Climate Change: Creeping and crawling into Nagaland

The issues of Climate and Global Warming have today become the greatest challenge to the human strive for its continued and dignified existence. Together, they impact every aspect of life on earth and constitute a threat like never before in human history. Therefore in our humble attempt to create public awareness that will result in public action, the Morung for Indigenous Affairs and JustPeace in partnership with LEAD, is introducing the weekly Climate Change Corner, which will be published every Saturday. Hope you will find it useful.  

“We are playing Russian roulette with features of the planet's atmosphere that will profoundly impact generations to come. How long are we willing to gamble?”

Climate change is a long-term significant change in the “average weather” that a given region experiences. In recent usage, especially in the context of environmental policy, the term "climate change" mostly refers to changes in modern climate. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) uses the term "climate change" for human-caused change.
The problem we face today on Climate Change is not on climate change through natural phenomenon, but on Climate Change resulting from human activities. Various hypotheses for human-induced climate change have been debated for many years and it is important to note that the scientific debate has moved on from scepticism, as there is scientific consensus that human activity is the main cause for the current rapid changes in the world's climate. Consequently in politics, as said in the previous issue, the debate has largely shifted towards ways to reduce human impact and adapt to change that is already 'in the system’.
"An increasing body of observations gives a collective picture of a warming world and other changes in the climate system... There is new and stronger evidence that most of the warming observed over the last 50 years is attributable to human activities.” Working Group,(IPCC),2007
During the modern era, the naturally rising Carbon-dioxide (CO2) levels are implicated as the primary cause of global warming since the 1950s. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 2007, the atmospheric concentration of CO2 in 2005 was 379 ppm³ compared to the pre-industrial levels of 280 ppm³. One cannot help but wonder what Nagaland’s condition is.
Biomass burning during slash and burn (Jhum) or Shifting cultivation releases Carbon-dioxide and the aerosols produced are primarily black carbon. Ironically, it is in this area that during a period of seven years, the rate of carbon sequestration is the highest after which, it decreases. Carbon sequestration is a term that describes processes which remove carbon from the atmosphere. It has been proposed as a method of reducing the CO2 concentration mainly by the natural process called photosynthesis by plants and single-celled organisms.
Such Carbon sequestration patterns are attributed to the diversity of the flora and fauna which is among the highest in the world, facilitated by the shifting nature of cultivation ranging from around 7-12 years cycle, in such an area. (Nagaland is in the core of the sixth major Hot spots of Biodiversity known as the Indo-Burma Hot spot.  The ranking of these Hot spots is based on the richness of biodiversity and experiencing a habitat loss due to excessive anthropogenic activities.)
With intensified human activities of fossil fuel use, land use change and agriculture which are the primary sources of green house gases (GHGs), there would surely be an increase in concentration of GHGs in the atmosphere. This will intensify and hasten changes in the climate leading our fragile ecosystem towards the extinction of many species - known and unknown, which may be indispensable to our survival.
‘Grassy stunt virus’ that infected the common rice cultivated throughout Asia during the Green Revolution in the ‘70s, could be controlled by the scientists at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Philippines. This was possible only because of one variety among the 6,723 varieties of rice screened to look for genes that would be resistant to the disease - a feeble wild rice species known as Oryza nivara, two kernels of which were collected from Eastern Uttar Pradesh and well preserved. It had the required genetic character and bred well with the popular IR20 which produced the new variety IR36, saving mankind from the brink of famine.
Relationship between CO2 and climate can go in both directions. Changes in CO2 concentrations affect climate while changes in climate can affect CO2 concentrations. One proposed mechanism for this effect is increased release of sequestered CO2 from oceans as circulation patterns shift, perhaps abruptly, in response to climate change which would induce a cycle of which came first - the egg or the chicken.
Take the case of Kikruma village under Phek district of Nagaland, where the village passed a resolution to ban forest fires in order to preserve the flora and the fauna. (It would be interesting to note that they would burn a patch of forest just to catch a squirrel- no pun intended). Birds are now in abundance as compared to before, but the villagers complain of the fact that, since the neighbouring villages do not have, or adopt such measures to control burning of forests, the birds from the surrounding areas come early and feed on all the food which would otherwise feed migratory birds. Now due to scarcity of food for the migratory birds, their absence is being felt.
Such is the case also of Lochomi village under Zunheboto district of Nagaland. During the year 1999-2000, they encroached on primary forest for jhumming. After that, migratory birds which usually come in large numbers are rarely seen these days as their natural habitat has been destroyed.
Loss of biodiversity can be attributed largely to the appropriation of land for agroforestry (where two to four species are grown, unlike in Shifting cultivation). Current extinction rates are 100 to 1000 times their prehuman levels with more than 10% birds and mammals threatened, about 8% of plants and 5% of fish and more than 20% of freshwater species. Increasingly efficient global transport has facilitated the spread of organisms across the planet.
The most stark examples are human diseases like HIV AIDS, mad cow disease and bird flu, but invasive plants and animals are now the greatest threat to native biodiversity. Non-indigenous organisms often quickly occupy disturbed land but can also devastate natural areas where, in the absence of their natural predators, they are able to thrive, like in the case of the previously unknown large ant species which are now a dominant species around the Chakhabama army cantonment and the surrounding villages. Imagine the consequences in the near future, with only that species of ant around that area.   
Awareness creation with scientific evidence is often insufficient to produce social change, especially if that change entails moving people out of their comfort zones. At present we have a cultural tradition that places a high value on possession of material goods and a relatively low value on the natural world. Making Climate Change mitigation a top priority will be a THREAT to our economic system but, we must start now before it’s too late.

The Climate Change Leaders (CCL) programme is sponsored by EHDRC, LEAD India (www.leadindia.org ). There are 8 CCL’s in Nagaland and 30 in the North East Region. The Nagaland CCL’s invite you to respond to this article on-line at www.morungexpress.com or email ccl.nagaland@gmail.com