Climate Change: Compromises to be made or Consequences to be faced
August 20 2018, Greta Thunderberg, who had just started her ninth grade, decided not to attend her school until the 2018 Swedish general election on September 9 2018. It was then when she began her protests because Sweden had recorded it’s hottest summer and heatwaves in the last 262 years. Since then, there have been hundreds of climate strikes across the world, extreme weather conditions resulting in high temperatures, unpredictable monsoons, natural calamities etc. and the sad truth is that all these are doing little to make the global leaders take corrective measures to address the issue of climate change at a worldwide level. At the UNFCC’s 25th COP that was held in Madrid last year, global leaders were unable to move forward as they weren’t able to fulfil the commitments that they had made in the 2016 Paris agreement. The points mentioned above are an indication that we human beings have fallen short of implementing the necessary steps that should be taken to prevent this. If we don’t act accordingly with time, then the decade that we are going to embark on is going to be a lot more dangerous due to the rapid, out of control climate change.
So, what is climate change? It is a periodic modification of the Earth’s climate brought about due to the changes in the atmosphere and various other geological, chemical, biological and geographical factors within the Earth’s system. These unforeseen weather patterns, rising temperatures, forest fires, floods etc. are all effects of climate change. In a diverse country like India, which is the second-largest producer of wheat and rice in the world, farmers are having a tough time because of droughts, flooding of farms in coastal regions etc. These rising temperatures are giving rise to global warming resulting in melting of ice caps, thereby resulting in an accelerated increase in sea level and damaging coastlines by erosion. The cause of all these rapid climate changes are only due to human activities and are threatening to the survival of humanity.
Numerous factors have affected the Earth’s climate and will continue to do so for thousands to millions of years. The natural factors include continental drift, the variation of the Earth’s orbit, tectonic plate movements, volcanic activities, ocean currents etc. , but all these have a minor effect on the climate. It’s us causing the major ones!! HUMANS. The anthropogenic factors include emission of greenhouse gases, changes in the land use pattern, deforestation, increased livestock farming, industrialisation and the list is endless. We have exploited the resources and facilities given by our so-called MOTHER EARTH in the worst possible way. Greenhouse gases have resulted in global warming, which is causing the polar ice caps to melt and disturbing the habitat in the polar regions. Several animals have lost their habitat because of the establishment of industries in the forest areas, thereby disrupting the complete food chain. Natural calamities like cyclones, floods have become so common now. Months back, Australia experienced one of the most significant forest fires in its history, which completely changes Australia’s stance on climate change. Even in our own country, Uttrakhand forest fires are getting severe day by day, and yet, our so-called is overlooking all these things.
What I’ve said above are the factors that have caused these changes and what can be their consequences. But is this the end? No! Can we humans, beings, the most intelligent living beings on this planet do something about it? YES! We need more people like Greta, ecological events like Chipkoo movement, The Swacch Bharat Abhiyaan. We need to start from our home itself, by making use of renewable sources of energy, practising waste management techniques, and from there, we need to spread it in our surroundings, our localities and wherever possible. It is us who has done the damage, so we only need to work for it. The time hasn’t gone, things are still in our hands. Even from now onwards if we start working towards this, we can surely bring the change.
After all, we shouldn’t forget that we are the first generation to be able to end poverty and probably the last generation to avoid the worst impact of climate change. Future generations will judge us harshly if we fail to uphold our moral and historical responsibilities. I would request everyone reading this article and to the whole of humankind, GET UP!! BE THE CHANGE; for us, for yourself and for the generations to come.
