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Extreme heat is pushing India to the brink of ‘survivability.’ One obvious solution is also a big part of the problem | CNN (www.cnn.com)

submitted 11 months ago by throws_lemy@lemmy.nz to c/world@lemmy.world

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[-] YoorWeb@lemmy.world 73 points 11 months ago

By 2050, India will be among the first places where temperatures will cross survivability limits, according to climate experts.

I've been saying this for years, one major heatwave rolls aver a continent and millions will die.

[-] hglman@lemmy.ml 42 points 11 months ago

Its going to happen to crops first, and obviously then famine.

[-] YoorWeb@lemmy.world 2 points 11 months ago

Heat already damaged their crops, read the article.

[-] theacharnian@lemmy.ca 6 points 11 months ago

That's the opening chapter of Kim Stanley Robinson 's Ministry for the Future book.

[-] autotldr@lemmings.world 11 points 11 months ago

This is the best summary I could come up with:

And as temperatures topped 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) this June – closing schools, damaging crops and putting pressure on energy supplies – the heat was making his family sick too.

And within that time frame, the demand for air conditioners (AC) in the country is also expected to rise nine-fold, outpacing all other appliances, according to a recent report by the International Energy Agency (IEA).

The World Economic Forum (WEF) estimates that – if not reined in – air conditioning-related greenhouse gas emissions could account for up to a 0.5 degrees Celsius rise in global temperatures by the end of the century.

Still, countries that lack access to adequate cooling need help to meet the cost of energy improvement, according to Radhika Khosla, associate professor at Oxford University’s Smith School of Enterprise and Environment.

It was, he said, “an important moment for emphasizing the need to proactively and urgently address cooling demand growth, including in agriculture where sustainable cold chains can prevent food loss and improve nutritional outcomes.”

Penta Anil Kumar, a businessman who lives in Lajpat Nagar, a bustling south Delhi neighborhood, said he is aware of the harmful emissions released from his air conditioner, and deliberately bought an energy efficient model able to meet his cooling needs.

The original article contains 1,423 words, the summary contains 210 words. Saved 85%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

[-] octatron@lmy.drundo.com.au 0 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

If only they could build housing underground, the need for heating or cooling greatly reduces. But this would require India to have decent infrastructure, planning and foresight. Hard to do with so much religous / political nonsense (caste system + modi ) standing in the way of progress

[-] saywhatisabigw@lemmy.world 0 points 11 months ago

First everyone needs a toilet.

[+] solarvector@lemmy.zip -32 points 11 months ago

Are we now blaming people in less developed countries for climate change because they don't want to burn in the heat from climate change?

[-] Labtec6@lemmy.ca 27 points 11 months ago

India and China are a couple of the biggest polluters. They also just happen to be in an area that will be one of the hardest hit, especially with their size of their population.

[-] girlfreddy@lemmy.ca 29 points 11 months ago

Let's look at the data, shall we?

the top 4 planet heating polluters of 2022 are China, India, the USA and the EU ... responsible for 82% of emission in 2022
China may be the biggest emitter overall, but the average American is responsible for nearly twice as much climate pollution as the average person in China Source
historically the USA is the top CO² polluter ever, contributing over 400 billion tonnes since 1751 ... more than twice what China has contributed
the EU is second to the USA at 300 billion tonnes since 1751 Source

[-] Damage@feddit.it 9 points 11 months ago

Sure it's always the same discussion with historical pollution. It's cool, nice point, whatever, but we've got to stop warming NOW, not let every country in the world catch up to a couple of centuries of pollution accumulated by developed nations.

[-] intelshill@lemmy.ca 16 points 11 months ago

Meanwhile the US has hit record oil extraction and natural gas exports this year. Big load of good developed nations are doing.

[-] AA5B@lemmy.world 3 points 11 months ago

Yeah that’s gotta stop

[-] girlfreddy@lemmy.ca 8 points 11 months ago

America knew in the 70's there was going to be problems and did nothing to stop it.

Yelling at other nations who were simply trying to catch up with the standard the US set is pointless.

[-] AA5B@lemmy.world 2 points 11 months ago

It’s way too late to say “what about …”. We can’t afford to let the yahoos delay us by saying that and it’s too late to try to defend it in fairness. Really the only fair option is for developed countries to invest in renewable energy worldwide: coal might be cheaper in the short term but let’s help you build out solar

[-] Cogency@lemmy.world 14 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

They are the biggest producers, but that is because most of the world places their production in China and India. America is the biggest consumer of those products.

[-] Eyelessoozeguy@lemmy.world 0 points 11 months ago

It really is the blame game isnt it? Like is it western world fault for buying those goods and the emissions from their production. Or is it the place that allowed those goods to be made there with those emissions? If it wasnt produced would america buy them? If there wasnt american demand would india and/or China produce them?

[-] Sl00k@programming.dev 11 points 11 months ago

China is definitely not one of the highest polluters per capita. And that's also taking into the fact that most of the Western world is produced there.

[-] Deceptichum@kbin.social -3 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

But it is the second biggest polluter overall.

You don’t get to pretend that doesn’t count for anything because Xi and his buddies steal from their citizens.

[-] intelshill@lemmy.ca 8 points 11 months ago

China is also blasting through their Paris commitments like they're nothing. It's actually absurd how much they're going to beat their Paris commitments by.

Even as China builds new supercritical coal plants, they're tanking utilization of existing coal plants to the point where peak fossil fuel use (according to the IEA) could happen THIS YEAR.

[-] AA5B@lemmy.world 5 points 11 months ago

I don’t know if you’re attempting to play the fairness card with current emissions while ignoring historical and ignoring per capita but no one’s buying that here.

Assuming everyone is only in it for their own greedy short term gain without care for everyone else

US can handle it. Sucks for the rest of the world
China is racing for renewables, EVs, rail. They’re going to beat their own record at transitioning a huge economy with huge people
India is going to struggle. They already have problems with climate, lack of water, over population, and poverty. They don’t want to obstruct growth by investing in renewable energy, but their own climate, their own people will be among the hardest hit. Now the solution is buying air conditioners for all those people? It may be fair but it’s too late and they can’t afford the cost to their own climate

[-] TokenBoomer@lemmy.world 17 points 11 months ago

NIMBY’s gonna be upset when they find out the planet is their backyard.

[-] AA5B@lemmy.world 3 points 11 months ago

They can’t afford either the cost of AC for their population or the additional hit on the environment. I believe they’re also lagging in renewable energy with similar rationalization

While I can see their argument for fairness, it’s too late. They missed their opportunity and trying to follow in the footsteps of earlier developed countries is just going to leave them further behind. You can't buy yourself out of the problem this way, it only buys more of the problem

I don’t know very much about India but it seems like they really need to start moving their population either toward mountains or underground. I have no idea how you move a billion people or even if the geography would allow that, but it’s a better solution than buying air conditioners for a billion people and powering them with coal

this post was submitted on 09 Jan 2024

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