Abstract:-
It is beyond debate now that humans have increased greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and the science is robust that this has resulted in a warming of the planet, especially in the last four decades. But the monotonic increase in greenhouse gases is associated with a not-so-monotonic warming because the earth system spends the excess energy trapped by greenhouse gases to melt glaciers and warm the deep ocean and not just warm the atmosphere. This creates a quintessential wicked problem - a problem that creates winners and losers and cannot be solved but can only be resolved. And has to be resolved again and again. Vested interests can become merchants of doubt but that is a WEIRD
(Western-Educated-Industrialized-Rich-Democratic) country problem. What are the human risk perception issues that make climate change such a wicked problem? India needs to focus on the climate change that is already manifest and seek readiness and resilience. This comes down to solutions for food, water, energy and health. Some ways forward are discussed.
About the Speaker:-
Murtugudde has a BTech from IITB in Aeronautical Engineering and a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Columbia University. He has worked at NASA and has been a faculty at the University of Maryland since 2003. He is currently a Visiting Faculty at IIT.
