Wake up call!

ECO-WATCH

Kashmir is grappling with unprecedented high temperatures from the last three weeks. The prevailing heat wave is so immense that it has almost dried up river Jhelum and led to low water levels in other water bodies.

People are facing acute shortage of drinking water supply. Besides agriculture and horticulture sectors have also been badly affected due to prolonged dry spell. Now the situation has reached to such a stage that people are offering special prayers at revered shrines for rains.

It must serve as a wake-up call for people of Kashmir that nature is taking revenge for its vandalisation! We hardly think while destroying our natural assets, be it forests or water bodies. We have been taking pride in burying wetlands to make colonies besides encroaching water bodies and forests. We don’t care a hoot for the environment while undertaking constructions in eco-sensitive zones. And we cry, pray and seek mercy only when nature shows its fury!

Indicators of climate change are clearly visible in Kashmir. The valley has been witnessing erratic climate for the last several years. Summer capital Srinagar recorded a daytime average temperature of 35.7 degree Celsius in the last several days. This matches the highest daytime temperature in July in the last 25 years. As per records, the highest temperature recorded in Srinagar is 38.3 degree Celsius on July 10, 1946. On July 28, 2024, Srinagar recorded 36.2 degree Celsius with a real feel of 40 degree Celsius. We are heading to break all records!

This winter it was a drought-like situation in Kashmir which didn’t snowfall or rain during the 40-day harshest winter period, Chillai Kalan. This winter was warmer in Kashmir. Surprisingly Srinagar was warmer than Delhi, Chandigarh, Amritsar and Ludhiana in January this year. On January 13, Srinagar recorded a maximum temperature of 15 degrees Celsius. This is the sixth-highest recorded temperature in over a century. The summer capital had recorded 15.1 degrees Celsius on January 23, 2003, 15.5 degrees Celsius on January 9, 1976, 15.7 degrees Celsius on January 31, 2001, 15.8 degrees Celsius on January 25, 2010, and 17.2 degrees Celsius on January 23, 1902 respectively.

Warmer winter and summer is set to have a serious effect on ecological balance and will result in long term hit food, energy, and water security in the eco-fragile Himalayan region. Experts have warned that snowfall deficit and higher temperatures this winter could increase the incidence of cryosphere-related hazards like permafrost degradation triggered slope failures, early snow melt and glacier degeneration.

Last year in March and April, Kashmir received incessant spells of rain and suddenly in June, there was dry spell amid scorching temperatures. There has been over 80 percent rainfall deficit recorded in Kashmir particularly in Srinagar in August last year with a Standardised Precipitation Index (SPI) value of -1.73. Since last month, there has been almost a 100 percent rainfall deficit.

J&K has been facing erratic weather patterns for the past nearly three decades, resulting in drought-like situations, flash floods and windstorms. Incessant rains and cloudbursts caused devastating floods in Kashmir in 2014.  Rising temperatures has led to fast retreating of most of the glaciers in Kashmir Himalaya. Kolahoi, the largest glacier of Kashmir’s Jhelum Basin, is retreating rapidly due to a spurt in temperature triggered by global warming and extreme pollution. Thajiwas, Hoksar, Nehnar, Shishram, and glaciers around Harmukh are melting fast

J&K’s projected future climate change, snowfall depletion and streamflow changes are expected to significantly impact the timely availability of water for various uses including hydropower projects, irrigation, flood vulnerability and sharing of the Indus waters. Studies have clearly projected that Kashmir will experience more frequent and prolonged droughts in the future. The results show that the region will experience more frequent and prolonged dry spells from the mid to end of the 21st century making it a new norm during 2051-2099 due to the climate change.

J&K ranks third among the Himalayan areas which are vulnerable to climate change. There has been massive destruction of forests across Kashmir. We are fast losing green gold to unabated timber smuggling and unplanned development. Thousands of trees have been felled in Kashmir to pave the way for construction of roads and highways. We are losing green cover to concrete constructions. We have to understand that we cannot compensate for damage to the environment. It is illogical that on one hand we vandalise forests and on the other plant sapling as compensation! We cannot act as perpetrators and saviors at the same time!

It is high time for stakeholders and the scientific community to join hands and launch an awareness campaign about the importance of saving the environment at village and locality levels across Kashmir. We have to contribute our bit to help to save this part of our planet for our future generations. Let’s treat this heat wave as a wake up call and let’s wake up from slumber!

Author is Executive Editor, Greater Kashmir