WATER WOES : Cover of Lucky Disanayake’s book

The cover photograph on the book on climate change Lucky Dissanayake has published of palm trees blowing in the wind reminded me of the picture I had taken of the seafront at Bandra in July. There, I hope, the similarities end.

I would not like to see Bombay, Calcutta or any other coastal city in India disappear under water, which is what is likely to happen unless we act now, according to Lucky’s latest book, Global Warning: The Last Chance for Change.

Just as Lucky was showing me the book, something terrifying and unprecedented in my experience happened in Kensal Rise in north London. A tornado struck for less than a minute but partially or completely destroyed 100 houses. Some had roofs sucked into the sky by the twister.

Describing the trail of destruction left behind on December 8, one news report said that the tornado “blasted through windows, crashed through walls, ripped up trees and left six people in need of medical attention”.

The tornado in London was almost as fierce as the devastating 130mph one in Birmingham in July last year.

Is this global warming? Probably not but it made me treat Lucky’s book — it has been written by Paul Brown, former environment correspondent of the Guardian — with even greater respect.

Lucky’s company, Dakini Books, has previously published books on Bollywood and on cricket but this one, where the photographs graphically tell the story of climate change, deals with survival.

Her foreword has been written by Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, president of the Maldives whose entire archipelago, being in the “frontline”, would be submerged if the sea level rises — as very nearly happened during the 2004 tsunami.

“For countries like the Maldives, global warning could very well become a matter of life and death,” he says.

Lucky has turned a little messianic about climate change but is right to point out: “The waters most people in north India use are reliant on the glaciers in the Himalayas staying around.”

I don’t want to be flippant but it seems Mamata Banerjee would be better employed planting trees, not potatoes.