So You Want to Know About the Environment Read online

  So You Want to Know About

  The

  Environment

  When Bijal Vachharajani is not reading Harry Potter, she can be found traipsing around the jungles of India or baking with chocolate. In her spare time, she works as a communications consultant and writes about education for sustainable development and food security, so she can fund those trips to the forest and buy those expensive Potter books. Bijal has a Master’s in Environment Security and Peace with a specialisation in Climate Change and Security from the UN-mandated University for Peace in Costa Rica. Bijal was the editor of Time Out, Bengaluru, and has worked with Sanctuary Asia and 350.org. Her writing has appeared in The Guardian, The Hindu, The Indian Express, Scroll.in and Daily O, among other newspapers and magazines.

  Sayan Mukherjee is an art supervisor in a leading advertising agency. He loves to dabble in paints, colours and is very passionate about his art. He carries his sketchbook wherever he goes. He lives in Kolkata.

  For Reyansh.

  Because you and your generation give me hope.

  Published in Red Turtle by

  Rupa Publications India Pvt. Ltd 2017

  7/16, Ansari Road, Daryaganj

  New Delhi 110002

  Copyright © Bijal Vachharajani 2017

  Illustrations copyright © Rupa Publications India Pvt. Ltd 2017

  The views and opinions expressed in this book are the author’s own and the facts are as reported by him/her which have been verified to the extent possible, and the publishers are not in any way liable for the same.

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in a retrieval system, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.

  ISBN: 978-81-291-XXX-X

  First impression 2017

  10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

  The moral right of the authors has been asserted.

  This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated, without the publisher’s prior consent, in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published.

  CONTENTS

  CLIMATE CHANGE

  FOOD

  WASTE

  WATER

  WILDLIFE

  THE END

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  Before you start reading this book, grab a pen or sharpen a pencil. You have to don your Sherlock Holmes deerstalker hat and exercise your little grey cells to make deductions as you read. You will need to investigate clues and scribble notes all over this book. And by writing in the margins, we end up saving paper and conserving trees, which makes us devious geniuses destined to save the world.

  *Insert maniacal laughter*

  CLIMATE CHANGE

  RAIN, DEAR

  Summer time was right around the corner. Winter had barely stuck around, the cold had vanished and the days had become hot, relentlessly hot. Ice creams melted faster than they could be eaten, classroom fans whirled slowly, and the bus journey home was unbearable with the smell of sweat and stale socks. Even the last-seat gang was exhausted from the heat and couldn’t drum up the energy to bully anyone.

  Since it was still early March, the teachers were huddled in their staff room, murmuring about climate change being responsible for this sudden heat wave. The Environment Studies teacher, Ms Shinibali, was looking rather smug. She was seen shaking her head and muttering, ‘I warned everyone that this would happen’ to anyone who would listen. Not many did.

  Morning assembly had brought with it announcements like, ‘Energy Saving’ and ‘Each student should do their bit to make their school proud’. Fans and lights were to be switched off before leaving the classroom, new energy-saving bulbs had replaced the flickering fluorescent tube lights at considerable cost, and class monitors were told to ensure that everyone did ‘their bit’. It had become necessary—the papers said that there was going to be even more load shedding. That meant power cuts.

  No air conditioning, no fans and no TV. How will we enjoy the summer vacation? And worse, how to charge all those gadgets with all those power cuts? Zeenat sighed and switched off her iPad. It was too hot to play Temple Run. The blazing fire on the sides of the virtual maze was giving her a headache. Suddenly, her bedroom darkened. Zeenat looked outside her window, wondering what had happened.

  Dark grey clouds hovered above her building. Zeenat gasped with delight as fat drops of rain began to slowly fall down—they plinked loudly on the window sill, landed with a soft whisper on the thirsty road, and glistened on the leaves of the peepal tree outside her window. The rain had come, bringing a smile to Zeenat’s face.

  She texted her friend Reyansh: ‘It’s raining. Goodbye heat!’

  Two minutes later, Reyansh messaged back. ‘SO NOT COOL! Rain in March! It’s not the monsoon season. You do know that the rain can threaten our mangoes, right?’

  Puzzled, Zeenat called up Reyansh. Mr-Know-It-All, as Reyansh was known in class, was also a Nerdfighter (yes, he is a John Green fan), and rattled off, ‘Climate change, Zeenat, it’s climate change.’

  Zeenat rolled her eyes and said, ‘I know, I know. It’s causing this crazy heat and sudden rainfall. All of that stuff.’

  ‘Exactly,’ said Reyansh, warming up to his favourite topic. ‘And this sudden rain could probably affect our mango crops. This early rain can damage it! That means, wait for it, fewer mangoes.’

  A summer without mangoes? No mango milkshake, no slices of mango to suck on and no aam ras? Zeenat did not know how to even imagine that. The sudden rain was not very exciting suddenly.

  What do you think: Is Zeenat’s story a Tall Tale or A Possible Real Deal?

  What Zeenat and Reyansh are talking about is A Possible Real Deal. Five points to Team Greenfidor, er… Team Green.

  Zeenat and Reyansh’s city, like many others across the globe, is currently facing unpredictable weather. This can have horrible implications not only for them, but also their neighbours and for people who live far away. It could create problems for habitats and animals. And the worst thing imaginable—the weather can also impact mangoes and chocolates (more on that later).

  To understand this strange phenomenon that is gripping our planet, let’s check out some facts and data.

  SO TO BEGIN WITH, SOME SCIENCE

  You should have studied this in Geography by now; if not, then go pester your teacher and ask—What is Climate and what is Weather? Or well, look it up on the Internet.

  Got the answer? Made no sense? Got detention for asking questions? Okay, no, you didn’t? Maybe because your teacher is not Miss Trunchbull (if you don’t know who she is, go read Matilda by the wonderful Roald Dahl. No one is too old for that book. There’s even a movie, if you’re feeling too lazy). Maybe you got an answer, but didn’t understand it.

  No worries, let’s make it simple.

  Weather is the state of atmosphere which stays for a short period of time and is always changing. For example, to describe today’s weather, what would you say? Today is ___.

  Sunny

  Dry

  Cold

  Rainy and Humid

  Stormy

  RACK YOUR BRAINS

  Some days are very hot, and on some days it doesn’t stop raining. Weather keeps changing—within hours or within weeks.

  Many phones now come with an in-built weather app which forecasts the day-to-day weather. What’s the weather like today?

  Climate is the average weather condition that prevails in an area over a long period of time (
usually at least thirty years). It covers all sorts of conditions:

  These conditions help scientists deduce what the climate of a particular area is. And different parts of the world have different climates. The climate of a place can change over a long time; we’re talking millions of years. But weather can change much faster, on a moment-to-moment, day-to-day, season-to-season, and year-to-year basis.

  RACK YOUR BRAINS

  Can you think of other examples that can be part of the weather and climate?

  If you have been paying attention in Geography, you would know that there are five main climate groups. They are:

  Tropical: Moist and Monsoon

  Dry: Arid and Semi-Arid

  Mild: Mediterranean, Humid subtropical, and Marine

  Continental: Warm Summer, Cool Summer, and Subarctic

  Polar: Tundra and the ice caps

  What is India’s climate like? Circle the answer from the choices above. (Answer: Tropical wet and dry. Also semi-arid in certain areas)

  RACK YOUR BRAINS

  If you have travelled to different Indian cities or even countries, write down the names of five places and then draw the climates that you have experienced.

  The climate is changing—weather you like it or not!

  According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change1 (a scientific, intergovernmental body that comes under the United Nations, also known as the IPCC), the term climate change ‘refers to a change in the state of the climate that can be identified (e.g. using statistical tests) by changes in the mean and/or the variability of its properties, and that persists for an extended period, typically decades or longer.

  It refers to any change in climate over time, whether due to natural variability or as a result of human activity.’ (That’s right. The climate can change on its own, and also people can change it.)

  ‘In the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), climate change refers to a change of climate that is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere and that is in addition to natural climate variability observed over comparable time periods.’2

  WHAT ARE THEY TALKING ABOUT? SPEAK ENGLISH, SOMEONE. ANYONE?

  Simply put—the climate is changing. And pretty fast.

  As sun rays enter the Earth’s atmosphere, most of the heat is released back by our planet. But some of that heat stays back, trapped by the Green House Gases (or GHGs, like carbon dioxide) in the atmosphere. That is actually a good thing because GHGs are needed to sustain life as we know it on Earth. Think of the GHGs as a huge mosquito net stretched over our atmosphere, and instead of keeping out the mosquitoes, they are trapping heat which we all need. Pity they don’t trap mosquitoes instead.

  RACK YOUR BRAINS

  Grab a pencil and make a drawing of this natural process, mosquito net and all.

  If you don’t know, look up ‘greenhouse effect—climate’.

  Now, there’s a bit of a problem in this process.

  Humans have been pumping too many GHGs into the atmosphere by burning coal, cutting down trees, flying too many planes and driving too many cars. As more and more GHGs are trapped in the atmosphere, the planet is getting hotter, and that’s causing global warming.

  The main culprits (who are also the good guys in moderation) are:

  CO2 (Carbon Dioxide): Released when we burn fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas and when we clear land by cutting trees and forests.

  CH4 (Methane): Burped and farted by farm animals, especially cows; emitted from wastelands and landfills. Also, methane is released during waste water treatment.

  N2O (Nitrous Oxide): Belched out by vehicles.

  Global warming means that there is an increase in the average temperature in the air and the ocean, snow and ice are melting at an alarming rate and as a result, sea levels are rising. This average rise in temperature is a global occurrence, not necessarily in every specific location. Some places that used to be warm may get cooler or have longer winters. But overall, the Earth is warmer. And all this is part of climate change.

  Imagine Jenga, a block-stacking-crashing offline game. One wrong move and the entire towering block that you had carefully constructed can tumble down. Nature is like Jenga—our water, our air, our land, and even all of us are connected to the climate. As you may have observed, usually the Earth knows how to regulate her own climate (she’s quite smart. Oh yes, Earth is a woman). But the amount of GHGs we are deliriously pumping into the atmosphere is beyond the Earth’s regulation capacity.

  Just as the Jenga blocks fall fast, different earthlings—plants, animals—have a difficult time adapting to this rapidly changing environment.

  The fuss over fossil fuels

  The Industrial Revolution, which took place in the eighteenth and nineteenth century, was marked with rapid developments in industrial manufacturing across Europe and North America. Since then we have been heavily dependent on fossil fuels, whether it is for living, transportation or agricultural purposes.

  Fossil fuels are called non-renewable sources of energy, because they’re exactly that—if we keep pumping them out of the ground, they will run out at some point. Until then we will keep going further and further to look for them in deep seas or tar sands, which can be terrible for the environment, and expensive for us.

  Also, there is increased pollution because we are using too many fossil fuels, which further contributes to climate change. That’s why people are asking governments across the world to look at renewable forms of energy such as solar, wind, and water.

  The magic number: 350

  Climatologist James Hansen was one of the first scientists to make noise about climate change. Here’s what he said:

  ‘If humanity wishes to preserve a planet similar to that on which civilization developed and to which life on Earth is adapted, paleoclimate evidence and ongoing climate change suggest that CO2 will need to be reduced from [current levels] to at most 350 ppm.’1

  350 parts per million (ppm) is the safe level of carbon dioxide molecules in the atmosphere.

  We are already above 400 ppm! So basically, if we want a world similar to the one we have now, we must cut back. Visit www.co2.Earth to check the atmospheric CO2 levels of various cities.

  Graph reproduced with permission from 350.org

  There’s even a group called 350.org—they are ‘building a global grassroots climate movement that can hold our leaders accountable to the realities of science and the principles of justice.’1

  In 2010, as part of their 350 Earth campaign, aerial artist Daniel Dancer and 3,000 children of Ryan International School, Rohini in Delhi came together to form an image of an elephant. They wanted to remind political leaders that climate change is the elephant in the room. (That phrase is used when people are ignoring something.) Look up art.350org/EARTH.

  RACK YOUR BRAINS

  Create your Climate Art project.

  IF YOU WERE TO STICK A THERMOMETER IN THE EARTH’S ARMPIT RIGHT NOW, WHAT WOULD IT SAY?

  Thermometers don’t speak. (Actually they do, as there are talking thermometers. So there.)

  But back to the question—the thermometer would show that the Earth is getting warmer than ever before in the history of mankind. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA’s) National Climatic Data Center1, in 2014, ‘the global temperature was 1.24°F (0.69°C) above the long-term average for the 20th century’. They have data dating back to 1880! And from then, 2014 turned out to be the warmest year officially on record. After that 2015! And the mercury, it seems, just keeps on rising.

  In December 2015, world leaders met in Paris where many of them agreed to limit the global average temperature increase to 1.5 to 2°C. Fingers crossed!

  BUT LOTS OF PEOPLE SAY THAT CLIMATE CHANGE IS NOT REALLY HAPPENING. I MEAN… HUMANS CAN’T POSSIBLY CHANGE THE WEATHER, IT’S JUST A NATURAL PHENOMENON.

  It’s true that the climate is always chang
ing and has been changing for some five billion years now. But over the last century, the problem is that human activity—such as fossil fuel burning, population burst, pollution, deforestation—is accelerating the change. We are sending up GHGs into the atmosphere when we burn fossil fuels. We’re sending too much, too fast for Earth to rebalance it on her own. This is called the Anthropocene age—where human beings are impacting the planet with their actions.

  Of course, natural phenomena, such as when a volcano erupts, adds tons and tons of CO2 into the atmosphere. Annually, the gross total CO2 they emit is around 260 million metric tons! Yet, now humans are adding 30 billion metric tons of CO2 to the atmosphere—that’s 100 times more than the poor volcanoes.1 Humans: 100. Volcanoes: 1.

  Around 97 per cent of prominent climate scientists agree that climate change is a fact.2 Here’s what they say, ‘Climate-warming trends over the past century are extremely likely due to human activities.’

  P.S.: For the purpose of this book, we will ignore the wee 3 per cent and not concern ourselves with ‘climate-change deniers’.

  I know for a fact that not all places on the planet are heating up. (Ha! Got you there.) Some parts are actually getting cooler—so much for global warming.

  One more time—s…l…o…w…l…y this time—global warming is the gradual increase in Earth’s temperature. With more amount of carbon in the atmosphere, the climate is changing and making the weather more unpredictable (kind of like the class teacher’s mood when you haven’t done your homework).

  For example, when the Earth gets heated up, the oceans absorb some of the heat. Throw in some melting ice caps next. And what you see is that the oceans expand due to the heat and extra water from the melting ice caps. Pretty much like boiling a pot of water, and then adding more water to it. What do you think will happen? It will boil over.