While climate change and global warming continue to impact the planet and its inhabitants adversely, trends in recent times do little to bode well for the coming decades. Although climate change is not a phenomenon that has developed overnight, it still seems to outpace adaptive strategies. Thus far, the policies of states and private enterprises remain reactionary and are forced to play catch up with the ailment that is climate change. Research indicates that of the 35 vital signs of the planet that are used to track climate change, 25 have reached record levels. The United Nations Environment Program, UNEP, states that by the year 2100, the world would have experienced a 2.7 degrees celsius rise in global temperature. This rise would far overshoot the 1.5 degree rise that parties to the Paris Agreement had acceded to. The State of Global Climate Report found that 2023 was the hottest year till date while accompanied by the hottest 10 year period on record. Extreme weather events have also continued to occur with increasing frequency causing further damage.
Unfortunately the consequences of climate change are such that the very resources, for instance forests, which can be used to reverse warming are put at greater risk of loss which creates a self perpetuating cycle of additional injury. It remains to be seen whether the planet has reached a critical point of no return or there remains hope for reversing the prevailing situation.
Furthermore, even though there was a clear rise in energy from renewable sources it was mirrored by a rise in fossil fuel consumption. The concurrent rise in both sources indicates that the rise in renewable energy production was to deal with the general increase in energy demand rather than as a corrective measure. Reliance on fossil fuels and deforestation to accommodate the needs of agriculture and grazing have further worsened the situation.
While the entire globe is beset by the dangers of climate change, certain regions are especially vulnerable. The Eastern Himalayas are considered a bio-diversity hotspot since they not only possess immense biological diversity but also are threatened by human habitation. The Eastern Himalayas are closer to the equator, than the Western Himalayas, and therefore have a higher snow line which allows for a greater variation in the types of vegetation as well; ranging from tropical evergreen to montane forests. The unique position of the Eastern Himalayas also guarantees greater increased precipitation levels. This peculiar climate of the Eastern Himalayas has made them home to vastly different species of wildlife where some are common to other biomes while some are exclusively endemic to the region. The Eastern Himalayas are also one of the only areas in the world where cloud forests exist. Since the Himalayan region includes the terai as well as mountainous topographies, the diversity in climates, vegetation and life it showcases is remarkable.
Additionally, the WWF has identified multiple priority species in the Eastern Himalayas including elephants, tigers, snow leopards, clouded leopards and red pandas. Priority species are all the more significant as they assist in maintaining stability in the habitat and form an integral part of the food chain and are also in greater need of preservation. It is also the one of the only two regions in the world where tigers, elephants and rhinos can be found together. The grasslands of the lower altitudes also boast the densest population of the three. The flora and fauna are specifically adapted to the climate and altitude of the Himalayas and even minor changes in the macro and micro climate may prove to be fatal. However, the bioclimatic diversity of the area is also responsible for new species being discovered every year with over 350 new species having been recorded since 1998.
It is also worth noting that the region also faces socio-political challenges with border disputes being a frequent occurrence. IIT Madras found the communities of the region to be especially vulnerable to climate change as they have low adaptive capacity for dealing with disasters. Warming has contributed to the melting of glaciers and snow caps which have in turn caused creation of new glacial lakes at an increased pace and flooding of existing glacial reservoirs. Such flooding often threatens the lives and livelihood of the vulnerable local population disproportionately.
To combat the repercussions of climate change, further human encroachment in the region is required on the micro level until global and macro level changes can be effectuated. Even fixing the problem may cause further problems due to artificial manipulation of the landscape through human interference.
