Climate change concerns

India has been earmarked as a prime defaulter in contributing to carbon emissions, while the real culprits lurk in the background

BY Noel g De soUZA

During the recent climate change conference in Durban, the EU demanded that all countries agree to a binding treaty. India’s response was hostile, pointing out that countries were being asked to commit in advance without knowing what the treaty provisions were going to be. That would be tantamount to Europe imposing a new colonial agenda on India, China and the USA!

The Indian environment minister, Jayanthi Natarajan, noted that developing countries were being held hostage saying, “Am I to write a blank cheque and sign away the livelihoods and sustainability of 1.2 billion Indians, without even knowing what the EU roadmap contains?”

Developed countries caused climate change problems initially with their industries and now with their lifestyles. India is being singled out for blame even though it has low per capita carbon emissions, whilst China is a moderate carbon emitter. The USA is both a high carbon emitter and a high per capita emitter, but it is also the biggest promoter of alternative energy technologies.

Currently, around 1,100 people aged over 65 years are estimated to die each year in Australia due to high temperatures.

There are also other health impacts, as the report points out, such as changes in the occurrence of infectious diseases in some locations; the examples given are tickborne encephalitis in Sweden and the Czech Republic, cholera in Bangladesh and malaria in the east African highlands.

The Australian Climate Commission has provided updated facts in The Critical Decade: Climate Science, Risks And Responses (2011). The introduction to the book states that “Climate science … is being attacked in the media by many with no credentials in the field.” It notes that the Intergovernmental Panel (led by Dr Rajendra Pachauri) was questioned on the basis of hacked emails in the UK.

For AustrAliA , it sAys thAt “rApidly growing coAstAl AreAs, such As northern And southeAst QueenslAnd, will be At risk, As well As lowlying wetlAnds such As kAkAdu nAtionAl pArk.”

Global warming is resulting in the melting of polar ice caps, the receding of Himalayan glaciers and the rise of sea levels. The NASA GISS Surface Temperature Analysis graph, which plots temperature increases from the 1880s, shows an acceleration of temperature rises from the 1940s to the present. Many countries, including Australia, have suffered unprecedented flooding and heat waves.

The document Preparing For Sea-Level Rise by several Australian scientists led by Dr John Church of the CSIRO, notes that for “every 1 m of sea-level rise there will be 50–100 m of horizontal erosion”. It says that millions of people may be forced to flee low-lying regions, including most of Bangladesh, the Mekong and other deltas “…potentially causing more deaths, disease and injury …”. For Australia, it says that “rapidly growing coastal areas, such as northern and southeast Queensland, will be at risk, as well as low-lying wetlands such as Kakadu National Park.”

There are also impacts of global warming on health. A report commissioned by the Australian Conservation Foundation and the Australian Medical Association, points out that heat waves are expected to increase in frequency and intensity.

The report states that early deaths caused by air pollution are expected to rise. Figures for the year 2000 estimate that there were some 900 to 2000 deaths which the Bureau of Transport and Regional Economics estimates to have substantial costs to the economy ($1.1 - 2.6 billion).

Yet another important and entirely man-made issue rightly belongs to “climate change”. This is the ozone hole which covers a large area including and surrounding Antarctica, caused by CFCs breaking down ozone in the presence of high frequency ultra-violet light. CFCs were invented in 1928 as nontoxic and non-inflammable refrigerants. It was realised in the 1970s that CFCs can break down ozone. The USA banned the use of CFCs in aerosol sprays and other nations have followed. The Montreal treaty of 1987 has most nations agreeing to phasing out the use of CFC.

The ozone layer protects life on earth by preventing harmful ultra-violet rays, which can affect the DNA of living creatures, from reaching the earth. Australia and several other southern hemisphere nations have the ozone hole directly above them leaving them unprotected from ultra-violet rays. Australia’s high incidence of skin cancers is attributed to these rays. To add to the problem, Australians love sunbathing on the beach. Besides, many work outdoors and are subjected to solar exposure. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare highlights the increase of skin cancers by 4.3 % for men and 1.8 % for women during the last decade.

It was the developed countries which caused climate change problems in the first place and climate change concerns must not allowed to be used to enact legislation which hampers the development of emerging economies.