The climate meltdown: Floods, forest fires, heatwaves cost a heavy price

Devastating floods, heatwaves, and forest fires made headlines even as the world signed key deals to protect biodiversity and agreed on a "loss and damage" fund

That sinking feeling

Unprecedented rainfall in early September had a devastating impact on Pakistan, with a third of the country flooded. Reports suggested that 110 of the 150 districts were impacted. According to the World Bank, more than 1,730 people lost their lives and 33 million were affected by the floods, which are believed to have pushed up to 9 million people below the poverty line. The economic loss was $30 billion and the direct impact on the country’s economy was projected to be about 2.2 per cent of the FY22 gross domestic product. Taking note of the crisis, a fallout of climate change, the United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP27, closed a breakthrough agreement to provide ‘loss and damage’ funding for vulnerable countries hit hard by climate disasters. 

 

In India, tech capital Bengaluru bore the brunt of torrential rains, the third-heaviest ever recorded, in September. Several people, including CEOs of top tech firms, had to be evacuated from their homes. Areas near Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai’s residence, too, were flooded. Photos: Reuters

The heat is on 

People cool off in the Trocadero fountains near the Eiffel Tower in Paris during a deadly heatwave in France in August. Summer heatwaves in France, Germany, Spain and Britain led to more than 20,000 “excess” deaths, a Reuters report said. Temperatures hit 40°C or above from Paris to London as vast swathes of Europe were caught in a heat spell. Even Africa witnessed scorching heatwaves, with reports putting the number of related deaths at 4,000 this year, while another 19 million people were said to have been affected. 

 

India, too, was in the grip of a severe heatwave this summer. Seen above is the parched bed of the Yamuna in New Delhi in May.

The Sheep Fire, which started on June 12 near the town of Wrightwood, California, US, charred 865 acres before it could be contained on June 19. Several countries, including Brazil and Australia, witnessed wide-scale devastation due to forest fires this year. A study found that intense wildfires in Australia caused atmospheric temperatures to spike and might have made the hole in the ozone layer bigger.

 
 

Wings of hope

 

The migratory monarch butterfly population in Mexico has fallen between 22 per cent and 72 per cent over the past decade, according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, which declared the species endangered in July. Last year's migration, however, offered a glimmer of hope for the monarch’s future. The butterfly’s presence in Mexico was up by more than a third compared to 2020. However, insect populations are facing threats, from habitat loss and industrial farming to climate change. Nitrogen overloading from sewage and fertilisers has turned wetlands into dead zones; artificial light is flooding out nighttime skies; and the growth of urban areas has led to concrete sprawl Photo: shutterstock 

Oil’s not well

Climate change protesters from the Just Stop Oil coalition threw tomato soup at Vincent van Gogh’s painting, Sunflowers, at London’s National Gallery in October, causing minor damage to the frame. The group wants the British government to halt new oil and gas projects. The activists dumped two cans of Heinz tomato soup over the oil painting, one of the Dutch artist’s most iconic works.

On green track

This summer, French multinational Alstom announced the creation of the first fully hydrogen-fuelled passenger train route in Bremervorde, Germany. These trains will replace 15 diesel-powered ones currently running on the line. In Europe, many suburban commuter train networks use diesel and would be good candidates for conversion to hydrogen, a lower-cost option than electrification.

Up in flames

The shift to electric vehicles wasn’t as smooth as hoped. There were multiple incidents of e-two-wheelers bursting into flames; some of these claimed lives. Over a dozen e-scooters caught fire. In April, over 20 e-scooters were charred while being transported from a factory in Nashik — the biggest such incident of EV fires to date.             

Smoked out

Farm fires continued in the states of Punjab and Haryana despite a ban on stubble-burning, which picked up towards the end of October. And with that, smog returned to Delhi — yet again. The air quality index remained in the worst categories — ‘very poor’ and ‘severe’ — for most days in late October and November. Schools had to be shut down. Stringent steps, such as curbs on the entry of commercial vehicles and a ban on construction, were introduced to help clear the air.                               

Sunshine village

The town of Modhera in Gujarat, home to the iconic Sun Temple, turned to, well, the sun to light up in October. A two-hour drive from Ahmedabad, it was declared the country’s first solar-powered village by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 8. The solar panels, made by the Gujarat Power Corporation under its Surya Gram Project, were installed on homes free of cost — funded by the Centre and the Gujarat government. The reported project outlay was about Rs 69 crore. The solarisation of the village has become a shining example of the transformational possibilities of renewable energy Photo: Reuters