Social activists express concern over apathy to global warming

Dehradun, Apr 27 (ANI): Social activists and voluntary organizations here have expressed concern that political parties are not taking up the issue of global warming.

Social activists like Padmashri, Dr. Anil Joshi said that political parties have never raised the serious issue of global warming in their election manifestos.

"It is unfortunate that ten years have gone by since the state of Uttrarakhand came into existence, but till now none of the parties on a political level have worried about the issue of global warming.

They haven't tried to show in their election manifesto that if they came to power in Uttrakhand, they will look into things like how much water is in rivers, how many forests have become greener, how much forest area has increased and how much soil has become fertile," said Dr. Joshi, a social activist.

Depleting natural resources in the region has been attributed to lack of stringent laws and strategy to preserve natural resources like water and forests.

The state has been facing effects of global warming as the number of glaciers is decreasing.

"When we talk about natural resources like forest and land, there is an important aspect behind it. The alpine zone, which comprises area near the glaciers like Bogyalas, Joshimath, Auli, Dharasu, these places consist of alpine pastures that are rich in herbal products but today these natural resources are in danger. This is happening due to global warming,"said J.T Gragon, a scientist.

Around 65 per cent area of Uttrakhand comprises forest area and about 12 rivers flow through the state.

The U.N. Climate Panel has projected that world atmospheric temperature will rise between 1.8 and 4.0 degrees Celsius because of emissions of greenhouse gases that could bring floods, droughts, heat waves and more powerful storms.

As glaciers and ice sheets melt, they can raise overall ocean levels and swamp low-lying areas.

In Asia, by 2050, freshwater availability in Central, South, East and South-East Asia, particularly in large river basins, is projected to decrease. (ANI)