Since last week the heat wave has been unbearable in Bhubaneswar, but it is somewhat manageable during lockdown period as all are forced to stay home.
In the normal days, we would have been experiencing many sunstroke deaths in these days throughout Odisha. Climate change has been affecting people around the world, threatening the basic elements of life – access to water, food, health and use of land, and the basic environment; so it is now most vital aspect to give attention to it and take its care to save mankind on the earth for a long time. The term ‘climate’ refers to the general weather conditions of a place over many years. In the United States, for example, Maine’s climate is cold and snowy in winter while South Florida’s is tropical year-round.
Climate change is a significant variation of average weather conditions—say, conditions becoming warmer, wetter, or drier—over several decades or more.
It’s that longer-term trend that differentiates climate change from natural weather variability. And while “climate change” and “global warming” are often used interchangeably, global warming—the recent rise in the global average temperature near the earth’s surface—is just one aspect of climate change.
Earth-orbiting satellites, remote meteorological stations, and ocean buoys are used to monitor present-day weather and climate, but it’s paleoclimatology data from natural sources like ice cores, tree rings, corals, and ocean and lake sediments that have enabled scientists to extend the earth’s climatic records back millions of years. These records provide a comprehensive look at the long-term changes in the earth’s atmosphere, oceans, land surface, and cryosphere (frozen water systems).
Scientists then feed this data into sophisticated climate models that predict future climate trends—with impressive accuracy.The mechanics of the earth’s climate system are simple. When energy from the sun is reflected off the earth and back into space (mostly by clouds and ice), or when the earth’s atmosphere releases energy, the planet cools.
When the earth absorbs the sun’s energy, or when atmospheric gases prevent heat released by the earth from radiating into space (the greenhouse effect), the planet warms. A variety of factors, both natural and human, can influence the earth’s climate system.
As we all know, the earth has gone through warm and cool phases in the past, and long before humans were around. Forces that contribute to climate change include the sun’s intensity, volcanic eruptions, and changes in naturally occurring greenhouse gas concentrations. But records indicate that today’s climatic warming—particularly the warming since the mid-20th century—is occurring much faster than ever before and can’t be explained by natural causes alone. According to NASA, “These natural causes are still in play today, but their influence is too small or they occur too slowly to explain the rapid warming seen in recent decades.”
Humans—more specifically, the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions we generate—are the leading cause of the earth’s rapidly changing climate. Greenhouse gases play an important role in keeping the planet warm enough to inhabit. But the amount of these gases in our atmosphere has skyrocketed in recent decades.
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), concentrations of carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxides “have increased to levels unprecedented in at least the last 800,000 years.” Indeed, the atmosphere’s share of carbon dioxide—the planet’s chief climate change contributor—has risen by 40 percent since preindustrial times. The burning of fossil fuels like coal, oil, and gas for electricity, heat, and transportation is the primary source of human-generated emissions. A second major source is deforestation, which releases sequestered carbon into the air. It’s estimated that logging, clear-cutting, fires, and other forms of forest degradation contribute up to 20 percent of global carbon emissions.
Other human activities that generate air pollution include fertilizer use (a primary source of nitrous oxide emissions), livestock production (cattle, buffalo, sheep, and goats are major methane emitters), and certain industrial processes that release fluorinated gases. Activities like agriculture and road construction can change the reflectivity of the earth’s surface, leading to local warming or cooling, too.
Though our planet’s forests and oceans absorb greenhouse gases from the atmosphere through photosynthesis and other processes, these natural carbon sinks can’t keep up with our rising emissions. The resulting buildup of greenhouse gases is causing alarmingly fast warming worldwide.
It’s estimated that the earth’s average temperature rose by about 1 degree Fahrenheit during the 20th century. If that doesn’t sound like much, consider this: When the last ice age ended and the northeastern United States was covered by more than 3,000 feet of ice, average temperatures were just 5 to 9 degrees cooler than they are now.
Odisha has formulated Climate Change Action Plan 2010-15 in a holistic manner to address the issues of mitigation and adaptation. It focused on 11 critical sectors, viz., Energy, Mining, Industry, Forestry, Water, Agriculture, Coasts and Disasters, Urban, Health, Transport and Fisheries and Animal Resources. These sectors are having linkages to climate change, and thus, can go a long way in reducing the vulnerability.
The purpose of the Government's plan was to strengthen institutional capacities of different State level agencies to integrate environment and climate change issues in development planning, policies and sectoral programmes. The budget for climate change response actions has been estimated to be Rs 17,000 crore for a 5-year period between 2010-11 and 2015-16. The main purpose was to put economy of Odisha in a carbon-conscious and climate-resilient development path.
The sectors including energy, forests, coasts and disasters, agriculture, water resources and urban constitute about 80 per cent of the overall budget. In October 2013, the World Bank had agreed to provide non-lending technical assistance to Odisha for implementation of its action plan particularly for some demonstration and institutional arrangement projects.
The demonstration projects include installation of solar PV panel in the boats plying in Chilika lake, battery operated auto-rickshaws in Bhubaneswar, low cost sewage treatment system and maximum use of fly ash.
Similarly, institutional arrangement projects plan to strengthen capabilities of State Pollution Control Board, Climate Change Cell, and green energy consumption, etc.
Since December 2013, the State has been emphasizing on the massive plantation and increasing canopy density of degraded forests to mitigate a large load of carbon on environment. The State has already taken up solar project initiatives and the use of energy saving devices, for example, OREDA and OMFED have been working to promote improved Chullah and biogas plants for energy saving.
The State is in the process of providing incentives to private households for having roof top solar projects and rain water harvesting system. Emphasis has also been given to promote regulated irrigation measures in the areas under major and medium irrigation projects.
So, the Government is trying its level best to compensate but still Odisha is facing a lot of natural calamities due to this climate change almost every year by way of cyclone, drought or floods. Now it is time for public to support the Government’s mission by planting trees as much as possible before this monsoon for our betterment and future generation to breathe pure air.
(Er Panda lives at L-17/15, Panchasakha Nagar, Khandagiri, Mob: 9439128050, bdpanda1@gmail.com)