunger and malnutrition.
NEED FOR COLLECTIVE ACTION
The challenge lies in determining a basis for collective action which is fair; provides equitable entitlement to the global environment space with burden sharing in a manner which recognises the very different levels of development and also the very different degrees of historical responsibility for causing the problem in the first place. Such differentiation among the countries of the world has been accepted by the Kyoto Protocol. The protocol has set legally binding targets for GHG reduction by individual industrialised countries(India in this category) are not obliged to reduce emissions of GHG. This must be effectively operationalised to create an environment of trust and cooperation.
Well, we should start thinking on ways and means to purify our environment and relieve the old natural face once again. Growing trees, solid-waste management, organic farming and saying no to plastics are some ways to revive the ecosystem.
The theme for World Environment Day (WED) 2015 is how the well-being of humanity, the environment and economies ultimately depends on the responsible management of the planet’s natural resources. Evidence is building that people are consuming far more natural resources than what the planet can sustainably provide. Lets throw this theme into our heads and act soon with the sole motive of greening the blue.
Image Source : organiclifestylemagazine.com
