By: Abdul Musawir Hakro
Every year billions of tons of ice giants melt due to climate. Glaciers are disappearing, not only leaving landscape but changes the oceans, weather, and life on Earth. Scientists warned about the rising global temperature faster than any other time. And If it would not be halted, the future generation will be in a major crisis. Despite the fact, some countries like Russia and Canada see their economic benefits from a warmer climate as they have vast frozen land though both are reluctant to make ambitious climate commitments. But sooner or later both countries will realize the seriousness of the situation when climate devastation will open floodgates of refugees across their borders from less fortunate countries. Moreover, the United States, Republicans, and the British, Conservative party also do not like policies proposed to fight climate change because it is hard to prove that previous natural disasters are directly due to climate change. Also, there is uncertainty about how great climate change impacts will be. But one cannot deny the statement issued by the World Meteorological Organization(WMO) on a Global climate in 2019 which apparently says; “The 20 warmest years on record all occurred in the past 22 years, with 2015-18 making up the top four”. Moreover, Republican climate denier members are funded with dirty money about 666000 dollars by Oil and Gas industries according to an article published in The New York Times.
Scientists warned about the rising global temperature faster than any other time. And If it would not be halted, the future generation will be in a major crisis.
To analyze the question of climate uncertainty let’s discuss the consequences of change in climate patterns. Climate change is defined as a change in global or regional climate patterns. Climate changes gradually and affectingly altering the course of the world. It increased rapidly after the industrial revolution in 1750 from where CO2 upsurge up to 30% till now. Moreover, Altering temperature and rainfall patterns from climate change could cause severe freshwater and drinking water shortage which induce survival difficulties in households. In addition, the dearth of water supply could affect crop productivity of agricultural countries and global food security which leads to the food crisis and a high inflation rate in the economy. The poorer countries which are less equipped could affect the most due to climate change. Further, due to warmer temperature, more water evaporates making air moisture. Ultimately, many areas will experience more rainfall while in some places snowfall. In the summer season, inland areas become extra droughts. On the other hand, hotter temperatures melt the glaciers, more intense and frequent storms increase flooding risk to many areas heading to millions homeless, economic disaster, Hunger, and the birth of many severe diseases.
Climate shifted earlier than anticipated. Permafrost is thawing and sea ice is fading. The world needs to pay close attention to climate change before it is too late.
Furthermore, increasing weather causes volume expansion of sea level trapping coastal cities and gradually moving towards other cities. Likewise, In China, the sea slowly trapping many of its megacities underwater. Many plants and animal species are already on the extinction list as they cannot adopt sudden environmental changes. Besides, An increasing amount of CO2 in the atmosphere can hit in many ways including depletion of the ozone layer which protects virulent rays like UV and cosmic, from the Sun. It causes rays to directly hit Earth’s surface directing many skin diseases and allergies. Adding, Breathing issues, lung cancer, and heart diseases caused by polluted air make human life nasties.
Secondly, In the past, climate change has already caused many devastations in which the 2010 flood in Pakistan resulting from heavy monsoon rain in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa(KPK), Sindh, Punjab and Balochistan regions and rising atmospheric temperature leading to moisture air accompanied by melting glaciers, approximately one-fifth of total Pakistan area affected by the flood. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa faced 90% of total casualties out of 2000. And about 20 million people directly affected, destroyed properties, crops, infrastructure, and left 14 million people without a home, according to Pakistan’s government data.
In Addition, Amazon rainforest wildfire 2019, left the world in chaos about the fate of Amazon which is called the world’s largest terrestrial spot and plays a substantial role in alleviating global warming. It is reckoned that over 906 thousand hectares of biomass have been lost in the 2019 wildfire. The fire created an excess amount of carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide emission, biodiversity put in hazard, along with primitive tribes in threat.
Besides, One of the biggest tragedies of the decade, Australia Bushfires 2019-20. The fire burnt an estimated about 18.6 million hectares, 5900 buildings razed and killed at least 34 people. Nearly one billion animals have been killed, some species are driven to extinction. According to the report of NASA on 2 January, 2020 figured that 332 billion tons of CO2 have been emitted. In a nutshell, increasing natural devastation every year is giving an indication that it’s not the normal stage and requires steps to be taken.
While the World has finally started to combat climate change. In which machines have been made by the scientist that suck carbon dioxide from the air and stored underground. But these machines are vastly expensive though indigent countries cannot afford it. The IMF is required to provide funding to poorer countries and help out to disperse machines across the world. Moreover, technology has shifted fuel-consuming vehicles into electric vehicles which is a key step to evaluate air pollution. Yet, Factories and mills are one of the major reasons for greenhouse gas emissions which are existing in every corner of the world. To reduce its effect countries required changes like, fuel switching, combined heat and power, use of renewable energy, and recycling of materials. Whereas billions of trees have been planted across the world every year to increase forestation.
On the one hand, governments are doing their part to reduce the impact of climate change. On the other hand, it is an individual responsibility to do their part to reduce carbon footprints. Here are some suggestions for individuals which include; taking public transport rather than personal automobiles because the more use of vehicles, the more carbon dioxide will be emitted. And taking less airplanes trips, as these emit more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. And we should buy electric cars which are environmentally friendly. And putting solar panels on rooftops. Moreover, if every person plants a single tree every year then we can plant 7.8 Billion trees proportional to the total world’s population. By applying these methods, threats posed by climate change can be reduced to a larger extent.
The writer is student of law at Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto University Of Law (SZABUL), Karachi. He can be reached at [email protected]
