Bharat SainiLast Updated on May 16, 2017 by Bharat Saini
The abnormal rise in global warming with temperature of the earth increasing by 2 degree, thereby accelerating pace of melting glaciers have set alarm bells ringing. The Paris climate conference 2015 culminated in signing of agreement, whereby nations committed themselves to cutting their greenhouse emissions substantially. The way summers have set in the very month of March this year with mercury shooting up to as high as 43 degree in major cities of north as well as south India it may cause major spell of drought in parts of South India. With scorching sun setting over our head, it is evident that the world community is on the verge of facing another fierce bout of global warming in current year and this also makes us aware and conscious of inadequate measures that we are taking to cope with the horrific phenomenon of global warming.
The hard evidence that most of the glaciers have shrunk by two third, since 1910 should have been enough to jolt us out of slumber but what is being witnessed is our disagreement in reaching a viable framework to combat menace of global warming, thereby putting in peril our very existence.
There are indisputable signs and signals that phenomenon have become more rapid, due to senseless human activities which include burning of fossil fuels resulting in build up of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Until or unless we reduce our dependency on carbon based fuel to a considerable degree, results will not be as per expectations. The record-high average annual surface temperatures is showing alarming signs of change in terms of distribution of ice, salinity, levels, and temperatures of the oceans, which is affecting weather in every region of the world and particularly in the subcontinent.
There is no region of the earth where ice is not melting. Look at Snows of Kilimanjaro which have disappeared by 80 per cent since 1912. It is feared that the rate with which Glaciers in Garhwal Himalaya in India are retreating, may cause catastrophic effects leading to their disappearance by 2035. All the more Arctic sea ice has significantly melted over past half century, thinning out by about 10 per cent in the past 30 years. Even edges of Greenland’s ice sheet are declining.
There are two major devastating effects that humanity at large is suffering due to phenomenon of global warming. First is the early onset of summers and its long duration with abnormal rise in temperatures, in as cold cities as Paris and Frankfurt. The subsequent fallout of this heat wave is seen in emergence of drought like situation in countries like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and some other South East Asian countries which result in famines and starvations especially for the farming communities.
Second is case of rise in temperatures due to melting glaciers and other ice caps, water flows to the seas which in turn warms and expands ocean water in volume. As result average global sea level has risen by four to eight inches (10 and 20 centimeters) in the past hundred years. The rising sea level threatens to drown low lying countries and small territories situated contiguously to shores of the oceans.
Though, in fight against global warming, everybody is stakeholder and has a burden to share, those who are spoilers particularly big nations are required to do more as they emit more carbon based material and cause damage to climate and environment.
