One Earth!!!

      

        This curious world we inhabit is more wonderful than convenient; more beautiful than it is useful; it is more to be admired and enjoyed than used. 

It says that our ancestors used to worship animals, rivers, mountains, trees. Now, can this be called a mere blind belief? Or  this had some deeper meaning to it? We still follow these but like 2 faces of a coin.

At one hand we worship one Peepal(Ashwatha) tree amidst a temple and on the other side destroy hectares of forests in the name of progress and development.

Global warming is real.

It is no more a small topic that we used to read in text books. The impact is seen and felt everywhere around the world.

Let’s start from facts and current status of what the impact of Climate changes are in India :

Heat waves, as the years pass we can and we are experiencing heat waves that are reaching upto 50 degrees in some part of India. Over population and climate changes are the culprits for these.

Director of Indian Meteorological Department Ranchi, Abhishek Anand, believes that climate change is playing an important role.  “This heat wave is taking place as a result of climate change. We are not trying our level best to protect ourselves and combat the effects of climate change. Extreme weather is becoming more frequent and more intense. Water, forest and land are no more available. Trees and mountains are disappearing. Population and pollution have increased manifolds. Because of these activities, at the local level, the heat wave is increasing in the city. Climate change has also affected the cycle of weather,” Anand says.  

And it’s a visible fact the patterns of rainfall is getting more unpredictable. 

As the temperature rises, the rivers like Ganga which are flown by glaciers more likely are prone to cause flood at the same time can run dry because of unpredictable rain. This means we can expect more floods at the same time less monsoon on which most parts of the country is dependent on for food and survival. 

India ranked second highest rate of deforestation between 1990-2020. It lost 668400 hectares of forest in 30years. The reasons are many. This may be due to increase in agriculture where forests are converted to feeding land for growing needs of people, urbanisation and industrialisation,Mining, forest fires, development etc.

India has the world's highest social cost of carbon. A report by the London-based global think tank Overseas Development Institute found that India may lose anywhere around 3–10% of its GDP annually by 2100 and its poverty rate may rise by 3.5% in 2040 due to climate change. These are few results of our own actions from past years. Climate change is real. Global warming is real. This may sound simple until the consequences gets worsen.

Does this mean the end? Can we no more change this? Even after an earthquake, an ecosystem can quickly restore itself provided seeds,roots and soil.

Nature can heal on its own to an extent, but it needs our love, respect, and protection. 

So, what can we do about this? How can we help?

(To be continued….)