Long-term Calamity vs. Short-sighted Denialists

As US politicians on the right stumble over each other to massage themselves with Bush-era glee in response to the ‘Climategate scandal’ erupting from the Climatic Research Unit at Britain's University of East Anglia, the ‘great water tower of Asia’ continues its relatively speedy recession. The glaciers of the Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau span across the borders of India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan and China. Each spring, the glacial thaw births the mightiest river system in the world: the Ganges, the Indus, the Brahmaputra, the Mekong, the Yellow, and the Yangtze. Together, these rivers give material and spiritual sustenance to 3 billion people, nearly half of the world's population (Walsh). Since 1960, the great water tower of Asia has lost nearly 20% of its glacial volume. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the glaciers in the Himalayas are "receding faster than at any other place in the world." Keep in mind that the IPCC assertion that, “the climate has warmed in recent decades and that this warming is likely attributable to human influence” has been endorsed by every national science academy that has issued a statement on climate change, including the science academies of all major industrialized countries( Krosnick).

Recently, China and India have pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in acknowledgment of the long-term risk both countries face with respect to global warming. Days before the 2009 Copenhagen Climate Summit, India promised to cut the ratio of greenhouse gases pollution to production by 20 to 25 percent from 2005 levels by 2020. China pledged weeks ago to commit to a 40 to 45 percent reduction in carbon intensity from 2005 levels over the next decade (Cappiello). It is important to note that no pledge-enforcement mechanism has been agreed upon at this time.

As expected, pundits from Rupert Murdoch’s Wall Street Journal (WSJ) mocked India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s efforts to curb global warming. Shikha Dalmia, in his December 2^nd 2009 WSJ article titled, “Emissions Cuts Would Cost India Dearly,” laments the notion of new energy efficiency standards in building codes, new fuel economy standards for vehicles, and the establishment of a national renewable portfolio standard of 20%. Dalmia goes on to write, “The increased expense will put homes, air conditioning and cars out of reach of more Indians—all of which will make them, especially the poor, less able to withstand floods, heat waves and other dire effects of global warming should they ever materialize.”

This year Chinese researchers projected a 43% decrease in glaciated area in the Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau by 2070 (Walsh). The loss of Himalayan meltwater places three of the world’s nuclear powers on a collision course for severe resource competition. Following Shika Dalmia’s logic, India would be better served by a substantial increase in its nuclear stockpile and military capability than by taking preemptive steps to slow the loss of Asia’s great water tower.

Works Cited:

Dalmia, Shikha. "Emissions Cuts Would Cost India Dearly." Business News & Financial News - The Wall Street Journal - WSJ.com. Web. 05Dec.2009.

Krosnick, Jon A. "Global warming controversy -." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Web. 05 Dec. 2009.

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Walsh, Bryan. "Climate Change: The Tragedy of the Himalayas - COP15: Climate-Change Conference –TIME." TIME.com. Web. 05 Dec. 2009.