As a nation that will suffer the impact of global warming and climate change, India, too, must raise concerns

Smoke from the fires raging across the Amazon rainforest has blanketed several Brazilian cities, including Sao Paulo, in a choking haze — a sight familiar to residents of several north Indian cities. Thankfully, because Brazil is half a world away, the chances of the clouds of smoke, from what some are claiming to be the largest wildfire in recorded history, reaching Indian skies is remote. But that does not mean that India will not suffer the impact of these horrendous fires which have been allowed to continue for days, possibly due to acts of omission by the Brazilian Government, elements of whom want to open up the rainforest land to agriculture and pasture.

The Amazon Rainforest is called the “lung of the world” and while this is technically not true — biologists have learned that planktons, marine and freshwater organisms are the biggest oxygen generators — it does soak up large amounts of carbon. More importantly, it is home to the greatest diversity of plant, animal and fish life on the planet. Within those organisms might lie the cure for all sorts of diseases or amazing new materials unknown to mankind. These organisms will be wiped clean off the face of the planet without even being discovered. This should be a matter of global concern and Governments across the world should speak up about the tremendous destruction of nature. It is heartening to see that French President Emmanuel Macron has stood up and spoken about the wildfires and how they must be tackled. It would be good if Narendra Modi does the same. While political and economic decisions are the prerogative of national Governments, the state of the environment is a global issue since damage to it impacts all of mankind. At a time when Governments, from Brazil to India and the US, have all moved into a kind of hyper-nationalistic realm and bristle at any “intervention”, the realisation has to come that the world must collaborate on these things — from the Amazon wildfires to the disappearing Himalayan glaciers and the tonnes of plastic in the sea —  because when the catastrophe comes, it will be devastating for our species. And unless we figure out a way to reach interstellar space and propagate our species to other worlds, we run the risk of going extinct. The time for action is now because climate change is real.