Pay attention to Earth too!

There are quite a few damning facts emerging about how much polluted India really is. It came as a shock to know that out of the 20 most polluted cities in the world, 13 are in India. According to a recent World Health Organization report, Delhi tops the list and has six times the levels of airborne particulate matter than are considered safe.  This is closely followed by Patna, Gwalior, Raipur, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Firozabad, Kanpur, Amritsar, Ludhiana, Allahabad, Agra and Khanna. Of the seven non-Indian cities in the rankings, three were from Pakistan, two from Bangladesh, one from Iran and one from Qatar.

That’s not all. During the week of April 6 to 12, 2015, average carbon dioxide (CO₂) levels touched 404.02 parts per million (ppm), the highest-ever in recent human history. Earth’s ideal level is stated to be 350 ppm and we are already 15% above that mark. And taking the average of three months – Feb, March and April, it was higher than 400 ppm.

These figures are relevant today because we are facing and living through the effects of climate change. The unseasonal rains, summers getting hotter, scanty rainfall or sometimes a deluge; the weather in India has become unpredictable. Developing countries point finger at us and China for this climate change while developing countries blame the developed. This blame game continues and each continues along their own way, expecting the other to change. But Earth caught in between, is the biggest sufferer and consequently us.

We need to really pay serious attention to these numbers as India plans to become more industrialized. A balance between the farm crisis and this drive towards industrialization needs to be struck.