Monday, April 02, 2007

Is Anyone Listening To Warning On Global warming?

After a long time, I found today's newspaper headlines screaming "Himalayan Meltdown only 20 years away ..." truly newsworthy. Usually, this space is taken up by news relating to cricket World Cup or such banal issues like government's ban on TV channels for committing obscenity or hike in bank loan rates. As if, these things deserve more attention than the apocalyptic scenario of impending global warming.
According to an UN draft report by its climatic panel, the glaciers in the Himalayas will melt away affecting hundreds of millions of people. The draft technical summary warns "If current warming rates are maintained, Himalayan glaciers could decay at very rapid rates shrinking from 500,000 square kilometres to 100,000 square kilometres by 2030s. In Africa and Asia, millions would go hungry due to damage to farming and water supplies. In lands close to the equator, declining crop yields would leave hundreds of millions unable to grow food".
The whole world is slowly waking up to the stark reality and several community measures are being taken on a war footing to ward off the effects of greenhouse gas emissions. In Sydney, they switched off incandescent lights and air-conditioners to conserve power and thereby collaborate to fight global warming.
Our leaders here are seized with more pressing things like election in UP, Supreme Court ruling on OBC quota etc. Of course, they are far-sighted enough as far as their vote-bank politics are concerned and would rather be interested in expanding their own fortunes than worrying about shrinking Himalayan glaciers by 2030s. By then, it would be too late to rectify their Himalayan blunder!

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