Some time back I was watching the disaster movie, Roland Emmerich’s well crafted apocalyptic sci-fi thriller 2012 based on the prophecy stated by the ancient Mayan calendar, which says that the world will come to an end on December 21, 2012.  The thriller showing end of the world through volcanic eruptions, typhoons and glacier for a moment send shivers down the spine of the viewers. 
One of my toddlers watching the images posed me a serious question. Is this really going to happen. She was also referring to some kind of school level discussion in which December 2012 was going to be the end of the world.
Even as I told her that 2012 is a science fiction disaster film, I told her that the movie was still a reminder for us to protect our environment. She quickly referred to the recent unprecedented, prompting the Jammu and Kashmir government to declare a high alert.
By now, we all know that a climate change has been undergoing which has already caused lot of weather disturbances across globe. Thus, prioritizing the response to negotiate the climate change.
Today, we are first time joining over 100 countries to mark our stand against climate change, as there is a call from the state administration to go dark for one hour by turning off the lights from 8.30 to 9.30 pm. This is basically an Earth Hour - an activity started in 2007 in Sydney, Australia that has become a global sustainability movement. In fact, it’s the world’s largest global climate change initiative.
Like many of other places across globe, Kashmir has experienced the effects of climate change over the past decade or so. Today, it is now changing climate which has put its dazzling natural beauty and abundant resources at stake. Notably, mountainous regions are generally more at risk to the climate change which affects every aspect – be it environment, social or economic systems. Though such change is caused by natural influences as well, we cannot over look the fact that more use of anti-environmental lifestyles has put our sustainable growth on stake.
Some recent international studies on climate change in Kashmir have revealed that ‘temperature on an average in Kashmir region has shown a rise of 1.45 Celsius while in Jammu region the rise is 2.32 Celsius.’ The Indian Meteorological Department’s monitoring reveals that temperatures are increasing in both Jammu and Kashmir valley, with significant increase in maximum temperature of 0.05 degrees Celsius per year.”
The pace at which degradation of environment in our valley is taking place, predicts a future for us where there will be acute drinking water scarcity, loss of forests, immensely polluted atmosphere. The issue is so important that any compromise on this can lead to total destruction of human race. We need to be committed and more determined to address the issue of deforestation, wildlife preservation and pollution control not as just a one-day commemoration event, but a complete plan needs to devised by one and all to launch environment cleaning drive.
We are a young state with major portion of our population in the age group of 25 years and below. We need to tap the young potential so that they are made to contribute a bit to resolve environment-related issues. They are basically a group of iron willed individuals who will be ready to go out in the severe cold or scorching heat and pull off miracles to bring about a change.
Environmentalist prescribe measures like lowering of emissions by reducing the number of vehicles, shifting people's diets to vegetarianism, focusing on eco-tourism and ending rampant deforestation as some of the immediate measures against the climate change. Since traditional rainfall water supply practices are under threat, there is urgent need to develop a proper irrigation system.
These are just a few small parts of a solution to a huge problem. Reality is that the growing climate change observed in Kashmir demands attention of planners to save the way of life from fading away with the changing climate.

The views are of the author & not the institution he works for.  
Feedback:  sajjadbazaz@greaterkashmir.com

Lastupdate on : Fri, 30 Mar 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Fri, 30 Mar 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Sat, 31 Mar 2012 00:00:00 IST