Climate Change Archives - Lokmarg

Climate Change: Impact On Natural & Human Resources

By Vikas Parashram Meshram 4th March 2025

Climate change has now become the biggest threat to the entire world. The reckless exploitation of natural resources, deforestation, increasing materialistic desires, and pollution in various sectors have further intensified this crisis. Rising global temperatures and unpredictable climate changes are affecting every aspect of life, severely impacting the environment, livelihoods, lifestyle, food, water, and health. No aspect of life remains untouched by its consequences.

In India, the occurrence of extreme weather events and their devastating effects have been monitored for years. According to research by climate organizations like Atlas, in 2024, India faced extreme heatwaves, cold waves, cyclones, heavy rainfall, lightning strikes, floods, and landslides. On average, the country had to endure at least one disaster every day. Compared to the past three years, 2024 recorded the highest number of extreme weather events, leading to significant losses for the nation.

The increasing frequency of these disasters has caused extensive damage. Statistics show that in 2024, 3,472 people lost their lives due to extreme weather events, compared to 3,287 in 2023 and 3,026 in 2022. This indicates a 15% rise in deaths over three years. In 2024, around 4.07 million hectares of crops were damaged due to these weather-related disasters. In 2023, this figure stood at 2.21 million hectares, and in 2022, it was 1.96 million hectares, showing a 108% increase in crop damage compared to 2022.

Over the past three years, almost all regions of India have witnessed an increase in extreme weather days. In 2024, Central India recorded the highest number of heavy rainfall days—253—representing a 16% increase from 218 days in 2022. Similarly, Southern states experienced 223 extreme weather days in 2024, marking a 31% rise compared to 2022. This has led to extensive crop losses, proving how severely farmers are affected by climate change.

Looking at state-wise data, Madhya Pradesh recorded the highest number of extreme weather days—185 in a year. In 2024, weather-related disasters damaged 2.36 million hectares of crops in Madhya Pradesh, which accounted for 58% of India’s total affected agricultural land. Out of this, 2 million hectares of crops were destroyed in Maharashtra alone. Maharashtra witnessed 161 days of extreme weather in 2024, compared to 126 days in 2022. This means nearly half of the crop damage in India due to extreme weather in 2024 affected Maharashtra’s farmers.

In 2024, Madhya Pradesh reported the highest number of deaths due to climate-related disasters (1,052), followed by the Southern Peninsula (871), Eastern and Northeastern India (776), and Northwestern India (773). Over the past six months, more than 10.3 million people have been displaced due to floods, droughts, storms, and other weather-related disasters. Around 60% of these displaced people were in Asia. A report by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), based on data from the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC), revealed that climate-related disasters force an average of 22.7 million people to migrate globally each year.

IFRC coordinator Helen Brunt highlighted that between September 2020 and February 2021, approximately 12.5 million people were displaced worldwide, with 80% of them being affected by climate-related disasters. She emphasized that displacement due to climate disasters is highest in Asia. Poor communities, already struggling with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, now face a double burden due to climate change.

Reports suggest that the number of people displaced by slow-onset disasters is steadily increasing. Due to gradual climate changes, gathering precise data on displacement is difficult. Many communities lose their livelihoods gradually, forcing them to migrate. The World Bank estimates that rising sea levels alone could displace around 90 million people this century.

Displacement not only affects those who migrate but also impacts host communities that provide shelter and support. Many displaced individuals require more than just basic necessities like shelter, clean water, and sanitation—they also need long-term support and assistance. Vulnerable groups, including women, children, the elderly, and the sick, are most affected by displacement.

The damage caused by climate change to food security, health, and the environment seems increasingly difficult to compensate for. Natural imbalances are leading to more frequent and intense disasters. Over the past 70 years since India’s independence, climate-related disasters have increased eightfold. According to a report by ‘iForest,’ which works in the fields of environment and climate change, the number of climate disasters—floods, cyclones, and heatwaves—was only 27 in the early years of independence. However, in subsequent decades, their frequency has increased significantly.

For instance, catastrophic floods in Gujarat in 1998, Odisha in 1999, and Uttarakhand in 2013, as well as powerful cyclones like Hudhud (2014) and Amphan (2019), have caused massive destruction. In 2019, 14 states in India experienced severe floods due to excessive rainfall. The devastating impact of cyclones like Fani (2015) and extreme heatwaves from 1998 to 2015 are still remembered. Between 1991 and 2000, India faced 96 climate-related disasters, which increased to 210 by 2020.

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By 2024, India experienced unprecedented heatwaves. Between April and July, temperatures of at least 40°C were recorded in 500 out of 741 districts. According to the Climate Index by the environmental and human rights organization ‘Germanwatch,’ India ranks sixth among the top 10 countries most affected by climate-related disasters.

Over the past three decades, climate-related disasters have caused an estimated $180 billion in economic losses in India, affecting around 46.6 million people. Between 1993 and 2022, extreme rainfall alone claimed nearly 80,000 lives in India, while globally, such disasters led to 800,000 deaths and $4.2 trillion in damages. Each year, climate-related disasters impose a $2,000 per capita economic burden on India and result in 2,675 deaths.

Climate scientist Lara Schaefer warns that climate change is becoming increasingly dangerous. Evidence from the past 30 years suggests that countries in the ‘Global South’ are particularly vulnerable to extreme weather events. We are entering an unprecedented and critical phase of the climate crisis, which will play a major role in destabilizing societies.

Climate change has significant impacts on health. According to ‘The Lancet Countdown’ report on climate and health, people in every country are now facing growing health risks due to climate change. In 2023, extreme heat was a leading factor affecting health, with people experiencing over 50 additional days of extreme heat compared to pre-climate change periods. This resulted in a 167% increase in mortality among people over 65 compared to the 1990s.

The effects of extreme heat include disrupted sleep, reduced physical activity, and negative impacts on both physical and mental health. Workers in outdoor or non-cooled environments face serious health risks, affecting productivity. Approximately 1.6 billion people globally—25.9% of the working population—work in such conditions, including agricultural laborers, infrastructure workers, and those in the informal sector.

Climate change also increases the spread of waterborne, vector-borne, foodborne, and airborne diseases. Rising temperatures, heavy rainfall, droughts, and land-use changes contribute to these risks. For example, dengue cases have increased worldwide over the past 20 years, with an estimated 5 million cases reported in 2023. Similarly, malaria transmission periods have lengthened due to temperature changes.

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions and mitigating climate change requires decisive action. However, global climate negotiations often prioritize national economic interests over urgent climate action, leading to delays. Addressing climate change effectively demands resilient policies and sustainable solutions. Investing in climate adaptation, particularly in health systems, is essential. The WHO emphasizes that climate funding is ultimately health funding, as it helps protect critical systems and reduces both direct and indirect health impacts of climate change.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres warns that greenhouse gas reduction targets remain out of reach, making climate disasters more difficult to prevent. Urgent collective action is needed to pressure governments into taking decisive climate measures before it is too late.

The writer can be contacted at vikasmeshram04@gmail.com

Do You Hear? The End Is Near

By Kunal Bose 11th February 2025

The Ganga Action Plan was launched in 1985 raising hopes that the life of the holy river would be rid of all pollutants. Then again in 2014 the country had Namami Ganga Programme for effective abatement of pollution, conservation and rejuvenation of the national river. After all the money invested in achieving the objectives, we find to our disappointment that in the downstream in many parts of the river, which originates in Gangotri glacier in the Himalayas and after flowing through India and Bangladesh ends in the Bay of Bengal, remains almost as polluted as the Chao Phraya of Thailand.

For matter of record, not only many of the rivers and other water bodies in Asia and Africa have health damaging water, the Seine which flows through Paris raised global concern about the river’s water quality during last year’s summer Olympics. But is there any other major capital city in the world beside Delhi where the air quality is gravely poor and the river Yamuna, the source of drinking water remains dangerously polluted?

One doesn’t have to be empowered by knowledge of science to feel and see the deterioration of environment all round. The recent wildfires in California that once again destroyed properties worth in multiple of millions and caused untold miseries and the floods that periodically visit many parts of the world, including Bangladesh and India have got much to do with the irresponsible way that we continue to live. Natural disasters, the frequency and severity of which continue to rise, are a way our planet is taking its revenge.

In an insightful discussion, Amitav Ghosh, whose oeuvre includes Hungry Tide and Ibis trilogy (Sea of Poppies, River of Smoke and Flood of Fire) and to which now is added Wild Fictions, makes a rueful admission to Paromita Sen of The Telegraph: “Look the world we knew is clearly coming to an end… But that doesn’t mean the end of the world per se. We are actually faced with the task of creating a new kind of world that we can fruitfully inhabit… My generation, I’m sorry to say, we consumed the world. And the next generation is the one that will have to try and find ways to inhabit the new world in a productive way.” Human avarice and unbalanced development over decades have left deep scars on the environment.

Citizens everywhere are seeing planetary crisis manifesting itself in many ways such as wildfires, uneven monsoon leading to extreme wet or dry season, landslides, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and desertification. Last year was the warmest in a multi-dataset record of global temperature going back to 1850. The global average temperature of 15.10 degree centigrade was 0.12 degree centigrade higher than the previous highest annual value in 2023. The crisis remains unremitting. The January that we left behind was the warmest first month of the year ever recorded, according to the World Meteorological Organisation.

Ghosh is unequivocal that global temperature is rising “much faster, much faster” than expected. No question, we are paying the price this way because of our extravagance in using all kinds of resources and also the way most of these are produced violating environmental norms. Giving an example, Ghosh tells Sen: “One thing which is absolutely clear is that to get some kind of grip on the climate crisis, we have to reduce the use of fossil fuels. Instead, everywhere in the world, whether it be India or in the US, or in Norway, they are expanding fossil fuel explorations.” As this remains the case, the net result is higher and higher greenhouse gas emissions leading to degradation of environment.

Ironically, the discussion on damages being inflicted on the planet was held at a literary conclave hosted by the country’s largest fossil fuel group both in terms of output and market capitalisation. Which country does not know that burning of fossil fuels, be it coal or oil is bad for environment. The toxic gases such as carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide and carbon monoxide that are released in the air in the process of extracting energy from coal by burning cause respiratory and lung diseases. Last year, India’s production of coal was 1,039.59 million tonnes, up 7.28 per cent over 2023.

ALSO READ: COP 29 – God’s Gift Comes With A Price

But routinely, our coal production falls short of requirements of standalone thermal power plants and captive power units of steel, aluminium and other industries and the deficit is made good by imports. We will be seeing the opening of many new coal mines both by government and private sector to achieve the official 2030 production target of 1.5 billion tonnes. Such targets are generally marked by misses, though.

The other day, the West Bengal government kicked off the development of a very large coal project at Deucha Pachami at Birbhum district. Holding one of the largest deposits of thermal coal, the project will claim an investment of over Rs35,000 crore, assuming there will be no time and cost slippages. The government claims that all clearances linked to environment are in place and adequate care will be taken to protect water bodies and forests. Besides environment, the challenge remains to fairly compensate the people who are asked to give up land and offer jobs to the locals.

Belying what the government has claimed in the case of Deucha Pachami, the launch of the project was marked by protests by people in surrounding areas. The concern of environmentalists goes beyond mine openings and extraction of coal to greenhouse gas emissions on its burning. Whatever concern Ghosh may have about use of fossil fuel and oil products, for a country like India where capacity for electricity, steel and aluminium is set to grow at a rapid rate, their burning at an ever-increasing rate is unavoidable. Indian growth rate in steel capacity till 2030 will likely be the highest in the world. China, groaning under pollution caused by metals and mining industries, has ordained capacity replacement in steel and aluminium will be allowed. But capacity expansion is a no-go area.

Ghosh makes the confession on his own behalf and on behalf of his scientist friends that they know “very little about the workings of the planet,” for what impacts the scientists had “predicted for 20-30 years ahead are unfolding today.” Is there not a myth about science that it is the foundation for policymaking in the context of climate crisis? In policy formulation relating to environment so many factors come into play – lobbying and counter-lobbying – and then, as Ghosh says, “it has to be filtered through a political system and by the time the policy emerges, it is often completely confused.” We have seen how irresponsible mining – many will say slaughter mining – of iron ore in Goa and Karnataka in violation of environmental norms went on for years till the Supreme Court was constrained to keep the mines shut pending ore extraction was scientifically organized and lease renewals were done strictly according to rules. Bad mining and industrial practices cause a lot of harm to the environment.

For example, in the process of world steel industry annually making around 1.9 billion tonnes of metal it accounts for about 9 per cent global greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE). Steel has the dubious distinction of being the most carbon-emitting sector among heavy industries. Aluminium has a 2 per cent share of global GHGE. But the biggest culprit in doing damage to the environment remains the burning of fossil fuels for electricity, heat and transportation.

Extension Of Scientist Behind ‘Project Cheetah’ Withdrawn

By LokMarg 1st March 2023

The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change on Tuesday withdrew the extension granted to noted biologist and Wildlife Institute of India (WII) dean YV Jhala on his superannuation on February 28, 2022, till February 28, 2024.

In an order issused on February 28, 2022, the Union ministry said, “Dr. Y.V. Jhala, Scientist-G, Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun was granted an extension of two years from the date of his superannuation, i.e.,28.02.2022. In this context, the undersigned is directed to mention that the said extension period is curtailed and restricted to one year i.e., up to 28.02.2023.”
“The vacancy arising, as a result, shall be filled up with the ongoing process of recruitment of Scientists. This issues with the approval of the competent authority,” the order stated further.

Speaking to ANI on Tuesday, Jhala had said, “The (Cheetah) project itself was mine, but the government is the parent. The government can do whatever it wants. What can we do about it? Last evening, I was told that my tenure is over. No reason was given to me by the government.”

However, contesting Jhala’s claim, an official in the Union ministry told ANI, on the condition of anonymity, “‘Project Cheetah’ is a project of the Union government in association with the Madhya Pradesh government and the WII. It’s not an individual-driven project.”

Jhala was one of the scientists involved in preparing the technical ground for the ambitious ‘Cheetah project’, under successive Union governments since 2009. He was a member of the Ceetah Task Force’ set up in 2010 under conservationist M K Ranjitsinh.

To a question from ANI on the withdrawal of the extension granted to Jhala, the official said, “Dr. Y V Jhala had already retired from the Wildlife institute of India, Dehradun, and was serving on extension. So, it would be wrong to say that his tenure has been curtailed.”

On allegations of Jhala being sidelined from the ‘Cheetah Project’, the official said the claim is unfounded as he had participated in every meeting of the task force. (ANI)

Modi Discusses Climate Action With King Charles III Of the UK

By LokMarg 3rd January 2023

Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke with King Charles III of the UK on the telephone on Tuesday and discussed several subjects including climate change, biodiversity conservation, and solutions for the financing energy transition.

As this was PM Modi’s first conversation with King Charles III after he assumed the Office of Sovereign of the United Kingdom, he conveyed his best wishes to Britain’s monarch for a very successful reign.
A PMO release said that a number of subjects of mutual interest were discussed during the call, including climate action, conservation of biodiversity, and innovative solutions for the financing energy transition.

The Prime Minister expressed his appreciation for the abiding interest and advocacy of King Charles III on these issues.

The Prime Minister briefed him on India’s priorities for its G20 Presidency, including the propagation of digital public goods.

He also explained the relevance of Mission LiFE – Lifestyle for Environment, through which India seeks to promote environmentally sustainable lifestyles.

The leaders exchanged views on the Commonwealth of Nations and how to further strengthen its functioning.

They also appreciated the role of the Indian community in the UK in acting as a “living bridge” between both countries and enriching bilateral relations.

King Charles III was officially announced as Britain’s monarch in September last year following the death of his mother Queen Elizabeth II.

India and UK are engaged in negotiations for the finalization of a Free Trade Agreement. UK Secretary of State for International Trade Kemi Badenoch visited New Delhi last month to carry forward the FTA negotiations. She held discussions with Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal. The two sides also discussed bilateral trade and economic relations. (ANI)

Climate Warriors Get Assertive At COP 27

By Asad Mirza 1st December 2022

It seems that Climate Change is now gaining real traction and importance for the common people more and more, but our politicians are not ready to take any notice of these changes, which are going to have immeasurable negative impact on the lives of billions of people across the globe.

Besides calls for wealthier nations to provide compensation to underdeveloped countries to cover the costs of severe damage and losses, citizens of some countries have also initiated legal proceedings against their governments for inadequately addressing the climate change fallouts.

The month of November saw two environment-related incidents taking place. First, at the latest COP summit at Sharm El Shiekh in Egypt, termed as ‘Africa’s COP’, the voice of the most-vulnerable and most-affected countries was heard with an agreement to establish a loss and damage facility.

However, progress is still snail-paced in terms of raising ambitions to curb greenhouse gas emissions. Leaders attempted to keep that goal alive at the Egypt conference, but did not increase calls to reduce carbon emissions.

November also saw hundreds of activists, including Greta Thunberg, marching through the streets of Stockholm to a court to file a lawsuit against the Swedish government for what they claim is insufficient climate action.

Lawsuit by Swedish citizens

Over 600 young activists signed an 87-page document, which would serve as the foundation for the lawsuit, which was filed in the Stockholm District Court.

They want the court to rule that the country’s climate policies violate the human rights of its citizens. According to Anton Foley, spokesman for the youth-led initiative Aurora, which prepared and filed the lawsuit, Sweden has never treated the climate crisis as a crisis. Sweden is failing to fulfil its responsibilities and is breaking the law.

Earlier, in one of the most high-profile cases, Germany’s highest court ruled last year that the government’s climate targets must be adjusted to avoid undue burden on the young.

The German government responded by pushing back its target for net zero emissions by five years to 2045 and laying out more ambitious near and medium-term steps to achieve that goal.

What emerges from this is that people all across the world are increasingly becoming aware of the damages wrought by the Climate Change, and also understanding that who is the main culprit for unleashing this catastrophe, in pursuance of greed and lucre.

What is loss and damage?

The Alliance of Small Island States at international climate negotiations in Geneva in 1991, first introduced the concept of loss and damage, but it was not seriously considered again until 2013 at the COP-19 climate conference in Warsaw, Poland.

The Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage was created with the aim of enhancing knowledge of the issue and finding ways to approach it. There has been little progress since then.

The Glasgow COP, last year rejected a proposal made by members of the G-77 group of over a hundred developing countries and China for a formal loss and damage financial facility. Instead, in a bureaucratic manner, the Glasgow Dialogue was established for further discussion on the issue and it’s funding.

Critics have described the dialogue as “an excuse to delay further action.” It seems as if the rich countries are dragging their feet on financing any such endeavour.

While historically, between 1751 and 2017, the United States, the European countries and the UK were responsible for 47% of cumulative carbon dioxide emissions, as compared to just 6% from the entire African and South American continents. Yet, the culprits have been slow to make financial contributions to ease the impact on the most affected countries.

In 2010, Global North nations agreed to pledge $100 billion (€101 billion) annually by 2020 to help developing countries adapt to the impacts of climate change.

But according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which tracks funding, in 2020 wealthy countries pledged just over $83 billion. That was a 4% increase on the previous year, but it still falls short of the agreed amount.

What’s the impediment?

Though in principle, developed nations acknowledge the need to address loss and damage, some amongst them argue for financing through existing climate funds, insurance schemes and humanitarian aid. Their reluctance is reflected in the European Union’s briefing, for example, which said that it was “open to discussing L&D (loss and damage) as a topic but hesitant about creating a dedicated L&D fund.”

Former British PM and WHO ambassador for global health financing, Gordon Brown has realistically opined that the announcement of the new initiative – the global loss and damage fund – to right historical wrongs by compensating climate-hit developing countries, might be a good feel factor but the real question is whether the developed world will really loosen its purse strings?

This breakthrough, he says, brought back memories of another initiative, the £100 billion a year agreed at the 2009 Copenhagen climate summit to help poor countries mitigate the effects of the climate crisis.

Brown says further that that money has never fully materialised. If 13 years’ experience of the £100 billion fund that never was is anything to go by, eulogies of praise will soon turn into allegations of betrayal. Far from the loss and damage fund narrowing the credibility gap on climate action, it is likely to bridge nothing if money fails to flow from rich to poor.

What is needed, however, is not less but more aid to help developing countries tackle the dramatic consequences of an unprecedented series of crises. Indeed, developing countries, unlike advanced economies, had no fiscal, monetary, or social space at the onset of these crises, to raise the issue.

One key priority for the global community should be not only to increase aid but also to make it much greener to help developing countries tackle the challenge of climate adaptation in an effective manner. Green aid encompasses financial and technical assistance to governments and direct investments in projects in both mitigation and adaptation to climate change.

The author can be contacted on www.asadmirza.in

3 Challenges to Food Security — Covid, Climate, Conflict: Jaishankar

By LokMarg 24th November 2022

Highlighting the three Cs–Climate change, Covid-19, and Conflict–which are impacting food security across the world, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday said a concerted global push for millets is imperative to counter the challenges, increase self-reliance and global availability.

While addressing the High Commissioners/Ambassadors based in Delhi during the luncheon hosted jointly by the department of agriculture and farmers welfare and the ministry of external affairs as a pre-launch celebration of the International Year of Millets (IYOM), Jaishankar said, “I see three challenges to food security- Covid, Conflict, Climate. Each one has impacted food security significantly.”
Jaishankar also said, “Millets have increasing relevance in the world today in the backdrop of Covid, climate change, and conflicts.”

Jaishankar stressed that millets are important for food security as well as international relations.

To reduce the risk of the global economy more decentralized production and more self-reliance are required as well as “willingness” on part of the country not only to grow for themselves but to help each other.

He said COVID was a period that reminded the world what a pandemic could do to food security. He said climate changes can lower production and disrupt trade. He suggested that in international relations, much greater attention ought to be given to food security.

During his address, Jaishankar said that India is the world’s largest producer of millet where almost 20 percent of the world’s production is of the country.

“International relations started with food security. The fundamental urge to secure their own food and to see how they can get food from others. That is why we were keen to take the Indian year of millets to the International year of millets,” the minister added.

At the event, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, who was also there said that the International Year of Millets (IYOM) 2023 will provide an opportunity for increasing global production, efficient processing, and better use of crop rotation and promoting millets as a major component of the food basket.

Millet is a storehouse of micronutrients, vitamins, and minerals. International Year of Millets will raise awareness about the contribution of millets to Food Security and Nutrition, motivate stakeholders for continuous production and quality improvement of millets, and attract attention to increase investment in research and development services, according to the ministry of agriculture and farmers welfare.

Asia and Africa are the major production and consumption centers of millet crops. India, Niger, Sudan, and Nigeria are the major producer of millet.

Minister of State for External Affairs Meenakashi Lekhi, Secretary for Economic Relations Dammu Ravi, Ministry of External Affairs Secretary (West) Sanjay Verma and about 100 High Commissioners/Ambassadors based in Delhi and senior officials were present at the event. (ANI)

Climate Change Comes Calling

By Amit Sengupta 25th July 2022

Suddenly, scattered rain has arrived with torrential magic in the east and north of India, the first terrain longing for more, and the latter parched, hopeless and tragic, now soaked with incomplete hope. Across the Hindi heartland the relief moves like a respite, but real optimism is still far away, because the water falling from the sky is too little and too late, especially in Purvanchal, where the earth is not green, there are no natural water resources, and no canal system either, as it is in the green revolution belt of fertile Western UP, Haryana and Punjab.

Indeed, this summer has been cruel after the end of the condemnation, sorrow and isolation of the pandemic; if there was a rainbow in the horizon, it was all in the mind.

The farmers in the deep of the Hindi heartland are thirsty and in despair. The migrant labourers who are also landless labourers during the agricultural season are in eternal sorrow; they too are thirsty and in despair. With tens of thousands jobless, the economy in a relentless slump, and no light at the end of the tunnel, they look up at the sky with empty eyes, knowing so well that this tryst with destiny is becoming more tragic than ever. And there is no respite.

From the rural interiors of Sasaram and Mughalsarai and beyond to Allahabad and Kanpur Dehat, across the Eastern UP terrain of parched earth, the farmers are expecting rain with a hopeless longing which no government seems to notice. In a country where multi-billionaires are being celebrated, who cares for the farmers and landless labourers anyway?

Even green and beautiful rural Bengal, surprisingly, is crying for rain. Unlike last year, trapped in the interiors of the same home day after day, Kal Boishaki arrived with its theatrical thunder, bereft of nuance or subtlety, and filled the air with lightning, thunderbolts, roaring clouds, and all the drama and spectacle which only this Bengal phenomena can generate.

The sky would suddenly become dark like black ink, and turn into a mystical night of great mystery and romance, the sound and fury of the season would overwhelm and overpower all forms of softer narratives, and if you would whistle in the dark, it would simply vanish into the blue. Then rain would arrive in slanted, unfinished and diagonal sentences, like a symmetrical symphony of Bach printed in the atmosphere, amidst the clouds and the sunshine, in the paddy fields and on the streets, playing hide and seek. The spectacle itself would heal the pandemic soul, and a damned and meaningless life would suddenly seem more precious once again.

This year, this phenomenon did not happen: the theatrics, the spectacle and the sound and fury. Instead, it was day after day of suffocating heat and humidity, with not a whiff of cool winds to soothe the soul, with huge deficiency of rainfall for the current paddy crop, and torrential rain just refusing to arrive.

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An old woman who sells fish in South 24 Paragana in Bengal went to Canning near Sunderbans to check if there is water in her fields. There was none. Or, not enough for the young crop.

A woman farmer in Sunderbans called up her daughter in Kolkata. “There is water everywhere in the rivers of Sunderbans, but it is full of salt. And the paddy fields are dying for water.”

A young school teacher in an adivasi village in district Birbhum told this reporter: “This year we can just about manage. If the crop fails again in the next season, we are doomed.”

Across Birbhum, either the land is barren, or the young plants are waiting for rain: the paddy needs more and more water. Across Malda and Murshidabad, even in Burdwan, etc, it is the same story. In this green expanse, hides a story of great expectations, and hidden sorrow.

Contrast this with the ritualistic and incessant floods in Assam and Bangladesh, with villages disappearing from the map, along with the documents of the citizens, and scores of people dead. The sight of flooded landscapes with people struggling to survive has become so routine every monsoon, that the media has almost stopped covering it, routine rhetoric of reaching out to the lakhs of marooned people is not even used anymore, it seems, and if there are aerial surveys, they don’t seem to bring in any tangible relief. The army, as always, gets into action, and effective rescue operations are undertaken. It seems, thereby, all is normal.

In Europe, America and the West, the heat wave is incomprehensible and intolerable, even as the poor in London who live in poor housing, cold in winter and hot in the summer, watch their homes burning, while cars move on the highway as if all is well and happy in Tory Britain. A train moves in Spain surrounded by raging fires on both sides, and passengers huddle inside the compartment, and the Al Jazeera news clip looks look like a tense Hollywood movie. Even while the forests, whatever little is left, are crackling with the jungle fires, moving like a bad dream across the urban landscape.

Writes George Monbiot (The Guardian, July 18, 2022): “Can we talk about it now? I mean the subject most of the media and most of the political class has been avoiding for so long. You know, the only subject that ultimately counts — the survival of life on Earth. Everyone knows, however carefully they avoid the topic, that, beside it, all the topics filling the front pages and obsessing the pundits are dust. Even the Times editors still publishing columns denying climate science know it. Even the candidates for the Tory leadership, ignoring or downplaying the issue, know it. Never has a silence been so loud or so resonant….

“…This is not a passive silence. It is an active silence, a fierce commitment to distraction and irrelevance in the face of an existential crisis. It is a void assiduously filled with trivia and amusement, gossip and spectacle. Talk about anything, but not about this. But while the people who dominate the means of communication frantically avoid the subject, the planet speaks, in a roar becoming impossible to ignore. These days of atmospheric rage, these heat-shocks and wildfires ignore the angry shushing and burst rudely into our silent retreat….”

And Africa, what about Africa, the infinite dark continent? Well, in India, this darkness is never reflected in the media, as is the darkness in our rural and tribal hinterland. For the mainline media, Africa simply does not exist.

The Guardian reports from Senegal: “There’s no water, there’s no grass near our homes so we have travelled now for a month,” says Sow, 18, who is heading for Tambacounda, a town that has long been on the route for Fulani herders. “We don’t have a choice. Our goats and cows need to eat and drink so we follow the road to wherever is greener. We don’t know where we will end up.”

The Indian farmer in many parts of the country, might be saying the same thing.

‘I Am A Pollution Refugee, Forced To Migrate From Delhi’

By LokMarg 25th November 2021

A Delhi citizen all her life, Priyanka Gera was forced to leave a well-settled living due to worsening air quality in the city. Gera says she has lost hope of seeing any improvement

I grew up in Delhi. I was a pure Delhiite until the birth of my daughter when I could no longer ignore the air pollution in Delhi. My husband was perpetually anxious about her wellbeing. We bought an AQI monitor and put air purifiers at every room in our house.

During winters we didn’t send her to pre-school on most of the days because the AQI used to be severe. We would escape to a hill station around Diwali. Then came a point when we no longer wanted to adjust our lifestyle according to pollution levels.

We started wearing N95 masks in 2018-19 while venturing out. Now masks are mandatory due to the pandemic and I find it funny that people still won’t wear masks despite the Covid guidelines, leave alone the poor air quality.

As the situation got worse by each passing year, in 2019, we took the tough call to leave our families, social circle and well-set careers and move to Bangalore for the sake of a better environment. Most people can’t do that or won’t do that – leave their well settled lives because of a danger that they don’t think is clear and present. So, they tell themselves various things to live with it, most vague of these reasoning is that somehow, you’ll develop strength or a kind of immunity in your body to adapt to pollution as if it were some ordinary flu germs. Yes, it’s true, I have heard this from so many people in Delhi!

ALSO READ: ‘NCR Air Is Worse Than Smoke From A Coal Mine’

Having lived in Bangalore for two years have done just the opposite. Now, every time we come to Delhi to visit our families, we get unwell. I wake up coughing every single day. No, it’s not Covid-19, it’s another lung killer that we choose to ignore – pollution!

I don’t know why most people are not anxious about the pollution affecting quality of their life. People like us are exceptions, who are willing to uproot themselves because we’ve lost hope that it can ever improve here.

Surely the government and agencies have been aware of the potential crisis since decades, that’s why CNG was introduced and Metro was planned. All industries have been sent out of Delhi. The problem is not just Delhi, it’s very much there in the neighbouring states too.

Government action is but all ‘reaction’ – nothing much is being done proactively. It takes the Supreme Court to give ultimatums to Delhi Government to take steps, now construction has been halted, schools are shut etc.

Hope From COP

By Jasdev Singh Rai 15th November 2021

Despite general frustration with COP 26, there are some milestones achieved, some targets that are worth looking forward to and some hope that future COPs will moving in the right direction. To have expected an exceptionally ambitious plan to address climate change would have been naïve particularly as it would have meant considerable disruption to normal life.

Perhaps the four developments that are worth considering are the commitment to deforestation, the setting up of a fund for developing countries to mitigate climate change, India’s commitment to source half of its energy from non-fossil fuel sources and China offering to work with USA to deal with climate crises.

India is one of the main countries along with China and USA leading the world pollution table. Both China and India are continuing to rely on coal significantly. Both have also signalled to change from coal and other fossil fuels to non-fossil sources. India has a growing population and its middle class base in expanding with needs such as cars, refrigerators, mobile phones and other high tech equipment. It is also developing economically. India has a significant challenge to balance the needs and appetite of its population for energy hungry technology and reduce carbon and methane emissions on the other hand.

Unlike western countries where energy needs have reached near peak point, India’s needs are on the up. Developed countries have to change their energy needs from carbon dependency to non-carbon fuels. India cannot just ditch all fossil sourced energy and invest in non-Carbon energy sources. The expense would mean giving up on development or delaying it significantly.

Hence Prime Minister Modi’s commitment to ensure that half of India’s energy will be sourced from non-Carbon fuel by 2030 is significant. This will be around 500 gigawatts. The sheer scale of this new energy sources will make it cheaper all around for the world. It is quite possible that as this alternative fuel sources become cheaper, India will reach its target much sooner and commit to a greater percentage of non-carbon energy by 2030. Cheaper non carbon energy will encourage other countries, including developed countries to invest in non-fossil sourced energy. Currently it is still expensive. It needs exponential increase in numbers.

India has further committed to reduce its total carbon emissions by 1 Billion tones. This is a significant target. Although PM Modi also said that India will reach net zero by 2070 which disappointed many. There is hope that once the escalation to renewable energy takes place, the 2070 target will be reviewed.

India however refused to agree to the para to phase out coal. India along with Russia and China are still dependent on coal. The para was weakened to read ‘phase down’. Nevertheless it is moving in the right direction.

Similarly the setting up of a larger fund for developing countries to change to non-fossil fuels and a fund for small Islands is a step towards the start of a serious drive to assist countries highly dependent on fossil fuels to transfer to other energy sources and become self-sufficient. The Fund is likely to grow as more countries chip in and current developed countries reach deeper into their pockets.

Small Islands facing extinction with rising oceans and temperatures however came out with a punitive lifeline. A mere 2 million has been pledged to them. It is likely to increase.

As significant is the commitment to deforestation. Deforestation has been a major cause of carbon emissions and climate change. Countries such as Brazil and Russia have significant forests. There are many smaller countries in South America, Africa and South East Asia who have large forests but also need land for farming as well as living space for their population. In a competitive world they try and balance their budgets with developing whatever resources they can. A commitment to stop deforestation with appropriate compensation will encourage many countries to scale down encroaching on forests.

ALSO READ: Can Glasgow Summit COPe With Climate Crisis?

The hand of friendship by China to work with USA is another welcome development. Both countries have faced significant consequences of the climate change. China has put the United States in a spot to some extent by this offer. Instead of accusing China of damaging the climate, the USA can cooperate to set achievable targets.

Critics say that the agreements fall far short of efforts needed to keep temperature rise to 1.5° C by end of century. Based on the current agreement, the temperature will probably rise by 2.4 leading the world towards disaster. Critics say that the solutions agreed do not rise to the challenge. This may well be, but the agreements in themselves are a step in the right direction.

The world economy has been dependent on fossil fuel for over a century if not more. The corporations in control of production cannot change overnight without significant damage to economy and jobs. However they feel the heat of public opinion and know that they cannot carry on as usual. COP26 has shown that the tide is beginning to change and both developed countries and Transnationals are beginning to give undertakings to be responsive to reduce Carbon and Methane emissions.

If the pressure continues and the damaging consequences of climate change keep on recurring, within a year or two, the atmosphere will change. More dramatic commitments will be made either in COP27 or by COP28. It also gives enough time for countries and the corporate sector to begin restructure their investments, productions, sourcing etc to be compliant with change to reduce temperature rises. Both developed countries and corporations know that the mood of the public has changed and will not tolerate their intransigence.

A subtext of COP26 was that the Britain under the current Prime Minister is not much trusted around the world. UK itself is investing in a new coal mine. It has cut overseas aid thus depriving poorer countries even further of means to cope with climate change. Britain further failed to join an alliance to phase out oil and gas. To many it seemed the United Kingdom was asking others to commit to targets that it wasn’t interested itself to adopt. Not surprisingly, the largest emitters have postponed their commitment to another day. Its politics.

Nevertheless COP26 gives hope. It has shown that unlike the Paris Agreement where grand gestures and ambitions were made, the mood now is to get down to business. The polluters know they cannot ignore public opinion or media cacophony on climate. They know the science is against them and they have no answers to the growing evidence that has been finding its way into headlines. They know that the Paris Agreement is not something they can ignore. If the Paris Agreement set targets, the Glasgow COP26 has started the journey on the path.

‘NCR Air Is Worse Than Smoke From Dhanbad Coal Mines’

By LokMarg 9th November 2021

Rajesh Kumar, 48, a construction engineer in Faridabad, says he shudders to think how people with respiratory issues cope with NCR air pollution in winter

I grew up in Dhanbad, one of the most polluted places in the country, but trust me the air quality in Delhi-NCR is even poorer than the simmering smoke from coal mines. I live in Faridabad, and while a lot of people are focusing on how polluted Delhi is, the entire NCR is equally bad, if not worse.

I had shifted to Delhi-NCR in 2005 from Manipur and the difference in air quality between the two places was palpable. I begun having difficulty in breathing while driving, and the pollution has shot to such alarming levels in the last five years, that it has become unmanageable. Every day is an ordeal.

Owing to the nature of my work as an engineer, I have to drive every day to my workplace that is often a dusty mass of construction land. I’m not asthmatic, but still if a normally young and healthy person like me can find the situation so troublesome, imagine what it can do to senior citizens, kids and those fighting respiratory illnesses.

My mother, 67, spends her time between Dhanbad and Faridabad. She is asthmatic and with each passing year that she spends in Faridabad, she has been complaining of breathing issues. She stays put inside the house when she comes here to avoid the “heavy, pungent air”. My younger son also finds it difficult to navigate winter months because of the pollution levels. He is allergic to dust and keeps sniffling continuously.

There are factories upon factories in NCR and a never ending series of construction work going on, adding to the pollution. Many of these factories don’t follow the pollution control norms adding to the misery of people. I have even stopped going for my morning and evening walks owing to the pollution. I tried for a few days, but then I begun facing difficulty in breathing (one cannot even think of jogging) and my eyes also started burning.

***Kumar says climate crisis is for real***

Last year was so different: there was the spectre of Covid looming large over our heads, but the lockdown meant lesser vehicles, lesser factories open and thus very low levels of pollution. It was like we had moved to a different world. Even post-Diwali, the air quality hadn’t deteriorated like every year, the visibility wasn’t low. But we are back to square one again this year. Seems like we have squandered away all the gains made last year.

Climate change is real and a solution is required urgently. Not only are dialogues between nations important, it is prudent for governments across the world to hold dialogues with their citizens. In India, we need to really take a quick, hard look at the problem. As a government employee, my team and I ensure that we don’t compromise the Earth and its people’s health in the name of development. If we have to cut a particular number of trees for construction, we ensure that we plant double the number of trees.

Unless we give the Earth back more than we take from it, we are going to keep facing difficulties. As we have noticed, each year is getting more difficult climate change wise and the weather is getting more and more unpredictable. We cannot ignore the problem of pollution anymore. The parali burning in Punjab also needs to be addressed. Rather than just blaming the farmers, we need to work together in helping them find a solution as well. We all need to come together to save the Earth.