Article | Climate Change Is Fast But We Are Very Slow | Dr (Ms) Sharad Singh | Central Chronicle

Article
Climate Change Is Fast But We Are Very Slow
     -    Dr (Ms) Sharad Singh
Writer, Author & Social Activist
Blogger - "Climate Diary Of Dr (Ms) Sharad Singh"

         The impacts of climate change are already being felt around the world - from more frequent and severe storms, floods, droughts, and wildfires - threatening our cities, communities, crops, water, and wildlife. Climate change poses a fundamental threat to nature, species, and people – but it’s not too late to take collective action. Unfortunately climate change is fast but we are slow. We are now beginning to understand the danger of climate change, yet our efforts to slow down or stop it are very slow. Whereas climate change is not a threat to any one caste, religion, community or country but to the entire earth on which not only humans but all living beings live.   

It is true that I am aware of the dangers of climate change. I continuously write articles about these dangers and the efforts to slow down the pace of climate change, and try to bring awareness through my speeches, but recently I deeply felt the slow pace of the efforts. The serious problem of climate change has arisen due to the burning of fossil fuels and excessive exploitation of natural resources. If climate change is not stopped in time, millions of people will become victims of disasters like starvation, water crisis and floods. This crisis will affect the entire world. Although climate change will have the greatest impact on poor countries. Along with this, those countries which are least responsible for climate change will suffer its biggest impact. Backward and developing countries will be at greater risk of problems arising from climate change. Climate change is affecting the Arctic region, Africa and small islands more. The North Pole (Arctic) is warming at twice the rate of the rest of the world. On the basis of data received from satellites, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has said that the Indian sea is rising at the rate of 2.5 mm annually. It is being estimated from a study that if this trend of rising sea level near the Indian border continues, then by the year 2050 the sea level may rise by 15 to 36 centimeters.
I want us to hand over a healthy and safe earth to our next generation, so that there can be continuity of life on earth. Indian culture is based on the ideology of “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam” i.e. the whole earth is our family. I always try to remind  by selecting those cultural values from our ancient texts which mention environmental protection and climate protection. Our Indian culture has been more thoughtful towards nature than other civilizations of the world. Even today, India is ready to lead the world in warning of the dangers of climate change. But there is a difference between "being eager" and "being ready". In other words, we want to do everything right but are not able to do it right. Let me give you an example of this in the form of one of my decisions. I felt sad while taking this decision but I was helpless. Then I assured myself that I would change my decision when I got an opportunity. Still, there is a tension left in the mind.
What happened was that I decided to buy a scooter. I wanted to buy an electric scooter. In this way I could avoid wasting fossil fuels and could also save the environment from fossil fuel pollution. When I started inquiring about electric scooties, I came to know that while petrol-powered scooties were available for up to Rs 1 lakh, electric scooties were starting from Rs 1.5 lakh. If the battery used in an electric scooter of a good company has to be replaced after five years, it will cost Rs 25-30 thousand. The good thing was that the cost of electricity was going to be less than the cost of petrol. But there are no charging stations in my city. If I forget to charge the car at home and get a low-charging signal midway, then where will I go and how will I charge? Do I have to knock on someone's door and request them to let me charge my car? Or else I will have to make arrangements to load the vehicle from there to the ground on another vehicle. This is a very practical thing. eBay sellers never like to talk about this. If we still talk to them about this, they laugh and say that this is a small town, it is the distance that will be a problem here. No such problem will ever arise. Of course it will not come if the car is left fully charged before leaving home. It is not necessary to remain so alert all the time. Here I do not want to blame any EV manufacturer, any EV agency or its salespeople. There is no fault of his. They are also in favor of EVs so that pollution free vehicles run on the roads. If there is any fault then it is the slow pace of our systems. Charging stations have not been built at the same speed with which EV vehicles have been launched in the market. There are no charging stations in small towns like my town. There is still a lot of time to set up charging stations in villages.
I thought practically and bought a petrol-powered scooter for myself. While buying it, I felt as if I was breaking my principles. Like I'm committing a crime. But I had no other option. No matter what the vehicle is, it may be needed at any time of the day or night. When a single woman or girl comes out of the house for some work after evening, how can she quickly check how much is the charging? Then what will she do if she misses the charge on the way? If there are charging points within a certain distance in the city then she will not face any problem but what will she do if there are no charging points or charging stations? When petrol suddenly runs out in a petrol vehicle, some driver passing by, as a humanitarian gesture, provides enough petrol so that the person in trouble can reach a petrol pump. But no one can help on the way in an EV vehicle even if one wants to.
All this is to say that we are not trying to keep up our efforts with the speed at which climate change is happening and the eagerness with which we wish to slow down the pace of climate change. Therefore, there is a need to accelerate practically our efforts to reduce the risks of climate change.
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Thank you Central Chronicle 🙏
(03.12.2023)
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