The recently concluded COP 26 in Glasgow has once again brought Climate Change into the limelight. While many nations pledged to attain net-zero by 2050, India has announced to attain it by 2070. Sometimes it is very easy to promise, but making it happen is a herculean task. Likewise, India’s ambitious net-zero target cannot be attained by saying it in the mouth or by simply forwarding messages on the social media platform.
Only coercive Government policies and active participation of the people can bear the fruit that the Government expects. First of all, we have to understand the gravity of the situation. Climate change has become a global concern. Human activities and industrial development in the past decades have deteriorated the planet. The planet has become fragile. We are duty-bound to reverse the change that we made to our planet.
You could have seen a plethora of things in the news like Cloud Burst, Heatwaves, Melting Glaciers, Maximum High Temperature, Minimum Low Temperature, Floods, Drought, Wildfires, Heat strokes, etc., these are the consequences of Climate Change. Even this year Chennai has experienced severe downpour than expected and the capital of the state is seen underwaters for many years. The recent IPCC reports have cautioned that many important cities of the world will be underwaters in 2050.
51 billion tons is the global emissions in terms of carbon dioxide equivalents. Now the herculean task for us is to bring it down to zero as early as possible to prevent irreversible climate change. The major source of emissions is Electricity production, Emissions from fossil fuels, Plants, Animals, Cement, Steel, Plastic, Heating Ventilation Air Conditioning systems, etc.
It is pertinent for the Global powers to shift their focus in each of these emitters. While the term Eco-Friendly has become a new normal, its distribution is very low. Steps must be taken to ramp up the distribution of these renewable resources.
Though Solar, Wind power has originated way back, the amount of electricity production from these sources is relatively low when compared to the conventional sources. To phase out fossil fuels the only available way is to invest more in Electric Vehicles, Fuel cells, Hydro fuel, etc. These are some of the areas where the global powers must invest more in their R&D to make these resources cheaply available and reliable.
Techniques like Direct Air Capture, which sucks out the emitted carbon has good efficiency but its cost makes this technology appalling. The same applies to techniques like Point Air Capture, Carbon Sequestration, etc. The things listed above pertain not only to the government but there are certain things that each and every individual has to do. I will list out some of those here. The first and foremost step is to know what is meant by climate change.
What are the consequences of Climate Change? For this, you could refer internet where myriads of materials were available. The next step is to disseminate the awareness among fellow people. This includes speaking about climate change with your parents when you have a meal together, speaking about it with your friends in your leisure time. By repeating this you are making people curious about climate change and making them understand the gravity of the situation.
The next step is to mitigate the emissions from your home. This includes saving electricity, by doing so you are reducing the power requirement so as the power production from Carbon sources.
You consider this as insignificant, but when people join hands together then the change will be viable. You can also avail benefits from the Government Schemes by installing solar cells on the rooftop. The inevitable technology that we have in our hands to avert a climate disaster is Plants, Saplings & Trees. These are the most valuable technologies that we possess to combat climate change. Plants, Samplings, and Trees are the greatest carbon reservoirs and carbon sequestrators. Besides mitigating Climate disasters, they also give us numerous benefits that we all know. Plant a sapling on your special occasions like your Birthday, Anniversary, etc. Give proper post plantation care, that is where many of us fail. By doing so you are creating a splendid memory to cherish as well as you are covertly working to the environment. To my extent, I have planted close to 60 saplings in my locality and they all have matured into gigantic trees. I pass this challenge to you. Let us make a pledge. Let us keep this chain viable. Nominate your fellow people. The result will bear rich fruit than we expected. When youngsters synergize and work nothing is impossible. I would like to bring down the curtains by reiterating that Climate Change is a global concern. This cannot be tackled merely by the policies of the government or by innovations in technology. Only the active participation of each and every individual on the planet can bring a revolution. Step down to the field, start your work. Let the revolution begin.
