The last 7 years have seen the highest global average temperatures in recorded history. That global warming is here to stay is quite obvious. Our collective failures should force us to ask this question - are we focusing too much on mitigating climate change? And too little on adaptation? Can we really control global warming to the extent required with increasing population, incomes, and consequent consumption? Science and technology, capitalism, and state power got us here. All solutions we talk about in one way or another also rest on the same three pillars. At the root lies a massive collective ego, that nature is our slave and we can control it. Can we really?
Mass extinction occurs when more than three-quarters of all species cease to exist within about 3 million years. We are probably on track to lose that number within a few centuries. This is only one part of the story, as conditions evolve, so do species. The rate of species emergence may be slower than their disappearance, and I have no doubt, there will be many fewer species over the next few decades and centuries. I also wonder what new life forms are emerging with global warming.
Niranjan Hiranandani, the well-known real estate mogul, makes an important point on construction in general, and residential ones in particular. He rightly argues that we need to build in climate resilience right from the drawing board, be it designs or the use of the right materials. But the bulk of residential construction in India continues to be single units built on plots. However, a unique experiment in Coimbatore shows the way forward.
Mekala Krishnan of McKinsey Global Institute had once made this point to me in a conversation, how increasing temperatures will make work exceedingly difficult in the future and there are bound to be productivity losses. Be it farmhands, home-makers, street vendors, or varied service providers, increased temperatures and humidity will impact the productivity of a very large proportion of workers, and this article lists some of the latest studies.
Most technology solutions for climate change use rare minerals that need to be mined and processed, which causes much ecological damage. Moreover, as demand increases rare mineral prices are going up and there are fears of running out or of Chinese control. Relax. Humanity has never run out of any mineral, be it gems, gold, or oil, and that is because high prices increase the incentive to find alternatives. The only thing we need to worry about is the ecology, for we have lost out on many species.
Jeff Bezos has another larger than Warth idea. If we could dim the sun just a little bit, it would help get the polar ice back on, reduce aggregate temperatures, and climate change could be reversed. Of course, dimming the sun is conceptually easy, just put a film between the sun and Earth. I propose that we motivate all farmers globally to burn their crops. The resultant film of smoke in the stratosphere would achieve the same.
Great art is the child of great distress and social churn. ‘The best works of art are the expression of man’s struggle to free himself from this condition, but the effect of our art is merely to make this low state comfortable and that higher state to be forgotten.’ That is a quote from Thoreau whom I confess I have not read, but will now do. Art may not help us ‘solve’ the environmental problem, but it can help us better deal with it. Take a minute, click on the link, read some poetry!
“I was curious about an article that I saw on it today about rotational grazing. It looked too good to be true and had all the signs of internet hype. So I did a little digging. And sure enough – it is hype. Here are a couple of credible pieces. It looks like the method may do better under limited circumstances but Savory himself uses unsavory methods!” Read more here.
