How to Use This Interactive
Spin the earth to view the topics. Click on each topic to read a short introduction and explore more through the list of articles that follow. Navigate between the topics either by clicking the button on top or on the earth.
How to Use This Interactive
Spin the earth and hover to view the topics. Click on the highlighted segment to read a short introduction and explore more through the list of articles. Navigate between the topics either by clicking on the earth or on the “explore” button at the end of the text.
The earth’s climate has been undergoing change—for example, glacial advances and retreat—for millennia. However, the current warming trend is seen by scientists to be linked to unprecedented human activity since the middle of the 20th century. The average surface temperature of the earth has risen about 0.9 degrees celsius since the late 19th century, largely due to increased carbon dioxide and other human-made emissions into the atmosphere.
The warming of the earth has resulted in the melting of polar ice caps, leading to a rise in sea and ocean levels. At the same time, as oceans absorb most of the increased heat, they lead to the melting of ice shelves. Glaciers across the world are retreating, snow is melting faster, and extreme weather events (particular high temperature and intense rainfall) are becoming common due to warmer, wetter air.
Projected climate change by mid-21st century is likely to result in negative impacts on marine ecosystems, fisheries, agriculture, groundwater resources, renewable surface water, posing a huge risk to food security, particularly in tropical and temperate climate zones. Populations that are infrastructurally disadvantaged, particularly in the developing world, are likely to be most at risk of disease, displacement, and hunger.
While these climate change risks will manifest themselves over a multi-decade period, countries are expected to implement risk mitigation and adaptation programmes as agreed upon under international accords like the Paris Agreement of 2015.
Debates around climate change at the climate summits have often taken either of the two sides—that the only solution/response to climate can be to adapt oneself to live within natural boundaries, constraining resource use and consumption or that resource use is essential to human survival, but science and technology can be utilised to control resource exploitation as well as to mitigate the ill effects of climate change.
This debate kit aims to provide a glimpse into the major concepts and themes in scholarship from the EPW, pertaining to climate change. It is intended for curious readers looking for a quick overview of the topic as well as experts looking who are seeking a repository of accessible information and articles on climate change.
Acknowledgement: We thank Dunu Roy for his invaluable comments.
Curated by Sohnee Harshey [sohnee@epw.in] and Vishnupriya Bhandaram [vishnupriya@epw.in]
Illustrated by Parimal Chahande [parimal@epw.in]