Editorial 1 : Exercise in Inclusion
Context: During the last G20 meet in Bali, Indian Prime minister define “Inclusive, ambitious, and action-oriented” as goal of G20. Since Six months into our presidency,India has delivered on its promise of inclusivity.
Inclusivity derives from ethos of India’s democracy:
- Indian democracy derives its strength from the spirit and ethos of the country’s citizens and people-centric development is its defining feature.
- India’s inclusive approach to the G20 presidency is, therefore, an extension of its domestic approach to development and progress, which focuses on engaging all sections of society.
- Providing every citizen with the basic necessities of life is the highest priority for the government and it has consistently ensured that there is enough social security support for all citizens.
- for instance, India’s digital public infrastructure, It has enabled the government to deliver the benefits of development directly to citizens in all parts of the country in a transparent, smooth and corruption-free manner.
- Another example of India’s commitment towards inclusive development is Housing for all scheme, under which about 110 million rural households have been provided access to drinking water at their homes. More than 110 million sanitation facilities have been created across the country.
- Furthermore, the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana benefits women immensely. Fifty-six per cent of Jan Dhan account holders are women with 67 per cent of these accounts based in rural and semi-urban areas. It is not surprising, therefore, that “women-led development” is a major priority under India’s G20 presidency.
India’s pro-planet people’s movement” to fight climate change
- Indian Prime Minister Modi’s call for a “pro-planet people’s movement” to fight climate change is an exercise in inclusivity in its most fundamental sense and reflects this year’s G20 theme Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam or One Earth One Family One Future.
- This portrays India’s holistic view of the world and emphasises that a collective effort is essential for global good. Drawn from the ancient Sanskrit text, the Maha Upanishad, the theme reaffirms the value of all life human, animal, plant, and microorganisms and their interconnectedness on planet Earth and the wider universe.
- Working for the global public good has been an important objective of India’s foreign policy as was evident during the Covid pandemic.
- India shared essential medical supplies with over 190 countries in the world. We also shared the Made in India vaccines with over 150 countries through the Vaccine Maitri programme.
India’s inclusivity during G20 Summit:
- Inclusivity has been at the heart of every major decision under India’s presidency. From the decision to hold G20 meetings in every state and Union Territory of India rather than confining them to the capital, to invitees to the summit and key priorities discussed and every aspect has been carefully crafted to ensure this.
- So far, 131 G20 meetings have been held in 48 different locations in our country covering all but two states and all Union Territories.
- Africa will be strongly represented under India’s G20 presidency with the participation of South Africa, Comoros (African Union Chair), Nigeria, Egypt and Mauritius.
- In a bid to enrich and broaden the base of discussions, non-G20 member countries as well as regional and international organisations have been invited to specific G20 meetings. For example, Norway, which has expertise in the blue economy, has been invited to the G20 meeting on ocean health.
India’s G20 presidency is a people-oriented event
- At its core, India’s G20 presidency is a people-oriented event. The Jan Bhagidhari or people’s participation approach has evoked a great deal of enthusiasm within the country.
- G20-related events including seminars, conferences and festivals are designed to make people stakeholders in India’s presidency.
- And during the G20 Finance Ministers and G20 Central Bank Governors meet, the G20 must focus on “discussions on the most vulnerable citizens of the world”. It was with this human-centric development mindset that he convened the Voice of Global South Summit
Concussion
- India firmly believes in inclusivity and taking everyone on board the path to growth and prosperity. Therefore, India’s approach to G20 presidency is extension of its domestic focus on progress and development.
- At a time when multiple crises of global magnitude affect us all, the importance of keeping Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’s sentiment alive has never been more critical.
Editorial 2 : El Niño is here: NOAA flags dramatic warming in Pacific Ocean after 7 years, what does this mean?
Recent Context: Recently, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the United States federal administration announce the back of El Nino after Seven years,2016. Though expected, this confirmation by NOAA is of significant concern to India
What is El Niño?
- El Niño, which in Spanish means “little boy”, is a climate pattern that develops along the equatorial Pacific Ocean after intervals of a few years ranging between 2 and 7 years.
- Essentially, water on the surface of the ocean sees an unusual warming in a band straddling the equator in the central and east-central pacific broadly extending from the International Date line and 120°W longitude, i.e., off the Pacific coast of South America, west of the Galapagos islands.
How and why does El Niño happen?
- When the so-called El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is in its neutral phase, the trade winds blow west along the equator and take the warm water from South America towards Asia.
- However, during an event of El Niño, these trade winds weaken (or may even reverse) and instead of blowing from the east (South America) to the west (Indonesia), they could turn into westerlies.
- In this situation, as the winds blow from the west to east, they cause masses of warm water to move into the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean, and reach the coast of western America.
- During such years, there prevails warmer-than-average sea surface temperatures along the equatorial Pacific Ocean
What is the impact of El Niño conditions?
- Globally, El Niño has been associated with severe heatwaves, floods, and droughts in the past.
- “Depending on its strength, El Niño can cause a range of impacts such as increasing the risk of heavy rainfall and droughts in certain locations around the world
How severe are this year’s El Niño conditions?
- The 2023 event is the fifth since 2000 — which means they develop every 4-5 years on average. At the start of this year, an El Niño was predicted to emerge by August, which would have meant it would coincide with the second half of the June-September southwest monsoon season in India.
- This, however, did not happen as predicted. Sea surface temperatures along the equatorial Pacific Ocean, especially along the various Niño regions, have been showing signs of much more rapid warming than had been predicted by the weather models.
- The Niño 3.4 index value the vital indicator confirming an event of El Niño jumped from minus 0.2 degrees Celsius to 0.8 degrees Celsius between March and June this year. Whereas, the threshold value of this index is 0.5 degrees Celsius.
How worried should India be about this development?
- In the Indian context, over the last hundred years, there have been 18 drought years. Of these, 13 years were associated with El Niño. Thus, there seems to be a correlation between an El Niño event and a year of poor rainfall in India.
- Of the 15 El Niño years in the 1951-2021 period, nine summer monsoon seasons over the country recorded deficient rain by more than 90 per cent of the Long Period Average (LPA).
- Climate change can exacerbate or mitigate certain impacts related to El Niño. It could lead to new records for temperatures, particularly in areas that already experience above-average temperature
What is La Niña:
- La Niña basically refers to an abnormal cooling of the central and eastern Pacific Ocean waters off the coasts of Ecuador and Peru.
- Such cooling (SSTs falling 0.5 degrees Celsius or more below a 30-year average for at least five successive three-month periods) is a result of strong trade winds blowing west along the equator, taking warm water from South America towards Asia.
- The warming of the western equatorial Pacific, then, leads to increased evaporation and concentrated cloud-formation activity around that region, whose effects may percolate to India as well.
- La Niña, like El Niño, is a weather pattern that can occur in the Pacific Ocean every few years.
- As, In a normal year, winds along the equator push warm water westward. Warm water at the surface of the ocean blows from South America to Indonesia. As the warm water moves west, cold water from the deep rises to the surface. This cold water ends up on the coast of South America.
- During La Niña events, trade winds are even stronger than usual, pushing more warm water toward Asia. Off the west coast of the Americas, upwelling increases, bringing cold, nutrient-rich water to the surface.
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The periodic warming and cooling of surface waters in the equatorial Pacific Ocean — a phenomenon described as El Niño Southern Oscillations, or ENSO — is known to trigger widespread changes in atmospheric conditions, and has a major influence on global weather patterns, including the Indian monsoon. |
- The most recent Oceanic Niño Index or ONI value — a three-month running-average SST deviation from the normal in the east-central equatorial Pacific — was minus 0.4 degrees Celsius for January-March 2023. Since La Niña is characterised by a negative ONI exceeding or equal to minus 0.5 degrees
- it means that the so-called ENSO (El Niño-Southern Oscillation) cycle has entered a “neutral” phase.
Negative consequences observed due to La Niña :
- The widespread drought in the United States and flooding in eastern Australia this year could have been a result of the prolonged La Niña. The excessive rainfall in Pakistan, which is experiencing its worst flooding disaster, can also be blamed in part on La Niña.
- World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) said the worsening drought in the Horn of Africa and southern United States carried the “hallmarks of La Niña”, as did the “above average rainfall in southeast Asia and Australasia”. It said that the persistence of La Niña was most likely to result in a worsening of the drought in Africa.
Climate change link
- As per the, metrologist, “Every unusual weather event these days is attributed to climate change, but science is not conclusive right now (on the linkage of ENSO events with global warming),”
- The occurrences of El Niño or La Niña are not very regular. Sometimes they emerge every two years, at other times there has been a gap of even seven years. Historical records do not go very far in the past. As a result, the natural variability of ENSO is not understood very clearly. And when the natural variability itself is not clear, the influence of global warming is difficult to quantify.
- As, there have been suggestions that climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of El Niño and La Niña episodes, but the question is not entirely settled.
- A part of the reason is the fact that trade winds play a very important role in triggering ENSO events. And the changes in the strength of trade winds are not easily explained by global warming.
- During La Niña years, the colder surfaces allow the oceans to absorb more heat from the atmosphere. Consequently, the air temperatures tend to go down, producing a cooling effect. However, as pointed out by the WMO, this is not enough to reverse or neutralize the impacts of global warming.
- Its (La Niña’s) cooling influence is temporarily slowing the rise in global temperatures but it will not halt or reverse the long-term warming trend.