| World Environment Day
On World Environment Day, we need to reflect upon how we can play an effective role in offsetting the environmental hazards. We need to strive to cut down on toxins that are killing our ozone layer and endangering the existence of life on Earth.
June 5 is marked every year as World Environment day. It was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1972 at Stockholm Conference on Human Environment. This year the focus is on climate change with a theme of ‘Melting Ice – a Hot Topic’. The aim is to focus attention on the effects that climate change is having on polar ecosystems and communities, and the ensuing consequences around the world. They mark the day to give a human face to environmental issues; empower people to become active agents of sustainable and equitable development; promote an understanding that communities are pivotal to changing attitudes towards environmental issues; and advocate partnership, which will ensure all nations and people enjoy a safer and more prosperous future.
The recent report released in February this year by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which has contribution of the major experts in the field states that it is human activity which is to be blamed for the climate change. The report is striking and is a call for urgent action by governments and people in the face of the danger we pose to our future generations.
The report adds that human activity was very likely to be responsible for most of the observed warming in recent decades. The report warned that a failure to cut greenhouse gas emissions would bring devastating climate change within a few decades. Average temperatures could increase by as much as 6.4C by the end of the century if emissions continue to rise, with a rise of 4C most likely, according to the final report of an expert panel set up by the UN to study the problem.
But what does this mean in reality?
An average global temperature rise of 4C would wipe out hundreds of species, bring extreme food and water shortages in vulnerable countries and cause catastrophic floods that would displace hundreds of millions of people. Warming would be much more severe towards the poles, which could accelerate melting of the Greenland and west Antarctic ice sheets.
If methane is seeped from the peat bog over the next 100 years it would add 700m tonnes of carbon into the atmosphere every year, roughly the same that is released annually from the world’s wetlands and agriculture. It would effectively double the atmospheric levels of the gas, leading to a 10per cent to 25per cent increase in global warming. If pollution continues to worsen until 2060, then we face a full 5C rise at best. All of these estimates, a key footnote to the report warns, are probably underestimates.
If we look at India as per a report by Centre for Science & Environment, it had stated that Climate-related disasters have brought widespread misery and huge economic losses to India, adversely affecting public health, food security, agriculture, water resources and biodiversity. The situation is likely to worsen if human beings continue to pump ‘greenhouse gases’ (GHGs) like carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. IPCC report sees the wider use of carbon capture and storage as a way to offset the inevitable increase in coal in the booming developing economies of China and India.
But what is the way forward, there is an urgent need not only to look into expanding use of energy efficiency, renewable supplies such as wind and solar energy but look at the issues of waste disposal, use of environment safe energy sources by industries and promote positive lifestyle changes amongst people. But more important is to lay down strict measures on violators in this regard. Maybe the government and all of us need to be more responsive and take stronger steps in this regard.
Editorial Desk
editor@steelrx.com
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