For those of you who are not familiar with this term, climate change is any significant long term change in weather condition over a period of time. It is the reason why ice caps are melting, why over 25000 species are in danger of disappearing, why students are not in schools, but out on the streets with placards and posters holding strikes across the globe to get the message over to the authorities.

Climate change is mainly caused by global warming which is the process of the earth’s warming up and rise in temperature.

It has now turned into a matter of great concern and with good reason. Since the beginning of the 20th century, the temperature of the earth has increased by 0.8 degree Celsius. Global warming is harmful for us, animals and plants. In fact many organisms have died out because of climate change.

Climate change is becoming more of a reality now. Sea levels have risen and the arctic ice is melting. The higher temperatures lead to more rainfall which leads to flash floods which in turn causes soil erosion. Warmer temperatures have also led to more intense hurricanes approaching our coastlines. Heat waves and droughts are becoming even more common and our demise doesn’t seem so impossible anymore.

Climate change is also the reason for the disappearance of almost 175 (yes, 175!) lakes in the arctic region in the last few decades.

Melting of ice sheets is more destructive effect of climate change, perhaps the worst. In fact arctic ice is melting at a far quicker rate than expected. Large portions of Greenland ice seem to be sliding towards the sea. Even Antarctica seems to be getting warmer. In 1995, a gigantic glacier broke off and floated out to sea.

This incident was a revelation to scientists around the globe. Higher sea levels also threaten low-lying coastal areas of the world, such as the Netherlands and Bangladesh. Not to mention that of the 15 largest cities in the world, 13 lie in coastal areas. Alexandria, long beach and New Orleans are just some of the cities at risk.

These rising sea levels can wipe off entire islands from the face of the earth. Don’t believe me, well, here is the proof*. In the 1980s, Lohachara Island, a part of the Sunderbans delta in the Hugli River of West Bengal, was completely washed off the earth due to rising sea levels.

As the water levels continue to rise, it has been predicted that island nations from the Maldives to Marshall Islands, vast areas of from countries from Bangladesh to Egypt will be submerged. In accordance to this, Indonesia has already lost 24 of its islands to mining and other activities.

Among the marine life, the majestic whale and our loveable dolphins are also under threat. Not to mention the polar bears, the penguins and many others. What truly disgusts me however is that a few countries are attempting to take advantage of the melting ice caps for more commercial shipping of oil, gas and mining exploration developments, which will adversely affect the environment. This will also lead to the end of the 300 or so north Atlantic right whales we have left.

And despite all this, we still haven’t opened our eyes. We are lost in our fantasies of glorious stacks of money and our never-ending fame. It is so ironic that we talk so much about beauty and we spend thousands every year to travel to lands where our technological advancements (luckily) have not yet taken over. Who knows, at the rate we are going it is very possible that our future generations will only be able to read about the beauty and serenity of nature. Forget reading! There probably won’t even be trees to make paper from! The generations after us will curse us. They will never forgive us and they shouldn’t. The alarm rang decades ago but the world still hasn’t opened its eyes. It is not too late. It is finally time to wake up and take action as it is rightly said “if not you, who? If not now, when?”

Kolkata news line – 22 yrs. after deluge, they fear more 31 October 2006