Steam rises from chimneys of a heating power plant in Moscow, Russia. February 08, 2020
The changing climate of the planet and the growth in population and riches are both driven by the combustion of billions of tonnes of fossil fuel to produce industrial power, electricity, transport and computation. What&rsquos at stake is a world on a course to warm by more than 3 degrees this century&mdasha disastrous scenario.A first-of-its-kind biodiversity report by Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) declared that 75% of Earth&rsquos land surface and 66% of marine environments have been significantly altered and that over 85% of wetland area has been lost
Image by Maxim Shemetov / Reuters
Major bleaching on the coral reefs of the Society Islands, French Polynesia. May 09, 2019
The world&rsquos oceans have absorbed 90% of the excess heat generated by greenhouse gas emissions, leading to increased acidification, and loss of oxygen at great depths. The rate of ocean warming has doubled since 1993, triggering devastating storm surges, cyclone landfalls and depletion of fish stocks. It is also leading to large-scale coral bleaching, with massive ramifications as they support 25% of the marine ecosystem.
Image by Alexis Rosenfeld / Getty Images
A taxi under an uprooted tree in the aftermath of Cyclone Amphan, Kolkata, India. May 21, 2020
Studies reveal that surface temperature of the Arabian Sea has been rising since 1997 due to carbon emissions, turning the sea restive, spelling trouble for India&rsquos western coast. India had witnessed the severe impact of climate change in 2018, when between April and June, over 50 cyclones hit 16 states, killing over 1,000 people and destroying crops. Global sea levels could rise by 6.5 feet and displace tens of millions of people by the end of the century
Image by Samir Jana / Hindustan Times via Getty Images
A schoolgirl at an awareness march on climate change in Pune, India. November 29, 2019
While marchers were urging governments for rapid action to limit global warming, sweltering classrooms and lethargic students led to school shutdowns around the world. Eco-anxiety, described as the chronic fear of environmental doom, is on the rise, especially among young adults. It is as real as the tragedy of climate change that is unravelling before our eyes and the conflicted feelings that come with it.
Image by Pratham Gokhale / Hindustan Times via Getty Images
School girls at a celebration in Agartala, India. August 15, 2018
Climate change has now entered the classroom, and schools are recognising the need to prepare students for climate change. Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) runs a green school programme, where students from participating schools conduct environmental audits of energy and water consumption. Over 6,000 schools are enrolled in the CSE programme.
Image by Jayanta Dey / Reuters
Women pray on Chhath Puja in the polluted waters of Yamuna river in New Delhi, India. November 03, 2019
Air pollution was the theme of World Environment Day last year. India is fighting alarming air pollution levels that claims thousands of lives annually. UP, Maharashtra, Bihar, Bengal and Rajasthan accounted for over 50% of all pollution-related deaths in India. In addition, UP, Haryana, Andhra and Gujarat alone have 84% of grossly polluting industries, discharging hazardous chemicals and over 100 kilolitres of wastewater every day
Image by Adnan Abidi / Reuters
Residents await a municipal water tanker in Kolkata, India. March 22, 2017
India has only 4% of the global fresh water resources while it has to quench the thirst of about 18% of the world population. Of the total fresh water resources, 78% was being used for irrigation a decade ago. With hardly any effective regulation, the policy of cheap or free power supply for irrigation has led to a situation of near-anarchy in the use of groundwater. In places like Punjab, the water table is going down by a metre a year. Niti Aayog had declared recently that 21 major Indian cities could run out of groundwater by 2020, affecting access for 100 million people.
Image by Rupak De Chowdhuri / Reuters
Blooming apple trees with anti-hail nets in Shimla, India. April 16, 2018
Climate change has caused Himalayan glaciers to melt twice as fast since 2000, according to a study by researchers at Columbia University, who analysed satellite images of 650 glaciers across 2,000 kms of the Himalayas. The biggest effects of the melt will be felt downstream where livelihoods are mediated by snowmelt, like apple growers in Himachal. Millions of people living in the Ganges basin will be impacted by flooding as the melt triggers change in weather patterns
Image by Deepak Sansta / Hindustan Times via Getty Images
A massive, calved iceberg seen from a research aircraft, Antarctic Peninsula region. October 31, 2017
Scientists at Germany&rsquos Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research suggested a last-ditch engineering project to blanket a West Antarctic ice sheet&rsquos surface with 7,400 gigatonnes of artificial snow over 10 years to stop it from sliding into the ocean and trigger a sea level rise, submerging coastal cities. People found the idea as preposterous as building protective domes to cover our cities or moving people to another planet to escape the troubles here.
Image by Mario Tama / Getty Images
Smoke billows from a fire in the Amazon rainforest, Rondonia State, Brazil. September 10, 2019.
Restoration of forests is a potential measure to combat climate change. A total of 1,20,000 sq km, of which some 36,000 km was pristine primary rain forest, was lost in the last decade, fuelled by El Nino conditions and uncontrolled fires. An increase of 1 billion hectares of forest will be necessary to limit global warming to 1.5 degree c by 2050, says a report by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. How such reforestation could come about is being debated currently.
Image by Bruno Kelly / Reuters
