the planet is getting hot

• Global Warming is not a natural phenomenon. It is because we release many heat-trapping gases which results in this phenomenon.
• If we were to put a clamp on new greenhouse gases right now, the climate change we triggered will continue for centuries.
• Sadly, India along with China and the US stayed out of the demand made by 46 countries for an environment protection body.
• One-fifth of the Himalayan glaciers have melted int he last 40 years. This trend will affect the fesh water supply of 500 million Indians.
• One third of the Indian economy is agro-based. With 66% of the cultivated land dependent on rain, crops will be badly hit. And the fact that agriculture accounts for 20% of India's GDP implies larger repurcussions.
• US emits one-quarter of the total volume of the world's wicked gases. Yet it rejected the Kyoto protocol which is the UN treaty on climate change.
• US uses the energy equivalent of 7,835 kg of oil per capita while India uses just 439.
• Half of our population has no access to electricity addin to our high mortality and illiteracy rates.
• We need to increase our energy consumption to come out of the abyss of underdevelopment.

Excerpts from the column "I Witness" by Antara Dev Sen