Listen to this articleClimate change is no more a thing of the future, it is no more about making the planet inhabitable for the future generations. It is happening right here, right this moment. Many of us discard the “theory” of climate change pointing towards the extra snowy winters in their towns. A simple explanation to that is that as temperatures rise, more water vapour is held in the atmosphere which leads to more intense rain and snow storms. Duration of cold weather decreases but the intensity can very well increase.
Global Mean Sea level has already risen by 4–8 inches over the past century. However, the annual rate of rise in the last decade of the century has been far greater than that in the past. Global warming is causing polar ice caps to melt. Complete meltdown of Greenland’s ice sheet would lead to rise in sea levels by 23 feet! And when that happens, most of our major cities will be submerged.
A recent study conducted by professors at University of Queensland compares climate change to passive smoking. It does more harm to the people next door than it does to the smoker himself. There is enough evidence to support the fact that the nations that are most vulnerable to slightest of changes in climate are not the ones that are causing it. Last year, Ethiopia was hit by the worst drought in decades, on contrary, Kenya faced deadly floods. As readers must have guessed right, Ethiopia with 8.1Mt and Kenya with 15Mt CO2 emissions in 2014 stand amongst some of the least contributors to climate change, ranked 104 and 90, respectively.
With global average temperatures having risen by 1 degree Celsius and the world halfway to the threshold of global warming, there is a sense of urgency amongst the world leaders and Paris deal is a result of the same. Representatives of nearly 200 countries at COP 21 reached a conclusion to “pursue efforts” to keep global warming below 1.5 degree Celsius, after being pushed by small islands which stand a chance of being wiped off the face of the earth. Countries aim to peak their emissions by 2030 and then rapidly scale down to achieve ‘net zero emissions’ in the second half of this century through reforestation and technologies such as carbon capture and storage.
On Earth Day, i.e. April 22, 2016, when the world leaders meet again to sign the Paris deal at global signing ceremony in New York City, we hope that our customers will do their bit by switching off their desktop computers while leaving and increasing their chiller set temperature by 1 degree Celsius.
“Climate change is real. It is happening right now. It is the most urgent threat facing our entire species and we need to work collectively together to stop procrastinating.”
- Leonardo DiCaprio, Academy Awards, 2016