Key Highlights Increase in carbon dioxide, methane, and other greenhouse gases has caused the earth’s temperature to rise Spike in global temperatures has fueled climate disasters India is currently the third largest emitter of greenhouse gases and accounts for only 3% of historical emissions India will take its non-fossil energy capacity to 500 GW by 2030 It is imperative to develop internal UDA capacities and capabilities that helps in sustaining life underwater and mitigate events caused due to climate change. Heading When was the last time you experienced winter chills from the month of November? I do not remember getting dressed in winter attire before it was mid-December while living in the national capital city of India, in the past few years. This simple example is a shred of evidence enough to prove that climate change has done enough harm to our environment and has contributed immensely to the extreme weather events that we are witnessing across the globe. Human activities have caused rapid changes to our global climate that are contributing to extreme weather conditions. When fossil fuels are burned to generate electricity, heat, and transportation, carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that traps solar radiation, is released into our atmosphere. A massive increase in carbon dioxide, methane, and other greenhouse gases has caused the earth’s temperature to rise. The spike in global temperatures has fueled climate disasters that, as per the experts, will only get worse unless we act against them. Some experts have presented a caveat stating that we are running out of time to cut pollution to avoid climate catastrophe drastically. Which nations have contributed the most? In the climate change framework, the responsibility falls on those countries that have contributed most of the greenhouse gas emissions since 1850, generally considered to be the beginning of the industrial age. Countries and regions including the United States, the European Union, and the UK account for over 50% of all emissions during this time. If countries like Russia, Canada, Japan, and Australia are included, the combined contributions go beyond 65%, which accounts for almost two-thirds of all emissions. Historical responsibility is a significant parameter to assess who contributed the most because carbon dioxide remains in the atmosphere for hundreds of years. As per the experts, it is the cumulative accumulation of this carbon dioxide that causes global warming. If we talk about India, it is currently the third largest emitter and accounts for only 3% of historical emissions. While China, which is the world’s biggest emitter for over 15 years now, has contributed about 11% to the total emissions since 1850. “It is worth noting that while the impact of climate change is global, it is much more severe on the poorer nations because of their geographical locations and weaker capacity to cope.” Extreme weather events in India and how is India coping? India has been witnessing extreme weather patterns in 2022 and the year is almost on the verge of completion. There are heatwaves somewhere and floods in other parts of the country. After suffering intense heatwaves in April, states like Assam, Nagaland, and Bihar received too much rainfall and on the other hand, Jharkhand received almost half of what was due for it. In 2021, some scientists from the Ministry of Earth Sciences revealed a sharp rise in extreme weather events in India in the past 50 years (1970 to 2019). A paper was published in ScienceDirect journal on February 26, 2021, which compared extreme weather events across two 20-year periods—1980-1999 and 2000-2019. The comparison highlighted an increase of 138% in heatwaves, 193% in lightning strikes, 25% in cold waves, 28% in floods, and a decrease of 19% in tropical cyclones. According to the paper, extreme weather events resulted in a mortality rate of 3.86 between 1980 and 1999 (mortalities per year per million population), which reduced to 2.14 between 2000 and 2019. This is due to better disaster management and more accurate weather forecasts, the paper added. But within this, mortality from heat waves and lightning strikes is on the rise. Mortality due to extreme weather events was maximum in the decade 1970-1979 (87.5% of these mortalities were due to floods and tropical cyclones) followed by 1990-1999. These were the decades of the three most destructive tropical cyclones—the Odisha Cyclone in 1971, the Andhra Pradesh Cyclone in 1977, and the Odisha Super Cyclone in 1999. Human-induced warming reached approximately 1°C (likely between 0.8°C and 1.2°C) above pre-industrial levels in 2017, increasing at 0.2°C (likely between 0.1°C and 0.3°C) per decade (high confidence). Warming greater than the global average has already been experienced in many regions, with higher average warming over land than over the ocean. At the previous year’s Conference of Parties (COP- 26) summit which was held in Glasgow, Prime Minister Narendra Modi set a 5-point agenda for India which would try to keep it on the path of maintaining decorum when it comes to handling climate change. The 5-points have been mentioned below: First- India will take its non-fossil energy capacity to 500 GW by 2030. Second- India will meet 50 percent of its energy requirements from renewable energy by 2030. Third- India will reduce the total projected carbon emissions by one billion tones from now till 2030. Fourth- By 2030, India will reduce the carbon intensity of its economy by less than 45 percent. And fifth- by the year 2070, India will achieve the target of Net Zero. Instances of extreme weather events in other countries I am unaware of any country which has not yet been impacted by the havoc of extreme weather conditions caused due to climate change and other factors. United Kingdoms, for instance, crushed its own record for the highest temperature as a scorching heat wave broiled much of mainland Europe. It experienced its worst drought this year in 70 years and the country had to face issues such as water scarcity and prolonged drought. Spain’s problems began with the arrival in the spring of the earliest heat