The Hindu Business Line : Climate change challenges

This year's World Environment Day focuses on the effects that climate change can have on ecosystems and communities such as Kerala, whose coastal zones could be irreparably damaged, resulting in a loss of tourist traffic.

This year's World Environment Day was observed around the globe in many ways, including street rallies, bicycles parades, green concerts, essay and poster competitions in schools, tree planting, recycling efforts and clean-up campaigns. Kerala, being among the greenest of India's States, made special efforts to celebrate the day by reasserting its commitment to protect and preserve the environment.

Apart from the State-wide Ente Maram (My Tree) tree-planting campaign organised in connection with World Environment Day, individual cities got in on the act too. The Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, for instance, announced a tie-up with a Tamil Nadu-based firm to recycle the plastic waste collected from households and commercial establishments in the capital and the rejects from the garbage treatment plant at Vilappilsala, on the outskirts of the city.

Ernakulam district saw a spate of rallies, seminars and planting of saplings. Various non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and organisations of traders have pledged support to green projects and many of them have offered to sponsor trees.

U.N. MOTTO

While all these activities are undoubtedly noble-minded, the original motto behind the declaration of the World Environment Day ought not to be forgotten. World Environment Day was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1972 to mark the opening of the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment. Another resolution, adopted by the General Assembly the same day, led to the creation of United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

Commemorated each year on June 5, the World Environment Day, says the United Nations, is one of the principal vehicles through which the world body stimulates global awareness of the environment and enhances political attention and action.

The thematic slogan selected for this year's World Environment Day is `Melting Ice - a Hot Topic?' In support of International Polar Year, the theme focuses on the effects that climate change is having on polar ecosystems and communities, and the ensuing consequences around the world.

The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predicted last month that as global warming melts the polar ice caps, sea levels will rise by 18 to 59 cm this century. According to the the IPCC scientific report, `Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability', "Coasts are projected to be exposed to increasing risks, including coastal erosion, due to climate change and sea-level rise. The effect will be exacerbated by increasing human-induced pressures on coastal areas. Sea-level rise and human development are together contributing to losses of coastal wetlands and mangroves and increasing damage from coastal flooding in many areas."

BLEAK SCENARIO

The consequences are likely to be, among others, depleting water resources, carbon dioxide accumulation in the atmosphere, deforestation and a reduction of landfill area for solid waste. Already, sand mining is creating serious problems for Kerala.

Two years after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, which halted sand mining activity briefly, the lucrative business is back with a bang along the coasts, rivers and estuaries of Kerala despite litigation, government policing and protests by local communities. Mining and construction activities - including land grabbing and encroachment - are extinguishing coastal land strips and sand dunes, as well as the coast's protective green barrier of mangroves and vegetation.

Climate change is also likely to have an impact on a growth area in Kerala's industrial sector - tourism. In less than 25 years, climate change will have a radical impact on the global travel industry, according to the Holiday 2030 report launched by Halifax Travel Insurance. The Halifax Travel Insurance Holiday 2030 report reveals that by 2030 global average temperatures are likely to be at least one to two degrees higher than now.

The implications could be dramatic for global holiday destinations. By 2030 global sea levels could be 72 mm higher but accelerated melting of the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets could contribute to levels of 25 cm. Every one mm sea-level rise translates into a 1.5 metre retreat of the shoreline. This means that by 2030, shorelines could be expected to have retreated by at least 108 metres, and possibly by up to 375 metres, equivalent to the height of the Empire State building in the United States. This would wipe out beaches across the globe and coastal amenities such as hotels, golf courses and retail facilities would be threatened, says Easier Travel, a portal of Easier Media Ltd.

THREAT TO GOA, KERALA

In India, the main impact of climate change will be on Goa and Kerala, through rising sea levels leading to beach erosion and inundation of shoreline properties. Kerala, being low-lying, will be susceptible to rising sea levels, although due to its size, fewer people will be affected. Nevertheless, according to the Halifax report and Easier Travel, the coastal zones that support much of the tourist trade will suffer increasingly from beach erosion and inundation in the run-up to 2030 and beyond. Both Goa and Kerala are within the Indian Ocean's cyclone belt, and will be affected by the increase in the number of more powerful cyclones predicted to occur due to climate change.

This will raise the probability of wind damage and coastal flooding due to storm surges, exacerbating the problems caused by rising sea levels. Climate change may also result in a more unpredictable monsoon, leading, on the one hand, to severe flooding, and, on the other, to periods of extended drought, causing water shortages.

Clearly, therefore, the observance of this year's World Environment Day should be more than a token gesture for the future of Kerala, its environment and its citizens.

The writer can be contacted at kgkumar@gmail.com

More Stories on : Climate & Weather | Random Walk | Environment | Kerala

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page