Trump refuses to read the writing on the wall

In this unipolar world nobody enjoys as much power as Trump enjoys today . He tweets and speaks and sets the agenda for the world. The agenda he is now setting for climate change may by far be the greatest disaster to mankind.

The man made climate change and the consequences people across the world are suffering because of that is a classic example of tragedy of commons. Just as in a village, common grazing ground vanishes when individual start overgrazing their cattle so also when individual countries set an agenda for the common climate keeping narrow interest of their nation or particular electoral constituencies the result is going to be a common disaster for all without an exception. individually they may be taking the right economic decision from their perspective but in the end community as such will be the loser be it the common grasslands of the village or the climate of the world.

Countries after a lot of discussion debate negotiations finally were able to set a non-binding agenda for climate control as part of the 2015 Paris conference to contain rise in temperature levels below 2 degree centigrade as compared to the temperature levels of pre-industrial revolution times. It is these non- binding not very stringent standards which he is not even willing to adhere to.

USA especially the Republicans right from the beginning are not very positive to measures aimed at reducing the greenhouse gas emissions. They tend to put forward the argument that the climate change as a result of human activity is not proven. This is in spite of the availability of immense evidence to suggest that the present changes in climate are substantially human induced. As someone remarked Trump has a right to his own opinion but not to his facts. In this particular issue Republicans in general and Trump in particular are not willing to acknowledge overwhelming evidence to suggest that human activity is the main cause of climate change.

When the second largest emitter of greenhouse gases and a country which builds its prosperity based upon burning of fossil fuels over a long period of time this contributing to climate change on a large scale feels that it has no responsibility to honour the international agreement and is willing to breach the limits it is bound to set a trend which others are likely to follow. The same is happening now with most of the countries across the world feeling that they are not obligated to honour emission limits.

It is not that America is going to be safe and secure if there is going to be a climate change affecting the globe. The signs of the same are already there. The wild fires in California which were burning for a long time with devastating effect are a pointer in this direction. The desertification that is slowly progressing and fierce hurricanes that are visiting America more frequently make it clear America may not be spared from the adverse effects of climate change and will suffer along with the rest of the world.

As the biggest benefactor of emission of greenhouse gases for a long period of time it is USA which should take the lead in canvassing for measures aimed at controlling and eliminating in a phased manner emission of greenhouse gases.

It may be of interest to many to know one of the earliest casualties of climate change can be beer since barley is a highly climate sensitive crop. It would be in the interest of the world to have in the White House in 2020 a climate champion rather than a climate denier. That alone can make a real difference in our efforts to face the challenges of climate change.