The day after tomorrow

"Where will you be 'The day after tomorrow'?" was the big question in Hollywood an year ago. A multi-million dollar CGI extravaganza unfolded on screen. The film showcases a grim future for man-kind as an ice-age sets in. Simultaneous catastrophes hit nations. Cyclones and huge snow fall hit India while Typhoons, Tornadoes, Hail storms, Tidal waves and snow storms strike elsewhere. The earliest warning that scientists receive is about 6 - 7 weeks earlier to the D-Day. Asusual nobody pays heed to the protagonist's claims and go about their work until it is too late. The weather rages. The symbols of modern civilization, Our great cities, are either submerged or frozen. Communication links are broken down. No transport either. After a few days the weather clears. People think of the whole episode as a warning to an even more disastrous events of the future and vow to preserve the balance of this fragile planet, Our home.

An year ago the claims made by the movie seemed preposterous. As far as I was concerned calamities like global warming and melting of polar ice-caps would take atleast a hundred years once they start. After all the figure '100 years' though large compared to human existence is pretty small when it comes to the matters of astronomy and geology. Ecological changes are not destined to occur overnight. What are the chances that environmental disturbances occur simultaneously all over the world? I would have said "nil", this time around, last year.

Quakes rocked northen parts of India and Pakistan, Tornadoes hit US coasts, Cyclones devastated the Indian east coast, All in a span of weeks! Call me a 'dooms-day sayer' and yet I will not flinch from my opinion that these incidents are not mere coincidences! I remember that the summers of my childhood were a lot more cooler than this year. The temperature seems to be rising a degree each year. Will not a time come when humans shy away from walking in the afternoon sun? I remember the winters when I just felt cozy and still a thin blanket would suffice. Not anymore. A thick rug has become a part of my bed. I remember a time when rains used to be seasonal. Not any longer. Rains lash in as they please. I remember a time when digging in about 10 feet made us see water gurgling in the well. Now sinking bore-wells to a depth of a hundred feet around my home town (coastal Andhra) does not guarantee water. I remember a clean beach. Now it is strewn with dirt and muddy froth. Just thinking about the future gives me creeps. I find solace in the hope that science will find an answer to these challenges before it is too late. On the otherhand I also think that whatever solution that science finds is only temporary and does not aim at eliminating the root-cause of the problem. Reason: We ourselves are the root of the problem and our life-style, the root-cause. Man is into an uncontrolled negative spiral and strong warning signs from Mother Nature might be the only way to call for his attention.