The Campaign on Climate Change

A campaign is a series of planned activities with a particular social, commercial or political aim.

Campaigning is done against nuclear weapons and war.

Similarly, advertisement, election, empowerment of women and many more activities are promoted by campaigns organized by concerned people.

Nowadays, climate change is one of the fears all living and non-living on earth face.

Crying for the climate change is a campaign active all over the world.

We are very much concerned about our future generation.

Therefore, campaigning on climate change has become popular and sometimes fashion around the world.

Realizing the importance of climate change, the Nobel Foundation awarded Nobel Peace Prize to Al Gore, the ozone man, former Vice-President of the US and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

They were responsible to bring out the truth that disastrous climate change is caused by global warming for which human activities contribute a lot.

No one believed the statement, but later on the scientists of IPCC calculated the human activities which influence the changes in earth’s climate.

This calculation could make the countries to wake up and think.

A documentary film “An Inconvenient Truth” produced by Al Gore opened the eyes of many politicians, planners and people from all walks of life.

In fact, the film won Oscars award for best documentary and best song.

At any cost, the man-made climate change has to be counteracted.

The bad effects of climate change on the Globe over time have been known even before two or three decades.

The green house gases – carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, halocarbons – are responsible for global warming.

The first and foremost effect is the rise in earth’s temperature.

The vulnerable people started dying during summer months in advanced countries like France and Germany.

Once everyone saw such tragic conditions around, they come forward to support the campaign on climate change.

Many organizations interested in the future of humanity cross the world began campaigning against global warming.

Rising temperature affects not only human beings but also animals and plants on Planet Earth.

Prolonged droughts and untimely rain caused crop loss and reduction in food production.

The burning of fossil fuels and large scale air-conditioning are on the increase everywhere in the world.

The commercial interest and political interference do not come forward to support the campaign against global warming.

Those people are not bothered about the far reaching results which are going to be the greatest threat to our future generation who are none other than our own children, grand-children and grand-grand children.

The campaigners caution the policy makers and politicians well in advance to take appropriate measures to reduce or arrest global warming.

In this case, the public at individual level has to cooperate and indulge in action.

The ‘Ten Things To Do” for developed nations was proposed by AL Gore as “Green Agenda”.

They are:

1. Replace incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent lights.
2. Dive less.
3. Recycle more.
4. Check vehicle tire pressure for better mileage.
5. Use less hot water.
6. Avoid products with excessive packaging.
7. Plant a tree.
8. Turn off electrical equipment not in use.
9. Adjust your thermostat.
10. Spread the word.

The options laid out are not new to developing nations like India, because most of the organizations including the Government interested in development was campaigning these ten things for quite some time knowingly or unknowingly.

Adoption of most energy efficient technologies should be followed by everyone whether he / she lives in cities or villages.

Carbon sequestration in the soil is one of the measures by which the productivity of dry land can be increased and reduce the carbon emission according to the Director-General of ICRISAT, Hyderabad.

Incorporation of carbon and availability of organic carbon in soil help increasing the crop productivity.

Dry lands occupy 80 per cent of agricultural land and produce 58 per cent of the world’s staple foods.

Such a vast area should help in sequestration of carbon, provided we incorporate green manure regularly into the soil.

It is not a new concept again, an old one taught to me when I was a student of agriculture during 1960s.

Even today the organic farming campaigners recommend this concept to improve the soil fertility and at the same time sequestering carbon.

In this connection, one has to think of the oxidation of organic carbon in the tropical into carbon dioxide.

We are silent on this aspect.

However, I feel someone has to look into this crucial problem.

Probably, ICRISAT, a world body may think of the sequestration of carbon in tropical soils and its fate in the long run.

Forests are one of the largest ‘sink’ for carbon dioxide.

Deforestation caused by human activities and large scale wild fire brings down the ‘sink size’ and allow the earth to emit more carbon dioxide.

Coal based power plants emit enormous quantity of carbon dioxide.

Therefore, the suggestion is to opt for nuclear and solar power.

Renewable energies such as wind, solar and biofuel were highlighted as important sources to reduce the global warming to 2.0 – 2.4oC, generally recognized as the threshold level.

Report after report stresses the need for controlling the climate change through a number of campaigns all over the world – developed, developing and under develop.

Creating awareness among the people of the world is the ultimate aim of most of the organizations interested in global climate change.

Discouraging deforestation, reforestation, using ethanol based bio-fuels, expansion of conservation tillage to reduce carbon release from farm fields are some of the possible measures put forth by various committees instituted for studying the climate change.

In order to follow these policies, there should certainly be a political will and peoples’ participation.

The probability of human activities causing global warming is now 90 per cent as compared to 66 per cent in 2001 according to Dr. R.K. Pachuri, the head of IPCC.

Therefore, it is obvious that the human activities over years have contributed more and more to climate change.

If the present conditions continue, the carbon dioxide level in the atmosphere will be 550 ppm by 2100 as compared to the present level of 280 ppm.

Curbing the carbon dioxide emissions are in the hands of the US, Australia, Europe, China and India.

The threshold of carbon dioxide concentration is 450 ppm for dangerous climate change.

Global warming also causes significant sea level rise which is unavoidable for many countries during 21st Century.

The fear of global warming is felt by only some people and campaign for climate change.

It is the question of survival in the long run.

If we take it easy now then it would be difficult to cope with the problem at later stage.

Therefore, let us follow the green agenda as much as possible to support the campaign on climate change.