Last week the world saw first ever case when a woman in Canada visited a doctor with constant breathing problem and the doctor diagnosed her illness caused by climate change. There was a wild fire raging in that area.
This case in Canada should not be seen in isolation. World over we have reached a stage of ACT NOW or face the consequences. Erosion in the ozone layer, rapid deforestation, unplanned urban growth are only few visible reasons behind the worsening scenario. In last three years we have seen a major shift in the behavior of every season. Summer months are getting prolonged, rains are happening in least expected part of the year. Sea storms are now more frequent and devastating. We have taken the gifts given to us by the mother nature, for granted. We have a very misplaced notion that these natural resources will always be
available to us.
We now look at India, where this monsoon season caused a higher number of landslides and destruction when compared to the previous monsoons. Entire Himalayan region, consisting of Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Garhwal and Kumaon had major landslides, causing human deaths. Here the most obvious
reason is soil erosion, caused by the destruction of green cover. For the newly carved out state of Uttarakhand, the last twenty years have been very bad as the migration from the hill region to the plains
was fast and it led to requirement of land for new urban areas. Even the towns situated in the hills have not been left untouched. Many of these beautiful hill stations are not even a shade of what they were some thirty or forty years ago. Water has become scarce across the hills.
Many well known experts on the Himalayan ecology had warned us some ten years ago that our major rivers like Ganga and Yamuna will dry up after twenty five to thirty years if Himalayan glaciers melt at the present rate. We can only imagine what horrific impact that situation will cause to the huge human
population, beside a vast and beautiful eco system these two rives support and sustain. Survival of many species of animals, birds and aquatic family are directly linked with the survival of these great rivers.
Rise in the earth’s temperature, sharp shits in the season’s cycle, melting glaciers, droughts and frequent sea storms are early warning signs for humanity before the impending doom.
