Warning on warming

Climate, with its wider meaning as well as implications and weather with its limited meaning are commonly but erroneously understood to be synonymous. The two distinct features of nature are being discussed and debated in various circles across the globe pitching the experts in the western countries more than the rest of the regions. Choice of clothing and consumption pattern of food and also design of dwellings which were dictated by climate in different regions of the world in general and different parts of countries such as India have witnessed human initiatives to make those choices independent of climate. As for weather, the ubiquitous presence of electrically operated fans as well as air-conditioners provide ample testimony to technology stumping volatile weather, in the range from upto 80 degrees below zero degrees celsius to above 50 degrees celsius. While for the lay sections of the population both climate and weather don’t mean much beyond comfortable living free from chill on one side and unbearable heat on the other, the experts in the field of meteorology as well as scientists in various areas of pursuit having a bearing on climate are currently sounding alerts to the world at large about the impending fallout of climate changes, particularly global warming.

The earth’s topography marked by fertile lands on which to raise food crops, deserts which don’t permit human habitation, mountain terrains, forests which host rich stock of flora and fauna alongside water-covered surface accounting for 75 percent of the total surface area of the planet is intimately connected with climate and weather, a feature not in the radar of ordinary people. Thereby begins the point of heeding the warnings being sounded by the knowledgeable fraternity.

Residents of urban spaces, particularly those residing for long years in the country’s metropolises like Bengaluru and smaller cities such as Mysuru have been complaining about the harsh weather while lamenting on the loss of salubrious climate of these cities they enjoyed decades ago. They have gone poetic as it were giving a new identity to Bengaluru as garbage city as against its earlier description as garden city. But, whom are they complaining about ? The recent reports about the level of air pollution in Delhi, including the finding that more than half the population of school-bound children have became asthmatic, doesn’t seem to mean much either to its residents or the administration.

While weather inside the confines of dwellings of well-to-do families may be monitored, climate of specific regions is a different kettle of fish. According to a news report in a daily this week, researchers have warned that global warming is expected to make vegetables significantly scarcer around the world in the face of less water and hotter air. While the message is conveyed in simple language, the consequences of not heeding their alert are beyond one’s imagination.