We hear it almost every day now, but yet we continue with our reckless ways and carry on without giving mother earth more than a minute’s thought. Most of us have this assumption about global warming: “The Earth is so big; a little warming will not lead to end of days.” But in reality, our Earth is going to die faster than you think if we don’t respond to global warming.

What is global warming? To put it simply, the Earth’s atmosphere is being thickened by pollution, causing infra-red waves that are supposed to radiate into space to be trapped on earth. And so the atmosphere heats up worldwide. That’s global warming.

We are beginning to see the impact of global warming. Snows and glaciers of Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa, Columbia Glacier in the US, Glacier AX010 in Nepal and The Italian Alps are all melting and retreating. We have already seen massive heat waves that killed 35,000 people in Europe in 2003. The same year in India, temperature went up to 50° Celsius with more than 1400 deaths.
 
The temperature increases are taking place all over the world, including in the oceans. When the oceans get warmer, it causes stronger storms. It was formerly thought that it was impossible to have a hurricane in the South Atlantic but textbooks had to be rewritten when the first one hit Brazil in 2004. And then came Hurricane Katrina over New Orleans, the consequences were so horrendous; there are no words to describe it.

It seems like the nature is going crazy, all kinds of unusual catastrophes are happening. Global warming causes not only more flooding, but also more droughts. Lake Chad was once one of the largest lakes in the world in 1963; it has now dried up to almost nothing.

So, what causes global warming?

A key factor is deforestation. Deforestation contributes to global warming first by burnt forests. Forest burning is very widely used in the Amazon region to prepare new agriculture land. When forests are cleared, carbon that was held in the soil is also released as carbon dioxide or methane. Natural decomposition within intact forests is another further source of carbon dioxide and methane emissions.

Now, let’s imagine a scenario: “If we walk into a 50°Celsius sauna room, we would just walk right out because it is too hot. But, if we walk into a normal 40°Celsius sauna room with the temperature slowly building up to 50°Celsius, we might just sit there not sensing the danger until it gets unbearably hot. When something seems gradual we humans tend to not react to it until we directly feel the impact. The point is: this is exactly how we are reacting to global warming.

Each one of us is a cause to global warming but each of us can make choices to change that. But skeptics will say: “The earth is so big; how can we stop global warming with the technologies now often bigger than the human scale?”

Believe it or not, we can. The fact that we solved the hole in the ozone layer crisis before proves just that. That was said to be an impossible problem to solve because it’s a global environmental challenge requiring cooperation from every nation in the world, but we did it.

Global warming can be solved by reducing our carbon emissions. Here’s how to start, buy energy efficient appliances, increase insulation at home, recycle. If you can, buy a hybrid car: when you can, walk or ride a bicycle, or take the LRT. Plant trees, lots of trees, one for your father, one for your mother, one for your brother, one for your sister, one for your maid. Speak up in your community, call radio shows, write to newspapers, and join international efforts to stop global warming, help people find the strength to change. Learn as much as you can about the climate crisis, and then put your knowledge into action.

In conclusion, I hope everyone has a thought to ponder on today because global warming is not something to be trifled with. Heed my global warning.