The Copenhagen summit on climate change is about to begin shortly. As usual the bickering between nations and between "developed" and "developing" nations is going on. The issue is that the developing nations especially India and China have to cut greenhouse gas emissions along with the developed countries. The rationale is that the emissions of India and China are increasing at a rapid pace. Even if the developed countries cut greenhouse gas emissions it will be more than offset by the emissions of the developing world defeating the whole purpose of fighting climate change. The rationale seems logical enough?
Sadly, climate change has become a political tool for the west to impose its controls over the emerging economies. Since much of the world media including our own Indian english channels are controlled by the west, it becomes a tool to control the public opinion in most of the world including India. Here are some "facts" about climate change you probably did not know
- The world's climate has been changing ever since Earth was formed 4.5 billion years ago. It has been happening even during the existence of human beings. When man was still primitive Sahara was not a desert but grassland and forest. River Saraswati probably flowed in Rajasthan. Men were hunting woolly mammoths during the last Ice Age. There was a "little" ice age in the 16th century. There are stories of crops being grown in Greenland by the Vikings suggesting that Earth may have been warmer. Although there is evidence that the present warming is "anthropogenic" it is still not conclusively proven.
- The common perception about global warming is that coastal cities are going to get flooded and there will be huge losses of life. According to even the worst case scenario postulated by IPCC the global sea level rise will not exceed 1m (3.3ft) by year 2100. I think gradual rise of 3ft in 90 years will not be dangerous to anybody.
- Thirdly, contrary to what media portrays the glaciers in the Himalayas are growing rather than shrinking. Higher temperatures lead to higher precipitation which offsets the melt loss due to warming. The Siachen glacier on which the Indian Army is stationed is an example.
- Fourthly, even if the Global warming is "anthropogenic" reducing emissions will not help in any way except to slow the warming. To stop and to reverse warming you need to have negative emissions which is very difficult to achieve in present circumstances.
Whether global warming is real or not, whether it is actually harmful or not is a different issue. The worst part is how it has been used as a tool to erect the barriers of protectionism against the emerging economies. EU is mulling a carbon tax against countries which do not cut emissions. After ruining many nations using the IMF as a tool and destroying local industries across the world, now US and Europe are afraid to face competition from the so called "Third World". It speaks volumes about the hypocrisy of the west and US in particular. India has been made the villain of the whole show when the per capita emission in India is just 2 tons of CO2 per year wheras in US it is 20tons. Out of the 2 tons 200kg is from breathing alone! Probably one day they will tell that Indians should stop breathing and die because they are emitting greenhouse gases!
