A new record is being scaled but such is not worth celebrating as it indicates something severe for human existence. Alarmingly, the World Meteorological Organization’s State of Climate report was put out this wednesday, May 18, showing that the global mean sea level rose to new marks in 2021 and was 4.5 mm average for a period between 2013 to 2021.
Such is a clear indication about a grim situation concerning global warming and on target, there are coastal dwellers with a tragic rise of 1.5 degree celsius in sight.
Such signs show grim aspects of oceans last year, which was hotter, higher and was more acidic in nature and marine life too, was its victim.
Now, as a repercussion of speedy loss of ice mass, there has been an increas
e in the global mean sea level, recorded at a rate which was 2x (two times) higher than the earlier one.
“Day to day face of climate change” is the phrase WHO uses when it refers to extreme weather conditions, such as heat waves, cyclones and floods. Such a scenario calls for immediate measures, like to pull down GHG (GreenHouse Gas) emissions.
The climate change indicators are termed eerie as are present in the report and this has prompted the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to request nations to curtail pollution which fossil fuel causes.
He intoned, “Fossil fuels are a dead end….environmentally and economically”.
Further, he also brought war in Ukraine under his criticism for rising energy prices and called it a deciding hour for human existence on earth.
However, there was some respite for us in 2021, as the year was not so warm, thanks to the La Nina event which occured at the beginning and at the end of the year. But still, the overall pattern remained unchanged and unchallenged.
For the average global temperature touching the 1.5 degree celsius, above pre-industrial level, there is a 50% chance, WHO warns.
India Pakistan Confronts Common Enemy As Climate Change:
Save political unrest and socio-economic chaos, India and Pakistan are on a simmer, caused by ultimate temperature which are attributed to climate change.
Such heatwaves are the mainstay of climate change which are frequent in nature. UK’s Meteorology office published an analysis this Wednesday (May 18) that describes that without bringing the climate change aspect in our consideration, a heatwave is likely to take place, which would be higher than the average temperature of last decade and such heatwave is said to strike earth after a gap of every 310 years.
But then, if we include the climate change factor too, expectation increases to once in every 3.1 years in the existing climate pattern, while at the end of this century, this will be further reduced to 1.5 years.
Nikos Christidis, scientists made the statement, “Spells of heat have always been a feature of the region’s pre-monsoon climate during April and May. However, our study shows that climate change is driving the heat intensity of these spells”
Apparently, climate change has already caused extremely harsh weather events, that are in the form of heatwaves, which are more bitter and strike us more frequently and are likely to remain impenetrable in the future too.
Now considering the Indian sub-continent, heatwave is found to be of unmatched spell as scorching heat was unleashed in March month and is likely to continue this week too, as per reports circulated by the Met department.
We have attribution studies too, to determine the impact climate change has upon specific weather events and this is a lengthy process as each study and its respective analysis are cross-checked and deeply examined for formulae, calculations, statistics and other data and factual juxtaposition.
Delhi Runs On Green Wheels: 50K Mark In Electric Vehicle Sales:
Delhi tends to become an electric vehicle centre and a milestone is achieved in this direction recently, as the sale of EVs has crossed the 50 thousand mark.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal initiated the policy which titled on registering 25% of new vehicles as EVs by 2024. No doubt now, such is a great feat.
In August 2020, only 739 EVs were registered and from September 2020 till today, 50,225 EVs have been delivered to the buyers after necessary documentation.
Talking of last year, only 25,814 electric vehicles were sold as the EV policy is strictly pursued and buyers enjoy exclusive incentives.
As for this year, Delhi residents have bought 19872 EVs so far, which is just 9.3% of total vehicle sales and we still have months to go before this year ends. EVs sales are likely to break old records and such would be a wonderful outcome as Delhi battles all types of pollution in its different parts.
Heatwaves Affect Tomato Crops Making This Pricier And Making Consumers Red-Faced:
Well dear readers, climate change, the demon has spread its claws broader enough to cause a major stir in the contents of our dining table. Climate change has directly affected the yield of our favoured tomato yield. The dip in production has resulted in its shortage in the market which has skyrocketed its prices, as a domino effect.
This was in the first week of this month, May that tomatoes were sold at Rs 75-80 for a kilo in retail. In fact, the entire supply chain was said to be disarrayed due to a decline in its yield. Sambar, sandwitches, pizzas and certain other meals made us shell out more money to get that preferred taste back.
However, other than the intense heatwaves, which damaged the crops lying sowed in the open farms, there are some other (man-made) factors too, involved causing a hike in its price.
As for the Horticulture Producers Cooperative Marketing and Processing Society outlets, (HOPCOMS), the cost of tomatoes was somewhere around Rs62-64. Its price fell to Rs2-3 per kilo which enraged the farmers enough to abandon the crop production in lieu of such a meagre sum.
As such, such a non-practice of tomato production resulted in sharp rise in the prices of such red watery veggie, which affected its supply and made the consumer red-faced with anger over the compromise of taste.
Still in the coming months, the prices would remain steady high as the crop takes around 3 months to ripe and the market confronts shortages too.
Nevertheless, crop production is more likely to suffer due to climate change and the IPCC report warns about it and calls upon governments across the world to implement measures for food security. It also harps upon exclusively inclusive steps in the form of an orderly approach.
Rachel Bezner Kerr outlines this fact in the UN’s 2022 IPCC report which centres around climate change impacts upon food systems.
In an Indian media gathering, she was asked about the particular ways in which food supplies have been disrupted by climate change and she remarked,
“There is robust evidence of declines in total agricultural productivity on a global scale over the last 50 years that’s directly attributed to the impacts of global warming. There are also observed impacts on productivity in the oceans. It’s not just land-based impacts – it’s also marine and inland fishery populations, which is due to both ocean acidification and global warming.
There are also impacts on other dimensions of the food system, partly through climate-related extreme events, like heat waves, droughts and floods, which have led to food shocks – reduced food production and less diverse food stocks. Those events can also disrupt the infrastructure that supports the food system, leading to increases in prices.
All these factors have led to increased acute food insecurity for millions of people.”
