Addressing climate change

What is the issue?

Recent scientific community reports has attributed unplanned urbanisation for climate change and natural disturbances.

What are the findings of recent scientific reports?

• The global temperature since 1860 is observed to have risen by 0.4 centigrade.
• Besides, there have been increases in the ocean temperature by 0.10 centigrade (0-700 metre depth) during 1961-2003.
• The temperature rise is attributed to anthropogenic reasons, resulting from carbon emissions and urbanisation.
• The South Asian Region (SAR) comprising Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, is more exposed to regional and global climatic threats.
• This will be a greater challenge for sustainable economic development of these countries.

What are the impacts of climate change?

• 74 per cent of all natural calamities being hydro-meteorological ones, which arise out of the impact of the monsoon and cause maximum damage.
• It will manifest the increases in the frequency and intensity of floods, tropical cyclones, heat waves and drought.
• Besides the degradation of ecosystems, reduced availability of food and drinking water, and other impacts on the livelihoods of communities.
• It creates a shortage of potable water, besides creating health risks due to respiratory and faecal-oral factors, particularly for people in slums.

What measures need to be taken?

• Climatic Smart Urban Planning should be encouraged by way of developing the “climate smart” (a word coined in the IPCC report) infrastructure.
• It should emphasises combining pro-poor development and climate change adaptation and mitigation.
• Urban planners need to account for the new demands due to settlements coming up in different geographical locations on account of migration.
• Policymakers need to shift from the existing paradigm of response only when disasters happen to all facets of disasters.
• Adopting Multi-Risk Resilient Structural Designs is key for countries of South Asia, besides integrating Climate Change & Urban Adaptation.

Source: Business Standard