In honor of the International Day of Forests.
It may be time to hang up terms like “SRES scenarios” and “carbon cycle feedback” and revert to sound representations of what we can do, as individuals, to protect the planet.
Whatever happened to environmental issues such that they can’t amass even half the reactions that perpetual sex and fraud scandals do? They say any press is good press and so you would expect with daily feeds on thunder storms or wild fires, movements on environmental issues would be trending. Alas, it will take more than a scotching earth to get us dead serious about environmental protection.
Maybe statements like ‘temperatures will rise by 0.2ºC over the next decade’ have led us into believing that we still have a lot of time to repair whatever damage has been done. And maybe, for some of us, these figures means nothing as we have safeguards such as air conditioning and floating locales, right? (we cannot thank the masterminds behind these enough!)
But this is not the case the world over
There are places where even the slightest of temperature changes translates into death; where variations in weather patterns affect food baskets and can cost hundreds of lives.
I read a story, a few months ago, of a 79-year-old man that lives in solitude on the Italian isle of Budelli. Mauro Morandi, as he is known, occasionally receives guests but these are only summer day trippers whom he says cannot stay the night. While he is not paid to do so, Mauro’s taken it upon himself to protect this little piece of heaven from the pitfalls of heedless living and to share sneak peeks of the island’s enchantment via social media.
I know it’s impossible to each have our own little tuff that we can jealously protect: heck, it’s hard enough securing a residence with a patch of green in some cities, but we can cautiously accord more attention to the planet’s health by focusing on little acts we can perform individually to create positive ripple effects and ensure the survival of fragile ecosystems.
Another uplifting story I have come across is of a Ugandan youth who set out to raise awareness about bamboo by planting the highest number of shoots ever recorded in a single day. And this she did with the help of volunteers, on 60 acres of land. These are just two of the ‘extra-mile’ runners that we should all be emulating because planet earth is a common space. For some, the battle is in the courts of law — fighting multibillion corporations that refuse to acknowledge the dangers of their operations. For others, it’s through writing those cheques that facilitate more patrols in nature reserves and more research on endangered species. Its lacing those boots and participating in rewilding campaigns or simply taking part in beach cleanups. As in many fields, there’s no such thing as one tool solves all; but there’s a tool for each one of us. Because of the entwined nature of ecosystems, a single deed to protect one organism goes a long way in benefiting entire communities.
We have dedicated tremendous effort to far lesser causes (these, I’ll leave you decide). Personally, I’ve combed through five-storey malls in search of particular toiletries and must I confess, I would probably hold back on applying that same dedication to a beach clean-up. Today, I know for sure that even my beach cleanup efforts won’t suffice. Years ago, it was enough to just dispose our litter in a responsible manner and to turn off the tap while we scrubbed. Today, we need to exercise extra precaution — to even pay attention to the amount of litter we generate, because even this requires energy to recycle. We have to be on the lookout for body scrubs laden with micro-beads that have detrimental impacts on aquatic life and food chains. There are a multitude of avenues through which we can actively address global environmental issues, especially on a personal basis. With climate change creeping up on us, we need to employ that extra oomph in all our ‘individual’ endeavours.
As I write this, I think to myself, what if all the environmentalists all over the world decided to sit back, arms crossed and wait for the inevitable, like the rest of us? How long would it be before so many species were completely wiped out? I think that now is not the time to double back on any agreements or obligations. It’s actually the time to reflect on whether what we are doing is enough. And if not, to contemplate on what more we can do.
As humans, it’s in our nature to respond quicker when panicked, but if reports on hurricanes and melting glaciers haven’t made the cut for ‘panic mode’, what will? Maybe what we are really waiting for is that last blow; for that last tree to fall. (as in Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax)
In the words of Morandi, Budelli’s sole resident, “We think we’re super-humans and divine creatures, but we’re really nothing. We must adapt to nature.”
