There was a time when the fluctuations in the stock markets, the state of GDP, inflation and employment rates were considered to be the biggest concerns for a country. However, it is not the same any more, as climate-related matters are grabbing equal if not more share of headlines.
In a two day conference titled Climate Crisis: Action for Tropical Coastal Cities, it was brought to light that climate lined environmental issues have overtaken the economic concerns. Air pollution is one important aspect of the climate change that has been making headline in the last couple of years, and this is directly related to healthcare. “In 2013, Air pollution caused more deaths than TB, HIV and malaria combined,” said Shloka Nath- Head - Sustainability and Special Projects at Tata Trusts and Executive Director, India Climate Collaborative.
She even went on to add that India is among the countries that are most vulnerable to climate change. To add to this, Naman Gupta, Climate Change Advisor, Environment Dept, Govt of Maharashtra, shared some interesting statistics on vulnerabilities to Maharashtra state due to Climate Change by 2030 and emphasised that the annual mean temperature will increase from 1.19 to 1.33 and in addition, the extreme rainfall will increase from 22 per cent to 32 per cent.
At the same event, McKinsey India released a study report that states that Mumbai will witness a 25 per cent increase in the intensity of flash floods. In addition to this, the report further stated that the sea level will increase by 0.5m and these changes would have a negative impact on millions of citizens that are living along the coastline of the city.
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