Leh’s heat has given a big warning, if we don’t improve now then everything will be over

New Delhi : Leh means ‘cold desert’. Its Kushok Bakula Rinpoche Airport. About 11 thousand feet above sea level. About 10 thousand feet long runway. Probably the most difficult airport in India in terms of take off and landing. An airport where the pilots and cockpit crew flying here have received special training to work in hilly areas and challenging weather. An airport that handles about 11 lakh passengers in a year. In the last 3 days, 12 flights have been cancelled from here. You will be shocked to know the reason. The reason is the temperature reaching 36 degrees Celsius. A place where the temperature usually remains up to -20 degrees Celsius. Where there is usually frozen snow. The cancellation of flights in Leh is a warning for all of us. A warning of the direct danger of climate change. A warning that if things do not improve now, everything will be over. You must also be wondering why the flight had to be cancelled due to 36 degrees Celsius temperature. Flights are operated even in temperatures of 45-50 degrees Celsius, then why is it so in Leh? The reason for this is that Leh airport is located at a very high altitude. The airport is at a height of 10700 feet. Height means that the air there will be rarefied, that is, thin. Now if the temperature increases further, the air will become even more rarefied. It will become thin. This makes takeoff and landing difficult. Now let us come to the dangers of climate change.

Among the flights cancelled in Leh was that of IIT professor Chetan Solanki. he/she told the Times of India, “It was unimaginable for me that at an altitude of 11,000 feet in Leh, where the temperature usually drops to minus 20 degrees Celsius, I became a victim of global warming. The surprise was not due to the cancellation of the flight, but due to the reason, i.e. high temperature. Today I have become a victim. Everyone should know that their turn will come and their children’s turn will also come.”

Leh is one of nature’s many warnings to us. It is a sign of the danger of climate change. Climate change means a significant change in the weather that normally prevails in a particular area. India is already facing the threat of climate change. From 1901 to 2018, the average temperature of the country has increased by 0.7 degrees Celsius. Not only this, the average temperature has also increased across the world. 2016 was recorded as the hottest year in the world. In the last 1.25 lakh years, July 2023 was the hottest month so far. If the problem of climate change is not taken seriously, then by the end of this century, the average temperature of the earth’s surface may increase by 3 to 10 Fahrenheit.

Extreme weather conditions are on the rise due to climate change. Climate change is responsible for conditions like excessive rain or excessive drought. Floods in some places and drought in others. Severe heat waves in summers. Bitter cold in winters. Monsoon rains have already decreased in India since 1950. According to a 2013 report of the World Bank, India has suffered droughts due to climate change. In 1987 and 2002-02, about half of the total crop area in India was hit by drought, due to which production also declined significantly. Glaciers located on the Northwestern Himalayas and Karakoram hills of India are melting. The sea level is rising. Its surface temperature is also increasing. Due to this, the danger is increasing for coastal cities including Mumbai and Kolkata. The existence of coastal cities can also be threatened due to melting of glaciers and rising sea levels.

India is also facing huge economic losses due to climate change. According to the latest report of the Reserve Bank of India, India’s GDP may suffer a loss of up to 4.5 percent by 2030 due to loss of labor hours due to extreme heat and humidity.