Amitav Ghosh has taken us Dancing in Cambodia , into the marshlands of the Sundarbans in The Hungry Tide and on a breathtaking journey following a multitude of characters spread across India, China, England and Mauritius in the Ibis trilogy. The versatile author has shifted gears with his latest work, The Great Derangement , a series of essays that deal with climate change, its impact on society and the response of the authorities to this pressing problem. At an interaction in the city, Amitav said, “Climate change is one of the biggest threats the planet is facing. Research shows that freak weather conditions such as rain bombs, random cyclones, and huge storms will intensify in the years to come. However, the response to these threats has been rather tepid by political authorities and in terms of treatment in popular culture as well. It is a global threat. It is important that individuals and political institutions start preparing for disasters on account of rising sea levels and melting glaciers.
Economic and political developments of the 18th and 19th Centuries played an important part in fuelling the spectre of climate change. Amitav said, “Events such as the invention of the steam engine, the uneven spread of the Industrial Revolution that focused mainly on Europe while sidelining Asia, have played an important role in influencing climate change. This period saw the start of the carbon economy and climate change is one of the by-products.”
He adds, “The present cycle of climate change is rooted in neo-liberal economic policies and consumerism. It is important that socialism as practiced by countries such as the Soviet Union was not any different. Ill-conceived projects such as the plan to use the waters of the Ural Sea to create irrigation channels resulted in the shrinking of the sea.”
The author also blames the ‘Washington Consensus’ for climate change. “After the fall of the Berlin Wall, growth at all costs became the new mantra worldwide. The impact of this growth and development on nature, the planet and the climate were ignored. Governments can no longer afford to be seen as not delivering growth, if they want to stay in office. We need to talk about cutting back on excesses and living within our means.”
Does the political issues get more mileage than the actual concerns on climate change, especially post disasters like the recent floods in Chennai?
“All such disasters occur because of a convergence of factors related to climate change and a crisis created by mismanagement and corruption. In popular culture, while the political failures are rightfully played up and debated, the reasons behind such freak phenomena hardly finds any mention. Everyone finds it easier to depict political conflicts than focussing on the human-nature conflict.”
Amitav feels that years of staying away from nature has made humans feel that they are not impacted much by it. “This is especially true of urban dwellers across the world. They have lost touch with nature. For example, people still are very keen on constructing huge villas and houses by the seaside, despite the lingering threats of storms and tsunamis. In Chennai, I recently chanced upon the construction of a huge multi-storey building near the Adyar River, merely months after the floods last year. In the past, people understood nature better.”
What can individuals do to combat the threat of climate change? “I think it is important to lobby for change, in your municipality, city, state and the national level. It is important to be prepared to deal with freak weather conditions. Public pressure is very important in influencing government policy.”
To a question of whether climate change will impact the poor more, Amitav said, “I think the middle class will also bear the brunt. Unlike the working classes, most of the assets of the middle class are situated in urban areas. They are not very mobile and will be impacted more, since they do not have a fallback option in the rural hinterland.”
About the grim tone of the book, Amitav says, “It is absolutely terrifying. Many scientists dealing with the phenomena are deeply disturbed and in some cases, clinically depressed. I think that climate change denial also plays a part in creating this despair among scientists.”
He says, “Working on this book was a totally different experience, compared to the Ibis trilogy. The Ibis series was a work of fiction. It was based on historical events. The Great Derangement started off as a lecture series. However, it can be seen as a single book.”
