Taiaba Pushpo
There are more severe catastrophes to come in the world than the Covid-19 epidemic. The cause of this catastrophe is going to be environmental pollution and climate change. Seventy percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions over the previous two decades are attributable to just 100 fossil fuel producers. Climate change is gradually getting out of control as a result of environmental pollution. The earth’s temperature is rising rapidly. Polar ice is melting. Sea and river water are exceeding the danger line. The lowlands are sinking. The frequency of natural disasters like heavy rains, floods, cyclone, and wildfires are increasing. But it’s also important to acknowledge that allocating emissions to someone-the extractors of fossil fuels, the manufacturers who make products using them, the governments who regulate these products, the consumers who buy them – does not necessarily mean saying they are responsible for them.Millions of people are being displaced from their homes. Such concerns have been expressed in the World Bank’s updated Grounds Wells report. The World Bank report says that the catastrophe will likely to start in the world in 2030. It will take a terrible turn in 2050.
Due to the climate change, in South Asia alone four crore people will be immigrants. Half of which will be Bangladeshi. Another survey found that air travel would increase the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphereanother two percent over the next 20 years. As a result, environmental scientists believe that the disaster will appear more quickly. According to a World Bank report, 217 million people will be homeless in the next three decades due to climate change. International agencieshave warned that this would be the case if urgent steps were not taken to reduce carbon emissions and reduce inequality of resources around the world. The report is detrimental to tackle this crisis. Encouragement has been given to reduce gas emissions and sustainable development. According to the latest research from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), we have less than 11 years to make the transformation necessary to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.
The level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere would have to be cut by 45 per cent by 2030 to prevent global warming above 1.5°C – in other words, the threshold at which the worst impacts of climate change could be averted.According to AP and Al Jazeera, the World Bank has recently released a ‘Groundswell’ report. It says climate change is causing water shortages, declining crop production and rising sea levels. The agency fears that by 2050, millions of people in six regions could become ‘climate migrants’. On the other hand, even if all climate-friendly initiatives are taken, including reducing carbon emissions, inclusive economy and sustainable development, at least 44 million people will be forced to leave their homes. In 1989, the World Environment Day slogan was “Global Warming; Global Warning”; and in 1991, the World Environment Day slogan was “Climate Change Need for Global Partnership”. World Health Organization (WHO) is also initiating a campaign against climate change. According to a World Bank study, sub-Saharan Africa is considered the most vulnerable region due to its fragile coastline and population dependence on agriculture in the worst case scenario of climate change, and the number of migrants will be higher in this region. Now 88 million people are migrating from one place to another within the borders of the country. However, the number of climate migrants in North Africa will not be less. One crore nine million people will be climate refugees, which is about nine percent of the total population. As the water crisis intensifies in northeastern Tunisia, northwestern Algeria, western and southern Morocco, so many people are migrating here.
One crore 33 lakh people in the coastal areas of the Bangladesh are at risk of migrating due to climate change. The report warns that immigration hotspots could appear within the next decade. And by 2050, it could be even more intense. This requires urgent planning to help the areas where the climate migrants will relocate and those who will be in the areas they have left behind. Uncontrolled disasters will come down from the next decade if we do not act quickly. According to a survey released by the United Nations World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the effects of climate change are increasing natural disasters around the world, threatening people’s lives. Besides, the economic loss is also increasing. Scientists have repeatedly warned about climate change and its dangers, but there is little impact on humans.
According to a UN survey, 2 million people have died in natural disasters in 50 years. According to Reuters, the survey was conducted by analyzing data from 11,000 natural disasters that occurred between 1989 and 2019. In the seventies, there were an average of 600 disasters, but in 2010 it increased to over three thousand. The WMO said “Floods, storms and droughts have killed more people in the past few years”. The number of victims of natural disasters and the amount of financial losses are increasing day by day. This year alone, the highest temperatures have been recorded in many parts of the world. The survey says the 50-year-old weather picture is a warning to us.Ethiopia’s drought has killed more than 300,000 people in the last 20 years. Hurricane Katrina caused a loss of 12,500 crores. However, the number of casualties has decreased despite the increase in the amount of damage. The WMO says natural disasters killed an average of more than 50,000 people each year in the 1970s. 2021 recorded devastating extreme weather and climate events – a signature of human-induced climate change has been identified in the extraordinary North American extreme heat and west European floods.However, in the last 10 years, the number of deaths has come down to 16,000 per year. The secretary general of the organization said “This is due to the improvement in the natural disaster warning system”. However, while the news of a reduction in the number of deaths due to disasters is positive, it is quite alarming for developing countries. Because in the last 50 years, 91 percent of the 2 million deaths have occurred in developing countries.
Fortunately, there is still way to fix what has been done to the climate. We have the technologies and science. We now need the leadership-and the courage to change course.Becoming more energy efficient is a great way to prevent pollution. It causes the power plants to expend less energy that can lead to the production of greenhouse gases.We must make sure to turn off lights and unplug devices that we are not using anymore and we should replace our light bulbs with energy-efficient light bulbs to help save electricity too.Manufacturing plants emit a large number of greenhouse gases per year. Recycling is a cost-effective and eco-friendly process that eliminates waste and doesn’t emit greenhouse gasses into the environment. So be sure to collect the discarded paper, glass, plastic, and electronics to the local recycling center. Renewable energy is better than utilizing fossil fuels.
The writer is a student of Department of sociologyof Jagannath University. She can be reached at [email protected]
