To nature, with respect

The

Uttarakhand

floods this week have brought us face to face with an inescapable reality — climate change. The signs are showing globally,

Earth

’s atmosphere warmed by greenhouse gas emissions, causing

Arctic

sea ice to melt rapidly, oceans warming (surface water temperatures have been higher over the last three decades than at any time since 1880) and sea levels rising. Air temperature over land is rising even faster, hastening glacial melting — the probable cause of the Uttarakhand tragedy.


India is highly vulnerable to climate change, 75% of our districts susceptible to extreme weather events, including increasingly severe cyclonic storms, intense downpours and parching heat waves.



This situation urgently needs new mitigations — and a new vision. Once, a ‘Promethean’ approach was used towards

nature

. This entailed human arrogance vis-à-vis the environment, with a belief that nature’s resources could be endlessly extracted using technology.



This characterised both the exploitative colonial mindset and postcolonial anxiety, trying to guarantee resources like electricity. Both approaches aimed to ‘tame’ nature for humanity. However, such beliefs are counterproductive in today’s Anthropocene, where the environment has been indelibly impacted by human beings.



Nature is speaking back to humanity now, and making us realise we are at its mercy. It is imperative that we now approach nature with humility. We must respect how rivers run their natural course and where hills stand tall, bedecked with trees. We must view non-human species — equal citizens of Earth — with concern and empathy. And we must, as Times Evoke’s global experts emphasise, absorb respectfully the ecological knowledge of local communities, for they know their

landscapes

intimately.

It is tragic that Chamoli, the centre of the Uttarakhand mishap, was where the Chipko movement began in the 1970s, village women resisting the logging of trees. Had their wisdom been more than a footnote in history, perhaps the avalanche that hit Chamoli now might not have been so devastating. It is vital to hear local ecological wisdom carefully, for their knowledge can help us navigate the Anthropocene. Join Times Evoke on an exploration of such landscapes, scarred by arrogance, but which can also be salvaged by humility.