The threats emanating from climate change are now increasingly manifested in different parts of the globe. What scientists have predicted about the effects of global warming is transforming into reality. There is a dramatic rise in extreme weather events such as heat waves, floods, cyclones, landslides, etc.
Temperatures of up to 49 degree Celsius in Canada and tropical heat in Finland and Ireland, forest fires in the United States and drought in parts of its west as well as Brazil, unprecedented rains in Europe and central China followed by devastating floods, etc., have taken heavy tolls and loss of property.
The scenes of deadly rains and landslides in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand in India show the gravity of the climate-related disasters. These catastrophes are the consequences of all the detrimental human activities that happened subsequent to industrial revolution.
The continued rise in greenhouse gas emissions, especially from the excessive use of fossil fuels, is mainly responsible for temperature rise and the associated climate change.
Experts opined this while deliberating in a webinar on the theme ‘Climate change from geological perspective’ organised under the auspices of the Orissa Environmental Society (OES) here on Sunday. OES president Dr Sundara Narayana Patro chaired the programme.
Prof Madhumita Das, former Vice-Chancellor, FM University and former Head of Geology, Utkal University, who was chief speaker, deliberated on the problems created by the excessive use of fossil fuels such as coal and petroleum and diverse detrimental human activities. “The earth will not be destroyed by the impacts of climate change as the solar system may last for another ten billion years.
But only human civilisation, ecosystems, and the living beings will perish as happened to dinosaurs. It is imperative that human activities should not collide with the natural processes,” she said. Dr Patro stated that the need of the hour is to reduce human interference in the functioning of nature.
OES secretary Dr Jaya Krushna Panigrahi called upon the Government, non-Government organisations and the people in general to contribute towards the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and maintenance of balance between development and conservation.