Parmeshwar Devkota

There is no denying the fact that the environment started getting hotter only after the industrial revolution in the Western Hemisphere from 1850. Many Western countries, especially Britain, France, Italy and the United States used fossil fuel and coal as the main source of energy for their industries which produced CO2 in excessive quantity in the air. CO2 has the characteristic of absorbing the heat from the sun. Various other gases produced in the 19th century are also responsible for heating this planet. With technological advancements, new electric and electronic gadgets such as refrigerators were developed. Such gadgets produce chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which have the harmful quality of reducing the ozone layer.

When stratosphere deflects, the harmful direct rays of the sun come to the land and the sea and heat them. As a result, the water in the sea has become more volatile, the ice-sheet of the Arctic and mountains are being melted at an alarming rate. This tendency breaks the seasonal chain. The earth’s temperature has been rising significantly, leading to uneven and unpredictable rains. This pattern is affecting farming as well as other activities like travel and tourism. The natural calamities such as excessive heatwaves, floods, tsunamis, cyclones, forest fires, landslides are the outcomes of air pollution.

Realising the fact that the burning of fossil fuels and coal is the main source of CO2, the nations and institutions from across the world have now been working on replacing these sources of energy and promoting alternative sources like electricity, wind energy, solar energy and hydrogen energy. But, it is hard to replace the fossil fuel and coal at once which has about 40 per cent stake in the global energy sector.

The crux of the problem is the unprecedented rise in the earth’s temperature. If nothing is done to contain it now, the temperature may increase 4 degrees Celsius within some decades or so. If it were the case, the coastal cities in Japan, India, Miami of the USA, Shanghai of China could submerge into the ocean as Dwarakas had sunk long back. Similarly, the nations such as the Maldives, the Philippines and Madagascar, are also likely to be submerged into the sea. Likewise, mountains would turn black as Kalapathar and the tourism industry would see the worst times.

The worst of all things would be that human beings would not be able to bear the heat in normal conditions. Lovely birds, friendly animals and fearful reptiles, now chirping and lurking in jungles, would die out. The plants and jungles would cut fire with sun blaze as the Australian forests did this year. Because the environment crosses all the physical boundaries, pollution has now become a common problem for developed as well as developing nations alike.

So, all the nations and world agencies have been working to contain the temperature to 1.5 degree Celsius. But, the key to containing the temperature is with the big and industrial nations as they are the leading polluters. But, sad to say, they agree only politically on COP26 in Glasgow.

It may take years to contain the temperature to 1.5 degree Celsius. That is why the authorities of the coastal cities and the countries near oceans should start shifting their settlements to the higher locations as soon as possible to avert natural calamities like tsunamis. The Maldives, for example, which is only 1.5 metres above sea, may face a huge tsunami at any time. Such disasters might pose a threat to the nation’s existence.