Editorial: Signs of climate crisis

Wayward weather events come as a compelling reminder that India is ill-equipped to tackle many of its effects

The weather is running amok with extreme fluctuations, sending out warning signals of a surging climate crisis. Torrential rains over the last few days have brought North India to its knees, with rivers in spate, landslides in the mountains and severe waterlogging in the plains. At least 15 people have lost their lives in rain-related incidents in Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir while heavy water-logging in New Delhi has once again exposed the absence of a proper drainage plan in the national capital. Extreme weather events are becoming commonplace, a scenario long predicted by scientists. Last week, the global average temperature crossed 17 degrees Celsius, making it the hottest day for the planet in recorded history. Scientists have warned that the coming days and weeks would produce more such record-breaking events. This year is widely expected to become one of the hottest ever. All this is the consequence of climate change. It is not just the heat that is getting increasingly unbearable. Excessive rains, frequent floods and intense forest fires are all happening in different places simultaneously. And, the fluctuations are happening faster than the previous most pessimistic estimates. Governments need to have better planning and follow-up measures to minimise human loss. The wayward weather events in India come as a compelling reminder that the country is ill-equipped to tackle many of their effects, such as urban flooding and flash floods. The poor urban infrastructure routinely stands exposed every time there is flooding.

While several States have made some proactive efforts in this regard, the overall direction and focus of the country’s development plans are marked by unregulated construction, even on flood plains. This shows an utter disregard for natural topography and hydro-geomorphology and poor-quality affordable housing. The extreme weather events are not unique to India but are occurring across the world, a largely man-made tragedy. The ongoing international efforts to control the climate crisis are not enough. The goals need to be reframed and redefined in view of the grave implications of climate change. Scientists have been warning of catastrophic impacts if global warming is not kept under check. As per the Paris Climate Agreement, the global temperature should not cross 1.5 degrees Celsius above the pre-industry level. International efforts to stick to this threshold have not been successful. Already, the impact of high global mean temperature is evident in the form of extreme climate events, including heat, wildfires and floods. On its part, India needs to move away from coal and invest in renewable energy to achieve the targets under the Paris Agreement. The country has been witnessing an alarming trend in heat waves. In 2015, only nine States experienced heat wave conditions. By 2020, that number went up to 23. The number of heat wave days during the period rose from seven to 33.

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