CLIMATE CHANGE IS A CATASTROPHE WAITING TO HAPPEN AND NOT A TECHNICAL CHALLENGE TO OVERCOME

Hey Readers! Hope you are doing great! Here I am Safa Salsabeel  to reflect upon the topic, "CLIMATE CHANGE IS A CATASTROPHE WAITING TO HAPPEN AND NOT A TECHNICAL CHALLENGE TO OVERCOME". Before you  ponder upon the topic, let me begin with a quote,

" Arise,  Awake and Stop Not till the goal is reached."

               echoes, Swami Vivekananda

Firstly,  let me elucidate, what exactly is climate change?

Climate change is a long term alteration of temperature and a typical weather pattern in a place. Climate hazards are natural events in weather cycle, we have also had hurricanes, droughts,  wildfires, flooding and high wind. However, we are currently witnessing a scale of annihilatory that is, new and dreadful. 

Let me register in your minds that, “Nature has everything for everyone’s need and nothing for anyone’s greed.”On the contrary, I feel, subdued to say, last year alone we have seen a devastating climate disaster in various parts of the world such as cyclone Idai, deadly heat waves in India, Pakistan  and Europe, flooding in south east Asia like Cyclone Amphan, Hurricane Ida, Cyclone Nilam, Cyclone Gulaab in Andhra  Pradesh, Cyclone Tauktae in Gujarat, Cyclone Yaas in West Bengal, Cyclone Nisarga in Maharashtra , Cyclone Amphan in Odisha , Cyclone Kyar in Western India, Cyclone Maha in Gujarat, Cyclone Vayu in Gujarat, Cyclone Fani in Odisha , Cyclone Bulbul in West Bengal. While writing these many cyclones my heart skipped a beat. And I just started to imagine myself putting in the shoes of people who had faced this. It is really astonishing! I would like to notify you by saying,

One thing leads to the other. Deforestation leads to  exacerbate climate hazards and amplify the risk of extreme weather disasters. Increase of air and water temperature leads to rising sea levels, supercharged storms, higher wind speeds, more intense  and prolonged droughts , wildfire seasons, heavier perception and flooding . The evidence is shocking and the following results are devastating:

1) The number of climate related disasters have tripled in the last thirty years.

2) Between 2006 and 2016, the rate of global sea level was 2.5 times faster than it was for almost all the 20th century.

3) More than 20 million people are forced to leave their homes for climate change.

4) The UNEP estimates that  adapting to climate change and coping with damage will cost $140-$300 billion per year by 2030.

Scientist are warning that,the record breaking ice melting in Arctic  is part of worrying trend and the clearest sign of worry.Hence, the society needs to tackle the climate change.

I wish to highlight a quote ”The more you take responsibilities of the past and the present the more you are able to create the future that you seek."Dear Readers, we have not inherited this planet from our forefathers we have borrowed it from our children. So, we should handover this precious legacy to our children in its fullest glory

Now, you may feel perplexed and be pondering if there are any solutions for climate change?

To a T, the following ways to stop climate changes are:

1) Firstly, I would like to bring to limelight by saying “INVEST IN RENEWABLE ENERGY”. Changing our main energy sources to clean and renewable energy is the best way to stop using fossil fuels. These include technologies like solar, wind, wave, tidal and geothermal power.

2) Secondly, I would like to trigger you by saying “SWITCH TO SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORT”.Petrol and diesel vehicles, planes and ships use fossil fuels. Reducing car usage  and switching to car pooling or electrical vehicles. By minimising plane travel will not only help to stop climate change, but it will reduce air pollution too.

3) Thirdly, I would like to sculpt your thoughts by saying, “REDUCE THE USAGE OF PLASTIC”. Plastic is made from oil and the process of extracting, refining and turning oil into plastic is surprisingly carbon- intense. It doesn’t break down quickly in nature. So, a lot of plastic is burnt which  contributes to emission. Demand of plastic is rising so quickly that creating and disposing of plastic will account for 17% of the global carbon budget by 2050.

4) Next, I would like to express by saying” PROTECT THE OCEAN". They absorb a lot of CO2 from the atmosphere, which helps to keep our climate stable. But  many are  overfished, used for oil and gas drilling or threatened by deep sea mining. Protecting oceans and the life in them is ultimately a way to protect ourselves from climate change. 

5) Last but not the least, I would like to showcase my thoughts by saying, “KEEP FOSSIL FUELS IN THE GROUND”. Fossil  fuels include coal, oil and natural gas . The more the fossil fuels are extracted and burnt the worse the climate change will get. All countries need to move their economies away from the usage of fossil fuels as soon as possible.

I am not fabricating my thoughts, but the reality in my perspective is that, it is neither easy to  feel overwhelmed nor to feel that climate change is too big to solve. But we already have to answer, now it’s a question of making them happen. All these solutions need strong international cooperation between governments and business including the most polluting sector.

If we follow all these solutions then, I am sure,  we can overcome the challenges of climate change.

I strongly believe that, my blog would have been an eye opener as it would have instilled a sense of civic responsibility and a sense of collective belongingness among each one of us.

Dear readers, only a normal citizen can make a sea- change neither a governor nor a celebrity. Be the change that you wish to see in this world. Let self-realization dawn upon each one of us. Let these words keep ringing in your ears and lingering in your minds. Thus, I would like to conclude by saying that, "We shape our citizens and thereafter they shape us."

- SAFA SALSABEEL Z