Feeling the heat... That’s the gift from climate change! Combating it is in your hands!

Left: Farmers in drought-hit Giribawa village in Kurunegala District. Right: Flood victims in Molkawa, Kalutara District. The 2019 Long-Term Climate Risk Index, published by Germanwatch, identifies Sri Lanka as the second-most vulnerable nation for climate change, coming behind just Puerto Rico. This report further presents the disastrous floods and landslides Sri Lanka experienced during 2016 and 2017, resulting in hundreds of tragic casualties as examples of the disastrous impact of climate change in Sri Lanka – Pix by Shehan Gunasekara

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By Manasee Weeratunga-Thursday, 14 March 2019

It’s the prosperous season of the island with new year festivities beckoning around the corner. However, obviously all of us have been feeling the heat lately, in such an intense manner. Many have questioned what the reasons could be for this unbearable heat. Surely you must have heard an elderly person remark gravely, “We never experienced such a heat in our time.”

Many such remarks have logic and truth behind them although most of us are unaware of it. It is true that it has never been this hot in our lifetime because Earth has been passing its hottest years on record for the past five years, each year recording higher temperatures than the previous.

What exactly is the science behind this intense heat we feel? Is it really the end of the world, predicted in various beliefs, when seven suns are supposed to shine on Earth? Science has yet to discover when that is going to happen, or if it is going to happen at all. However, science has another logical explanation which can be summed up into one commonly heard term: Climate change.

Climate change can be defined simply as changes occurring in global climatic parameters such as temperature and rainfall as a result of global increase of atmospheric carbon dioxide levels due to increased consumption of fossil fuels. Carbon dioxide is the major resultant of fossil fuel burning and carbon dioxide thus released to the atmosphere will result in enhanced greenhouse effect. Enhanced greenhouse effect yields to increased retention of heat within the atmosphere making the Earth’s surface warmer. There we find the key to uncovering the root of intense heat we are feeling.

Although this has been a fact revealed by scientists with tons of facts and figures proving it, the ugly truth of it has not seemed to hit the humankind for so long. Bramble Cay melomys coming to the limelight as the first mammal to go extinct due to climate change and the Great Barrier Reef, the largest living structure in the world, making headlines by being declared dead due to coral bleaching resulting from climate change bear evidence for this.

All these examples for climate change may still feel so distant to you because they happen in continents far away, to animals you’ve never heard of before. As award-winning Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio mentioned “...humankind looked at climate change in that same way: as if it were fiction, happening to someone else’s planet, as if pretending the climate change wasn’t real would somehow make it go away.”

Therefore, extinction of the Bramble Cay melomys and many other species attributed to climate change may not call us Sri Lankans to action against climate change. Nevertheless, would it be an eye-opener if I pointed out that Sri Lanka is the second most vulnerable country for climate change?

The 2019 Long-Term Climate Risk Index, published by Germanwatch, identifies Sri Lanka as the second-most vulnerable nation for climate change, coming behind just Puerto Rico. This report further presents the disastrous floods and landslides Sri Lanka experienced during 2016 and 2017, resulting in hundreds of tragic casualties as examples of the disastrous impact of climate change in Sri Lanka.

Does this ugly revelation of Sri Lanka hitting the ranks on such a list and being the only South Asian country among the top ranks on that list hit you as a fact that we can be proud as a nation? Isn’t this enough proof for you to stand up against climate change before Sri Lanka becomes a victim of climate change and is wiped out from the map of South Asia? You will be surprised how one small act in your day-to-day lives will make an unending ripple of action against climate change.


1. Make the most of the amount of sunshine we are blessed with

Having ample sunshine year-round is a blessing that we do not appreciate enough, when comparing the status of some countries such regions such as Alaska, Siberia and Scandinavia where sunshine is available for just two to three months a year.

Utilising solar power for fulfilling the daily household energy requirement is a key step that we as Sri Lankans can take against climate change. Installation of solar power cells to the household can fulfil the energy requirement of households, especially in Colombo and suburbs, which is will make a significant contribution towards reduction of power generation with burning of fossil fuels.

Although one might argue that installation of solar cells for a household requires a capital of a fortune, the benefits that solar generated electricity will bring you will convince you that it is an investment. To start with, solar generated electricity will be much slimmer on the pocket than the thumping bills of fossil fuel generated electricity. Secondly, the Electricity Board of Sri Lanka has loan schemes which would allow the payment of the cost of solar cell installation in monthly instalments.

Giving loans at subsidiary rates for purchasing solar cells is a promising avenue for bankers of Sri Lanka, especially for those who wish to improve the green practices of the bank. Moreover, if the consumer produces solar power from his household grid in excess he can channel it to the National Grid where the Electricity Board will pay the consumer for his contribution. Using an electric car would be the icing on the cake because in that case, you would be paying Rs. 0 for fuel as well as electricity while contributing to saving the planet from climate change.


2. Garbage is your friend in disguise

Use of household garbage for generation of domestic energy is an answer for multiple environmental questions which have been haunting Sri Lanka for decades. Many city residents as well as municipalities in Sri Lanka are plagued with the problem of lack of a proper method of garbage disposal, while malpractices in garbage disposal resulted in some tragedies resulted from collapse of garbage dumps and outbreak of pandemics like dengue during the last few years. However, it is fair to conclude that Sri Lanka has been suffering from all these with a solution available right at the doorstep.

Generation of bio-energy from kitchens will require just a simple Google search which would give you comprehensive step-by-step directions of a DIY project of generation of bio-energy at your doorstep. It will not only make you a warrior fighting for the planet’s survival but will also furnish you with your own household power source that relieves you of heavy bills of fossil fuel generated energy and rising prices of LP gas. As a starter-pack I would like to hint you that you would just need a barrel, some tubing and kitchen waste!


3. Don’t use it unless you really need it!

Burning lights, rotating fans and switched-on air conditioners in empty rooms are common sights in Sri Lanka, especially in public places. Moreover, there is an increasing trend in installation of air conditioners in houses that are being built lately in Sri Lanka, giving rise to a generation of Sri Lankans who find it unable to survive without air conditioners.

Using a fossil fuel operated vehicle even to run to the next-door grocery shop is another similar emerging trend. Unfortunately, we are not in an era where we could afford such luxuries at the cost of our living space. The over-generous use of such luxuries has brought us to the time where we have to draw the line at deciding whether or not we really and truly need to keep the air-conditioner going 24/7.

Furthermore, remaining behind in a lecture hall or office room and switching off the fans and lights on your way out would be enough for you to play your part in the fight against climate change. Most importantly, showing your children to do that or taking them along as you walk or cycle to the grocery shop instead of taking a ride on your motor-bike will do good for your health and also for your conscience since you are doing your part in making Earth a better place for the future generation.


4. Make your living-room your arena for saving the planet

Sri Lanka is one of the few countries blessed with a large forest cover, which cradles a significant portion of the Earth’s biodiversity. However, deforestation for timber harvesting purposes is a threat that has been looming over these vast forest canopies of Sri Lanka for decades.

Many Sri Lankans show a preference towards adorning their living rooms and bedrooms with furniture carved from exquisite timber species like Ceylon ebony, satin wood, teak and jak. However, nowadays positive progress can be observed in items made from renewable woods such as treated rubber becoming trending items in the market.

Credit can be given to timber manufacturers and furnishers for producing furniture with renewable timber while maintaining the quality and finish in line with that made of forest wood. Therefore, opting for renewable wood furniture instead of forest wood furniture will allow you to brag to your visitors, not about having a couch made of exquisite forest wood, but of being an ambassador in the fight against climate change.


5. Grow and grow and grow

Although Sri Lanka is blessed with a vast extent of forest cover, deforestation due to logging is not the only threat it faces. Although developed nations with a high industrial capacity contribute most towards global carbon emissions, developing nations are more affected by them. The reason for that is developing nations such as Sri Lanka possessing the natural resources such as rainforests, coral reefs and fisheries stocks that are harmed by carbon emissions.

This results in the very pathetic plight of the group of people who least contribute to climate change having to pay the toll for it most, because in most developing nations these natural resources have a large contribution to the income of its people. Even with the situation being so, we are not in a position to go waging war against President Trump, asking to reduce carbon emissions to reduce the risk of climate change on Sri Lanka.

Nevertheless, there are plenty of things that we Sri Lankans can do for that just by being in our home gardens. In a nutshell, growing as much as you can in whatever the space you have is the solution. In that way you will not only get be the owner of a beautiful garden which will give you toxic-free food but will also contribute to increase the forest cover of the country. Increased forest cover enables the Government to claim carbon benefits from high-carbon-emitting countries under schemes such as UNREDD.

Furthermore, it is another positive trend to observe that Sri Lankan researchers are developing an app which allows you to enter the amount you contribute for carbon cleaning in the atmosphere with the tree growth you have and thus claim financial benefits for it at individual level.

[The writer is a research intern of Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Okinawa, Japan, and holds a B.Sc. (Special) in Zoology from University of Kelaniya.]