Will we fall off the climate cliff?

..or will we take the last exit?

We are standing at an environment and existence crossroads. Climate change has increased pace and is driving the earth to a tipping point from where there’s no coming back. Since the advent of the Industrial Revolution, the planet has warmed about 1°C. Making sure it does not warm any more is not our only concern as even maintaining the status quo is dangerous. We need to cut our gross carbon emissions by half by 2030. If we fail, the world won’t be over, but it will be a different one, in which survival will cease to be a general condition and turn into a luxury, seeped with miseries of shortage. So what we do now — our course of action for the next few decades, will define the fate of the planet and humanity itself.

Descartes, much like the bulk of the human population, had no regard for the environment. He considered natural resources as infinite, to be used to any extent without any qualms. This has proved to be far from true, as humans in the 21st century, after exploiting resources with careless ignorance, are facing its acute shortage and have triggered a climate crisis. They would have continued on their blissfully dangerous and ignorant journey, had the future of humanity not been in danger. We have seen growing concern for the environment in the last decade. But the current pace is far too slow to save our planet in time.

These are some of the most crucial environmental and ethical issues :

1. Climate Change — It is the lethal combination of ozone layer depletion, rise in greenhouse gases and global warming. The earth is losing its shield of protection against harmful ultraviolet radiation from the sun. The main reason for this is the increase of CFCs in the environment. Since CFCs are also greenhouse gases, they trap the sun’s heat, leading to global warming. These climate threats could displace 1.2 billion people by 2050.
2. Overpopulation and Inequality — The growth rate of human population has far outpaced the ability of the planet to support it. By 2050, nearly 10 billion people will be inhabiting the earth. The very limited natural resources available will fail to support such a huge population. The economic disparity between rich and poor is alarming when it comes to resource allocation. The richest 20% population are responsible for 86% of the overall consumption, whereas the bottom 20% survive on a meagre 1.3% total consumption. Because of hoarding of resources by the rich, very little is left for the others.
3. Deforestation — In every 2 seconds, forest area the size of a football field is destroyed. More than 15 billion trees are being cut every year, and the consequences are devastating. It is leading to loss of biodiversity, increased global warming (as trees — storehouses of carbon, are being cut) ,and displacement and destruction of communities directly dependent on forests.
4. Pollution — It is responsible for a host of problems including climate change, acid rain, animal extinction, land degradation, respiratory problems and lung cancer. Around the globe, 1.1 billion people do not have access to clean potable water and 2.4 billion people lack proper sanitation. If we continue at the current pace, by 2030, the air will become so polluted that oxygen masks will be necessary to breathe easily.

We know the problem, and we have the power to create the solution. The choice is ours. We can keep driving off the climate cliff–or take the last exit.

“Let’s think the unthinkable, let’s do the undoable. Let us prepare to grapple with the ineffable itself, and see if we may not eff it after all.”

― Douglas Adams

Also read — Climate Change is happening NOW