Skip to main content

Too Hot to Live


"Rising heat in the 21st century is likely to push millions of people and entire regions out of their comfort zones," warned The National Geographic magazine a few months back. The earth is witnessing phenomenal rises in atmospheric temperatures. 

The summer of 2003 scorched the planet. France experienced a temperature of 40 degree Celsius for eight consecutive days. 15,000 people died in that country because of the heat wave. It was Europe's hottest summer in 500 years and it took a toll of 70,000 lives in that continent. 

The last six years have been the warmest ever recorded globally. It is not just about temperature. There are other disastrous consequences like hurricanes, drought, rising sea levels and sporadic wildfires. 

The heat affects the people's psyche too. Exhaustion due to heat can make people highly temperamental. It has been found that hotter weather leads to more violence and crime. It lowers children's creativity. Overall productivity shrinks tremendously. 

The International Labour Organisation estimates that high heat levels will cut working hours by 2.2% which translates as loss of 80 million full-time jobs. 

By 2050, American Southeast may become unfit for agriculture because of heat. India's prospects are no better. In fact, India will fare worse than many countries with its humongous population which is being driven into more and more poverty by the present government's policies. Millions of Indians will have no way of beating the beat. Only 8% of Indian households have air-conditioners. A greater percentage have no houses at all, let alone air-conditioners. 

ACs in Delhi: Pic from The National Geographic
All those who can afford it may fit air-conditioners to their houses. A visit to India's metropolitan cities will reveal a ghastly picture of air-conditioners jostling with one another on the walls of apartments. The International Energy Agency projects that the number of AC rooms will soar to 5.6 billion by mid-century from the present 1.6 billion. A few million of them will be in India too. 

The AC technology exacts a heavy price on the planet because it releases gases that raise the atmospheric temperature. In short, the ACs are part of a vicious cycle: we use them to cool ourselves and they in turn heat up our atmosphere more and more. 

Make necessary modifications to lifestyle or perish. That seems to be the only message we can learn from the situation. We should learn to accommodate a certain degree of discomfort for the sake of the planet and the future generations. For example, the car may not be needed every time you have to go somewhere. Some walking is good for health - yours as well as the planet's. A ceiling fan may be enough instead of an AC. [Air-conditioners are turning out to be one of the largest causes of global warming.] Fossil-fuels may have to be given up eventually. [Indian government is going out of its way to discourage the use of fossil-fuels by raising their prices every day invariably.]

There was a time when ascetics embraced discomfort and pain willingly as ways of soul-purification or self-discipline. It may become necessary for all of us to learn to accept certain discomforts for the sake of the planet. Or else, the planet won't be there as a suitable habitat for us. 

PS. This post is part of Blogchatter's CauseAChatter


Comments

  1. Yamini MacLeanOctober 30, 2021 at 9:47 AM

    Hari OM
    Absolutely! I have been a life-long advocate for acclimatising; mainly because I moved to tropical countries from temperate ones and back again and had no cause to think that there was any need to artificially change my living climate. The ashram admin were suprised when this white woman refused the offer of an a/c room and chose instead a simple fan and open windows. Adaptation is the key to survival... building aircon is not adapting, it is over-riding and, as you rightly point out, adding to the very problem it is meant to solve. COP26 takes place in Glasgow from next week; let us see what the 'big guns' can agree upon and whether they will lead by example. YAM xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalOctober 30, 2021 at 11:59 AM

      Without awareness of the problem as well as acceptance of certain hardships, nothing will work. It's good to see more and more people becoming aware and also taking necessary steps in this regard.

      Delete
  2. Anupama JoshyOctober 30, 2021 at 10:15 AM

    👏

    ReplyDelete
  3. Joseph GeorgeOctober 30, 2021 at 2:06 PM

    Very true

    ReplyDelete
  4. The Moon's BOYFRIEND October 30, 2021 at 3:04 PM

    The point of saving the planet is far behind us now, cause even if someone stands up, the majority tends to take him down.

    I think the Earth lets us do this... slowly leading to the end of human race.

    Just think about it...
    The Earth seem to have no benefits from human life nor for the rest of the beings living in it, all we do is for our own good. We made ourselves on the top of the food chain for Christ's sake, so nothing's gonna affect the environment if all humans die all of a sudden. We have now become a threat to our own home and you have explained it really well.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalOctober 30, 2021 at 5:03 PM

      That point about the human species vanishing is something that I toyed with time and again. Is the earth actually trying to get rid of us, I wonder.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

In this Wonderland

I didn’t write anything in the last few days. Nor did I feel any urge to write. I don’t know if this lack of interest to write is what’s called writer’s block. Or is it simple disenchantment with whatever is happening around me? We’re living in a time that offers much, too much, to writers. The whole world looks like a complex plot for a gigantic epic. The line between truth and fiction has disappeared. Mass murders have become no-news. Animals get more compassion than fellow human beings. Even their excreta are venerated! Folk tales are presented as scientific truths while scientific truths are sacrificed on the altar of political expediency. When the young generation in Nepal set fire to their Parliament and Supreme Court buildings, they were making an unmistakable statement: that they are sick of their political leaders and their systems. Is there any country whose leaders don’t sicken their citizens? I’m just wondering. Maybe, there are good leaders still left in a few coun...
12 comments
Read more

Death as a Sculptor

Book Discussion An Introductory Note : This is not a book review but a reflection on one of the many themes in The Infatuations , novel by Javier Marias. If you have any intention of reading the novel, please be forewarned that this post contains spoilers. For my review of the book, without spoilers, read an earlier post: The Infatuations (2013). D eath can reshape the reality for the survivors of the departed. For example, a man’s death can entirely alter the lives of his surviving family members: his wife and children, particularly. That sounds like a cliché. Javier Marias’ novel, The Infatuations , shows us that death can alter a lot more; it can reshape meanings, relationships, and even morality of the people affected by the death. Miguel Deverne is killed by an abnormal man right in the beginning of the novel. It seems like an accidental killing. But it isn’t. There are more people than the apparently insane killer involved in the crime and there are motives which are di...
7 comments
Read more

The Adventures of Toto as a comic strip

  'The Adventures of Toto' is an amusing story by Ruskin Bond. It is prescribed as a lesson in CBSE's English course for class 9. Maggie asked her students to do a project on some of the lessons and Femi George's work is what I would like to present here. Femi converted the story into a beautiful comic strip. Her work will speak for itself and let me present it below.  Femi George Student of Carmel Public School, Vazhakulam, Kerala Similar post: The Little Girl
47 comments
Read more

When Cricket Becomes War

Illustration by Copilot Designer Why did India agree to play Pakistan at all if the animosity runs so deep that Indian players could not even extend the customary handshake: a simple ritual that embodies the very essence of sportsmanship? Cricket is not war, in the first place. When a nation turns a game into a war, it does not defeat its rival; it only wages war on its own culture, poisoning its acclaimed greatness. India which claims to be Viswaguru , the world’s Guru, is degenerating itself day after day with mounting hatred against everyone who is not Hindu. How can we forget what India did to a young cricket player named Mohammed Siraj , especially in this context? In the recent test series against England, India achieved an unexpected draw because of Siraj. 1113 balls and 23 wickets. He was instrumental in India’s series-levelling victory in the final Test at the Oval and was declared the Player of the Match. But India did not celebrate him. Instead, it mocked him for his o...
6 comments
Read more

Whose Rama?

Book Review Title: Whose Rama? [Malayalam] Author: T S Syamkumar Publisher: D C Books, Kerala Pages: 352 Rama may be an incarnation of God Vishnu, but is he as noble a man [ Maryada Purushottam ] as he is projected to be by certain sections of Hindus? This is the theme of Dr Syamkumar’s book, written in Malayalam. There is no English translation available yet. Rama is a creation of the Brahmins, asserts the author of this book. The Ramayana upholds the unjust caste system created by Brahmins for their own wellbeing. Everyone else exists for the sake of the Brahmin wellbeing. If the Kshatriyas are given the role of rulers, it is only because the Brahmins need such men to fight and die for them. Valmiki’s Rama too upheld that unjust system merely because that was his Kshatriya-dharma, allotted by the Brahmins. One of the many evils that Valmiki’s Rama perpetrates heartlessly is the killing of Shambuka, a boy who belonged to a low caste but chose to become an ascetic. The...
8 comments
Read more