Climate change and consequences

Earth is a beautiful place to be. Nature, flora, and fauna make this place amazing. From our very first Environmental Studies class, we are being taught the importance and significance of Mother Nature. Without food, we cannot survive more than three weeks, without water for three days, and without oxygen for three minutes. But climate change is a matter of great concern nowadays. Let’s sneak a peek into the causes, present condition, and solution of it.

In 1986, climate change was first observed by Swedish scientist Svante Arrhenius who expressed concerns about the rising temperature of the earth mainly due to fossil fuel consumption. Ever since then, we all have had constant worry about climate change which is leading to global warming. In order to find a solution, The First Earth Summit was held in 1972, thereby inviting several countries to support the cause. In November 2021, world leaders will gather at Glasgow for the successor to the landmark Paris meeting in 2015.

But did all these efforts make a change? Researches state that UK, China has kept their promise of looking after climate change whereas, Australia, Philippines wasn’t really successful. Moreover COVID-19 pandemic shook up the entire planet. COVID is the greatest economic shock since the Great Depression. COVID patients surrounding less polluted air are supposed to do better than those with higher pollution levels. During the COVID pandemic, the entire transportation system was shut down thereby significantly decrease in the air pollution level in the cities. Though a lot of people lost their life and livelihood, so it wasn’t really fruitful.

Intentional and unintentional emissions of air and water pollutants are quite harmful. The 1986 Chernobyl disaster triggered the release of radioactive contaminants which was life-threatening. Even by 2021, it is considered to be the most significant unintentional release of radioactive elements into the environment. When it seems that nature is itself punishing us, via environmental problems. For example, a long-running heatwave off the coast of California called “The blob” was said to kill up to a million seabirds in 2015-16. Even researchers admit that these events are 20 times more likely to become frequent in the next 40 years.

Several steps have been taken to combat climate change. NASA is trying to become more sustainable. Countries are signing up for deep carbon cuts. Even China aimed to go carbon neutral by 2060. Renewable energies are now cheapest than ever. Several laws have been imposed so as to stop the direct emission of harmful industrial wastes into the atmosphere. Several Earth Summits have taken place, but it’s easier said than done.

Every year the records are reaching newer heights, becoming hotter than the last year. Every year we are losing tones of ice glaciers, and the scarier part is, the ice glaciers aren’t renewing themselves. In 2020, Greenland lost 152 billion tonnes of ice from the ice sheet. Ozone holes are being formed in different parts of the world. UV rays are more harmful than ever, causing deadly diseases like cancer. The greenhouse effect is backfiring and the whole equilibrium of the earth is distorted.

The main question still remains, where are we? What is our role? Is it just the role of a few world leaders to organize meetings? No, not really. The change starts with you, the seemingly negligible move you make, each of those moves counts. Just like in the game of chess, where every move you make counts until you deliver a checkmate. Here are a few ideas which might help you in checkmating global warming.

Start with small. Just turn off your Air condition after every 30 minutes and use a fan instead. Give up your personal car and opt for a public vehicle instead. Turn off your tap while not using water; don’t let your bucket overflow. Plant a sapling and water it every day. Don’t burn plastic and dispose of plastic in a proper dustbin. These seemingly small moves will help us contribute our part as an individual. Help the world leaders in every possible way; help them make this place a better place to live. A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step, so please step forward!