Reading this cover story in Time, I smirked thinking, "Hey, you disbelievers you were wrong." But then I sat up and read it again, this time with my heart slowly creeping towards my mouth. For one traumatized and still recovering from the last deluge on July 26, 2006 (spent the night in office, was totally cut off from the world, the trusted cell phone went into hibernation when I needed it, didn't have news of what was happening to family), this is alarming. And this being June and the month of rains in Bombay, I - and, I am sure, most of my immediate friends and family - am on the brink another rainy Armageddon, and this is definitely not good news!
The gist is, the world, our world, may be tripping into an environmental catastrophe of great magnitude. Can you imagine, ice blocks the size of whole countries are falling off and melting in the Arctic and Antarctic? If the entire polar region melts, that would mean the level of water would rise by four meters all over the world. Ergo, the whole of Bombay would be submerged to a few islands (as it was before the Brits reclaimed it from the sea). No, I am not joking, go read the article. Remember the ice age and how the dinosaurs were wiped off? Something similar. Only this time we humans may be the ones to be wiped off.
The article, in all earnestness, says all is not lost. The process can still be reversed and the earth saved from calamity. But that requires the will and efforts of several people, like you and me for instance. This is what you can do, in India.
The Time cover story says it all. Read this, and this, and this, and this, and this. Sorry, registration may be required. So if you aren't a subscriber of Time beg, borrow, or, steal the April 3, 2006 issue of the magazine. There is also this article on how India and China can save the world or destroy it, since, we neighbors, are the biggest emitters of carbon dioxide in the world.
Tags: Doomsday, Armageddon, Time, Global Warming, Bombay, Mumbai, India, China
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