Impact Of Climate Change and

Covid 19 on the Youth and Public

Place Relationship from the Youth’s
Perspective
Team GREEN DEFENDERS
Team Members

Anushka Singh Nishtha Parashar Siddhesh Khope

20BCE10371 20BCE10500 20BCE10637

Diptanu Saha Lavanya Doohan

20BCE10664 20BCE10673
2
Roadmap
Climate change, its Change in Global
effects and some Temperature during Impact of Covid on
possible solutions Covid situation Railways

1 3 5

2 4 6

Impact of climate Impact of climate Impact of Covid on

change on Temperature change on forests, Case educational progress
Study on Uttarakhand and students’ life
Forest Fire

3
 What is
Climate Change?
❏ Climate change is a long-term shift in global or
regional climate patterns. Since 1800s, human
activities have been the main driver of climate
change of which the primary cause is the burning
of fossil fuels.
❏ Burning of fossil fuels generates greenhouse gas
emissions that act like a blanket wrapped around
the Earth, trapping the sun’s heat and raising the
temperature of the planet.
❏ Climate change is not just a rise in temperature
but its consequences include intense droughts,
rising sea levels, severe fires and declining
biodiversity.

https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/what-is-climate-change
4
Effects of
Climate Change
People are experiencing the effects of climate
change in diverse ways. Climate change can
affect our health, ability to grow food, housing,
safety and work. Some of us are already more
vulnerable to climate impacts, such as people
living in small island nations and other
developing countries. Conditions like sea-level
rise and saltwater intrusion have advanced to
the point where whole communities have had to
relocate, and protracted droughts are putting
people at risk of famine. In the future, the
number of “climate refugees” is expected to
rise.

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-24021772
5
 What can be the possible

SOLUTIONS?
❏ Many climate change solutions can deliver economic
benefits while improving our lives and protecting the
environment. We also have global agreements to guide
progress, such as the UN Framework Convention on
Climate Change and The Paris Agreement.

❏ Three broad categories of action are: cutting

emissions, adapting to climate impacts and financing
required adjustments.

❏ Switching energy systems from fossil fuels to

renewables like solar or wind will reduce the emissions
driving climate change. But we have to start right now.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/enviro
nment/article/global-warming-effects

6
 continued...

“ ❏ While a growing coalition of countries is committing to

net zero emissions by 2050, about half of emissions
cuts must be in place by 2030 to keep warming below
1.5°C. Fossil fuel production must decline by roughly 6
percent per year between 2020 and 2030.

❏ Adapting to climate consequences protects people,

homes, businesses, livelihoods, infrastructure and
natural ecosystems. It covers current impacts and
those likely in the future.

❏ Adaptation will be required everywhere but must be

prioritized now for the most vulnerable people with
the fewest resources to cope with climate hazards.
The rate of return can be high. Early warning systems
for disasters, for instance, save lives and property,
and can deliver benefits up to 10 times the initial
cost.
https://climate.nasa.gov/solutions/adaptation-mitigation/
7
Temperature

https://www.climate.gov/news-features/understanding-
climate/climate-change-global-temperature
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Is the Earth getting too hot, or
what?
According to a continuous study conducted by the NASA’s Goddard
institute, the Earth’s average global temperature has risen by 0.8
degrees Celsius or 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit since 1880. Since the
beginning of the Industrial Revolution, the thermometer readings
have risen continuously.

The weather in your locality constantly goes up and down by

larger degrees. Why should anyone be concerned about a 1
degree increase in the global temperature? Well, global
temperature is primarily depending on the amount of energy it
receives from the sun and how much of it is radiated back into
space. The numbers change very little unless some other factor is
affecting the change in temperature. The amount of energy that
the planet radiates back into space is dependent upon the
chemical composition of our atmosphere – like greenhouse gases.

9
Changes on a global scale happen very slowly, normally.
Geological processes take eons even. A 1 degree rise in
the surface temperature of the Earth is therefore very
important.

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on

Climate Change, the warmest 30-year period is
between 1983 to 2012.

Unlike the local temperature where you live, where

temperatures fluctuate regularly by several
degrees, it takes a lot of heat to warm our oceans,
air and land to cause a 1 degree rise in the Earth’s
temperature. It’s a big planet with a big surface!
In the past, all it took to bring on the Little Ice Age
between 1350 to 1850, is a two degree drop in
temperature. So you see, from a global perspective,
a slight degree is very important.

https://www.theworldcounts.com/stories/Tempera
ture-Change-Over-the-Last-100-Years#
!
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What will happen if
the earth gets too
warm?
When our global temperature rises by 4
degrees Celsius more, we will be faced
with really big problems such as
extreme weather, rising sea levels,
extinction of species, food and water
scarcity, just to name a few. Many
people can continue to debate the
cause, but the effects of Global
Warming are real and it is here.

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Entry of
COVID
The global outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is affecting every part of
human lives, including the physical world. The measures taken to control the spread of the
virus and the slowdown of economic activities have significant effects on the environment.

The global disruption caused by the COVID-19 has brought about several effects on the
environment and climate. Due to movement restriction and a significant slowdown of
social and economic activities, air quality has improved in many cities with a reduction in
water pollution in different parts of the world.

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13
 COVID-19 lockdowns temporarily raised global temperatures, research shows​

Date: February 2, 2021​

Source: National Centre for Atmospheric Research/University Corporation for Atmospheric Research

The lockdowns and reduced societal activity related to the COVID-19 pandemic affected emissions
of pollutants in ways that slightly warmed the planet for several months last year, according to new
research led by the National Centre for Atmospheric Research (NCAR).​

​ he counterintuitive finding highlights the influence of airborne particles, or aerosols, that block
T
incoming sunlight. When emissions of aerosols dropped last spring, more of the Sun's warmth
reached the planet, especially in heavily industrialized nations, such as the United States and
Russia, that normally pump high amounts of aerosols into the atmosphere.​

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/02/210202164535.htm
14
14
"There was a big decline in emissions from the most polluting
industries, and that had immediate, short-term effects on
temperatures," said NCAR scientist Andrew Gettelman, the
study's lead author. "Pollution cools the planet, so it makes
sense that pollution reductions would warm the planet."​

Despite the short-term warming effects, Gettelman

emphasized that the long-term impact of the pandemic may
be to slightly slow climate change because of reduced
emissions of carbon dioxide, which lingers in the atmosphere
for decades and has a more gradual influence on climate. In
contrast, aerosols -- the focus of the new study -- have a
more immediate impact that fades away within a few years.

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Solutions to control the rising
temperature of Earth

❏ The first would be to ❏ The other would be to ❏ The community has set
construct a giant panel soak up as much carbon up giant parasols out
in space that would dioxide in the into space, built
block out most of the atmosphere as was massive fans, and
light on the sun. possible. The reduction formed fizz bubble
in CO2 would cause the waters in the ocean to
planet’s temperature limit greenhouse gas
to decrease. emission.

THE VERDICT : “The fact is , if we fail to take care of rising temperature of earth

we could kick off another Ice Age.”

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 Forest Fire: an overview
❏ Fire has been a major influencing factor on the
development and management of many of the world's
forests. Some forest ecosystems have evolved in
response to frequent fires from natural causes, but
most others are susceptible to the effects of wildfire.
❏ Forest fire may be defined as an unclosed and freely
spreading combustion that consumes the natural fuels.
When a fire burns out of control it is known as
WildFire.
❏ Each year, millions of hectares of the world's forests
are consumed by fire, which results in enormous
economic losses because of burnt timber; degraded
real estate; high costs of suppression; damage to
environmental, recreational and amnesty values; and
loss of life.

http://164.100.47.193/Refinput/New_Reference_Note
s/English/Forest%20Fire%20in%20India.pdf
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 Forest Fire
in India
❏ India constitutes one of the mega bio-diversity
zones of the world, abundant with unique and
diversified floral and faunal wealth. The total
recorded forest area of the country is 7.65 lacs
square kilometers.

❏ Every year one or other part of the forests in

India comes under fire. Depending upon the type
of vegetation, the climate and various other
factors, the fire season varies from place to
place.

http://164.100.47.193/Refinput/New_Reference_Note
s/English/Forest%20Fire%20in%20India.pdf
  18
 continued...
❏ According to the India State of Forest Report
(ISFR) 2015, the estimated fire prone areas
under heavy, moderate and mild fire are 2.40
percent, 7.49 percent and 54.40 percent
respectively, making the total forest fire prone
area as 64.29 percent of the total Recorded
Forest Area.
❏ As per the information available from answer to
Lok Sabha question, Forest Survey of India does
not report the number of forest fire incidences
on the ground. It only disseminates the satellite-
based forest fire alerts to all the State Forest
Departments and other registered users. The
information is not maintained at the level of
Central Ministry.

COVID-19
19
 https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-why-is-
this-seasons-forest-fires-in-uttarakhand-worrisome-7261373/
 ​

❏ Uttarakhand has around 38,000 square km of forests, which is almost 71 per cent of its geographical area.
In just five days of April, Uttarakhand has recorded 361 incidents of forest fire that have damaged 567
hectares, including 380 hectares of reserve forest areas. As forest fires rage in different parts of state.

❏ Seven districts in the state — Pauri Garhwal, Tehri Garhwal, Dehradun, Chamoli, Rudraprayag, Nainital
and Almora — are most vulnerable to forest fires.

CASE STUDY 20
 ❏ Every year forest fires begin in Uttarakhand in
mid-February, which is the onset of spring when
the trees shed dry leaves and the soil loses
moisture due to a rise in temperature. This ‘forest
fire season’ continues usually till mid-June in the
summer.

❏ According to an official, due to lockdown there

was very less human movement and field activity
in the forest fire season like every year when
inflammable leaves and woods are collected in
forest areas near human habitats. Dry leaves shed
from trees in spring remained at the ground and
the fuel load increased due to the same natural
phenomenon in the year.

❏ Following less rain in monsoon and almost nil rain

in winters dried the soil and earth surface lost the
moisture early this time. Strong wind velocity is
Why is the current spreading fire very fast in jungles.

Covid situation worrisome ❏ Among these factors, the forest department can
control only fuel load by controlled burning.
for Uttarakhand? https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-why-is-
this-seasons-forest-fires-in-uttarakhand-worrisome-7261373/
 ​
COVID-19
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❏ There were 989 fire incidents in the forests of
the state from October 1,2020-April 4, 2021,
according to forest department figures. Some
1,297.43 hectares of forest got burned down in
the fires, according to the estimates.

❏ There were 470 incidents of fire in Uttarakhand’s

forests between November 2020 and January
2021. The figure for the same period in the
previous year was 39.

❏ Uttarakhand ranked second in the country after

Madhya Pradesh in terms of active instances of
fire on April 5, 2021 according to the Forest
Survey of India. There were 93 active instances of
fire in Madhya Pradesh and 71 in Uttarakhand.

Some Statistical Data

❏ Uttarakhand received only 10.9 millimetres of
rainfall from January-March 2021 against the usual
54.9 mm, a deficit of nearly 80 per cent. The
district of Pauri Garhwal, which has been most
affected by fires, received the least amount of
rain, a measly 3.1 mm, against the usual 36.6 mm.
The deficit in Pauri Garhwal has been 92 per cent.

❏ Temperatures too have been rising across

Uttarakhand and other Himalayan states. The year
2020 was the second consecutive ‘warm’ year for
the state.
https://www.downtoearth.org.in/video/cli
mate-change/still-burning-forest-fires-cont
inue-to-rage-in-uttarakhand-76487 COVID-19
 

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Gaps Identified
The analysis of secondary as well as primary information
collected from various stakeholders reveals that the forest
fire management in India still lacks a systematic and
scientific approach. The key gaps in the system are enlisted
as –
 Lack of appropriate policy and planning to tackle
forest fire.
 Lack of proper institutional mechanism
 Lack of scientific approach to collect fire data and
document it for forest fire management
 Lack of funding
 Not many initiatives to involve local community
 Poor response to HRD and other capacity building
initiatives
 Lack of preventive and preparedness measures to
ensure better response

https://nidm.gov.in/pdf/pubs/forest%20fire.pdf ​

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 Forest Fire Management (FFM) in India is the mandate of the
forest department, therefore it is imperative that forest
department be capacitated at national, regional and local
ACTION PLAN
levels for making forest fire management system more
effective and reduce the vulnerability of the Indian forest
to fires.

This needs a comprehensive action plan, incorporating

various issues of forest fires. The objective of the plan is to
strengthen forest fire prevention, preparedness and
response mechanism within the forest departments at
various levels.
The plan of action will be used to:

 provide Forest Department with a framework to

strengthen skills and increase capacities for FFM,
enabling it to play effectively the role of a service
provider in times of need;
 upgrade forest personnel’s services to manage forest fire
and reduce the risks
 contribute towards better coordination between key
stakeholders at different levels, and in particular at local
levels;
 provide a framework within which to report performance
and success.

https://nidm.gov.in/pdf/pubs/forest%20fire.pdf ​
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 Forest fire
mitigation measures
❏ The national park authorities and forest department
officials have to create awareness generation programs in
the villages which are surroundings of the national parks
and wildlife sanctuaries.
❏ The national park authorities must follow rotational
burning/controlled burning of forest floor so that the
litter and biomass would not accumulate in an areas.
❏ During the peak season of the forest fire burning national
park authorities can create master control room to
monitor the situation.
❏ The forest department and national park official must
create watch towers in the surroundings of national parks
❏ The forest department official and other persons must be
equipped with efficient firefighting tools.

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 Impact of Covid on railways
                                                                           -Including the covid scenario
 In each shift, the output of the new track laying
New Track Construction machine can be as high as 1.5 km. In normal
conditions, the track laying can be done for
(NTC) machine maximum 200 meters to 300 meters.

27
 Some General

Facts
 India’s Fastest Train – Vande Bharat Express (180 km/h)
 Longest Railway Platform – Gorakhpur Railway Station

(1.35 kilometres)
 Cleanest Train Station – Surat Railway Station
 Biggest Train Station – Howrah Junction Railway Station
(23 Platforms)
 Highest Railway Station – Ghum Railway Station (7,405 ft)
 Largest Railway Marshaling Yard – Mughalsarai Junction
 Beautiful Railway Station – Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus
 Longest Traveling Train – Dibrugarh Kanyakumari Vivek
Express (4,233 km)
 Most Expensive Luxury Train – Maharaja Express

(Rs. 1,74,600 4 Days/ 3 Nights)

 Busiest Railway Station – Howrah Railway Station (974 Trains)
 Longest Rail Bridge Above Water – Vembanad Rail Bridge
(4,620 m)
 Longest Rail Tunnel – Pir Panjal Railway Tunnel (11.21 km)
 Tallest Railway Bridge – Chenab River Railway Bridge (1,178 ft)
 Relay Interlocking System – New Delhi Railway Station
https://www.globalrailwayreview.com/article/123
127/indian-railways-covid19-crisis-management/

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 Railways contribution to
the environment
 Indian Railways has planted 13.26 lakh
trees over 1,300 km of its network from
September 15 to October 2, as part of
the celebrations to mark the 149th birth
anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi
 Cleaning of 43 stations associated with
Mahatma Gandhi and 28 stations near
iconic places and golden triangle Delhi,
Agra, Jaipur was undertaken

https://www.globalrailwayreview.com/article/123127/
indian-railways-covid19-crisis-management/

29
 ‘India only G20 nation to meet climate goals’

 India has a target of achieving 40% of electric power

installed capacity from non-fossil fuel sources by
2030 in its nationally determined contribution under
the Paris Agreement.
 Modi ji said today, India is the only country in the
group of G20 countries, which is moving fast towards
achieving its climate goals. India has set a target of
450 GW of renewable energy by the end of this
decade - 450 GW by 2030. Of this, the target of 100
GW has been achieved by India ahead of schedule,” 
 On the environment front, 38 railway stations of
SWR identified by National Green Tribunal have
received the IS0-4001 certification, Kishore
added. In Bengaluru Railway Division, Shyam Singh
hoisted the tricolour at the Railway Institute
Grounds at Mahatma Gandhi Railway Colony.

30
PM Modi said India has made a move towards electric mobility and the work on 100 per cent
electrification of the railways is in the  process 

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Impact of Covid-19 on
educational progress and
students’ life

The underprivileged

32
underprivileged?

Concept of Learning Poverty:

❏ The World Bank (WB) introduced a new Learning Target,

which aims to cut by at least half the global rate of
learning poverty by 2030. It is defined as the percentage
of 10-year-olds who cannot read and understand a simple
story.

❏ Even before COVID-19 forced a massive closure more than

half (53 percent) of 10-year-old children in low- and
middle-income countries either had failed to learn to read
What about the

or were out of school entirely.

https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/education/brief/what-is-learning-poverty

33
 Learning Poverty could increase by 10 percentage points in Low-and Middle-income countries (most pessimistic scenario)

out of 100 children in Low- and Middle-income countries:

Pre-covid-19:
❏ South Asia (which had a 63% pre-
pandemic rate of learning poverty)
❏ Latin America (48%)
❏ East Asia and the Pacific (21%).
❏ Sub-Saharan Africa and Low-income
countries, where learning poverty
was already at 87% and 90% already.
https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/edu
cation/brief/what-is-learning-poverty
34
 How Covid-19 has affected Learning Poverty

Comparison between Middle East/Sub–

Saharan Africa and Latin America:
LATIN An indicator of the severity of learning deprivation, which
AMERICA
captures the inequality among the learning deprived
children, reveals that due to covid-19 school closures:

❏ Severity of learning deprivation in the Middle East and

Sub-Saharan Africa could increase by approximately
1.5 percentage points, versus an increase of 0.5
percentage points in Latin America.
SUB-SAHARAN ❏ Latin America – close to minimum proficiency level
AFRICA than Sub-Saharan
❏ The depth of learning deprivation in Sub-Saharan
Africa – to increase by 3 times the current situation
❏ This is almost three times the global average, and
four times more than in Europe and Central Asia.

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 What can be done
when institutions

Reopen?
❏ Flexibility, re- imagination,
prepared for the triple shock
to build back better
❏ Several policies, immediate
response

36
 What is happening with the students in
some areas during Covid-19 where
education Pre-Pandemic was a rare
Underprivileged Children’s Life

blessing?

❏ As schools were shut and online

education was accessible to only a
few, children had nothing to do and
during Covid-19

many were forced into child labour to

help support their families, a survey
by the NGO Save the children.
❏ Over three-fourths of children did
not have access to online learning and
over a third of children did not have
access to any learning material during
the first Covid-19 wave in 2020.

https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/educatio
n/brief/what-is-learning-poverty
37
‘A sea of broken children’:
how many are vulnerable?

❏ The Central Government's national Childline

Helpline 1098 had responded to 460,000 calls in
21 days, or nearly 22,000 calls a day, received
during the countrywide lockdown (March 20, 2020,
to April 10 2020), a Save the Children report
published during the first wave of the pandemic.

❏ With cases of everything from hunger to child

labour to child marriage reported Aarambh, a
Bhopal based non-profit (childline's partner).

❏ In two months to May 28, 2021, Aarambh intervened

in 121 distress calls from children in Bhopal.

❏ The question is
what has been done and
what can be done ? https://www.indiaspend.com/child-rights/how-covid-has-
put-children-at-risk-of-abuse-labour-marriage-755065
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CONCLUSION
From this presentation, the conclusions we can draw can be
 Climate change is rapidly affecting our environment in an
adverse manner and needs immediate attention. or else
Earth's balance of land and water would be immensely
disturbed.
 Global Warming is the major contributor in Climate change..
For the icing on the cake the pandemic gave its full support
in raising the Global temperature of the Earth. The primary
solution is just not to disturb the ecological balance of the
Earth and try to achieve all the sustainable goals say using all
the resources judicious manner.
 One of the adverse effects of the Global Warming are the
Forest fires which usually are anthroprogenic in nature. By
following the principle of "Prevention is better than cure',
implementation of the sustainable forest fire prevention
policies may be the best option in this case
 The novel Covid -19 has shown its adverse effects in every
possible way of which impact on transportation, education
and student life have been discussed here The best solution
possible for now is by co-operating with the respective
governments and following the prevention policies.

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Thank You