The heat wave currently going on in India is a prime example that climate change is happening and has deadly consequences. Over 1,000 people (mostly homeless individuals) have died over the last few days and according to climate experts, the heat wave will continue. Temperatures have already reached 50C or 122F in some areas. THAT IS SO HOT OMG!!!
First things first. According to the International Business Times, “a heat wave is officially declared when the temperature is five degrees or more than the average temperature recorded on that particular day over the last three decades.”
Currently, southern India experiences a max of five “heat wave days” every year, but climate change experts explain in a study by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, that this could go up to as many as 40 heat wave days per year in the near future.
Side note - in case any of you are unsure of the connection between climate change and this deadly heat wave, let me give you some context.
RECAP OF THE ISSUE (WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE):
In simple terms, climate change is defined as a change in long-term weather patterns.
Here’s a super quick science lesson: Our atmosphere is composed of several layers and many gases, including carbon dioxide (remember that one). A variety of human actions that take place on a daily basis, all over the world, contribute to carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere and remaining there. These activities include things like driving, manufacturing, and the cutting down of forests.
As the concentration of carbon dioxide and other gases increase (these are known as greenhouse gases), the atmosphere begins to store more and more heat from the sun. These rising temperatures result in global warming. (This process is also known as the greenhouse gas effect).
The occurrence of global warming is significant because it is harmful to the environment. Plain and simple. The temperature in the atmosphere largely dictates what the weather and climate patterns will be like, and the changes in the levels of carbon dioxide can, and have, lead to unexpected changes in our weather and the earth’s climate patterns.
Read more here.
The reason I’m stressing the importance of understanding climate change here, is that as a result of climate change occurring, weather patterns are becoming more and more severe all over the world, and people are literally dying because of it. Concrete example: the heat wave in India. As I’ve mentioned in a previous article, the effects of climate change are already impacting communities around the world and regrettably, it disproportionately affects people living in poverty and people living in the developing world. Again, the heat wave in India is case in point.
For you skeptics out there, who i’m guessing are about to say that climate change isn’t man made, let’s have International Business Times break it down for you.
In their most recent article about the heat wave in India they explain:
Yet another collection of 22 studies "Explaining Extreme Events of 2013 From a Climate Perspective" clearly laid the blame for 2013's heat waves to human-induced climate change.
Human-induced global warming had turned 2014 into the hottest year on record. The trend may continue into 2015.
I think it’s safe to say we’re seeing this take place right now. They go on to say:
So my question to you: How many deadly heat waves are we going to witness before we start taking climate change seriously? Hopefully none.
I’ll leave you with this powerful statement that my hero Bill Nye the Science Guy told the graduating class at Rutgers University this year:
“We are now deep in the most serious environmental crisis in human history. The oncoming trouble is climate change. It is going to affect you all in the same way the Second World War consumed people of my parents’ generation. They rose to the challenge and so will you.’’