Let’s Talk About Climate Change!
Posted On August 22, 2019
Hi Readers. This isn’t the kind of post you’d normally find on my blog. But, lately I had so many thoughts about this issue & all of that has left a permanent frown on my face. I thought it best to let it out here. One concerned face hoping for other faces to get the concern & do something about it.
Since the past few days, you all must have heard about the Amazon rain forest burning. It has been burning since the past 3 WEEKS! If that doesn’t worry you, I don’t know what to say to you.
~~THE AMAZON RAIN FOREST~~
The Amazon Rain forest, two thirds of it, is situated mainly in Brazil & expands to a few other South American countries. It is the WORLD’S LARGEST TROPICAL RAIN FOREST. So, naturally it is responsible for 20% of the WORLD’S OXYGEN. It maintains the level of carbon in the air. These forests are literally the EARTH’S LUNGS! They help to control & maintain a balanced climate. Even a child can understand how important it is. And yet, no one has given a heed to it since 3 weeks of it burning. No one seems to care!!
~~MY MESS OF THOUGHTS~~
I watched everyone on social media post images about the forest burning & spreading the word. I saw people going berserk on Twitter. But, I cannot see why it’s not on the News? Why is there a news article about a Bollywood actor’s kid, but not this? Why is there a news article about a dog going to prison, but not this? Why is there a talk of some Hollywood to Bollywood remake of a movie, but not this? Why is the news always about politics & cricket, but not this?
I came to work today with so many thoughts! I couldn’t think straight. Till yesterday my objective was to write my Jaipur travelogues & plan for my 5th Blogoversary. But today, those things seem SO TRIVIAL. Every time I open Instagram, there is another stupid TikTok video which seems SO TRIVIAL. Everyone getting engaged or married seems SO TRIVIAL. One of the most important things to me was travelling which has also suddenly become SO TRIVIAL. Here I am thinking about my own self; whether my career is on track, whether my life is going as per the plan. Being a selfish person all along. All the things that used to worry me seem so minuscule now. Almost ridiculous. Because we have the basic needs of survival, we have started taking everything for granted. We throw away a perfectly good piece of cake because it has a hair on it. We turn on the tap water & forget to shut it off. We use geyser for hot water like it’s repercussions aren’t going to cause serious damage. We are willing to freeze to death in our air-conditioned offices, but we are open to actually do anything about the climate change. We are too classy to go by a share rickshaw, forget the option of a bus or train. We don’t want to car pool or use the Shuttle to work because what will people think! ALL OF THIS SEEMS SO TRIVIAL NOW.
I honestly wonder what levels has humanity sunk to that no one acknowledges the REAL THINGS. The Amazon is burning. Glaciers are melting. More animals are going extinct. Oceans are boiling. Coral reefs are dying. People read about it one day & forget the next. And here I am, full of worry.
Climate change & global warming have always been at the back of my mind, probably since years. I was the kind of kid who after watching the movie ‘2012’ got bat-shit-scared that the world was going to end. I was never so genuinely worried about anything before. Until now. Because apparently, fiction is going to get real. Maybe not right now, but soon enough. And, I’m not scared to admit that that SCARES ME. This is the kind of worry which doesn’t let me sleep. The kind which forces me to do deep breathing now & then. It’s the kind of worry which is not letting me enjoy anything. It has sucked all the little happiness I had inside of me. And, so I looked up solutions. Even though humanity is the death of Planet Earth, I still had hope for us. Someone must have some solutions. Some answers!
~~SOLUTIONS TO CLIMATE CHANGE~~
I watched a lot of TED Talks about climate change & read a lot of articles as well. Doing this calmed me down one moment but got me hyper the next. The statistics are appalling. You feel better because if some things are done are done right, we could reverse global warming by 2050. But then, you read that more than 750000 square kilometer of the rain forests have been DESTROYED over the years. It’s such a hopeless thing, really. We are in the mess that we created in the first place! And, so only we can fix it!
There are MANY basic things that we can do on an individual level to help. If you can implement these changes at organization-wide level or an entire community-level, even better! Check out the image above & the links below to know more.
~~FURTHER READING / WATCHING~~
This is just the surface of the matter. There is so much more going on. There could be so much going on that we aren’t even aware about. This isn’t an educational post about dealing with climate change. This is just a post about the worries of a common woman about the future of Planet Earth & that of humanity.
I am not the one to preach on these matters, especially when I wasn’t monitoring all of this until a few weeks back. Now that I know we are doomed, I find it essential to do all these things. We all are morally answerable to ourselves, humanity & our Planet. There’s no Planet B.
I write my blog knowing it doesn’t have a lot of reach & yet I am still writing this post. I feel responsible. And even if one person reads it, I have done my smallest part. The real part is actually doing it!
Spread Awareness & Act on it more than anything. And then some more.
Until next time,
About The Author
Aishwarya Shenolikar
Hello! I'm Aishwarya, an Introverted bookworm & writer. I have been reviewing books since 6 years on my blog - Mindscape in Words. My favourite genres are Historical Fiction, Mystery, Thrillers, Magical Realism, Poetry, Fantasy & Memoirs. I like the kind of books which evoke emotions on several levels leaving me wrecked, but also incredibly content. I'm dreaming for the world to paint a landscape full of words, more like Mindscape in Words. Hope you enjoy the view.