![]() Yelling out “We are all going to die!”, will not get people interested. Environmentalists need to find a different tone to paint their pictures. For when we have emotions tied to anything, we are willing to give our lives for it. Environmental action must be given emotional value. When we feel passionate about something, we stand up for it. Humanity uniting for a cause is not unheard of. It is that balance which has been shaken. The entirety of the ecological system rides on a delicate balance. Increasing temperature is forcing species wide migration patterns. Both land and ocean temperatures have risen, and the frequency of heatwaves has increased. ![]() Man-induced global warming has already triggered several perceivable changes in our eco system. According to IPCC’s special report ’ Global Warming of 1.5 ✬’, Human-induced warming reached approximately 1☌ above pre-industrial levels in 2017, increasing at 0.2☌ per decade. We are already suffering the consequences of climate change. But the truth is that this future is not far off. Nobody wants to do something now so that they can enjoy the fruits of it way in the future, let alone do something such that someone else might bear the fruits in the future. So far, getting people interested in climate change has been difficult because people are not interested in delayed gratification. It is more so true that that is the only way. One person alone cannot make a difference. In the article titled ‘ We Can't Tackle Climate Change Without You’, by Mary Heglar, she talks about the importance of taking a stand collectively. The same ‘green fashionista’ will fly back and forth between cities for the silliest of reasons, all the while being pleased with the impact, she has made with her Bamboo toothbrush. To be fashionably green is to post images of your new ‘Bamboo toothbrush’, with the #sustainableliving, whilst driving a gas guzzling monstrosity (This playfully creative metaphor is courtesy of ‘Marshall Eriksen’ from ‘ How I Met Your Mother’) to work every day. In this era when social media is king, we are all but slaves to being ‘fashionably green’. The only way to collectively beat this crisis is to adopt sustainable living as a lifestyle. Would have been great if there were, but unfortunately there isn’t. There is no single thing you can do to fix global warming. What is required of us in this fight is commitment. ‘Action’ in the sense that it’s not a one step solution. The general public is now aware more than ever and the youth is coming forward to take conscious steps to tackle the problem. ![]() ![]() The issue of climate change now is not something that a handful of ‘chicken little’ scientists keep reporting ad nauseum. Do switch it off, but please be aware how tiny a gesture it is”. The amount of emissions you avoid by compulsively unplugging a phone charger over your lifetime can be offset by simple choosing to walk instead of driving to a nearby store once! As David JC MacKay says in his book ‘Sustainable Energy-without the hot air’, “Obsessively switching off the phone-charger is like bailing the Titanic with a teaspoon. It is not that these are not savings, they are but not ones that are sizable enough to make a change. You just need to understand the size of the dent you make in this fight by fixating on trivial matters. I am not saying that leaving your phone charger plugged in when not in use is an eco-friendly move. No, I am not saying that you should leave all the lights on in your home or office. “Every little bit counts” is perhaps the biggest fallacy we hold as common folk in the fight against climate change.
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