Swshhh swshhh swshhh… what’s that? Well Mr. and Mrs. Xyz are going out for a party and how can they go there before reeking in their expensive, imported perfumes/
“Hello secretary, reach the office at 8 am. I’ll be there by 8.30. And remember, start the ac as soon as you get there... My office should be absolutely cool when I step in. that was Mr. Abc a busy corporate official who can’t live without air conditioner.
Wondering why I quoted those two examples? Well I wanted to bring to the notice of the eco friendly crowd the two very common and seemingly harmless situations that have a tremendous negative global impact. Both perfumes and ac’s emit a harmful gas called CFCs or Chlorofluorocarbons that lingers in the environment, once released and breaks down the valuable ozone layer that protectively blankets our atmosphere. Various other harmful green house gases like Co2, Halons, Methyl Chloroform and many more work endlessly at ruining our ozone leading to ozone depletion and a very widely spoken condition called Global Warming. An increased content of Co2 in the atmosphere leading to more retention of heat, thus increasing the global temperatures.
A common person may think so what if the temperature increases? Why should it be a cause of worry? Aren’t we progressing and have ways of tackling the heat? What this common man doesn’t know is that we are paying a heavy price for this scientific and economic progress that we boast about. What he doesn’t know is that the solid boom in population urbanization and industrialization has led to an unimaginable exploitation of the natural resources thus giving birth to the excessive pollution and the fearful situation- Global Warming.
Some terrifying effects of global warming that will shake the common man f his slumber and make him take a step towards controlling it before our beautiful planet becomes a forgotten past. Global warming causes the melting of the mountain glaciers that leads to floods that claim thousands of lives. In the later months the river dry up affecting agriculture, generation of hydroelectricity and also leads to water shortage. Ocean water heat up and inflate with global warming, increasing the fury of the oceans, thus leading to heart chilling tsunamis like the one in Malaysia. Diseases like Dengue fever, diarrhea spike up with the rising temperatures which also affects the country’s economy as sick people cannot produce proper services, can they?
Incidents from malnutrition from lower crop yield have already started plaguing the developing world along with the injury and diseases from heat waves, storms and droughts- thanks to Global Warming. Innocent flora and fauna is harbinger to climatic change. They are desperately trying to adjust to the drastic climatic changes, changes in water availability, mismatched food supplies, frequent storms and competition with alien species intruding into their habitat. The medium sized short bird that breeds in Southern Africa sheds half its body weight under the strain of the flight that it reaches the limits of survivability. The expansion of the North African desert could push it over the edge. Penguins are losing their habitats too, with all the melting ice sheets. Russia is eyeing that land too, and rich in minerals and diamonds.
Scientists around the world have already started worrying about this condition and have come up with scary predictions which should make us realize that “The Time is Ticking Away.” The average temperatures will rise to 1.8-3 degrees this century due to green house gas emissions mainly from burning fossil fuels, causing floods and famines like the ones in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Chennai and Uttrakhand. The temperature has already gone up to 0.54 degrees compared to the last 400 years.
The Inter Governmental Panel on Climate Change says that by 2080 up to 3.2 billion people will be short of water, food and will face coastal flooding. Most of the Himalayan glaciers will melt by 2030. If the sea level rises by 1m it would displace 7 million people and 6000 sq km of land would be under water.
But the battles not lost yet. There’s a lot that can be done towards the contribution of a better, healthier and a more beautiful world. Start by checking carbon emissions. Dykes to hold back surging waters can be built. Mangroves can be nourished so that they create natural breakers. Massive afforestation and harnessing environmental friendly energy sources are very important remedies. Technological upgration of factories. A burning of cleaner fuels can yield immediate health benefits and save lives and money- thus giving us a chance to see the rewards of battling global warming. Promoting walking or cycling instead of driving can also decrease the impact of global warming.
The selfish thoughts at individual levels should be left far behind- it’s time we start thinking GLOBALLY, before we live to see our doomsday.
