India makes little contribution to climate change. It is home to 18% of the world’s population and emits only 3% of the greenhouse gases that warm the planet.
But India is suffering from climate change. It’s happening now: Over the last three months, heat waves have devastated North India and neighboring Pakistan. The temperature has exceeded 110 degrees Fahrenheit.It’s so hot that the birds overheat Fell from the sky A historic bridge between Gurgaon in India and northern Pakistan Collapsed After the snow and ice melted in the glacial lake, torrent water was released.
Scientists say global warming almost certainly affected heat waves. Also, rising temperatures make unusually hot weather more common not only in India and Pakistan, but around the world, including the United States.
Indians have responded by staying indoors as much as possible, especially during the afternoon hours. The government encouraged this, closing schools early and urging businesses to change their work schedules. This measure has reduced the death toll. Less than 100 people have been recorded so far, an improvement from the heat wave that killed thousands a few years ago.
However, these measures are costly. Students learn less because school time is reduced. People are less productive because they don’t go to work. The heat kept some farmers inside, Dysgenesis harvestAs a result, yields have declined and global food prices have risen. Social life is confused.
This situation is reminiscent of the various effects of Covid’s blockade. Measures to adapt to climate change can help prevent the worst health consequences, but with real costs. “We are saving lives, but we are losing our livelihood,” said Roxy Cole, an Indian climate scientist.
And many people still need to go out in the heat. Cole told me that he had recently shown signs of heat stroke after his son returned home from school. (In this episode, Kol and his wife urged school to finish early.) In Delhi, the afternoon heat left climate researcher Chandnisin and the next morning, “very tired and intense. I had a headache and was completely dehydrated, “she wrote. At the Times Opinion.
Global disparity
The geography of poor countries (many near the equator) is not the only reason climate change is such a burden to them. Their poverty is another factor, leaving them with less resources to adapt.
“Climate change is one of the most serious inequality of our time,” said my colleague Somini Sengupta, a global climate correspondent who writes the Times climate newsletter. “People who didn’t cause most of the problems already feel most of the impact.”
There is a paradox in the climate crisis. India has never been fully industrialized and therefore emits less greenhouse gases than the United States, European countries and other developed countries. However, because it is not industrialized, it has less resources to adapt than in richer and more polluted countries.
Less than 10 percent of Indians have air conditioning at home. Many lack reliable electricity, limiting their ability to use fans. This problem has been particularly severe lately, with coal shortages causing power outages.
There is tension here. To adapt, each country must adopt the latest technology. However, these technologies often require global warming oil and coal, and their use exacerbates climate change and, as a result, extreme weather events. In that case, the weather needs further adaptation.
The proliferation of clean energy technologies such as solar energy and wind power is an effort to relieve that tension and provide countries with a way to industrialize without pollution from global warming. Climate disasters have already hit much of the world, and their efforts are in the fight against time to prevent more crises like India.
Related: In the United States, poor Americans also suffer from heat waves due to poor access to air conditioning, swimming pools, and even trees. These recent photos from New York highlight the difference.
the latest news
Tulsa shooting
Depp-Heard Trial Decision
The jury yesterday discovered that both actors Amber Heard and Johnny Depp had been defamed in a fallout from a turbulent one-year marriage. However, it ruled in his favor, giving him over $ 10 million in damages and $ 2 million in damages.
Depp sued Hard in an editorial in The Washington Post, which he said falsely implied that he was abusive. I heard one of Depp’s lawyers calling her accusations a “hoax.” The trial, broadcast live on television and online, revealed a highly toxic relationship in which both stars condemned the violence of the other.
Case details:
Play, see, eat
What to cook
Thank you for spending part of your morning at the Times. see you tomorrow. — David
PS Dodai Stewart, Editor of The Times, Joins Metro Desk To cover life in New York City..