P-207 Assignment

 Climate Change and Refugee Crisis in Gun Island 

Name- Kishan Jadav

Assignment Paper - 207 Contemporary Literature in English

Roll no-10

Enrollment no-3069206420200008

Email id- jadavkishan55555@gmail.com

Batch-2020-22 (MA Sem-VI)

Submitted to- S. B. Gardi Department of English,

Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar University

Introduction

Amitav Ghosh is a contemporary writer of the twentieth century. He is an Indian writer and the winner of the 54th Jnanpith award, India’s highest literary honor, best known for his work in English fiction. Ghosh's ambitious novels use complex narrative strategies to probe the nature of national and personal identity, particularly of the people of India and Southeast Asia. 

Amitav Ghosh’s latest novel, Gun Island, traces familiar cross-cultural patterns evident in his earlier novels. There are journeys by land and water, diaspora and migration, experiences aboard ships, the world of animals and sea-creatures. Ghosh foregrounds environmental issues like climate change and the danger to fish from chemical waste dumped into rivers by factories, concerns that carry over from earlier books like The Hungry Tide and The Great Derangement.

Gun Island describes the quest of Deen, a scholar and collector of rare books, who returns from New York, his city of domicile, to the Sunderbans in West Bengal to unravel the mystery and legend of a seventeenth-century merchant, Bonduki Sada-gar, translated “The Gun Merchant,” and his persecution by Manasa Devi, mythical goddess of snakes. In a talk held in New Delhi after the release of the novel, Ghosh stated that the merchant “was a trope for trade.” The merchant and the goddess dramatize “the conflict between profit and the world.” In the novel, the goddess pursues the merchant to make him aware of other realities like the animal world: “Humans—driven, as was the Merchant, by the quest of profit—would recognize no restraint in relation to other living things.”

The Gun Island novel has a lot of themes. Find out here. I will mention some of the themes.

Some Key points of Gun Island 

• Myth

• Technology

• The refugee crisis

• Climate Change

• Migration 

• Animals and Birds : Migration 

• Ecocriticism

• Colonialism and Climate refugees

In the novel big issues are the refugee crisis, Migration and Climate Change. So in this paper I would like to discuss the refugee crisis and Climate change in the novel. And what is climate change, its effects, and which type of Change in our life.First fall the refugee crisis and climate change in the novel.

The refugee crisis

Climate related environmental strife and disaster in the Sunderbans area is the spinning core of Gun Island from which characters like Tipu, Rafi or even the gun merchant in another time, are hurled outward, into other stories, by the violent centrifugal force of climate chaos and disaster. Chased away from the punishing land they called home, these characters get drawn into other dreams, to other refuges, propelled by promises, towards other stories of life in the West, which constitute, so to speak, the surface narratives of this novel, where people like Deen, Piya, or the charismatic historian Cinta play important parts.(Ghosh)

However, and because climate change knows no boundaries and can spring surprises and violent retribution at a place of its choosing, and also because stories connect with stories riding microscopic filaments of probability and chance, the characters of Gun Island find out how an angry planet stitches them together in the present, as it had in the past, when the gun merchant was running away from a wrathful goddess.(Ghosh)

Climate Change

What is Climate Change?

Climate change refers to long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns. These shifts may be natural, but since the 1800s, human activities have been the main driver of climate change, primarily due to the burning of fossil fuels (like coal, oil, and gas), which produces heat-trapping gasses.

Starting in the Sundarbans

In Gun Island, Amitav Ghosh makes a spirited foray into the world of climate fiction, a category which has received scant attention from writers, especially in our part of the world – a region, which for economic and other reasons is vulnerable, and will be disproportionately affected by the unfolding climate disaster.

The story of this legendary trader, Deen finds, has many parallels with the Bengali verse epics about Chand Sadagar and Manasa, the Hindu folk goddess of snakes, who is also central to the gun merchant’s story. He learns that the gun merchant has a “dham” or shrine in Sunderbans, the mangrove-covered deltas of south Bengal.

(Ghosh)

Further discussion about Climate change.

What is the Effect of Climate Change?

Hotter  Temperatures 

According to the 2020 Global Climate Report from NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, every month of 2020 except December was in the top four warmest on record for that month. In December, the presence of a moderately strong La Niña event cooled the tropical Pacific Ocean and dampened the global average warmth. The month turned out as "only" the eighth warmest December on record.

Warmer temperatures over time are changing weather patterns and disrupting the usual balance of nature. This poses many risks to human beings and all other forms of life on Earth.

Hotter temperatures

Nearly all land areas are seeing more hot days and heat waves; 2020 was one of the hottest years on record. Higher temperatures increase heat-related illnesses and can make it more difficult to work and move around. Wildfires start more easily and spread more rapidly when conditions are hotter.

More severe storms

Changes in temperature cause changes in rainfall. This results in more severe and frequent storms. They cause flooding and landslides, destroying homes and communities, and costing billions of dollars.

Increased drought

Water is becoming scarcer in more regions. Droughts can stir destructive sand and dust storms that can move billions of tons of sand across continents. Deserts are expanding, reducing land for growing food. Many people now face the threat of not having enough water on a regular basis.

A warming, rising ocean

The ocean soaks up most of the heat from global warming. This melts ice sheets and raises sea levels, threatening coastal and island communities. The ocean also absorbs carbon dioxide, keeping it from the atmosphere. More carbon dioxide makes the ocean more acidic, which endangers marine life.

Loss of species

Climate change poses risks to the survival of species on land and in the ocean. These risks increase as temperatures climb. Forest fires, extreme weather, and invasive pests and diseases are among many threats. Some species will be able to relocate and survive, but others will not.

Not enough food

Changes in climate and increases in extreme weather events are among the reasons behind a global rise in hunger and poor nutrition. Fisheries, crops, and livestock may be destroyed or become less productive. Heat stress can diminish water and grasslands for grazing.

More health risks

Changing weather patterns are spreading diseases such as malaria. Extreme weather events increase diseases and deaths, and make it difficult for health care systems to keep up. Other risks to health include increased hunger and poor nutrition in places where people cannot grow or find sufficient food.

Poverty and displacement

Climate change increases the factors that put and keep people in poverty. Floods may sweep away urban slums, destroying homes and livelihoods. Heat can make it difficult to work in outdoor jobs. Weather-related disasters displace 2.3 crore people a year, leaving many more vulnerable to poverty.

What are Causes of Climate Change?

As greenhouse gas emissions blanket the Earth, they trap the sun’s heat. This leads to global warming and climate change. The world is now warming faster than at any point in recorded history.

Generating power

Generating electricity and heat by burning fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas causes a large chunk of global emissions. Most of the electricity is still produced from fossil fuels; only about a quarter comes from wind, solar, and other renewable sources.

Manufacturing goods

Manufacturing and industry produce emissions, mostly from burning fossil fuels to produce energy for making things like cement, iron, steel, electronics, plastics, clothes, and other goods. Mining and other industrial processes also release gases.

Cutting down forests

Cutting down forests to create farms or pastures, or for other reasons, causes emissions because when trees are cut, they release the carbon they have been storing. Since forests absorb carbon dioxide, destroying them also limits nature’s ability to keep emissions out of the atmosphere.

Using transportation

Most cars, trucks, ships, and planes run on fossil fuels. That makes transportation a major contributor of greenhouse gases, especially carbon-dioxide emissions. Road vehicles account for the largest part, but emissions from ships and planes continue to grow.

Producing food

Producing food requires energy to run farm equipment or fishing boats, usually with fossil fuels. Growing crops can also cause emissions, like when using fertilizers and manure. Cattle produce methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. And emissions also come from packaging and distributing food.

Powering buildings

Globally, residential and commercial buildings consume over half of all electricity. As they continue to draw on coal, oil, and natural gas for heating and cooling, they emit significant quantities of greenhouse gas emissions.

Consuming too much

Your home and use of power, how you move around, what you eat and how much you throw away - all contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. So does the consumption of goods such as clothing, electronics.

What kind of action can be taken?

Everyone can help limit climate change. From the way we travel, to the electricity we use and the food we eat, we can make a difference. Start with these 10 actions to help tackle the climate crisis

Save energy at home

Much of our electricity and heat are powered by coal, oil, and gas. Use less energy by lowering your heating and cooling, switching to LED light bulbs and energy-efficient electric appliances, washing your laundry with cold water, or hanging things to dry instead of using a dryer.

Walk, cycle, or take public transport

The world’s roads are clogged with vehicles, most of them burning diesel or petrol. Walking or riding a bike instead of driving will reduce greenhouse gas emissions – and help your health and fitness. For longer distances, consider taking a train or bus. And carpool whenever possible.

Eat more vegetables

Eating more vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds, and less meat and dairy, can significantly lower your environmental impact. Producing plant-based foods generally results in fewer greenhouse gas emiyssions and requires less energy, land, and water.

Consider your travel

Airplanes burn large amounts of fossil fuels, producing significant greenhouse gas emissions. That makes taking fewer flights one of the fastest ways to reduce your environmental impact. When you can, meet virtually, take a train, or skip that long-distance trip altogether.

Throw away less food

When you throw food away, you're also wasting the resources and energy that were used to grow, produce, package, and transport it. And when food rots in a landfill, it produces methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. So use what you buy and compost any leftovers.

Reduce, reuse, repair & recycle

Electronics, clothes, and other items we buy cause carbon emissions at each point in production, from the extraction of raw materials to manufacturing and transporting goods to market. To protect our climate, buy fewer things, shop second-hand, repair what you can, and recycle.

Change your home's source of energy

Ask your utility company if your home energy comes from oil, coal, or gas. If possible, see if you can switch to renewable sources such as wind or solar. Or install solar panels on your roof to generate energy for your home.

Switch to an electric vehicle

If you plan to buy a car, consider going electric, with more and cheaper models coming on the market. Even if they still run on electricity produced from fossil fuels, electric cars help reduce air pollution and cause significantly fewer greenhouse gas emissions than petrol or diesel-powered vehicles.

Conclusion 

In using many themes in this novel. Amitabh Ghosh has given us a lot of discussions about climate change.  Climate change, as we have seen in this novel, affects human life and every living thing on earth.  There are also many ways to avoid comments that people should follow to prevent it.  So that future generations are not harmed and we can avoid the calamities that are coming upon us.However, and because climate change knows no boundaries and can spring surprises and violent retribution at a place of its choosing, and also because stories connect with stories riding microscopic filaments of probability and chance.