There is an old proverb — it’s the last straw that breaks the camel’s back. In the case of climate change, it seems as if we are waiting for that last straw. Some recent incidents are grim pointers to the threats of the Apocalypse which appears to be not very far if the present conditions continue. The California fire may by now have allayed whatever doubts the US President might have had about the impact of climate change. And why California fire? US is now witnessing more frequent incidents of natural disasters suggesting that Mother Nature’s ire is getting severe. It won’t be just the warming. The melting of Arctic glaciers would raise the ocean levels. It is some kind of a double whammy. The writing on the wall is clear. A global catastrophe is lurking around the corner. Over 10,000 years, the temperature of mother earth has remained more or less the same. But since the 19th Century, the temperature has risen one degree. Looking at the rate at which carbon emissions are polluting the atmosphere, we may soon get another half a degree increase. That perhaps would be the threshold level. A further rise of another half a degree and the catastrophe is there proving to be the proverbial “last straw”. Any further rise would create irreversible impact.
It can be very easily understood by the simple lesson that we learnt in Physics classrooms in school about the concept of the elastic limit and the plastic limit. Though we are still within the elastic limit, we are stretching Mother Earth to the plastic limit breaking which would hit us and rather badly. That perhaps would be a very heavy price to pay for our so called development. While the issue has been common knowledge for the past five decades, the actions are not up to the desired levels. While it will be affecting the whole world, we in India need to pad up and take guard. If the climate degradation in Delhi is any indication, we are soon going to achieve a state where the national capital region will be unliveable. People are already suffering from chronic lung diseases. If the recent UN report on environment is to be believed, India is one of the most vulnerable countries to face the wrath of climate change.
That tropical countries are naturally vulnerable is one reason. But we are also the most callous people on popular concerns and this is the bigger reason. Consider some pointers — the elephant menace in Jharkhand, monkeys going astray in UP, the rising incidents of wild animals entering human habitats in the most unexpected of the regions, and then, erratic climate. These are not just stray incidents. There are strong reasons. Deforestation in the name of development is not leading to sustainable development. The rise in the frequency of natural disasters in the country is in some way related to the damage that is being done to the nature. What can we do? The simplest way in which we can reduce the damage to our climate is by changing lifestyle. We have acquired a highly consumption-oriented lifestyle driven by the vulgar consumerism promoted by marketers. We need to cut on wasteful consumption. Other things of course are to be taken care of at higher levels. But imagine the impact on climate if 1.3 billon people cut wasteful consumption. The mantra is “Cut consumption for redemption”.
Pathak is a professor of management, writer, and an acclaimed public speaker. He can be reached at ppathak.ism@gmail.com
