Climate Change: Initiating the Dialogue

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I read this tweet today and couldn't help but think of Mumbai. I love the city, it's one of the best places to live in India, according to me. Many would argue that it's the best city in India, and I wouldn't argue much against that. Whenever I think of Mumbai, I think of the beautiful Marine Drive and the vast expanse of the Arabian Sea. And I invariably also end up remembering the city's vulnerability to floods. It's a saddening thought.

Anyway, then I thought of all the other major coastal cities in the country and was surprised by how long the list was -- Surat. Panaji. Kochi. Trivandrum. Pondicherry. Chennai. Vizag. Puri. Even Kolkata, though not strictly a coastal city, is being affected.

Scientists have known about global warming since the 1960s. For almost 60 years now, we have known that the amount of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere is rising each year. Due to the "Greenhouse Effect", this is leading to rising temperatures all over the world. The ice sheets in the polar regions are melting, and sea levels are increasing. This will undoubtedly affect all coastal infrastructure and as a developing nation with a 7500 km long coastline, we are sure to take a bad hit.

Shouldn't we be more worried? Why isn't everyone making this a top priority? Isn't it a global problem, something that could change our whole planet?

My guess is that a lot of people think of climate change as something that will happen in the future. Most people understand that our actions will have consequences that our children and grandchildren will have to face. Some (but not enough) people are moved by this. But this mental image is incomplete. Climate change isn't just a problem for the future, it's a problem right now too. It's a problem for all of us, though just like any other problem, it will affect the poor much more than it will affect the rich. It is affecting people, it is affecting cities, it is affecting forests, ecosystems - everything.

For most of us, none of this was taught in school. And science is daunting, especially when it isn't communicated well. Perhaps we haven't been told about this at all. Or perhaps we're so flooded with complicated rhetoric that we choose to avoid it all. If it's that important, someone will take care of it, right?

Perhaps personal connections would help. If you're from a coastal city and you love your home, I think you should ask these questions:

- Will my city be affected?
- What will happen to my city in 10, 20, 50 years' time?
- How will the city deal with it?
- How will the poor deal with it?
- What's the population now, and what will it be then?
- What proportion of the people have any awareness regarding the impending issues?
- Is anyone doing anything about this?



Surat. Mumbai. Panaji. Kochi. Trivandrum. Pondicherry. Chennai. Vizag. Puri. Kolkata.

Are we okay subjecting so many of our cities to a precarious future?


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As part of a 2019 resolution to raise awareness about climate change, I will be writing a series of blog posts explaining the phenomenon to non-scientists. It is meant for anyone with a high-school level background in Science. If I don't explain anything simply enough, I would appreciate it if you pointed it out.

If you would like to receive such posts via email, you may subscribe to the mailing list.




Comments

  1. Megh ShahFebruary 24, 2019 at 9:23 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. Megh ShahFebruary 24, 2019 at 9:55 PM

    If this was going to be not the first but even the last post of 2019, it would've been worth it. Glad that it's the first of a series. Science is complicated even for those who are studying and working it since decades - daunting is an understatement for your average Joe/Jane. Here's wishing you luck on this endeavour. For Marine Drive!

    ReplyDelete
  3. UnknownFebruary 25, 2019 at 10:13 PM

    Very informative we should be aware about our climate our house our earth.

    ReplyDelete

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