Are we really moving “Forward”
“Climate change is real”, this looks familiar, doesn’t it? While scrolling all day, most of us must have come across this very important phrase. But wait, isn’t this something we read about in our school textbooks back in 5th grade? Yes, that boring text has become our harsh reality now.
The system of nature has been broken down due to human intervention. If we look at it poetically, nature is trying to show anger towards us humans who have destroyed it and are continuing to walk down that path of destruction. Seasons do not feel like they used to before. In the month of December, people cannot feel the kind of Winters they used to see a few years down the memory lane. There are such unusual shifts in temperatures and weather. Carbon emissions are picking up with every passing year. Natural calamities like floods are happening frequently and becoming worse like in Assam, which is also a significant result and consequence of climate change. Not only Assam but there are also so many other places that are becoming the victims already in some way or the other. A recent September 2022 IPCC report gave alarming news stating that major Indian cities like Mumbai, Chennai and Mangalore are on the verge of sinking by the end of this century. If we look carefully, this world is like a jigsaw puzzle but we humans are starting to lose its pieces. The clock is ticking.
Global warming has been giving us a warning for a long time now to regulate our actions and escape the consequences which are becoming closer to our worse nightmares. As Desmond Tutu, Former Archbishop of Cape Town once stated that “Twenty-five years ago people could be excused for not knowing much, or doing much, about climate change. Today we have no excuse.”
Our governments and various institutions on local, regional, national and international levels have been taking initiatives which are leading to afforestation and similar positive actions, but we all must understand that the SOS button has to be pressed now on personal levels too. Every person should get up every morning with the motivation to make our planet a better sustainable place with the same intensity he/she thinks about their own future.
Humans tend to be curious about exploring all the unknown worldly resources and utilising them for development of the mankind. There will always be more possibilities to explore in this world and we humans being humans will be tempted by them but is this development true to its nature? We need to question our definition of development which is at the cost of the environment.
What makes us human is our emotions along with rationality and curiosity. This crisis does not only impact the present generation but will critically affect the coming ones. Quoting Barack Obama “We are the first generation to feel the effect of climate change and the last generation who can do something about it.”, so if we do not regulate our actions now, it will just not only be us who will condemn these actions but also our successors. So, whatever we do from now onwards, let’s think ten times before causing any more harm to our planet. No matter how much we want to deny it, yes we are walking on eggshells now.
According to many studies, deforestation is one of the most crucial causes of climate change which has given rise to the CO2 levels in the environment that has already shown problems in various ways like health issues and ecological impacts. To curb this, planting a lot of trees, which is known as afforestation, can clearly work out as a solution to slow down if not completely stop the noise made by the irregular changes in the climate. Trees will help bring back the balance that we lost when we engaged in clearing forests for industrial purposes. We must ask ourselves if this is the kind of progress we were looking for in mankind. Let’s come to terms with the fact that we all have to adapt to the changes that have resulted due to the climate crisis, but along with that, we need to actively take part in reducing carbon emissions along with our human selfishness in the atmosphere.
