“To expect not to have global warming or global
cooling is to expect too much,” said Dr Ashok Sahni, Department of
Geology, Panjab University, during a seminar ‘Climate, Carbon and
Copenhagen’ organised by the Society for Promotion of Science and
Technology in India (SPSTI) at Panjab University.
“In a phase of 500 billion years the earth’s
temperature has seen very high and low mercuric levels. What’s
happening now is part of a cycle. Though we need viable solutions to
save our planet, the current situation of global warming is not just
human induced,” Dr Sahni said.
Even the sea level follows a pattern. Since
1850, the sea levels have been increasing. Is this increase just a
co-incidence or a result of human activities? Why should you be
concerned if the earth is heating up?
“There are many implications for the
Chandigarh-Punjab-Haryana region. There is an immediate need to
conserve water as annual rainfall is decreasing and ground water is
depleting. Measures must be taken to start water harvesting, introduce
drought resistant crops and promote mass transportation,” Dr Prodipto
Gosh, distinguished fellow The Energy & Resources Institute (TERI),
New Delhi, said.
Dr Prasanna Kumar, principal secretary
Environment, Government of Haryana, summarised by putting forth
solutions to counter the human induced climate change.
He said: “There is a need to work at three
levels. At the corporate level we must adopt better technology, which
is more energy efficient while individually we must know small things
like a vehicle not turned off at a light point emission is 20 times
more than when a vehicle running at optimum speed.”
And lastly policy amends to award eco-friendly
citizens and punish those causing harm, he added. Though there is no a
need to panic, every citizen must act with a certain level of concern.
We need to set the climatic conditions right that have been mangled
due to our actions.
