JOIN USClimate change impact is getting bigger
The extreme climate events in Europe, North America and China in the last two months have not left any doubt about the fact that the earth is well into the time of climate change. The time for evidence is well past and now we are witnessing the manifestations of climate change on scales that are getting bigger and bigger.
Global temperatures soared in June, which was the warmest June on record in North America and the fourth warmest for the world overall. Unusually severe heat conditions were experienced in parts of Europe and the Russian Arctic also, which had an impact on a continent which is mostly the colder part of the globe. But after the hotter months came the more disastrous rains and floods which have devastated many areas of Europe, especially in Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. About 200 people have lost their lives, thousands have been displaced and a lot of property has been destroyed.
Heat waves and wildfires on one side and rains and floods on the other may seem to be natural events that are opposed to each other, but they reflect the same reality about climate change. There is now widespread scepticism about meteorological predictions, not because the systems have changed but because they are unable to understand the changes that are happening now. Changes in weather and other natural phenomena have been taking place for many decades, first imperceptibly and then on small scales. But they are now growing into big extreme events that are impacting lives in a big way.
If the same events that are happening in the US and Europe happened in Asia or Africa, the loss of lives and property would be many times more. This has been seen from the extreme climate phenomena and freak events like changes in rainfall patterns, cyclones and the rise in sea levels that happen more frequently now. China, which has implemented vast water management schemes across the country and tamed its rivers, has seen record rains and devastating floods this year. India, too, is witnessing irregular rainfall and floods in many places, including in Mumbai and Gurugram.
These are annual and even daily reminders of our failure to take climate action which will reverse the damage done or at least arrest it where it is now. There is still no agreement on the implementation of the Paris Agreement. All the governments, civil society and all organisations have to come together to address the challenge which is worsening by the day. The coronavirus will go away sooner or later, and life will limp back to normal. But climate change will cause irreversible loss and damage and life might become unsustainable.