Global Warming: Isn’t it hot enough to act?

The world is witnessing a global climate change which is resulting in rise in sea levels and chaotic weather patterns. If requisite action is not taken we will soon find ourselves bereft of natural resources that form the very basis of our existence.

Pritha Roy Choudhury

May 6: While there is a rise in international concern and initiatives on the issue, it is time for India too, to take requisite steps and fight its battle against global warming.

Causes of Global Warming:

Carbon dioxide and other air pollutants, which are being emitted into the atmosphere, are trapping the sun’s heat, thereby causing the planet to warm up. Coal-burning power plants are the largest source of carbon dioxide pollution - they produce 2.5 billion tons every year. Automobiles, the second largest source, emit nearly 1.5 billion tons of CO2 annually.

Deforestation is another significant source of greenhouse gases, because fewer trees mean less carbon dioxide conversion to oxygen. During the past 150 years of the industrial age, the concentration of carbon dioxide has increased by 31 per cent in the atmosphere. The level of atmospheric methane also has gone up by 151 per cent.

Consequences of Global Warming:

Home to a number of natural wonders like the Himalays, which feeds seven of the great rivers of Asia, the sunderbans – the world largest mangrove forest which harbours wild species, unique only to the region, will soon find themselves in the pages of the history books if no immediate action is taken.

A study also revealed that the sea is rising at 3.14mm a year in the Sunderbans against a global average of 2mm. Global Warming would also hit Bangladesh hard as 17 per cent of the land will go under water in the coming years if sea level continues to rise.

Himalayan glacier will melt by 2030 and an island like Maldives will totally disappear by 2050. Other wonders of nature at risk are the Amazonian rain forests and Australia's Great Barrier Reef, according to World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) in its latest report titled 'Saving the World's Natural Wonders from Climate Change'.

Latest UN Report on Global Warming:

A United Nations panel released its most comprehensive strategy to avoid the catastrophic effects of global warming in Bangkok on Monday, May 4, 2007.

The report said that charging polluters for their emissions - up to $100 a ton by the year 2030 - would spur trillions of dollars in investment which is needed to improve energy efficiency and develop alternatives to fossil fuels. It offered several scenarios for stabilizing concentrations of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases.

Only one, however, would avoid global warming's worst effects - dangerous sea level rise, frequent drought and widespread extinctions. It requires emissions to peak in 15 years and fall to 50 per cent of current levels by mid-century, limiting temperature increase to 3 degrees Fahrenheit.

The concentration of greenhouse gases would be stabilized below 490 parts per million carbon dioxide equivalents. The current concentration is about 430 parts per million.

Action taken by India:

India seems to have woken up to the crisis with the Parliament deciding to hold a full-day debate on the issue on May 8.

Discussions will be on to take drastic steps to shift from fuels like coal and oil, which emit global warming gases upon burning, in order to avert a global crisis.