Nurture Nature for a Nurturing Future

The seven billion humans inhabit the earth and use various amounts of the planet’s resources. The United Nations projects that by 2050, there will be 9.7 billion people on the planet, and by 2100, it will exceed 11 billion. Population growth increases emissions and depletes natural resources on the planet. The acceleration of greenhouse gas emissions directly contributes to global warming. Climate change is accelerated, with severe results for the environment. By making climate-friendly decisions in our daily lives, each of us can help battle global warming.

Understanding your carbon footprint can help you reduce the environmental impact of your usage. Your carbon footprint can be estimated using a variety of internet tools. Long-term effects of little changes can be significant, as is the case with transportation, food, clothing, garbage, etc. Here are some tips:

Food

1. Consume seasonal and local foods; skip the wintertime strawberries. Limit your meat intake, especially beef.

2. Choose fish caught with sustainable practices.

3. Take your own bags when you go shopping and stay away from anything that comes in a lot of plastic.

4. Be conscious about your purchasing decisions in order to reduce waste.

Clothing

1. Take care of your clothes, in order to prolong their life.

2. Consider trading, borrowing, renting, or purchasing used items.

3. Purchase clothing that has been created ethically, such as clothing that has an Eco-label or is made from recycled materials.

Transport

1. Use public transportation or bicycles.

2. Consider carpooling, as and when possible.

3. Try taking the train on your next vacation.

Energy and Waste

1. Limit your air-conditioning hours, while keeping the doors and windows shut.

2. Shorten your showers. While you clean the dishes or brush your teeth, turn off the water.

3. Unplug all of your electronic devices, as soon as they reach an optimal charge.

4. While leaving the house, ensure that all unnecessary switches are turned off.

5. Choose energy-saving items that have the letter “A” on them (EU Energy Label).

6. Limit your garbage and recycle it.

Heatwaves, droughts, floods, winter storms, hurricanes, and wildfires are just a few examples of extreme weather phenomena that have risen in frequency and intensity as a result of a 1.1-degree temperature increase. According to WMO, the worldwide average temperature in 2019 was 1.1 degrees Celsius higher than it was during the pre-industrial era. The year 2019 marked the end of a decade of extreme global temperatures, receding ice, and record sea levels caused by greenhouse gases, all generated by human activity.

30 per cent of the world’s population is subjected to dangerous heat waves for more than 20 days a year. The five-year (2015–2019) and ten-year (2010–2019) average temperatures are the highest they’ve ever been. The year 2019 was the second-hottest on record.

With land use change included, overall greenhouse gas emissions in 2019 reached a new high of 59.1 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (GtCO2e). The return to a high-carbon society after the epidemic may result in a surge in greenhouse gases, pushing 2030 emissions even higher — up to 60 GtCO2e — due to the inadequate global pledges, made to date, to cut climate-polluting emissions.

There is significant evidence to show the correlation between human activity and global emissions.

Other agriculture (1.7 percent )

Waste disposal site (1.7 percent )

Sludge, trash, and water (1.5 percent )

Now, where do we go from here? To sustain, we need to look for alternatives for our energy needs. But what exactly are the alternatives?

What comes to mind when you hear the phrase “clean energy”? Was your first thought, nuclear energy? Most people first think of solar or wind power. Even though nuclear power is the second-largest source of low-carbon electricity in the world after hydropower, the topic of “clean energy” is frequently avoided. So how sustainable and clean is nuclear power?

1. Air quality is protected by nuclear power.

It produces energy by fission, which is the splitting of uranium atoms to release energy. Without the toxic consequences that come from burning fossil fuels, electricity is produced using the heat from fission to produce steam, which turns a turbine.

2. Nuclear energy’s land footprint is small

Nuclear energy is the only clean-air source that generates more electricity than nuclear power on the same amount of land. A typical 1,000-megawatt nuclear plant requires a bit more than 1 square mile to run. According to NEI, solar photovoltaic plants need 75 times the amount of space, whereas wind farms need 360 times more land to generate the same quantity of electricity. To put that into perspective, more than 3 million solar panels or 430 wind turbines would be required to generate the same amount of energy as a conventional commercial reactor.

3. Nuclear energy produces minimal waste

Because it is approximately 1 million times bigger than that of other conventional energy sources, the quantity of nuclear fuel used is not as large as you might think. A football field’s worth of used nuclear fuel, produced by the nuclear energy sector in a first-world country, during the previous 60 years would only extend around 10 yards beneath the surface.

Global energy demand is predicted to exceed renewable energy sources, necessitating the ongoing use of fossil fuels to meet demand, which will have an even greater negative impact on the environment. Hence, an effective, long-lasting solution to close the gap would be nuclear energy.