Climate Crisis, Urban Flaw and Global Architects - Part V

Headlines in international media that should scare all of us for the dangerous future we all are heading towards:

4^th JUNE: The Japanese firms and megabanks funding rainforest destruction – JAPAN – Brazil and Southeast Asian countries are in the midst of intense struggles against the destruction of their rainforests. And while these forests lay thousands of miles from Japan, environmentalists and economists alike say investor, company and consumer behavior are all indirectly responsible for clearing forests, polluting indigenous communities and hastening climate change.

7^th JUNE: Millions in US under air quality alerts as Canada wildfires rage; More than 9 million acres have been charred by wildfires in Canada so far this year — about 15 times the normal burned area for this point in the year – CANADA & USA

8^th JUNE: Siberia swelters in record-breaking temperatures amid its ‘worst heat wave in history’ – SIBERIA

8^th JUNE: The vast majority of the world’s biggest companies have done almost nothing in the past five years to cut their planet-heating pollution enough to avoid catastrophic climate change – Large companies are either more likely to contribute to extreme levels of warming or are not disclosing their greenhouse gas emissions at all, according to a new report from ESG Book – WORLD

12^th JUNE: ‘Historic moment’: First climate action case goes on trial in US – Plaintiffs – aged five to 22 – argue Montana’s promotion of an energy system reliant on fossil fuels violates their right to a clean and healthy environment under the US state’s constitution – USA

17^th JUNE: Dozens die as northern India swelters under heat wave – Officials say at least 34 people have died in the past two days as heat wave takes a toll in India’s most populous state of Uttar Pradesh – INDIA

19^th JUNE: Only One State (NEW JERSEY) in America Includes the Study of Climate Change for All Grades – USA

20^th JUNE: The North Atlantic is experiencing a ‘totally unprecedented’ marine heat wave – Parts of the North Sea are experiencing a category 4 marine heat wave – defined as “extreme” – according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. In some areas, water temperatures are up to 5 degrees Celsius (9 Fahrenheit) hotter than usual.

20^th JUNE: Himalayan glaciers could lose up to 80% of their ice by 2100 as temperatures rise, report warns – The report, published Tuesday by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), examined the impact of climate change on an area stretching 1.6 million square miles (4.1 million square kilometers) from Afghanistan in the west to Myanmar in the east.

The report found that glaciers in the Hindu Kush and Himalaya mountain range region melted 65% faster in the 2010s compared with the previous decade, which suggests higher temperatures are already having an impact.

Ice and snow in the region feeds 12 rivers that provide freshwater to two billion people in 16 countries, including China, India and Pakistan, and eventually too much water will eventually lead to too little, the report warns.

23^rd JUNE: Paris climate summit ends without global shipping tax deal – The Summit for a New Global Financing Pact wraps up without a deal for a tax on the greenhouse gas emissions produced from international shipping.

23^rd JUNE: Red alert for Beijing after city records hottest-ever June day @41.1 degrees Centigrade after last recorded 40.6C on 10^th June 1961 – Authorities advise people to avoid outdoors with temperatures expected to remain high for next 8-10 days – CHINA

25^th JUNE: Humans approaching limits of ‘survivability’ as sweltering heatwaves engulf parts of Asia – CNN

25^th JUNE: Uruguay, grappling with a multi-year drought and high temperatures, is running dry – The situation has become so bad that residents are being forced to drink salty tap water and workers are drilling wells in the center of the capital to reach the water beneath the ground. On Monday, President Luis Lacalle Pou declared a “water emergency for the metropolitan area.” – URUGUAY

26^th JUNE: Humans pump so much groundwater that Earth’s axis has shifted, CNN dated 26^th June 2023 – That shift is even observable on Earth’s surface, as it contributes to global sea level rise, researchers reported in the study published June 15 in the journal Geophysical Research Letters – “Earth’s rotational pole actually changes a lot,” said lead study author Ki-Weon Seo, a professor in the department of Earth science education at Seoul National University in South Korea, in a news release. “Our study shows that among climate-related causes, the redistribution of groundwater actually has the largest impact on the drift of the rotational pole.”

27^th JUNE: Rainforest destruction soared in 2022 despite global pledges to halt deforestation – An area of tropical forest the size of Switzerland was lost in 2022, as forest destruction rose by 10% compared to the previous year, according to the report by the World Resources Institute’s (WRI) Global Forest Watch, which draws on data collected by the University of Maryland – CNN dated 27^th June 2023

27^th JUNE: A dangerous heat wave is intensifying in the South with more than 55 million people under heat alerts – USA – The scorching temperatures in the South are being brought on by a “heat dome,” which is created when a ridge of high pressure builds over an area, trapping air inside as temperatures warm – often to uncomfortable or even dangerous levels – From Arizona to Florida, Dallas, New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where the heat index will approach 120 degrees – CNN dated 27^th JUNE 2023

28^th JUNE: ‘How would you survive?’: Desperation grows in Iraq water crisis – Parched communities, once displaced by the ravages of ISIL, can barely survive the decimation of their water supplies >>> Habbaniyah Lake, once a sprawling body of water spanning 140sq km (55sq miles) with a capacity of 3.3 billion cubic metres (4.2 billion cubic yards), is rapidly shrinking as a devastating water crisis unfolds around it. The land has cracked, the Sun stings and locals are struggling to cope – IRAQ – Al Jazeera dated 28^th June 2023

31^st MAY: Owners lose their homes: 10+ buildings in Tianjin are tilting, sinking, cracking…worse every day – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpM9yzle5eI

Yes, we humans will never learn! Yes, we humans will never accept the reality to satiate our greed! It is the human greed, which has pushed our Planet Earth to ‘the’ point-of-no-return! Nature’s warning seems to affect not even a bit – it is the real irony!

June – the beginning of nature’s catastrophes’ ‘deadliest’ month of the year has annihilated most of the countries in the world. It has taken thousands of lives, destroyed properties worth billions of dollars (if calculated worldwide, it would be nearly trillions of dollars) in a single month, countless livestock, animals, and not forgetting crops and vegetables. Yet, the scientific communities and global leaders are just feeding false hopes to their respective citizen.

Soaring temperatures sweeping the US, Europe and Asia; catastrophic floods in India, China, Pakistan, Japan, South Korea, Russia and many other countries; wildfires from Canada to Spain to Greece to Russia; landslides on almost daily basis, earthquakes to destructive storms, hailstorms and tornadoes have become a daily occurrence worldwide. The months ahead are going to be the most catastrophic then one can ever imagine. The news channels worldwide have shut their conscience and souls to satiate their never-ending-greed, hence they barely report about 0-5% of catastrophic happenings.

Al Gore rightly said, “The Climate Crisis offers us the chance to experience what very few generations in history have had the privilege of knowing: a generational mission!” The former Vice President of America established The Climate Reality Project – an NGO devoted to solving Climate Crisis. The documentary movie “An Inconvenient Truth” revolved around Al Gore’s sincere efforts. The documentary won two Oscars in 2006. The second documentary in 2017 “An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power”. Al Gore was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, along with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, for “informing the world of the dangers posed by climate change” in the year 2007.

Al Gore / Photo Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons

It is really very interesting to note that Al Gore was very much aware about environmental issues way back in 1976 – almost 48 years from today. As a freshman Congressman, Al Gore held the ‘first Congressional hearings on Climate Change and co-sponsored hearings on toxic waste and global warming’ in 1976. Al Gore spoke on the topic throughout the 80s’ decade. He was called ‘the Democrats’ Greens – a politician who sees issues like clean air, clean water and global warming as the key to future victories for their party’. In the last five decades, the world has not paid heed to Al Gore’s repeated warning about Climate Crisis. The result is in front of the whole world now.

In recent years, one barely sees Al Gore in various Climate Change Conference held by UNO. In spite of his absence, he has been continuously involved in various committees and organizations in bettering the world’s situation.