Half-baked schemes to tackle air pollution will not lead us anywhere near the destination. Government must introspect, even start from scratch
The collective inaction of countries across the world to contain the rising global temperatures is now all set to create a much bigger problem. According to a latest study published in the journal, Nature Geoscience, global temperatures are set to rise and our planet may end up being twice as warm as projected by climate models, even if the world meets the target of limiting global warming to below two degree Celsius. The combined impacts of rising carbon emissions, deforestation and other harmful anthropogenic activities are now starting to slowly but surely overtake the feeble and half-hearted human efforts to rein in global warming. The research findings are based on observational evidence from three best-documented warm periods over the past 3.5 million years that is the Holocene thermal maximum (5,000-9,000 years ago), the last interglacial period (129,000-116,000 years ago) and the mid-Pliocene warm period (3.3-3 million years ago). During these periods, the world was 0.5-2 degree Celsius warmer than the pre-industrial temperatures of the 19th Century.
Observations of these past warming periods suggest that a number of amplifying mechanisms are actually poorly represented in climate models which in turn increase long-term warming beyond the climate model projections. This inadvertent miss would mean that the ambitious goal of the Paris Agreement to reduce global temperatures by two degree Celsius is not only insufficient but too less and too late for a world that is heating up twice as fast. The research also revealed how large areas of polar ice caps could collapse and significant changes to the ecosystems could see the Sahara Desert become green and the edges of tropical forests turn into a fire-dominated savanna.
Combining a wide range of measurements from ice cores, sediment layers, fossil records, using atomic isotopes and a host of other established paleoclimate methods, researchers pieced together the impact of these climatic changes. These path-breaking researches, which are the need of the hour, actually present an uncomfortable real picture to us but surprisingly the same data accessed by these researchers is also available to the Governments and policy-makers around the world. Yet we do not see a concrete on ground action that draws from this data, not at least in India. The environmental scenario in India is worsening day by day and human activities in the form of emissions, natural resource depletion and industrial pollution are hastening the rising temperatures and rendering the air unbreathable besides polluting whatever little is left of the ground water. Niti Aayog recently unveiled a 15-point action plan, “Breathe India”, to combat air pollution across India. Is this the game-changing initiative that we all have been waiting forIJ Only time will tell on how it has been conceived, and more importantly, how effectively it will be implemented. The plan aims to seek concerted action from all levels of governance in order to make the initiative a success.
India has been a long-term sufferer due to deteriorating pollution levels. The World Health Organisation has already termed Kanpur, Faridabad, Gaya, Varanasi and Patna as the most polluted cities in the world. In the background of dismal conditions such as these, the NDA Government has surely taken many steps to control the pollution levels in the recent past, and the ‘Breathe India’ initiative is one among the many concerted efforts. However, for the efforts to shine through, it is essential for the Government to pull out all the stops and ensure that a non-stop support and coordination is given to the plan. The Government must lead by example.
All Government properties must switch to alternate and sustainable power. Similar efforts must be taken in the transport system. Fossil fuels and conventional power usage must be made available to those sectors such as the Army or law enforcement agencies where security aspects are involved. Also, the initiative must bank on breaking a new path in sustainable development that is powered by renewable energy and must not focus only on the treatment of adverse effects of pollution and environmental degradation. These steps will ensure that the initiative will be remembered as an iconic step by the Government to rescue the fragile ecology.
The speed at which the temperatures are rising can lead to profound impacts on sea level conditions. With a 7,515 km coastline, India has a lot to lose in the event of unrelenting sea level increase. The ‘Breathe India’ initiative must dwell on this issue as well and provide some security to these areas against worsening environment. This is crucial since sea level increase is serious and when it starts taking place, the adverse impact on life and property is instantaneous. Given the fact that even if ouremissions were to stop today, it would take centuries to millennia to reach equilibrium with our environment, but this does not mean that we are fighting a losing battle. In fact, we lose when we stop fighting against global warming.
(The writer is an environmental journalist)
