Skip to main content

Climate change: By 2030 India would 'lose' 34 out of 80 million full-time jobs worldwide

10 most effected countries in the world. CRI: Climate Risk Index
By Our Representative
A top development and environmental organization, based in Bonn, Germany, has raised the alarm that India is the fifth “most affected”, following Japan, the Philippines, Germany and Madagascar, by damage as a result of heatwaves. Pointing out that India, along with nine other countries suffered from “extended periods of heat” in 2018, the body, German Watch, insists, there is “a clear link between climate change and the frequency and severity of extreme heat.”
Claiming to be committed to sustainable global development, the German Watch report, “Global Climate Risk Index 2020 Who Suffers Most from Extreme Weather Events?” , prepared by David Eckstein, Vera Künzel, Laura Schäfer, Maik Winges, says that one of the major impact of climate change could be seen during “the yearly monsoon season, lasting from June to September”, severely affecting India in 2018.
“The state of Kerala was especially impacted – 324 people died because of drowning or being buried in the landslides set off by the flooding,30 the worst in one hundred years. Over 220,000 people had to leave their homes, 20 000 houses and 80 dams were destroyed”, the report says, adding, “The damage amounted to EUR 2.4 billion (US$ 2.8 billion).”
“Furthermore”, the report says, “India’s east coast was hit by the cyclones Titli and Gaja in October and November 2018. With wind speeds of up to 150 kilometres per hour, cyclone Titli killed at least eight people and left around 450,000 without electricity.”
Citing a “regional model” used to analyse the occurrence of heatwaves in India, and looking into “causalities regarding the 2016 heatwave and climate change.”, the report says, “The model indicated that sea surface temperatures influence the likelihood of recordbreaking heat.”
“In India, temperatures of up to 50°C were measured, the extreme water stress was omnipresent. Due to the drought in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu and empty water reservoirs, Chennai, a city with over a million inhabitants, could only be supplied with water by trucks and trains. The water supplies for the population had to be accompanied by the police”, the report notes.
“India suffered from one of the longest ever recorded heatwaves in 2018, with hundreds of deaths, when temperatures climbed to up to 48°C”, the report says, adding, “Prolonged drought and resultant widespread crop failures, compounded by a water shortage, brought about violent riots and increased migration.”
According to the report, “India is among those countries that were particularly affected by extreme heat in both 2018 and 2019. Since 2004, India has experienced 11 of its 15 warmest recorded years. Since 1992, an estimated 25 000 Indians have died as a result of heatwaves.”
It continues, “Contributing factors include increasing temperatures, the El Niño Modoki, an irregular El Niño in which the Central Pacific Ocean is warmer than the East Pacific, and the loss of tree cover, reducing shade as well as the moisture in the soil. India is particularly vulnerable to extreme heat due to low per capita income, social inequality and a heavy reliance on agriculture.”
Asserting that the worst hit regions have also been among India's poorest, the report says, “Additionally, a high number of people are working in areas such as agriculture and construction.” Citing a study by the International Labour Organization, it adds, “by 2030, India would lose 5.8% of its working hours due to heat stress, which is equivalent to 34 million full-time jobs out of a total of 80 million worldwide.”
Pointing out that the indicator “absolute losses in US$” is identified by purchasing power parity (PPP), which expresses more appropriately how people are actually affected by the loss of US$ 1, the report says, “A farmer in India can buy more crops with US$ 1 than a farmer in the USA with the same amount of money.” As a result, it is safe to conclude that as a result, the nominal damage to Indian farmers “are much higher in India.”

Comments

TRENDING

Insider plot to kill Deendayal Upadhyay? What RSS pracharak Balraj Madhok said

By Shamsul Islam*  Balraj Madhok's died on May 2, 2016 ending an era of old guards of Hindutva politics. A senior RSS pracharak till his death was paid handsome tributes by the RSS leaders including PM Modi, himself a senior pracharak, for being a "stalwart leader of Jan Sangh. Balraj Madhok ji's ideological commitment was strong and clarity of thought immense. He was selflessly devoted to the nation and society. I had the good fortune of interacting with Balraj Madhok ji on many occasions". The RSS also issued a formal condolence message signed by the Supremo Mohan Bhagwat on behalf of all swayamsevaks, referring to his contribution of commitment to nation and society. He was a leading RSS pracharak on whom his organization relied for initiating prominent Hindutva projects. But today nobody in the RSS-BJP top hierarchy remembers/talks about Madhok as he was an insider chronicler of the immense degeneration which was spreading as an epidemic in the high echelons of th

Central pollution watchdog sees red in Union ministry labelling waste to energy green

By Chythenyen Devika Kulasekaran*  “Destructors”, “incinerators” and “waste-to-energy (WTE) incineration” all mean the same thing – indiscriminate burning of garbage! Having a history of about one and a half centuries, WTE incinerators have seen several reboots over the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. 

First-of-its-kind? 'Eco-friendly, low cost' sewage treatment system installed in Gujarat

Counterview Desk Following the installation of the Unconventional Decentralized Multi-Stage Reactor (UDMSR) for sewage treatment, a note on what is claimed to be the  first-of-its-kind technology said, the treated sewage from this system “can be directly utilized for agricultural purposes”, even as proving to be a “saviour in the times of water crisis.”

A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

By Rajiv Shah*   The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual. 

Indo-Bangla border: Farmers facing 'illegal obstacles' in harvesting, transporting yields

  Counterview Desk  In a representation to the chairperson, National Human Rights Commission, human rights defender Kirity Roy, who is secretary, Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM), has said that Border Security Force (BSF) personnel are creating "illegal obstacles" for farmers seeking to harvest their ripened yields and transport them to the market in village Jhaukuthi of Cooch Behar district.

'Flawed' argument: Gandhi had minimal role, naval mutinies alone led to Independence

Counterview Desk Reacting to a Counterview  story , "Rewiring history? Bose, not Gandhi, was real Father of Nation: British PM Attlee 'cited'" (January 26, 2016), an avid reader has forwarded  reaction  in the form of a  link , which carries the article "Did Atlee say Gandhi had minimal role in Independence? #FactCheck", published in the site satyagrahis.in. The satyagraha.in article seeks to debunk the view, reported in the Counterview story, taken by retired army officer GD Bakshi in his book, “Bose: An Indian Samurai”, which claims that Gandhiji had a minimal role to play in India's freedom struggle, and that it was Netaji who played the crucial role. We reproduce the satyagraha.in article here. Text: Nowadays it is said by many MK Gandhi critics that Clement Atlee made a statement in which he said Gandhi has ‘minimal’ role in India's independence and gave credit to naval mutinies and with this statement, they concluded the whole freedom struggle.

Wasteland, a colonial legacy, being used to 'give away' vast tracts to Ratnagiri refinery

By Fouziya Tehzeeb* William D’Souza, a 55-year old farmer from Kuthethur, Mangalore, was busy mixing cattle feed when we arrived at his doorsteps. Around 25 km from the bustling city of Mangalore, Kuthethur is a lush green village with thick vegetation. On the way to William’s house the idyllic view gets blocked by the flares and smoke arising from the Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL).

CAA disregards India's inclusive plural ethos, 'betrays' ideals of freedom struggle: PUCL

Counterview Desk    "Outraged" at the move of the Central government to implement the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 (CAA 2019) weeks before the election, the top rights group, People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), has demanded that the law be repealed. 

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Our Representative Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

Invincible, Modi 'taller' than BJP, RSS: An opportunity for Congress beyond 2024?

By NS Venkataraman*  With the announcement of poll schedule for the 2024 parliamentary election, there is palpable excitement and expectation amongst the countrymen  about the shape of things to happen in India after the  results of the election would be announced. There is also speculation abroad about the future course of developments in India.