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Thursday, November 18, 2010

Trivia about Global Warming

Apologies, didn't blog for two days since we had guests and I don't want to blog at the cost of ignoring people who are dear to me.

The past two days have been oppressively warm. I was in a train on the way to work and people are definitely discomfited and are showing it. This gives rise to frequent fights. Heard of "train rage"? No? You may not have, because I just coined it. Though they say "boss," "friend" and "bhai" actually they have murder on their minds. Yes, I know the mentality of these fellow commuters. I know how much pain they endure. Many are bearing injuries, torn ligaments, dislocated shoulders, etc., as a result of their commuting. This is made worse by the heat.

The local train in Bombay is a curious creation of man. Really, it is. It holds around 2000 where the capacity it can hold is 200 or less. Just imagine 2000 people standing silently in a train hurtling along on the tracks at 150 kms per hour. That too with ones elbow on another's nose and body contorted in the shape of a Natraja. No wonder Indians have such bulging stomachs. Actually a bulging stomach is not a sign of prosperity - as some of my countrymen believe - it's only that the chest and shoulders are squeezed so much that all the flesh collects around the waist. Really, it is so.
 
Imagine what if a tin-pot dictator crazed by the heat, lets loose a war. Wars have been caused by trivial things you and I can't imagine as being worth fighting for. We regularly ignore those war cries uttered inside steaming train compartments as so much gas. But this tin pot dictator, the sort who wears his military uniform to bed and keeps an AK 47 below his pillow, is different. Imagine if the war escalates into a world war. What then? This is from a site that features information on global warming called global warming:

"The gases append to the planet's normal greenhouse effect, permitting sunlight in, but stopping some of the ensuing heat from radiating back to space. Based on the study on past climate shifts, notes of current situations, and computer simulations, many climate scientists say that lacking of big curbs in greenhouse gas discharges, the 21st century might see temperatures rise of about 3 to 8 degrees, climate patterns piercingly shift, ice sheets contract and seas rise several feet. With the probable exemption of one more world war, a huge asteroid, or a fatal plague, global warming may be the only most danger to our planet earth."

Imagine (I guess this is my favorite word on this blog)! This century could see temperatures rise by 3 to 8 degrees. What then will we do? I am resigned to there being more fights in the train compartments for one. Sigh!

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