THE HOT PLANET

When we read the Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC) history (also called, Harappan), what comes out clearly is that for about 1500 years in BCE, it prospered as a model urban centre and then it disintegrated.

The reason for the degeneration of IVC is not recorded as a major war that it had with any incoming army but climate change. Once a fertile land near Indus River, supplemented by the mythical Saraswati river (Gaggar-Hakra , a river emanating from Shivalik region of Himalayas) that had gone fully dry, the rise in temperature of Indus Valley region made it unliveable a place and the people moved away into other parts of the subcontinent.

I think, we are in for something similar to happen in the coming decade and thereafter, the pace of degeneration of the place we live will be much faster. Many regions of our country could be part of history in another 50-100 years.

I am no soothsayer but going by the scientific reports presented by World Metrological Orgn.(WMO), the prediction is that the annual mean global temperature is expected to rise by 1.5 to 2 degree celsius between 2023 & 2027 as compared to between 2918-2022.

What are going to be the after effects of this for us Indians ?

1. The oceans will go on fire and the resultant El-Nino effect will create a hot and dry global south (India inclusive) and a wet and cold global north

2. Monsoon will bring less than normal rainfall to India

3. Indian agriculture that is greatly dependant on the Monsoon, will suffer hugely on the cultivation output.

4. Heavy usage of temperature reducing mechanisms (air conditioners, chillers, freezers etc.) will emit much more carbon and that in turn will make the weather more hotter.

5. Indian coastline will be tested and it would become unsafe for those who live & work there

6. The ocean fisheries output will be reduced

7. The change in ocean temperature and the resultant speed & strength of ocean current will lead to huge cyclone / tsunami falls across the subcontinent

(Just read about the devastation caused by the recent cyclone Mocha in Myanmar & Bangladesh to understand the impact)

8. The overall resultant effect on Indian economy could be disastrous.

This is an area where governments of the countries should combine to resist anything that is worsening the global weather any further. Other than ‘lip service’, there isn’t anything happening in this front, though huge conferences are happening all over the planet.

Knowingly, we are inviting the monsters to come in, to destroy humanity.