In present times global warming has become a serious problem for the whole world. Many countries have made several attempts to deal with this problem. Several international conferences have been held to address these issues, but no meaningful results have been accomplished, the Paris Climate Conference is a perfect example of this.
According to scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the increasing temperature of the earth’s surface will impact India, Bangladesh and Pakistan because most of the population in these regions is dependent on subsistence farming, which is impacted by the climatic changes. New research from MIT suggests that by the end of this century climate change could lead to summer heat waves with levels of heat and humidity that exceed what humans can survive without protection.
Along with this, there is another danger lurking in the form of reduced nutritive values in rice, wheat, and other main crops, due to increased carbon emissions from vehicles. In such a situation a very large population of the world will suffer from deficiency of protein. The scientists have cautioned that if the levels of emissions of carbon dioxide continued to grow in the coming years, by 2050 the level of protein in food in 18 countries could decrease by 5%. According to the researchers of Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, continuous rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere means an increasing threat of protein deficiency in the 15 million additional people in the world. There is no disagreement that almost 76% of the world’s population globally, fulfills their protein requirements through crops; then in the situation where crops are compromised, how are we going to fulfill expected protein requirements for the population?
Earth’s temperature varies from year to year naturally. India has seen such years where there has been very good rainfall and years where there was no rainfall. Some of these changes happen due to variation in the radiation from the sun, and some due to volcanic eruptions. In some places, such changes have been noticed on a larger scale, which has impacted the lives of millions of people. However, as soon as humans began to use fossil fuels, oil, and natural gas extensively on earth, the level of carbon dioxide increased in the air. This gas in the air worked as a blanket over the atmosphere, due to which the heat from the earth was not able to escape from the atmosphere, resulting in increasing temperature on the earth.The properties of gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and ozone are the ones that make the air of our environment dangerous. These are called greenhouse gases. Apart from this, due to the burning of fossil fuels and other activities, ‘aerosol’ (cloud of solid and liquid particles in the air) is also formed. These particles are so dense that they can stop the sunlight from reaching the earth and reduce the heat on earth. In one way they create comfortable situation for us, but in the other instance they can influence the health and fitness of people in an unfavorable way.
Another aspect due to human activity is deforestation. For many years we have been cutting trees from forests in order to create land for farming and establishing cities. This has influenced the soil’s ability to soak up heat. We can call this ‘anthropogenic’ i.e. the result of human activities.
How the earth will deal with the increasing temperature in its environment will depend on steps taken by everyone in preventing the accelerated rise in temperature. Upon studying the changes in temperature in the environment, it has been found that there was no significant change in the temperature until the 1950s, but since then it has been continuously rising, and the main cause of this increase is greenhouse gases. In the last 50 years the average temperature in India has been up by 0.5 degrees Celsius. This is because greenhouse gases increased the temperature to 1.7 degrees Celsius, and other anthropogenic factors reduced it by about 1.2 degrees Celsius. Solar Impulse Foundation has suggested the following solutions for minimizing the climate change. Let us act individually as well as collectively to implement them in our daily lives.
1. The first way to prevent climate change is to move away from fossil fuels. What are the alternatives? Renewable energies like solar, wind, biomass and geothermal.
2. Producing clean energy is essential, but reducing our consumption of energy and water by using more efficient devices (e.g. LED light bulbs, innovative shower system) is less costly and equally important.
3. Promoting public transportation, carpooling, and also electric and hydrogen mobility, can definitely help reduce CO2 emissions and thus fight global warming.
4. In order to reduce the CO2 emissions from buildings – caused by heating, air conditioning, hot water or lighting – it is necessary both to build new low energy buildings, and to renovate the existing constructions.
5. Encouraging better use of natural resources, stopping massive deforestation as well as making agriculture greener and more efficient should also be a priority.
6. Adopting responsible consumption habits is crucial, be it regarding food, clothing, cosmetics or cleaning products. Last but not the least, recycling is an absolute necessity for dealing with waste.
Faith is no irresponsible shot in the dark. It is a responsible trust in God, who knows the desires of your hearts, the dreams you are given, and the goals you have set. He will guide your paths right.- Robert Schuller
“I have long understood that climate change is not only an environmental issue – it is a humanitarian, economic, health and justice issue as well. – Frances Beinecke”
Source: Akhand Jyoti Magazine May-June 2019