climate change Archives - Page 2 of 2 - DU Beat - Delhi University's Independent Student Newspaper

DU Beat spoke to Avinash Chanchal, Programme Specialist of Greenpeace India, about the global climate crisis and the student movement that has emerged to fight against it.

Juhi: All over the world, red flags are being raised about climate change and its consequences. How bad do you think is the situation in India?

Avinash: There is a climate crisis in India, especially with respect to air and water. In 80% of India, where air pollution calculating mechanisms are available, the air has been found to be below the standard health rates. Rivers in India are also much polluted and many small ones are even drying up. Erratic weather changes and heatwaves in India have gotten worse and studies show that we only have eleven years before it gets too late.

Juhi: Do you think the Government is adequately dealing with the climate crisis?

Avinash: The situation is not black and white. Recently, the Government has started to invest in renewable energy, and they are taking certain steps to combat climate change, but they need to do a lot more. The state Governments also need to realise the importance of this crisis and take actions against it. The Government also needs to prioritise climate preservation over big corporations.

Juhi: Do you think the general population of India is aware of climate change and the steps that need to be taken to combat it?

Avinash: Recently, more and more people have started to raise their voices, asking the Government to take action against climate change. In India, we have always had the indigenous people fighting to protect their “jal, jungal aur zameen” (water, forest, and land) but now, even the people in the cities have started to realise the need for preservation of the environment.

Juhi: What do you think about the recent emergence of the global student-led movement against climate change?

Avinash: The best part about this movement is that it is a citizen’s movement. The next generation is going to be the one to face the hard consequences of climate change, and have decided to take action against it. Greta Thunberg has managed to inspire students all over the world. Greenpeace stands in solidarity with the strikes being organised in September by students world over. They deserve a lot of credit.

Juhi: Many people in India work in industries that are harmful to the environment. And unlike big corporations such as McDonald’s, and Starbucks, the average Indian shopkeeper cannot afford to use paper bags and straws, instead of plastic. How realistic do you think, the goal to combat climate change is?

Avinash: We have always said that the move towards renewable energy needs to be phased out, creating new jobs in that sector. Also, investment these days in fossil fuel and coal mines is bad for our economy. As far as plastic is concerned, until 25 years back, before globalisation brought in big corporations and their plastic, Indians had managed to survive by using goods made out of bamboo sticks and banana leaves. Paper is not the only alternative to plastic. So, our climate preservation goals are very much possible.

Juhi: What has Greenpeace India recently been working on?

Avinash: We have many campaigns going on right now against air pollution and for renewable energy usage. We don’t want big corporations to get their hold on renewable energy; instead, we want to empower people with it. A while back, we also started a sustainable agricultural model in Bihar, which was 100% ecological. It has turned out to be a great success. Overall, we are able to do what we do, because of our volunteers and supporters, who come from all age groups. We need people to realise that the climate crisis is an immediate one and that dealing with it cannot be postponed.

Feature Image Credits: LiveMint

Juhi Bhargava

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My tryst with animation started when I was 12. And today, even though I’m exactly two weeks into adulthood, just about nothing can compel me to deny that I would still prioritize an “Igor” over an “Angels and Demons”.

So, when Happy Feet was released three years back, all my classmates were aware of my “hippity-hoppity” love for Mumble, the un-Emperor like Penguin.

The child in me is till date, echoing its desire to be taken to Antarctica to be able to catch a glimpse of the tuxedoed species, to be able to imitate their noisy flapping action, to be able to nose fight with their protruding beaks and to be able to feel their happy feet!

However, the situation that Mumble, Gloria, Rockhopper and the others in their family are witnessing is a grave bargain. The world is getting warmer but the temperatures are increasing five times faster than the world average in this continent, which is home to a million penguins. The dinner-jacketed penguins are unfortunately, the first to feel the impact. And why is it almost impossible to ignore what’s happening to this species? Because this, my friend, is only a foretaste of things to come, an early indication of what may be happening to other species. The penguins are not the only sufferers of the massive climate change but sadly, are amongst the first apparent victims of the disaster following Global Warming!

As always, Google came to my rescue and has allowed me to consolidate numerous facts about the impending extinction, of the “dinner-jacketed goofballs”. They say that in the changing scenario each species in the world has two options; they can either evolve or die out. There isn’t much to link penguins to the former, because in a situation where the “hot is becoming hotter”, the penguins don’t have anywhere to migrate!

With the unavailability of food-rich waters, the loss of nesting sites, which mind you, have more than a single cause to the shrinking levels of ice, there is not even a single factor favoring their survival. As a simple analogy, it’s almost like the Adelies, the Emperors, the Chinstraps and the Gentoos, took the same route, landed at a four way crossing and none saw the green signal!

The penguins usually munch on krill and fish, their staple diet. Now, due to a disrupted food chain and the continuous melting of ice, neither is available to the penguins, preventing them from gulping food down their wobbly throats. Did you know that an average penguin can manage to cover a mere mile in an hour! Imagine a situation where the hefty creatures have to walk 30 miles to get food because the Ross Sea witnessed two humongous ice bergs melting down only to park themselves between the breeding colonies and the feeding areas, none of which can a penguin sideline!

As peculiar as it may sound, the Adelie penguins only breed on land without ice and snow. Heavier and more frequent snowfalls have resulted in a dramatic decrease in their population. Moreover, its cousins, the Gentoos and Chinstraps have ironically invaded their territory. But the lack of food has made all four stand at cross roads.

Since theory must always be backed by facts, listed below are some alarming figures, which have caused the wiping off of numerous penguin colonies.

#1. In the Antarctic Peninsula temperatures have risen by 5 degree Celsius in the last 50 years. I know, you’re thinking that 50 years is a long time. But get back to reality and hope for added disaster by the time you retire.

#2. Since the temperatures have risen, the population of the Adelies’ has declined by almost 50 percent. It’s almost like the lives of half your own family is in jeopardy.

#3. Their cousin, the Chinstraps have begun to decrease by 30-66%, who in spite of the warmer, more suitable climate have been losing their young ones to lack of food.

#4. Globally, it has been assumed that, the earth will start to lose more than 1 million species of animals, starting from now till 2050. The penguins have started the count and the census will very well include us, Homo sapiens!

#5. It will not be a shock when summer, winter, spring and autumn are renamed because it has been estimated that the combination of climatic conditions on 10%-48% of the planet will have disappeared altogether!

In a situation which has now started to climb the peak of disaster in a manner as brisk as possible, ignoring it becomes a crime and implementing a basic action becomes a means of saving your own life. In hindsight, not just the penguins, but a thousand more species, both known and unknown, will constitute the book of extinction. Are we still waiting in the hope that the murderer is unarmed? Spare me the task of reminding you, because it’s high time that each one of us does this for ourselves.

Even though the child in me might not be able to have its “Rendezvous with Mumble”, I’d never want the little kid dying out herself.

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