Climate change is the
result of increase in the carbon emission from the human activities. The
emission of Greenhouse gases such as Methane and Carbon-di-oxide has been
increasing which has resulted in the global greenhouse effect due to which
peoples, ecosystems are suffering. While the colonialism is to blame the most for
it but now billionaires are also at blame. According to a report by the Oxfam,
a billionaire causes more than a million times more greenhouses emission than
an average person. Those in power continue to ignore the voices from the Most
Affected Peoples and Area (MAPA). Peoples in MAPA are suffering from the worst
impacts of the climate crisis. Peoples are dying, glaciers are melting, sea
level is rising, more than 1 million plants and animal species are facing
extinction all because of the increasing carbon emissions. India is one of the
most affected countries in the world when it comes to the impacts from climate
crisis. With over a billion peoples, the country continue to face impacts such
as flood, increasing intensity of cyclones, forest fire, water scarcity heat
waves, etc. According to Overseas Development Institute, India may lose 3-10%
of its GDP annually by 2100 and poverty rate may rise by 3.5% by 2040 due to
climate change. This article is the review of climate change impact in India
over the period of first six months of 2023 from January to June.
Cyclone
Cyclones occur frequently
in India impacting the peoples living in the western, eastern and southern
coast of India. However, in recent decades, the number of Cyclones has
decreased but their intensity has
increased. This means, the damage caused by cyclone will be much
more than any previous cyclone. In 2023, only two Cyclones have impacted the
country so far and out of the two only one made a landfall in India. In May,
Cyclone Mocha made its landfall in Myanmar. However, it also impacted the
peoples living in the Indian state of Mizoram where according to the
authorities around 5700 peoples were impacted. At least 154 houses were
destroyed due to strong winds and rainfall. Now, when I’m writing this, some
climate denier who is reading it might think that climate change is not real
but hey wait, I have not told you the full story yet. In June 2023, Cyclone
Biparjoy, the first cyclone which made its landfall in India hit the state of
Gujarat, bringing heavy rains in the state of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and
Rajasthan. It was a very severe
cyclonic storm that impacted more than 80,000 peoples. Gujarat
was most affected by this cyclone. Due to heavy rains and strong winds, trees
were uprooted, 4600 villages were affected by power outages, and a total of 23
peoples were reported injured. According to ETV Bharat,
hospitals in one part of Rajasthan received a high number of cases of snake
bite due to flooding after the cyclone. Due to this cyclone, 5 peoples died in
Rajasthan while three peoples also died in the Kutch and Rajkot district of
Gujarat. The strong winds also damaged the crop that was ready to be harvest in
Kutch. We also saw how farmers had to dump their
mangoes even though Mangoes were in demand in the market. The
harvest was at its peak when the cyclone hit the Kutch. Horticulture crops like
fresh dates and mangoes suffered a huge damage in the district because of the
120 km/h strong winds and rain. According to IMD, Biparjoy was one of the
longest-lived cyclones ever observed in the North Indian Ocean. The average
lifespan of a cyclone in this region is 6 days and 3 hrs while Biparjoy lived
of 13 days and 3 hrs. Cyclones in the Arabian sea are relatively rare but
as I mentioned above the intensity of these cyclones have increased due to
rising sea surface temperature. The oceans are trapping more GHGs from the
atmosphere which is why their temperature is rising.
Heat wave
Rising temperature is
causing heat waves to be more likely in India like the April 2023 Heat Wave.
Increasing carbon emissions is causing the planet to warm faster and is
impacting millions of peoples. According to a report by
an international group of climate scientists as part of the World Weather
Attribution Group says the event of South Asia Heat wave April 2023 are 30
times more likely to happen in future. The team of scientists measured the Heat
Index, which is the measure of both high temperature and humidity levels on
human body. They found the HI to be over 41°C which is considered “dangerous”
for the human body. April was extremely hot and Pragyaraj recorded 44.6°C on
April 17. States that include Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, West
Bengal, etc were all battering from the heat wave. On April 16, 13 people lost
their lives in Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra, due to exposure to the heat at a
public event of current Minister of Home Affairs Mr. Amit Shah. The Wire reported
that there were more than 600 hospitalisations due to the heat exposure. Heat
wave is also responsible for over 90 deaths in
the state of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, where 45°C was recorded during the month
of June until the arrival of the Monsoon. Almost all deaths in Uttar Pradesh
occurred in one district, Ballia. Now some might think what is the link of heat
wave with the climate change? But there is a direct link with that. The lower
atmosphere of the Earth is getting warmer and warmer due to rising greenhouse
gas levels in the temperature which makes the climate change to affect the frequency
and strength of these events, making them “extreme”. That is why the climate
change is responsible for this intense heat wave event in India and other parts
of South Asia.
Forest Fire
There are two ways a
forest fire starts- one by lightning and another when someone set them on fire,
by leaving something burning behind. The research shows that the climate change
causes warmer and drier conditions which turn a forest fire into a long season
wildfire, even though the fire was started due to lightning or someone set the
forest to fire. According to Forest Survey of
India, more than 36% of country’s forest area is prone to frequent
forest fires. According to a 2021 analysis by
the Council on Energy, Environment and Water, the frequency of forest fire in
India has increased by 52% in the last two decades, from the year 2000 to 2020.
In 2023, India saw the warmest February and the following month saw a 115% increase in
the forest fire in early March compared to 2021. In early March, Goa also saw a
spate of forest fires. The Forest Department in its inquiry report concluded
that it was all due to high temperature and low moisture and humidity. The
fires were man-made because Goa does not have any history with the forest fire.
The fires in Goa became severe due to dry conditions and little rain since
October. The inquiry report also reported that there were 72 fire incidents,
out of which 32 affected three wildlife sanctuaries. There have been already
fires in the non fire-prone wet forests of Goa, and in Karnataka, Odisha and
Uttarakhand. There is a direct connection between the rising temperature and
the forest fire that cannot be denied. The rise in forest fire across India
raises a question for the authorities that they need to answer that how much
prepared they are to combat the rise in forest fires in India, with the
increase in temperature?
Flood
Climate Change is
increasing the frequency and intensity of extreme flood events. In June, heavy
rain caused damage, flooding and landslides in several districts in the state
of Meghalaya. As of June 17,
eight peoples were reported dead in the state due to landslide and flooding-5
died from the landslide and 3 died from the flood. Cyclone Biparjoy also caused
flooding in the parts of Rajasthan and Gujarat. On June 14, heavy rains caused
landslide in Gangtok leaving 8 peoples buried under the rubble. Later, all of
them were rescued but one of them died. As of June 16, the flood in Assam
affected more than 1 million peoples, across 25 districts. Heavy rains also caused
landslide in Boragaon area of Guawhati in which 4 peoples died. In an another
incident, two peoples were reported dead after a landslide in Goalpara. As of
June 29, 2023 a total of seven peoples have died in Assam due to severe
flooding. You might think its normal every year for the floods to
affect peoples in India. But hey, you are wrong here. Floods are normal but
their intensity and frequency has increased due to climate change. Climate
change has impacted the precipitation cycle. Now it rains more than snowing.
Winters are warmer now
Summary
For anyone who is
reading this might feel kinda bored because all what I talked about in this
article was numbers and figures. This is not a period drama where a king will
have to choose the kingdom over the life of few peoples. This is democracy
where every life matters. The peoples are dying. Their crops are being damaged,
ecosystems are collapsing and the ice in the Himalayan glaciers is melting.
Those in power need to be hold account for denying the worst impacts of the
climate crisis. This summary of six months about the climate crisis impacts is
not complete because there are a lot of stories that are yet to be covered, a
lot of unheard stories of those impacted by the climate change. Increasing heat
wave is creating the conditions for the drought, landslides and floods are
claiming lives and the increasing intensity of the cyclone is signaling towards
the need to take climate action now!!
How to join the project?
There is nothing much to do. You just simply have to tip the news of any climate change related impact in your region. Also, share it on Twitter with hashtag #TheClimateDiaryOfIndia and tag @ClimateDiaryIN. Follow on Facebook at @TheClimateDiaryOfIndia. For those interested writing this summary with me can dm me on instagram @maanvinderp.
