The media in Tamil Nadu should improve climate reporting by creating a climate desk, publishing climate-related stories on a daily basis with climate-centric perspectives, including the viewpoints of marginalised communities, fact checking on climate-related solutions and training programmes, G. Sundarrajan of environmental organisation Poovulagin Nanbargal said.
Speaking at the ‘Editor’s Meet on Climate Change and Tamil Nadu’ organised by the organisation and the Chennai Press Club on Saturday, Mr. Sundarrajan said, “Chennai is the hottest megacity in India. It is vulnerable to heat stress. Heat-induced deaths seldom get reported. The media has to play a key role in sensitising the government and shaping public policy for a safe future with holocene-like conditions.”
“Temperature stability has been crucial for the formation of nation states. This is a very crucial juncture in the history of the world, facing five problems — climate change, mass extinction, pandemic, pollution, and inequality. Humans have been the single factor responsible for mass extinction. If you say, we will see when it comes, there will be nothing to see when it comes. In 2024, a temperature rise of 1.5 degrees Celsius was registered, which was a watershed moment. As a result of the climate change in 2024, a disaster was registered across the world every day,” he said, adding that Tamil Nadu ranked 12 in the climate vulnerability index.
