Environment!

Being in India, specifically in Mumbai while the talks on climate changes are being held in Copenhagen makes you reflect on the environment on a different level of consciousness. I was just discussing with some of my friends the other day, that although it’s China and the USA which are the biggest producers of CO2, in India you can actually feel how the polluted environment influences your life, everyday life.
Some of the phenomena I found quite interesting and alarming:

• The air has color – it is grey! You can especially see it in the morning, it looks a bit like a fog but it is actually smog. I have seen many pictures of smog in my life and I have learnt about it on my geography lessons but have never seen it in real. It is much more visible now, in the dry season. This is also why everyone blesses monsoon season – it seems to be washing away all the dirt of the city, all the dirt in the air.

• The air has taste! If you want to take a deep breath of a fresh air you will quickly realize you don’t want to do this again because the air is never fresh. Of course I talk about Mumbai, remote, green places and smaller cities are different but breathing deeply in Mumbai can actually cost you a serve headache.

• Temperature is increasing year by year! Imagine this – it is mid December now and the average temperature is still about 300 C! In the afternoon it is reaching even 350, becoming a bit cooler (250) in the evenings. If you talk to Mumbaikers most of them will tell you that they haven’t seen such a December yet! Obviously it is never cold in Mumbai but they would expect at least 150 -200. Nothing like this seems to be happening here this year. Let’s wait for January; hopefully it will bring some relief.

• Dust! The city is extremely dusty! Coming back from work the first thing I do every day is shower. After spending some 2 hours outside you can literally feel how dirty you are and how much dust is there on your body! No wonder the air is so dirty if there is just so much pollution and dust around!