The threat of global warming is something most of us choose to take lackadaisically. We believe that it’s not an immediate concern. It is an attitude that has to change, insists Gopal. “Contrary to popular conception, global warming has some immediate consequences which may change our lives forever. Very soon, all coastal cities of India, including Kolkata, will be submerged if we don’t take immediate action,” feels Gopal, who was in the city to unveil the plans for the Kolkata-leg of Greenpeace’s climate change activism and awareness campaign.

It is the same issue — tied to the future of the Royal Bengal tiger — that brought environmental activist and editor of Sanctuary magazine, Bittu Sahgal, to Kolkata. At the inaugural event of the Royal Bengal Tiger Bachao campaign, organised jointly by Sanctuary and Bengal Tiger Line, at the Town Hall, the stark reality of climate change was given as much stress as the fate of the tiger. In fact, it is not just tigers, but many other residents of the wild, like the Lesser Fishing Eagle, marine turtles, Golden Langur and snow leopards, who will bear the brunt of melting glaciers and receding ice caps, Sahgal mentioned.

With a projected rise of average global temperature by 4 degree Celsius, Kolkata, along with other coastal cities of the world will be most affected by rising water levels, pointed out a video presentation by American environmentalist and Presidential candidate, Al Gore, that was played on the occasion. “Kolkata has not suffered from such natural calamities like the Orissa Super Cyclone primarily because the thick forest region of the Sunderbans acted as a cover. With water levels rising and many regions of the Sunderbans projected to go under water, Kolkata is at risk. Even though I had previously been optimistic that even if all tigers disappeared from the world, a tiger line with remain in the Sunderbans, climate change has now become the biggest challenge to that belief. If the industrialised world, especially the US which is the biggest defaulter, does not do something soon about carbon emission, the consequences will be grave,” Sahgal stated.

Recent events like the melting of the Shivling in Amarnath, the Mumbai floods and photographs of erstwhile glaciers turning into barren rocky regions, has further underlined the threat posed by global warming, experts note. Even more scary has been a recent study by Jadavpur University’s School of Oceanographic Studies that projected that an annual 3.14 mm rise in sea level at Sunderban due to climate change is eating away 12 islands on the delta. 70,000 residents of the delta are likely to turn into “environmental refugees” if corrective measures are not taken, according to Prof Sugata Hazra, director, School of Oceanographic Studies.

To drive the point home, Greenpeace too has decided to focus on the imminent environmental disaster threatening Sunderban. “Sunderban is an environmental hotspot. Mangroves like the ones found there play a very important role in the ecological circle. Slowly this delta region is disappearing from the map and climate change is the primary cause for it. Which is why the Greenpeace ship will sail from Kolkata to Sunderbans on October15 to organise various initiatives to protect the region,” states Gopal.

Unfortunately, it’s the poorest sections of the world, like in the Sunderbans, who will suffer the most from the ecological hazard without contributing anything in causing climate change. A recent Asian Development Bank study reports that approximately seven million people will be displaced and 5,764 square kms of land will be destroyed because of inundation in India. “It’s sad that the poorest have to suffer because of the reckless actions of the rich. Developed countries are the biggest culprits here. Industrialised countries like the US have to cut down emission by at least 50 percent by 2050 to make any significant change,” claims Gopal.

Even while 40 percent of the world’s population depend on the water from the Himalayas, it is equally true that nearly 50 percent of all meals cooked in India use firewood, with deforestation accounting for 20 percent of all greenhouse gases, Sehgal mentioned. Even while the axiom, ‘Jungle Nadi Ki Ma Hai (the jungle is the mother of the river)’ goes back to the Rig Veda, it is a belief breached more than maintained these days. “Two months back when I was shooting for The Japanese Wife in the Sunderbans, I realised that there is no place like it in the world. Now, when I hear about what could happen with rise in water levels there, I feel dreadful. Only a global network of people can stop climate change,” mentioned actor and social activist, Rahul Bose.