Editorial 1: Emerging countries need women-led climate action
Context
- Gender equality and environmental goals are mutually reinforcing and create a virtuous circle that will help accelerate the achievement of the SDGs [Sustainable Development Goals].
Impacts of climate change
- The impact of climate change is one that has profound consequences for humans and has emerged as one of the biggest global challenges in recent decades.
- The effects of climate change vary according to location, socioeconomic status, and gender.
- An International Labour Organization study (2019) said that in 2030, 2.2 percent of total working hours worldwide will be lost to high temperatures, a productivity loss equivalent to 80 million full-time jobs.
- The United Nations (2009) highlighted that across genders, women are considered to be highly vulnerable and disproportionately affected by climate change than men to the impact of climate change.
Felt more in low-income countries
- However, women in developing and less developed countries (especially in low-income areas) are more vulnerable to climate change because of their dependence on natural resources and labour-intensive work for their livelihood.
- Women are more likely to live in poverty than men, which is just one of several social, economic, and cultural variables that makes them more susceptible to the effects of climate change.
- Women from low-income households are more at risk because they are more responsible for food, water, and other homely unpaid work.
- Women may be at increased risk for health and safety because they must travel long distances every day to collect water and fuel.
- This is why climate change has a disproportionate effect on rural women.
- Women in low-income countries (predominantly South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa) engage in climate-vulnerable occupations such as farming and other labour-intensive work.
- According to the ILO, over 60% of working women in southern Asia and sub-Saharan Africa are still in agriculture, where they are often underpaid and overworked.
- Despite being the backbone of the food production system, women own only about 10% of the land used for farming.
Gender-specific issues
- According to a UN study, most (80%) of those displaced by climate-related disasters are women and girls.
- When women are uprooted, they are more susceptible to prejudice and exploitation.
- For instance, after the earthquake in Nepal in 2015, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) found women were more exposed to trafficking and exploitation.
- Separation from social networks, a higher risk of gender-based violence, and decreased access to employment, education, and essential health services, such as sexual and reproductive health care and psychosocial support, are just some gender-specific issues women face.
Impacts on agriculture and food security
- Climate change impacts agricultural productivity negatively and significantly.
- Heat stress affects workers a lot in this sector, especially in South Asia and Africa.
- Changing precipitation patterns and more frequent extreme weather events are just the beginning of the problems.
- Their effects on crop production and food security fall disproportionately on these people, who already face significant challenges in obtaining resources, expertise, and technology.
- Women engaged in agriculture do not have access to quality inputs and possess low education and technical knowledge.
- Various studies also reflect how flooding has increased water scarcity and also violence against and the exploitation of women.
Invest in women’s education, training
- According to estimates, 130 million people could be pushed into poverty by 2050 due to climate change risks, natural disasters, and food inflation, impacting women’s inequality.
- Investments in women’s education, training, and access to resources are essential if we are to be resilient to the impact of climate change.
- Reduce the negative impacts of climate change on people’s living standards by teaching them how to practise sustainable agriculture, water management, and energy generation.
- For example, in India, the Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) teaches women farmers how to respond to shifting climate patterns to support themselves better financially.
Conclusion
- Women’s participation in climate policy decision-making at all levels is crucial for effective climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies as well as getting decent employment. As women face greater risks in climate change, gender parity in decision-making bodies is essential.
Editorial 2: Aditya L1: its functioning and purpose
Context
- Observations from Adtiya L1 will help us understand the dynamics of the Sun and how solar variability impacts the climate on Earth and affects the space weather.
Monitoring the Sun
- Discovered by mathematician Joseph Louis Lagrange, L1 is one of the five points located approximately 1.5 million kilometres away, where the gravitational forces of the Sun and the Earth are in equilibrium.
- Hence, a spacecraft placed at L1 orbits the Sun at the same rate as Earth and affords an uninterrupted view of the Sun, making it an ideal observation post for space-based solar observatories.
- The L1 is currently home to the European Space Agency (ESA)- National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) observing the Sun and its dynamics.
- Aditya L1 will join this observatory to unravel the mysteries of the dynamics of the Sun.
- Launched on September 2, the craft will undergo five orbit-raising manoeuvres before being slingshot to the L1 point.
- The ship will coast for about four months before it reaches L1. At that stage, the thrusters will be fired to make the craft circle around the L1, placing it in what is known as a halo orbit around L1.
- From this vantage point, Aditya L1 can observe the Sun 24X7 using its four remote sensing payloads, and measure in-situ the various parameters of space weather.
To understand climate variability
- Like a heartbeat, solar activity is measured in terms of the number of sunspots.
- Sunspots are cooler regions on the Sun’s surface which increase and decrease in a cycle of 11 years.
- When the Sun is active, the number of sunspots is in the hundreds, and at solar minimum, the numbers are nearly zero.
- Whatever changes we observe in the solar radiation, nearly 80% occur in the ultraviolet range.
- The Earth’s upper atmosphere absorbs most of the solar UV rays. The absorbed energy affects the atmosphere’s composition, temperature and other parameters.
- The Solar Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (SUIT) developed by the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy & Astrophysics, will observe the UV radiation from different zones of the solar atmosphere.
- The onboard intelligence system will detect any sudden appearance of bright spots, such as solar flares on the disc.
- Observing the Sun using the SUIT will enable us to better understand climate variation on Earth.
Looking deeper
- At times, the Sun sneezes. Like a tongue of fire, a chunk of the corona suddenly accelerates and leaps into interplanetary space.
- Called Coronal Mass ejection (CME), this cloud consisting of billion tonnes of energetic plasma mixed with a solar magnetic field is hurled at 250 kilometres per second to 3,000 km/s.
- Usually, the corona is not visible in the glare of the radiant Sun, except during the brief moment of a total solar eclipse.
- However, solar physicists can create artificial eclipses in the solar telescope, called coronograph, to observe the corona.
- The Visible Emission Line Coronagraph (VELC) developed by the Bengaluru-based Indian Institute of Astrophysics in close collaboration with the ISRO can peek as close as 1.05 solar radii, a region never imaged by any solar telescope.
Conclusion
- Earth’s climate has definitely changed. Global warming is real. The data from SUIT and other papers of Aditya L1 will help us resolve the contribution of natural and anthropogenic factors driving climate change.
