Rajendra Pachauri raises concerns over impact of climate change

Raising concerns over the impact of climate change and extensive environmental pollution, Rajendra Kumar Pachauri said that sea levels rose by 19 cm between 1971 and 2010.

Mumbai: Raising concerns over the impact of climate change and extensive environmental pollution, Tata Energy and Resources Institutes`s (TERI) President and environmental scientist Rajendra Kumar Pachauri said here today that sea levels rose by 19 cm between 1971 and 2010.

"Between 1971 and 2010, the sea level rose by 19 cm and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report states that this number could be as high as 98 cm by the end of the century if we don`t take any corrective measures," Pachauri said, while speaking at the Leadership Summit for Sustainable Development here. He said disaster events like heat waves and high precipitation are also on the rise. "In the light of ecological shift or turbulence, businesses will be the first to be affected. We need to have a sustainable approach in encashing our environment, because the economic price for our drastic actions will be disastrous," he said. "Depletion and degradation of natural resources, the impact of climate change and extensive environmental pollution are issues of concern not only to society at large, but also directly impact corporate interests as well," he said.