Proliferating problems on the climate front are mostly due to “our own fault”.this was stressed at a daylong symposium on “Climate Change and the Environment” hosted by the Lawrence School at Lovedale near Ooty recently.It was conducted by eminent professors J.Srinivasan and S.K.Satheesh of the Divecha Centre for Climate Change under the aegis of the Indian Institute of Science,Bangalore in association with Talentspire,an innovative organization which promotes science among students.

The event was in tune with the policy of the 161 year old Lawrence School which has been focusing on such issues over the years.

With students from various schools in and around Ooty attending the workshop,Mr.Srinivasan pointed out that though nature and man-made developments contributed to climate change the impact of the former took hundreds of years while that of the latter was quick with perilous consequences.

Citing an example,he said that human Co2 emissions were 130 times more than volcanic emissions. He added that in India the number of heat wave days was on the rise and the hottest day of a heat wave was becoming hotter.Dr.Srinivasan lamented that though India’s contribution to the global climate change was less than 6 percent it would have to bear the brunt of the change in the next 75 to 100 years.

He urged the students to take steps to strike a harmonious balance between development and conservation in order to check climate change.

Dr.Satheesh adverted to the Kyoto Protocol on Aerosol emission and said that countries around the world have come out with suggestions relating to methods that can be adopted to control the emission.

The Headmaster of the Lawrence School K Prabhakaran welcomed the gathering.

An interesting quiz on climate change and the environment t formed part of the workshop.