Context: Rising climate disruption worldwide need us to seriously ponder on how we are going to adjust our lives to this new climate normal.
Threat of global climate change:
Heatwaves in North America, devastating cyclones in the pre-monsoon weeks and extreme rainfall events in India, massive floods in China and floods in Germany are all part of the same larger story.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has been warning of the catastrophic impacts of global warming for decades.
Challenges in tackling climate change:
Wrong policymaking: The public discourse on climate change often focuses on future projections of temperature rise under different emission scenarios.
This leads to the wrong perception among policymakers and the general public that climate change is still a few decades away.
Fast-changing weather patterns: The Indian monsoon has seen definite deviations — an overall weakening of the monsoon circulation, longer dry spells, higher frequency and intensity of extreme rainfall and reduction in the total rainfall in the June-to-September season
Such warming is not only affecting the monsoon circulation but also increasing the frequency, intensity and duration of cyclones and causing extreme rainfall.
For E.g. the tropical cyclone Tauktae that hit the Gujarat coast in the pre-monsoon weeks remained active even 24 hours after its landfall.
Inadequate climate diplomacy: Climate diplomats are still engaged in the crucial issues of climate finance, emission reduction and the target of limiting temperature rise to 1.5 degrees, with the latest of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.
All these are long-term goals and ambitions, with little impact on the situation on the ground.
Way Forward:
Recognise the intrinsic connection between climate change and extreme weather events.
Need to boost research in climate science to gain further insights:
This is better done by fine-tuning weather forecasting and dovetailing forecast with administrative and community action on the ground.
IMD has begun issuing an ‘impact forecast’ that covers the likely outcome of predictions in a given area, taking into account its topography and other parameters.
For instance, when heavy rainfall is predicted in a particular district, people can be warned if it will lead to flooding.
In the same way, an early warning system for landslides and other steps are taken to reduce risk in identified locations.
Need to review all relevant policies and take corrective action: To reduce the impact of extreme weather events such as heavy rainfall and resulting floods.
A long-term solution would be to redrawing city plans, wherever they exist, to restoring lakes and natural drainage systems and building stormwater systems.
All cities on our coasts — Mumbai, Chennai, Visakhapatnam etc. — need to be climate-resilient or prepared for extreme rainfall events as well as sea-level rise and storm surges.
Climate concerns should be kept in mind while building large infrastructure projects and industries. EIA should be made more stringent.