Climate change is a major issue nowadays and it is being
caused by the inhabitants of the planet Earth themselves. The change in global
weather patterns is going to cause destruction all over the planet. This
catastrophe will increase the global temperature and is going to make it hard
for life to exist. There has been an increase of 0.8° Celsius since 1880. If this continues, then soon our planet
will become inhabitable. The glaciers are melting very fast and the sea level
is rising by 3.3 mm per year. On Earth, human activities are changing the
natural greenhouse. Over the last century, the burning of fossil fuels like
coal and oil has increased the concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2).
This happens because the coal or oil burning process combines carbon with
oxygen in the air to make CO2. To a lesser extent, the clearing of
land for agriculture, industry, and other human activities has increased
concentrations of greenhouse gases.
In
2017, 7900 km² of the forestland of the Amazon forest was
cut down. The Amazon forest is our main defender against climate change as it
produces 20% of the Earth's oxygen. The Amazon is also referred to as the Earth’s
lungs. Each year 15.3 billion trees are cut down globally which is an insanely
high amount inverse to the number of trees that are planted. I know that this
resource is important for many uses in our lives but this doesn’t mean that we
should use it in such an amount that it becomes so scarce that we lose it. We should
use every resource wisely.
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*Photo Source: FG TRADEGETTY IMAGES
Climate change
will affect the environment very badly. Climate change will bring a lot of
problems. The temperatures will significantly rise causing a lot of heatwaves
and drought. There will be changes in precipitation patterns, which will cause
a change in rain patterns. The hurricanes will become stronger and intense. The
sea levels will rise 1-4 feet by 2100 causing a lot of floods. The Arctic will
likely become ice-free.
The country I live
in (Pakistan) has a very tiny contribution to total greenhouse gas emissions,
but it is among the countries that are most vulnerable to climate change, and
it has very low technical and financial capacity to adapt to its adverse
impacts. The threats to Pakistan are significantly high in terms of frequency
and intensity of extreme weather events, along with erratic monsoon rains
causing frequent and intense floods and droughts. More frequent and intense
floods will cause an increased amount of salt in the major dams.
Rising temperatures
will result in intense heat leading to less agricultural productivity. The increased
intrusion of saltwater in the Indus delta will affect coastal agriculture.
There will be a huge threat to coastal areas because of higher sea levels causing
cyclones and floods. There will be increased health problems. It would be very
hard for Pakistan to overcome these problems because Pakistan is already
developing slowly and these natural disasters would cause the destruction of
the infrastructure. Therefore, the whole management of schools, hospitals, and
other places will be disturbed and would take a lot of time to recover. This is
why we all have to step up and take action against the people and the things
that are causing climate change to not only save our beloved country but the
whole world to make it a better place for the upcoming generations. The climate
strikes that are being initiated globally are a very good step for global
awareness about this major catastrophe. We should reduce the emission of the
greenhouse gases caused by the burning of fossil fuels and should use bio-fuels
instead. Deforestation should also be stopped as the trees work in reducing the
carbon dioxide and increasing the oxygen.
The plantation
drive called Billion Tree Tsunami initiated by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Government
in 2014 is a timely intervention. However, we need more such initiatives to
overcome the impact of climate change as much as possible. This is not only the responsibility of the
government but it is the responsibility of every citizen to come forward and
play his/her role. No effort is less, every
effort matters. Let's work to save this beloved planet Earth!
