Click to play videoNew Delhi: In 2004, the Indian Government released its first report on climate change.
While it spoke of things like higher temperatures, increased rainfall and food insecurity, it also stated that in the future the forest ecosystem would be the worst affected.
Says Delhi Bird Club member Nikhil, "Bharatput is best heronery in the world. This year in July, 400 Open Bill Storks built nests, paired and mated, but in August all their nests were abandoned because of shortage of rainfall."
This is no freak incident. With the weather increasingly playing spoilsport in many parts of the country, it's the flora and fauna that seem to be bearing the brunt of the errant weather cock.
Sample this. Last year, mango trees in Andhra Pradesh flowered three months
early because of the rising heat. A few years ago, bees in the Himalayas were impacted by similar erratic flowering patterns, leading to big drop in the honey supply.
Locals have also reported a marked decline in the population of sallows in Srinagar and in fact, rising temperatures in the Capital have even resulted in the near disappearance of some species of birds.
Says filmmaker Rupin Dang, "The population of the Golden Oreole and Paradise Flycatcher has less than halved in the last decade or so in Delhi and I think it's fairly safe to say that this is the result of monsoonal variation and climate changes in terms of increased temperatures. So right now it's clearly showing in insects and birds, but soon it will start showing in smaller mammals and then larger ones too."
And one species that is perhaps most vulnerable to climate change is the Chennai Frog. With temperature and rainfall built into its lifecycle, any drop in rainfall disrupts its breeding pattern.
Says Herpatologist, Croc Bank, Harry Andrews, "This global warming is actually altering and hampering the microhabitats of amphibians like Chennai Frogs. Also the saddest part in India is that there is such little work done that we may not even know of certain species that may just die out because ponds are getting filled or because there are large buildings."
And that's where the problem lies. With rapid development and urbanisation noticeably hurting the ecosystem, there is little homegrown research to link the issue to climate change.
But with the the weather Gods increasingly turning unpredictable, people need to rethink about the birds and the bees.
(With inputs from Rohini Mohan in Chennai)
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