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“We are the first generation to be able to end poverty, and the last generation that can take steps to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. Future generations will judge us harshly if we fail to uphold our moral and historical responsibilities.” Ban Ki-Moon

Aforesaid are the words of erstwhile UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon upon receiving an honorary degree from the Catholic University of Leuven, in Leuven, Belgium on 28th May 2015. Since then, a lot has happened to the world that we are part of. As earthlings, we have gone from bad to worse when it comes to impacting the environment and ushering change in the climate!

What is climate change?

Climate Change is the increase in the Earth’s temperatures over a long period of time. ‘Climate Change’ can also be referred to the process of Earth heating up.

Reasons for climate change

There are many things which influence the Earth’s climate. The main cause of ‘Climate Change’ is the imbalance in the Greenhouse Gases. The Greenhouse Gases consist of four types of gases: Carbon-Dioxide, Methane, Water Vapor and Ozone. These gases trap heat coming from the sun and provide it to the Earth. Carbon Dioxide is one of the trappers of heat. When we burn fossil fuels, run factories etc, the smoke which comes out increases Carbon Dioxide. Now when Carbon Dioxide increases, the heat it traps also increases, thus providing a lot more heat than it is supposed to. This makes the Earth hotter, hotter than ever. Do we know 2016 was the hottest year in history and the second was 2019, the year gone by? If this is the pace, we can very well imagine how the world will be in few years from now. We are already seeing the devastating effects of human intervention, such as flooding, rise in sea level, forest fires, melting of glaciers etc. If we continue to play around with the environment, the day will not be far when the temperatures would rise so high that we will not be able to bear it and eventually seize to exist.

What do we need to do?

Should we not do something to avert it? The solutions are in our own hands. Here are few things that we can do:

We should switch off the lights and fans when we leave the room. Use products that can be put to multiple use is a convenient way to avoid wastage and exhaustion of resources. Instead of littering here and there, we should segregate the waste into biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste and then putting it into different bins will be sagacious choice. Planting more and more trees is another easy and viable solution, as trees take in Carbon-Dioxide and release oxygen into the air. We can also try finding out alternative resources for generating energy instead of burning fossil fuels. Harnessing solar, wind and water energy in a big scale can lead to big changes. Spreading awareness via stories, poems, posters, and write-ups will help in bringing about social revolution, something which is the need of the hour. After all, education is crucial to change mindsets. Last but not the least, instead of locking oneself in the room 24/7, we should spend some time each day in the natural surroundings.

I strongly believe that if we all take small actions, one day it will make a huge difference to the world we inherited.

Mahatma Gandhi once said, ‘Be the change you wish to see in the world’. The power lies in our hands, let us make best use of it!

Together we all can make a lot of difference!

I am Anshuman Nagpal, and I am part of ‘Climate Action Project, 2020’. Are you?

To register yourself, kindly click on the link or copy and paste in your browser: https://india.climate-action.info/

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