According to study conducted by the North East Climate Change Adaptation Programme (NECCAP) some years back, the impact of climate change on the people, livestock and geography of the northeast states was devastating. It predicted that the devastation would get only worse. Due to its unique location and topography, the region has distinct precipitation and drainage patterns, the study found.
In the case of Nagaland, the study concluded that between 2021 and 2050, it will experience an increase in annual average temperature in the scale between 1.6°C and 1.8°C. Those located in the southern part of the state (Kohima, Wokha, Phek, Zunheboto and Tuensang), according to the same findings, showed increase in temperature by 1.7°C to 1.8°C. Conversely, the northern region (like Mon and Mokokchung) projected an average increase of 1.6°C and 1.7°C.
Recent months have shown that the above predictions were not mere attempts at hyping up the issue. While sceptics are right in their assertion that the quest for knowledge is vulnerable to the bias of politics, yet climate change is for real. The scientific evidence is clear: Change is already happening. In a global context, record-high temperatures in the Arctic in January and February were described by scientists as “startling.”
World temperatures in February set a record so far above the previous one that researchers referred to it as a “shocking” increase. After that, March and April exceeded that record gap by even wider margins, making it nearly inevitable that 2016 will be the warmest year on record (just as 2014 and 2015 were). Officially, July this year was the world’s hottest month in recorded history, according to NASA data.
The UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has described climate change as “one of the most crucial problems on Earth.” Nearly 200 nations agreed in Paris some few months ago to work together to stop global temperatures from rising more than 2 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels. It was a good start, but experts doubt it will be enough for the world to avoid the worst ravages of climate change. Given the severity of the threat, it is worrying that the issue of climate change barely resonates in our discussion and policy-making.
But then again, to confront the challenges of climate change we need more than just political leadership. There is reason why it hardly features in our daily discussions. Because its solutions are scary: they would require us to change our lifestyle and demand personal sacrifice. When Nagas used to worship nature in the olden days, they did so because of their belief in a power that was supernatural.
Today, time and circumstances demand another form of nature-worship. Environmentalism, after all, is just another form of nature worship.
