Hammad Ali
WELL, the crisis is near to end. Covid-19, which grappled the whole world, caused the deaths of nearly 2.5 million people, and made the millions jobless is now gradually fading. This grave and quick spreading pandemic caused mayhem across the globe.
It disturbed the international order. From Washington to Wellington the vast majority of countries – albeit with varying degrees of delay – took strict measures to curb the movement and gathering of people in order to contain the virus, even at the expense of economic growth.
Thus, we are succeeded through international cooperation and coordination to defeat this hidden enemy. Now there are some other issues which require the same united, unanimous and inclusive international response. One of them is climate change.
The atmosphere of the earth is composed of different gases which are important for human life and earth climate.
The Green house gases keep the earth surface warm by absorbing the outgoing infrared radiations.
But after the industrial revolution the amount of carbon dioxide and other gases has increased quickly which has caused global warming.
Since 1990, just 30 years ago, carbon dioxide emissions have increased by almost 50 per cent.
The whole earth planet is polluted, and the temperature is rising rapidly. Climate change has had observable effects on the environment.
Glaciers have shrunk, ice on rivers and lakes is breaking up earlier, plant and animal ranges have shifted, trees are flowering sooner, environmental degradation and extreme weather patterns are disrupting harvests, fisheries are depleted, sea level is rising rapidly, floods are hitting the vulnerable countries, heat waves have taken the lives of many and wild fires have also become the order of the day.
Recently wild fire in Australia has caused the deaths of nearly 50 billion animals.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which includes more than 1,300 scientists from the United States and other countries, forecasts a temperature rise of 2.5 to 10 degrees Fahrenheit over the next century.
In 2014, the World Health Organisation estimated that climate change would lead to about 250,000 additional deaths each year between 2030 and 2050. It’s an alarming number.
Everything has positive and negative aspects. Where the lockdowns to deal with Corona resulted in economic loss, it proved helpful in environmental development.
During lockdown marine creatures had the fortune to live in clean water, the species on earth surface got the chance to breath in clean air and the whole earth heaved a sigh of relief.
The European Space Agency (ESA) reports that air pollution from nitrogen dioxide had fallen by an estimated 40%.
Hence, Covid-19 renovated the Earth, but we are ready to create the mess again. Climate change is a persistent and pressing issue which demands more practical and effectual steps.
Although some steps have been taken like Kyoto Protocol and Montreal Protocol but they seem dead letter now.
Recently, the government of Pakistan took a laudable step by making lemonade when life was giving lemons.
Since Pakistan locked down on March 23 to try to stem the spread of COVID-19, unemployed day labourers had been given new jobs as “jungle workers”, planting saplings as part of the country’s 10 Billion Tree Tsunami programme.
On 3rd of July 2020 German lawmakers finalised the country’s long-awaited phase-out of coal as an energy source.
Bills approved by both houses of parliament on Friday envisioned shutting down the last coal-fired power plant by 2038 and spending some 40 billion euros ($45 billion) to help affected regions cope with the transition. These are such a commendable step.
Other countries must follow the suit, because this issue demands collective action.
Some other steps can be adopted to control climate change.
1-Energy efficient machinery such as cars and domestic appliances must be brought into the markets at affordable prices.
2-All countries must adopt 3Rs strategy ie Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.
3-Deforestation must be controlled. The developed countries should provide assistance to developing countries through satellite security system in this regard.
4-Afforestation must be enhanced and the developing countries should be financed to initiate these projects at vast levels.
5-Public transport must be developed. Certainly, it would reduce transport on the roads and emission would automatically overcome.
6-Population control measures are also necessary, because increase in population requires more area to live, more factories to fulfil the needs and more transport on the roads.
7-People must be informed about the gravity of the issue, the awareness must be provided through electronic, social and print media.
8-International treaties should be updated and implemented in its true essence and all countries must be brought under jurisdiction. Thus, climate change is a serious threat which our coming generation would face in more intense form. The whole world should subdue this threat by united response.
—The writer is contributing columnist, based in Lahore.
