THE Industrial Revolution that commenced in the United Kingdom,

then subsequently spread through Europe, North America, and eventually the rest of the world, marked a turning point in human history, as it surely did, by its profound changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, and transport made possible by the introduction of the engine and steam.
This great socio-economic transformation that witnessed the growth of tens of thousands of factories, that began to emit countless billions of great puffs of smoke into the stratosphere, has definitely laid the foundation for the challenges of climate change and the frightening results which now threaten current mankind. Since then, the world has advanced industrially, a million fold,  bringing in its wake great   benefits to succeeding generations; but, with a great price tag: untold environmental destruction, the results of which have now begun to unfold with almost cataclysmic results.
Daily, the television screens are splashed with vivid images of natural disasters of a diverse nature that have been occurring on every continent. These natural phenomena are not only happening with alarming frequency, but with devastating results, leaving huge death tolls and the attendant massive destruction, and untold misery. The recent Oklahoma cyclone, though destroying numerous homes, and a low casualty rate in terms of fatalities and injuries, was not as apocalyptic and devastatingly destructive as the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, that exacted a massive death toll of over 300,000, and obliterated the countless plastic and zinc shacks called home for the citizens of an already very poor country.
The stark fact is that the new Millennium thus far, has been witness to some angry responses from mother nature:  beginning with a devastating earthquake in Indonesia in 2004, followed by an equally deadly tsunami that swept through the Indian Ocean archipelago, with a death toll of over 375,000; Guyana experienced its great flood in February, 2005, that inundated especially its entire eastern corridor, and other parts of the low-lying coastal areas. Then there was Hurricane Katrina, in the United States, also in 2005, described as the sixth deadliest storm, with an $81B price tag. This  storm of intense fury visited destruction with scenes of entire New Orleans cities flooded to roof top levels, and with unforgettable misery among the tens of thousands who sought refuge in the Houston Astrodome.
If the latter display of nature’s dark anger were not enough, then later that year she struck in the form of a devastating earthquake in the disputed Kashmir province, registering a list of 79,000 deaths and untold damage to infrastructure. Still in Asia, in May, 2008, Myanmar was struck by cyclone Nargis, that exacted 138,000 fatalities. Eight days after, in China’s Sichuan province, another devastating   earthquake of 7.9 took almost 80,000 lives.
Who will forget the harrowing scenes from  Northern Pakistan in 2010, as chest-high floods, described as the worst in Pakistan’s history, washed away scores of villages, leaving over 3,000,000 persons homeless, and fatalities of almost 1,900. Then there was the unprecedented flood, dubbed “The hand of God”, in Australia that submerged the  state of Queensland, compliments of a tsunami. Also included in this catalogue of nature’s anger was the gigantic 8.9 earthquake that triggered a 10-metre high wall of water that devastated large parts of Japan’s north-eastern coast. There have also been similar, deadly magnitude quakes in New Zealand and Chile, though not with the normally attendant high casualties.
Even Russia has experienced more than normal temperatures, resulting in hundreds of uncontrollable forest fires. In the Arctic, too, where  the phenomenon has led to the rapidity  with which ice sheets are melting. A 100-square mile chunk of ice is reported to have broken off from the great Petermann   glacier.
A marked feature of the growing threat of climate change is the very large  volume of rainfall in a very short period, as in Pakistan recently, where 12 inches had been recorded in the first 36 hours of this catastrophe
. It is instructive to note that the World Meteorological Organization, reporting on the first six  months  of  2010, concluded that the latter  was the hottest  for 150 years; and snow caps on the world’s highest peaks have been slowly disappearing.  All these are unmistakable signs of climate change,                                    because of the inevitable warming of the earth’s atmosphere.
It is interesting to note that these displays of natural phenomena are not isolated nor geographically confined; but are instead occurring on every continent concurrently, affecting developed, developing and poor states. For instance, it is customary to associate floods with especially poor countries that do not have proper hydraulic technology. But how does one account for the constant deluge of American cities after unusually heavy rainfall, where such engineering is impeccable? And  as this piece is being penned, the city of San Antonio in Texas, is reported to be inundated.
Definitely, the daily existence of mankind and his future survival are now being seriously challenged by the opening stanza of climate change; and, Guyana has shown her determined  commitment to be in the forefront of this looming battle towards the slowing of a warmer environment, thanks to the visionary Low Carbon Development Strategy, brainchild of the former President Bharrat Jagdeo, where Guyana’s forests have been pledged to the protection of the earth from the ravages of fossil and other types of harmful emissions. If a small state such as Guyana can take such a bold initiative, then the most powerful, especially those who would have refused to adhere to a capping of emissions ceiling on the pretext that such action will hamper their economic growth, must do the same. For this is definitely selfish and dangerous for a group of nations whose reckless disregard for the environment has placed the future of all of mankind in perilous jeopardy.
Now is the time for urgent action; for to delay will only be courting an even greater disaster, the point of no return, as the above incidents point to an apocalypse to come. All nations must act now, before it is too late.