Climate change is real

Incessant and untimely rains across the North east in the recent few days, preceded by a long heat spell, have been seen as a major fallout of climate change that has already entered a critical phase. Scientists have already pointed out that the monsoon rainfall in the region showed a decreasing trend, while during the post-monsoon, it showed an increasing tendency. The Northeast, according to scientists, is expected to be highly prone to the consequences of climate change owing to its fragile geo-ecological status, strategic location vis-à-vis the eastern Himalayan landscape and international borders, its trans-boundary river basins, and its inherent socio-economic instabilities. Studies have also identified the drying of the land as an aspect of warming that influences rainfall, which in turn increases the frequency and intensity of dry periods and droughts. An increase in moisture and the drying up together change the rainfall patterns in unpredictable ways, it has been said. Additionally, climatic factors such as increased snowfall in the Eurasian region have also impacted monsoon rainfall in the Northeast. Scientists have also cautioned that one cannot be sure about the exact impact of climate change on rainfall in the north-eastern region because of the absence of data and credible long-term research on the same. This has been attributed to the absence of a data collection infrastructure. The data that is being collected is said to be of low quality, which stands in the way of carrying out any foolproof analysis. No wonder, fifteen of the first twenty-five districts in India that have been identified as vulnerable to climate change are in Assam. And, as if that is not enough, the second list of 25 districts across the country that are vulnerable to climate change also includes five districts in Assam. This means, by and large, the entire state of Assam is vulnerable to the vagaries of climate change. While climate change and its impacts are here to stay, it is still a matter of concern that the government has not come out with a really fruitful policy or roadmap involving the community to face this reality. On the contrary, more and more trees are being felled, both by government agencies as well as by encroachers and timber smugglers.