Indias resources are stretched to fight Covid-19 with cases continuing to both rise and spread after two months of a severe lockdown. And yet, this is not the only crisis in town. Last week super cyclonic storm Amphan left behind a trail of destruction on the countrys eastern coast and this week a heatwave is scorching the north. With temperatures rising beyond 45C IMD has issued red and orange warnings for various areas. In Uttarakhand the forest fires are raging again.

The pandemic has already driven home the costs of humanitys destruction of Nature, and heatwaves are one more manifestation of the same collective vulnerability and nightmare. Depletion of tree cover and of soil moisture mean greater transfer of heat from the earth to the atmosphere, and of course all the greenhouse gases added to this cocktail up the ante. Indeed last month tied for the worlds warmest April on record and 2020 is threatening to be the hottest year since records began despite months of cessation of normal economic activity. This is also a reminder that the bluer skies and cleaner air gifted by the coronavirus lockdowns are a very limited treat. Real change needs longer-term and structural shifts in human behavior and business.

There has been a great deal of hope expressed that somehow the pandemic, the lockdown, and the birdsong filling the lockdown will make the world change direction on climate change finally, in enlightened fashion. However, the odds are even that the opposite will happen. The joblessness and poverty caused by the pandemic could send countries rushing for growth pell-mell with environmental regulations being tossed aside instead of strengthened. Likewise, the multilateral cooperation that is needed for the COP framework to really achieve anything substantial is looking shabbier than yesterday.

But the world cannot afford stasis or setback on this. Increasing extreme weather events from Australia to America underline that as much as the pandemic has disrupted normal life, in the longer term climate change is incalculably more dangerous. So governments must find common ground for change. Post Covid reconstruction offers a special window for shaping economic activity with reduced emissions and reduced climate risks.

As for what is needed in Haryana, West MP, Vidarbha, Rajasthan etc in the coming days it is plentiful cooling support. Exposure of citizens in all affected areas has to be minimized, they need to stay hydrated, and health services need to gear up for complaints of heat exhaustion. Too often over the last few months we have seen different arms of government pulling in different directions. But such lack of coordination seriously hurts citizens interests. Staying cool also needs governments, businesses and civil society to get their act together. What should lend urgency is that according to WMO heatwaves were the deadliest meteorological hazard in the 20152019 period.

DISCLAIMER : Views expressed above are the author's own.

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Nature is so angry: Covid, cyclone and now heatwave - Economic Times