Srinagar, May 29 -- The 1.5degC threshold, set in the 2015 Paris Agreement as an ambitious upper limit to avoid climate consequences, now seems increasingly unattainable. Last two years have already been confirmed as the hottest on record. Now with an additional fraction of a degree, the world is likely to see more heatwaves, floods, droughts, wildfires and glacial melt.

In Kashmir, we have also been experiencing erratic turns in weather over the past few years. The Valley has experienced unseasonal heat spells, erratic snowfall, receding glaciers, and floods that no longer feel like once-in-a-generation events. From rice fields to apple orchards, agriculture, the backbone of our economy, has suffered the whiplash of changing seasons. Th...