HOW TO BEST MAKE SENSE OF CLIMATE CHANGE?
- Charul Joshi
- Sep 21, 2018
- 5 min read
Updated: May 17, 2019
Inextricability: - The impossibility to separate or disentangle
“We are made of the same stardust of which all things are made, and when we are immersed in suffering or when we are experiencing intense joy we are being nothing other than what we can’t help but be: a part of our world.”- Carlo Rovelli
The building blocks of celestial objects and life on Earth- Carbon, Hydrogen, Nitrogen, Oxygen, Phosphorus and Sulphur are all remnants of the billion years old stars that exploded (and continue to do) and got strewn about the universe. From one nucleus to multi-cellular, we are bodies of that very stardust; one with the universe, one with the planet.
Following a B.Tech in Electronics and Communication, I pursued an MSc in Climate Change: Environment, Science and Policy from King’s College London. Subsequently, after courting the deadpan countenance and being asked ‘is climate change a thing?’ more often than not, I knew masses remain uninformed.
The course at KCL too enlightened me on two prominent issues- (a). climate change makes no sense to people, and (b). sheer unawareness enshrouds the environmental matters that do.
The existence of these matters considered unworthy. Their talk, unamusing. Their relationship with us, ancient.
My blog has birthed to deal with that unawareness. This post elucidates 10 aspects of making sense of climate change. It is a small effort for driving home the inextricable bonds of environment/Nature with us.
Why Should You Bother If The Climate Is Changing?
You wonder? Good question! One should bother because climate change is not an isolated phenomenon, but a cluster of issues that must bother you. For the answer, read on.
1. Toxic gases (greenhouse gases) in excessive amounts in atmosphere- Upend the atmospheric composition and affect our breath, our life. Cardiovascular and respiratory diseases are on the rise. (1) (2) (3)
“1 out of every 4 deaths each year are directly caused by unhealthy environments”- WHO (4)
2. Deadly toxins in life-sustaining waters- Poison our bodies. Every toxin in water bioaccumulates in humans in greater amounts, progressing increasingly through the food chain.
“An estimated 844 million people have no access to safe water”- water.org (5)
3. Forests slashed down? (6) We bear the brunt of it. Remember, rainfall, soil fertility, averting soil erosion, air purification, carbon dioxide absorption, harbouring herbs, medicines and food, ecosystem sustenance, flood reinforcement, groundwater table, water cycle, flora and fauna abode, minerals, and not as important as Wi-Fi, but oxygen depends on forests, too.
“Only 10% forest cover might remain on Earth by 2030 before eventually vanishing entirely in 100 years”. (7)
4. Nature’s resources consumed faster than they are replenished? We will run out of them eventually. We know they are finite and take millions of years to be replenished.
5. Unnatural compounds like plastics ingested or us surrounded with man-made carcinogens? Bring doom to our own health and continue release of greenhouse gases from their manufacture.
“There will be more plastic in the ocean than fish by 2050.” (8)
6. Industrial revolution induced temperature rise in 100 years more than the natural variability cycles? We suffer global warming (which is by the way overall heating of the planet- (a). more summers than winters; (b). uncanny weather conditions of terrible dry spell at one place & calamitous deluge in other; (c). melting of ice and glaciers; (d). in no way implies the complete omission of cold, although reduces its period progressively. We’ll see more on it later), uncertain weather patterns, crop shortage, monsoonal fickleness, seasonal unpredictability, financial losses, increase in diseases etc.
“Ten indicators of warming world- increasing air temperature (near troposphere), humidity, temperature over oceans, sea surface temperature, sea level, ocean heat content, temperature over land; decreasing glaciers, snow cover and sea ice…all of which are happening.”- (Union of Concerned Scientists)
7. Premature and unexpected extinction of various mammals, reptiles, birds, amphibians and fish? Hold poaching, habitat destruction due to acidification of oceans, occupancy of lands for human settlements, environmental destruction, use of pesticides, illegal trade in wildlife, accountable.
8. Burgeoning population? Worsens global challenges of hunger, poverty, illness, unemployment, wars, migration, refugee crises, illiteracy, unequal access to resources etc.
“3 Earths [!] required by 2050 to sustain ourselves at the current pace” (12)
9. Planet bursting at the seams with Waste? Either it lies undegraded in the landfills or chokes the oceans or pollutes the environment by simply piling up, either way poisons our water, air and food.
“Every year we dump a massive 2.12 billion tons of waste. Maximum waste dumped was used between single-use and six months.” (13)
10. Energies with promised renewability appearing sacrificial to us? We lose on the independent, economic production and storage of energy, and throw ourselves at the mercy of the resource acquisition-business conflicts.
“Renewable energy can meet all our energy needs…its technical potential is much higher than all global energy demands.” – IPCC (14)
But How Do These Explain Climate Change?
By highlighting our dependability on and inextricability with the environment. Climate change, in the simplest terms, is a product of all the above and more. It is not a religion. It does not gather believers, nor does it despise sceptics. This babel is worthless and unhelpful.
Whether you believe in climate change’s happening or consider it a natural cycle of ice-ages and hothouses or associate its concept with human hubris, trying to stop the phenomenon called climate change makes no sense.
It is its other components that need to be worked upon- the tangible ones; the obvious ones; the ones we see rampant.
It is disaster management, adaptation, mitigation, environmental assessment to be executed. It is long-term sustainability of economy and environment to be adopted (and both are inseparable).
It is temperature, carbon dioxide rocketing and pollution that need to be curtailed .
It is addiction of plastic to be curbed. It is the corals to be saved; all species to be sustained; trade of animals to be stopped. It is the health, life and future of our own species at stake, too.
The complex climatic system has multiple uncertain and incomprehensible tipping points (permanent and fundamental consequences/alterations). Any of the above issues could be one of those. Hence, relying on climate to fix itself is way off beam as a solution.
Climate change, its conversations, its investments derive meaning only if we know the real targets, which are to counter the present environmental destruction. It is not fictional, airy, esoteric or even controversial then.
And with us all being the same ‘array of atoms’ and ‘cloud of probability’ as the rest of the existent, we can deny these no more!
We are not at war with the climate. Wars yield no victories. We and the environment are allies in warding off crises and saving the Earth. Hearken to it and do not let any Capital and Industry buy the future from you. Makes sense?
“The world has enough for everyone’s need, but not enough for everyone’s greed.”- Mahatma Gandhi
More the next time. Until then, keep it simple, silly!
Very informative