India, with its immense population density and a 7500-km-long low-lying coastline, is extremely susceptible to impacts on climate change, with poor agricultural output, wide-scale natural disasters and increased deaths due to higher occurrence of diseases. This, coupled with rapid urbanization, industrialization and economic development, will definitely put an additional strain on the finite available ecological resources.

Former World Bank chief economist Nicholas Stern’s report on the economic impact of climate change stated ‘unchecked greenhouse gas emissions would see global temperatures rise by 2-3 degrees centigrade in the next 50 years’.

Environmental anomalies are already visible. Frequencies of hot days and multiple-day heat waves have increased over the years. A record 944 mm of rainfall in Mumbai on 26-27 July 2005 led to the loss of over 1000 lives and more than US$ 250 million.

Experts estimate that a temperature rise of 2 - 3.5 degrees centigrade will cost India a loss of between 9 and 25% of the total agricultural revenue. As agriculture makes up around 22% of India’s gross domestic product, such a change will directly affect the economy.

The Himalayas have the largest concentration of glaciers outside the polar caps. With glacier coverage of 33,000 km sq, the region is aptly called the ‘Water Tower of Asia’, as it provides around 8.6 X 106 m cu.m. These Himalayan glaciers feed three of south Asia’s great rivers: Ganges, Indus and Brahmaputra, ensuring year round water supply to millions in its wake.

The majority of Himalayan glaciers have been retreating and thinning over the past 30 years, with accelerated losses in the last decade. For example, glaciers in the Bhutan Himalayas are now retreating at an average rate of 30-40 m per year.

From the table below we can infer that over the years, there has been a rapid increase in the percentage of receding glaciers whereas the advancing glaciers are reduced to only 5% as compared to 30.17% during the period from 1950-1970. This will seriously impact the freshwater resources in south Asia in the long run, as the ice diminishes glacial runoffs in summer and river flows will also go down, leading to severe water shortages in the region.

With rising temperatures, the threat of vector-borne diseases like malaria and dengue are also on the increase, resulting in greater expenditure on health-care facilities which could have been used on other developmental activities. To bring climate change to a halt, global greenhouse gas emissions must be reduced significantly. If we wish to counter the deleterious impacts of climate change, we must act now.

To ensure that every individual contributes towards creating a global impact by acting at the local level, CLEAN-India has spearheaded a campaign towards carbon-neutral schools. The objective of initiating this programme in schools is to make students, who are the future citizens, stand up for their right to a clean and healthy environment. Children will have to bear the brunt of climate change impacts and will be the most affected due to the rampant greed and apathy of the previous generation towards the environment. Such a campaign would not only make students learn from past mistakes but will also go a long way in making them better equipped to deal with the possible future calamities. The campaign ‘Towards Carbon-neutral Schools’ aims at educating students about climate changes, the contributing human factors, the neglect of the environment and the state of crisis we are facing today.