When I was growing up, the cricketing season was the most exciting. Those who had a small radio that can fit into the school bag had a lot of friends. If this radio came with a white earphone, then it was even better. In fact, legend has it that the US Secret Service learnt how to mask the wires of their earpiece from school kids in India, because we had to listen to the commentary even while class was on, without the teacher noticing! The perpetual hushed, whispered, acted-out, mimed question to the guy in class with all the radio equipment was 'what's the score'. Rumour has it, that the speed with which the update was broadcast across the class and indeed the whole school was studied by Mukesh Ambani and his team as they were setting up Jio!
Since then, some of my priorities have shifted. Now when I ask 'what's the score', I am not referring to the ball that is soaring into the sky from a cricketers bat, but the extent to which we are treating the sky as an open sewerage plant. Callously we fill the atmosphere with carbon emissions from burning fossil fuels, causing global warming and the resulting climate change events are leading to extreme climate events like soaring heat and droughts, unprecedented floods, devastating wild fires, increased ocean acidity and much more costing the global economy billions of dollars, and the common man everything that is dear to him. So what's the score now? Here is an update.
2015 was the 39th consecutive year with global temperatures above the 20th century average. 2016 is on track to become the hottest on record. This is the third year in a row this has happened. 16 of the 17 hottest years on record globally have come since the beginning of the twenty-first century. July 2016 is the hottest month on record and is the 377 consecutive month where the global temperature is above the 20th century average. In India, as of May 2016, much of the country experienced record-breaking temperatures and droughts. At least 300 people have died in the space of a month as a result of the heat.
Extreme rainfall events have been on the rise in India. According to Relief Web, as of 22nd August, Bihar State authorities confirmed that 119 people had died and 150,000 people were sheltering in 162 relief camps. The monsoon rains affected more than 6 million people, killed at least 300, affected more than 19,000 buildings as rivers overflowed in Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand states. The River Ganga in Bhagalpur district in Bihar and Ballia district in UP flowed way above their danger mark.
Flooding that overwhelms or damages public infrastructure, termed aptly 'nuisance flooding' has increased on all three US coasts of the US between 300 and 925 percent since the 1960s. According to Earth Sky, 2015 has been the worst year US wild fire year based on data going back to 1960. Wildfires burned more than 10 million acres of land, which is a 54% increase over the ten-year average. with the worst that is yet to come.
The consequences of climate change are expensive. In the US, California's recent historic drought is estimated to have cost the state $2.74 billion in 2015 and resulted in the loss of more than 21,000 jobs. According to the Asian Development bank, India may stand to lose 1.8 percent of its annual GDP by 2050 due to climate change.
We watch the score so that we know how much progress we still need to make. The cost of climate change is something we need to watch on a regular basis. Who is paying for all these losses and devastations? You and me through the taxes, medical bills and insurance premiums. What about the companies and other entities who are causing the carbon emissions? Are the profits they earn a penalty for them? Is the suffering that millions go through a reward for their existence? Let's watch the score closely, but time has now come for us to participate actively, and not just watch the score.
The writer is an author, speaker, trainer, consultant, an entrepreneur and an expert in applied sustainability.
Visit: www.CBRamkumar.com
