Recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a review meeting related to dealing with the rising temperatures, heatwaves and the threats arising out of them in the coming months due to changes in the weather, in which the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, Home Secretary, Indian Meteorological Department and National Disaster Senior officials of the management authority participated. He took information about the preparations and instructed to take measures with vigilance, vigilance and mutual coordination. This exercise is related to the increase in intensity and lethality of heat wave in the country, which is likely to affect 80 percent of the country’s population and 90 percent of its area. If immediate action is not taken to tackle the heatwave, India may find it difficult to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). India is a tropical country. A heatwave is an extremely hot weather condition in which temperatures in an area exceed historical averages. In plains, coastal and mountainous areas, heatwave conditions arise when the maximum temperature reaches 30, 37 and 40 degrees Celsius respectively. These temperatures are four to five degrees higher than normal and when they are five to six degrees higher, then it is called heatwave. If the temperature reaches 47 degrees Celsius, then the situation is considered extremely dangerous.
Heatwave can cause dehydration, heatstroke and even death. Children, elderly people, women, people with chronic lung disease, people involved in construction and labor are more vulnerable to it. In recent years, heat waves have affected every continent. This has led to a huge increase in the incidents of forest fires. In the coming 26 years, 60 crore people will be most affected by this. Due to this, there will be a 15 percent decline in the efficiency of people outside the home and the quality of life of 31 to 48 crore people will decrease. Considering the natural disasters of the past years, it is no less surprising that the global community does not seem to be that alert in taking effective steps to deal with the adverse effects of climate change. In the period between March 2023 and March 2024, the global temperature has crossed the limit of 1.5 degrees. United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres has said that today the earth is standing at the brink of a major crisis. According to the recent report of the World Meteorological Organization, not only the last year but the entire last decade has been the hottest decade on earth so far. This year will also break the heat record. The matter of concern is that if the temperature rise is not controlled, by the end of the century 1.5 crore people will be on the verge of death due to heat. Scientists from America’s environmental organization Global Witness and Columbia University have said that if the emission levels remain the same till 2050, then by 2100 the heat will reach its lethal level. Also, each million ton increase in carbon will lead to 226 additional heatwave events worldwide.
According to a study by Climate Change Journal, if the temperature increases by three degrees, then there is a strong possibility of drought in the Himalayas. The agriculture sector will suffer the most loss due to this. Due to this, more than 50 percent of the agricultural area of India and Brazil will be affected. In these countries, the risk of drought may persist for one to thirty years. Extreme temperatures will increase the risk of premature birth rates by up to 60 percent. This threat will be directly responsible for many harmful health effects. The crisis on food supply will increase due to the increasing effects of heat. According to Bloomberg’s report, rising temperatures are destroying farms from America to China. Due to this, crop harvesting, fruit production and dairy production are all under pressure. The increasing frequency of floods, droughts and storms has further added to this. Caitlin Welsh, a food expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, says that due to these weather events, concerns about food security and prices are continuously increasing. Due to this, farmers of large parts of North America, Europe and Asia are in trouble. Due to the heat in Southern Europe, cows are giving less milk. The increasing temperature of the sea is forcing the fish to leave their areas. Due to this, the possibility of extinction of many species is increasing. According to the United Nations Climate Committee, if the Earth’s temperature is to be controlled at 1.5 degrees Celsius, then carbon emissions will have to be reduced by 43 percent by 2030. Today the Earth has warmed by 1.7 degrees Celsius, which is half a degree more than the United Nations’ standard temperature estimate.
Global warming has engulfed the entire world. Due to this, all the countries of the world had set a target in Paris to limit the global temperature to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Here it is very important to consider whether we are honestly trying to achieve that goal. The current situation does not testify to this at all because the pace of Earth’s warming is increasing rapidly and despite the decision taken in the Paris Conference regarding temperature rise, we are rapidly moving towards an increase of up to 3-4 degrees Celsius. Are. If we do not reduce carbon emissions, the earth’s temperature will reach four degrees Celsius by the end of the century. Will the earth remain habitable in that condition? UN Climate Agency chief Simon Steele has warned that there are only two years left to save the Earth. There is less time left to reduce carbon emissions and to raise funds for the schemes made for this. It is necessary that greenhouses are built to reduce gas emissions and more funds are provided by the G-20 for a strong economy because these countries contribute 80 percent of the temperature-raising emissions. If carbon and methane emissions on Earth continue to increase like this, the situation will become more dire. In that case we will have nothing to do.
(These are the personal views of the author.)