Environmental issues mustn’t be just dismissed
As scientists and Government officials from across the world meet in Stockholm to finalise a report on climate change, the issue of whether climate change is indeed responsible to the extent that many fear for the environmental problems and natural disasters humankind has faced, will also come into focus. Because the subject matter is so technical, public opinion does not always reflect scientific realities. At the same time, even better-informed people have often accused climate scientists of being unnecessarily alarming and over-playing the threat. There may be some merit in that allegation because many scientists who play Cassandra are associated with non-Government groups that encash on the premise that climate change is the principal source of all evil.
It may be remembered that the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change had run into a controversy on its observation over glacial melting because its detractors questioned the fearsomely rapid speed of melting of ice that the IPCC had reported. While that issue eventually settled down, the incident did highlight the differences within the scientific community on the levels of impact that climate change is having on the world. Of course it would be stupid to ignore the dangers that exist as human activity continues to degrade environment and cause unwanted climate changes. It is a vicious trap: Destruction of environment, such as forest cover, results in soil erosion and flash floods in one part of the world; climactic irregularity in another part of the world leads to adverse fallouts hundreds of kilometres elsewhere.
Experts believe that natural disasters such as tsunami and the more recent havoc in Uttarakhand are both the results of climate change and reckless human conduct. In a country like India, where the average citizen is engaged in a daily Sisyphean tussle for decent living and the level of informed opinion is sadly low, the gravity of issues such as climate change is hard to grasp. Campaigns where activists have been able to convince the lay stakeholders on the direct correlation between a robust environment and economic well-being have done better in creating awareness about climate change.
But what does one say when a developed nation such as the UK has a low awareness level of the subject or does not consider climate change to be a matter that one must lose sleep overIJ According to a report in The Times of london, the findings of a Government-funded survey show that public support for alternative forms of energy such as solar and wind power has dwindled, while gas is the top favourite. In addition, despite the accidents in nuclear power generating plants in parts of the world and the dramatic drop in support for nuclear energy in Japan, which was home to the Fukushima disaster, support in the UK for nuclear energy hasn't shown any decline. That does not mean the world must abandon its quest for a green and clean environment.