All World
Gayatri Pariwar

Is 2012 a reality?

A film titled ‘2012’ had become quite popular in the recent past. It was screened in most of the theatres all over the country. In the movie, it was shown that the solar flares would envelop the Earth and lead to host of disasters like the melting of tectonic plates of the Earth, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, Tsunami and several other natural calamities that will destroy the world as we know it. Except for some modern buildings, everything else would get destroyed. Is this the truth? Is this going to happen?  The director of the movie took cue from the ending of Mayan calendar and presented his imagination in the form of film ‘2012’. Hence it is a science fiction. At the same time, for the past 50 years we have done so much to increase global warming through our lifestyle that everything shown in the movie could potentially become a reality.

Destruction can hasten

The hottest topics of discussion today are – global warming, increasing temperature, irregular rainfall, and interchange of seasons which are affecting the whole world. Though all the nations of the world are seeing these ill-effects, they are not agreeing to bring about necessary changes in their respective countries. During the global summit that was arranged in Copenhagen, Denmark during December 2009, it was observed that most of the countries were of the opinion that even if there was a threat of imminent destruction, they were not prepared to come to a consensus. In spite of so many environmental protection movements across the globe, people in positions of political power refuse to heed the stark reality that if the temperature of the earth continues to rise at the present rate, it will not heed to any geographical boundaries and all of them will have to face the consequences. Everyone will reap its ill-consequences, be it blacks or whites; rich or poor. The scientists are foretelling that the holocaust may happen within the next 10 years itself.

Dr. R.K.Pachauri of our own country has received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 (along with Al Gore of USA) for his efforts in the area of world peace and environment. He heads the Inter-Government Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) – the international panel formed on environmental change. He says that if all the countries of the world continue to emit greenhouse gases, then the changes that take place will be permanent and the entire Earth will be affected by it. This situation is also not too far and will begin to show up by 2015 itself.

Someone else pays for others’ mistakes

The past decade has been the hottest in the past 110 years. It has seen the hottest summer, heat waves in cold regions, rising sea levels and a drastic fall in food production. There is less rain and the oceans are heating up. The signs of a worldwide famine are clearly visible. Increasing urbanization, industrialization and the growing number of vehicles, release of chloro-flouro-carbons into the atmosphere, increasing air travel, emission of smoke (whether from a chimney or a generator), destroying the ecological balance (cutting trees, building of big dams, growing concrete jungle in the form of mega cities and motorways) and most importantly, our opulent lifestyles impact the entire world. The impact is much higher on countries with high populations, or densely populated or backward. Afro-Asian countries, including India and China, come in this category. Developed countries are the main culprits for creating this havoc of pollution of unprecedented proportions.

Guilty developed countries refuse to heed

In December 2009, representatives from 192 countries descended in the Bella Center in Copenhagen, Denmark. This was the largest gathering of countries for discussing the global climate after the signing of Kyoto protocol. All countries agreed that the cause of global warming is due to excessive release of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere. The CO2 released is creating a blanket around the earth’s atmosphere and is preventing the release of heat from earth. The trapped heat spreads on the surface increasing the temperature of the earth as a whole. As a result, the glaciers are melting, the sea levels are rising, the weather has become erratic and there is an increase in the number of floods and famines across the globe. It was agreed that all countries must cut their carbon emissions. The percentage cut for each country was worked out. However, the developed countries, who are the biggest culprits, did not accede to this. They refused not only to the new cuts, but also failed to implement the previously accepted reductions.  They did not want to climb down from their so-called developed state. What an irony is this?

Our future in a warmer planet

Without going into too much technical detail, it suffices to say that if we analyze the average temperature of the world over the past 50 years, we find that the average temperature of earth in 1960 was 13.6 C and it has risen to 14.6 C now. The most dramatic change has been seen since 1989. The hottest year was 1998. Then come respectively the years 2005, 2003, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2001, 1997, 1995 and 2000. It is expected that 2010 would be the hottest year. Every year, we add 200 billion tons of carbon to the atmosphere whereas the acceptable levels are 200 times less than this. Every person should understand the gravity of the situation and raise his voice in this matter. The attitude that our lives are not going to change anyway will not help. Neither will the attitude of ‘I didn’t cause this mess; I won’t worry about this’ help. Understand why it is important to do at least something.

Why is it necessary to act?

1.Our country is a developing one. After China, Indian economy is the fastest growing     economy. With growing temperature, the difference between the rich and poor nations increases and poor nations suffer. Deaths due to starvation will increase.

2.With rising sea levels, cities and beaches on the sea shores will be submerged and lost forever. If the carbon emission is not reduced, cities like Calcutta, Mumbai and Chennai can be submerged any time after 2020.

3.Due to irregular weather pattern, production of food crops will go down, famines and droughts will increase. In such circumstances, robberies and other criminal tendencies will increase. This can take a scary turn in the next 2 – 3 years. The increasing tussle between the haves and have-nots will increase to such levels that it might take the form of civil wars as is happening in Africa.

4.The snow in the Himalayas will melt, the rivers will flood, and the sea level will rise. The increasing demand for energy and the opulent lifestyle coupled with decreasing energy sources and polluted water will create such a colossal havoc that all the so-called development will not only stop, but will become meaningless.

5.Due to building of huge dams, the water-flow downstream in rivers like Ganga, Yamuna, Kaveri, Godavari will reduce and might even stop completely. Earthquakes will increase, more disasters will haunt us and no one can save us from complete destruction.

6.Typhoons and storms in the seas will affect almost half of India’s population; and they will reduce the crop output even further.

What should we do?

What should we do then? We should initiate a movement and start changing our lifestyles first. Use more and more green technology. Save water. Start water harvesting. Start agitations against building dams across rivers. Stop polluting the water sources. Start discussions on inclusive development of the villages. Stop migration towards cities and start developing villages. Use petroleum products like vehicles and cooking on LPG only if it is unavoidable. Reduce the use of air conditioners and freezers. Use products that run on solar and wind energy and also increase awareness about them. Plant medicinal plants and trees and work towards nurturing them. Build gardens in memory of people and make this a big movement. Work towards refining the subtle atmosphere through sadhana and enroll more and more people towards this goal. Thus will be created a critical mass of enlightened persons who might become the saviors of Mother Earth and humanity.

It is the question of every person’s existence

It is important to realize that the CO2 emission from India is only 3%. The developed countries should not only cut down their emission by 90%, but they also have to set up a huge fund to ensure that the progress of developing countries is not hampered by adopting greener technologies. Presently, it is not the question of survival of a few people, but all humans. Hence all the countries of the world will have to put in concerted efforts to rejuvenate the Earth by 2050. The important among these countries are (1) America; (2) Australia; (3) Japan; (4) Canada; (5) France; (6) Germany; (7) England; (8) Russia; (9) Saudi Arabia; (10) Italy; (11) India and (12) China. We have to put our efforts in collective sadhana such that these superpowers can come together and unitedly work for saving the earth. Whatever ideas have been put forth in the previous paragraphs are not easy to implement. However, it is essential to revolutionize our thoughts. Electricity has become very essential resource these days. Solar energy is expensive. But if governments and non-governmental organizations put their best foot forward with the backing of the corporate world, then nothing is impossible.

We are not here to take the world back to pre-industrial era of 18th century. We should make progress but that progress should be sustainable. That progress should benefit each and every citizen of the world. They should be able to breathe in open air; cycle of seasons should come at right time; the Earth should remain as beautiful as God has given it to us. Nothing will be achieved with just one ‘Copenhagen’. To prevent destruction, there have to be concerted efforts worldwide. We can at least start working at our village, town or city-level. In this world-wide movement initiated by Gayatri Pariwar for protecting the environment, will you extend your co-operation? If yes, please become actively involved in this campaign of saving and nurturing the biosphere of Mother Earth.