The above map compiled by Greenpeace based on inputs of rainfall across the country this year shows that it exceeds the normal in most places. However, going by scientific reports the monsoons are near normal this year and hardly show a variation upwards by 5 percent.

Actually both the facts are true. The monsoons have been arriving as faithfully as they always have and delivering the goods. It is the distribution that has been disrupted and largely due to global warming. With India standing fifth in the world in terms of greenhouse gas emissions, the heating over land and sea cannot be ignored. As has been predicted by the IPCC report, the hydrological cycle will become more intense, both with higher annual average rainfall as well as longer periods of drought. It adds that in Asia, decreased availability of fresh water might effect more than a billion people by the 2050s.

Water resources are already under strain here. India has 16 per cent of global population but only 4 per cent of global water resources.

There is no more any doubt about the human hand in the global warming. Nor about some of the effects  which will have maximum impact on the poor nations.

It is high time we demand our government and policy makers to stop denying the facts and take the appropriate steps. Development need not suffer in the process as shown by the Stern report which estimated the impact of climate change as equivalent to a loss in average world consumption per head of 5-20 percent per year. This is far more than than the expected cost of cutting emissions, even if to the higher  550ppm CO2e level, pegged at a loss of 1 percent of GDP by mid century.

At this point, it is up to the government to decarbonise energy production. It can be done by making renewable energy an equal partner in energy production, by encouraging energy efficient appliances and vehicles, decentralising energy system wherever possible, etc. We cannot afford to wait anymore for someone else to take the step.