Genuine fighters for the cause

Climate patterns are shifting. Statistics point towards melting glaciers, higher sea levels and impending climatic catastrophes. But, the general population who has no more access to the real state of affairs than their own surmises drawn from the conflicting data presented by the media, are still largely unsure as to what stance to take on the whole issue.

When some of the ‘green activists’ are trying to cash in on the new green rage, others are genuinely fighting for the cause. Here are a few of the leading thinkers on global warming, who have been relentlessly on the forefront of the climate debate.

Bill McKibben
Writer, environmentalist and author of ‘The End of Nature’, Bill McKibben was among the first laymen to sound the alarm about an impending climate crisis, as early as the 1980s. McKibben is the co-founder of 350.org, an international campaign dedicated to uniting the public, media and the political leaders around the solutions for climate crisis by trying to get the present atmospheric carbon level of 390ppm to a safer 350ppm.

McKibben who also led extensive global campaigns right from the grass root level to force real action, is among the few environmentalists who has ventured into the murky fields from behind the climate preachers podium.

Rajendra Kumar Pachauri
The Chairman of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change (IPCC), who shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997 with Al Gore, is one of the most eminent experts on global warming and climate change. Though his personal endorsements for the ambitious goal of bringing the carbon levels to 350ppm has been met with much criticism, Pachauri has succeeded to a great extent in creating a sense of urgency among the youth, to take immediate action. Pachauri is also a strong proponent of vegetarianism, and has been an advocate of lifestyle change, as the first step to slashing the greenhouse emissions.

Dr James Hansen
Head of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, Dr.Hansen is considered one of the pioneers in creating public awareness about man-induced climate change. Dr. Hansen has been doing extensive work and research on computer simulations of the earth’s climate for studying the impact of human activities on global climate. He has also been instrumental in educating the politicians about the human impact on global climate and raising awareness among the general public about the impending danger posed by uncurbed carbon emission.

David Suzuki
The famous host of the Canadian Broadcasting corporation’s popular science television series-The Nature of Things, David Suzuki is an award winning scientist and world leader in sustainable ecology. He has campaigned tirelessly for more than two decades to inform the world about the impending disaster posed by global warming, and ways to curb the growing threat. Exasperated by the inaction of the politicians and the Government, Suzuki has taken matters into his own hands and is at work with a team of engineers to find ways to generate the entire energy for Canada from renewable resources.

Mohammed Nasheed
The President of the island nation of Maldives, which has already witnessed the wrath of Nature when six of its islands were lost in the 2004 tsunami, President Nasheed’s commitment is high to save the islands from another catastrophe. The President who lately held an underwater cabinet meeting to draw attention to the threat of climate change faced by the low lying island nations, has pledged to make the country entirely carbon neutral by 2010. If the ambitious President manages to deliver his word Maldives will be the first country in the world to achieve the landmark!

When we blame the environmentalists for taking an alarmist approach, the surprising fact is, despite all the hue and cry, not only are we not in any sense alarmed but we are not even vaguely conscious of the implications of our activities on the planet. We like to pretend everything is normal, until disaster strikes us in the face. We have seen this happen before, but we do it again! But for this once, let us hope we catch the sword before it falls…and not test our withering luck any more.

Photos show Dr James Hansen and Bill McKibben

More information: www.giss.nasa.gov; www.billmckibben.com; www.climatescience.gov; www.davidsuzuki.org; www.presidencymaldives.gov