India - Thr 4 degree temperature increase

Only a few days ago came this warning from Bob Watson, the chief scientific adviser to the UK government's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra): There is a need to prepare for at least a four-degree rise in temperature over pre-industrial levels by 2050.

The Defra chief made a case for the UK to take appropriate steps to reduce that projection figure by two degrees to minimise risks. A similar policy is in place in the European Union. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change headed by R K Pachauri had issued a similar warning in its fourth assessment report released in 2007 where it talked of a possible four-degree increase in global temperature. Now Indian scientists engaged in computing climate models at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology are talking of a four-degree temperature rise over current levels in India after 2050.

A four-degree rise in temperature for India would mean, among other things, that the rainfall pattern in the subcontinent would become heavier but less regular. This would disrupt agriculture. In addition, the rising temperature would adversely impact power, water resources and biodiversity. It could displace thousands of people living in the Himalayan foothills and in coastal areas, as these areas are more vulnerable to global warming on account of melting ice, floods, landslides and rising sea levels and storms.

It is said that we are all related; only six degrees of separation exists between one individual and another, no matter where one lives and to which social strata one belongs. Whether this is a fact or not, every form of life in the biosphere is connected with others through the environment. The relationship could be close enough for us to worry about the consequences of irresponsible behaviour.

The four-degree increase in temperature that scientific projections are warning against might well mean that no country or individual can be totally free of responsibility or escape the effects of any such increase.

It would be prudent to prepare to adapt to such a change as well as to implement policy initiatives that seek to limit greenhouse gas emissions through various measures including greener transport and buildings, efficient energy use, using renewable and alternative energy and stepping up nuclear energy generation.