Pollution has always been a serious issue and it has increased since last twenty years and people have started to feel the ‘heat’. Many people protest against the deforestation but still there are several others who consider pollution to be of a grave concern, yet they buy air-conditioners and cars which are the major contributors to carbon dioxide.
All of us have been taught in schools that we need to plant lot of saplings and trees. On the other hand, people are buying cars and cutting trees as those are blocking roadways. Vast forest fires from Los Angeles to Perth are hazardous for all of us. Destruction of properties and living beings is affecting us economically and psychologically. Aquatic animals are drowning into the seas as sea level rises at very alarming rates. Many polar bears are drowning due to melting of glaciers whereas some of the coral-reefs are already vanishing at a very alarming rate. Moreover, many sea-cucumbers and fishes have already vanished.
Industrially advanced countries are responsible for rising pollution but they always impose pressure on lesser developed nations to cut carbon emissions. Every year several countries participate in a summit for discussing the key issues of global warming around the world. But people do forget, that population explosion also is responsible for rising pollution. As of today we are creating a huge amount of e-waste which emits more harmful gases than CO2s. It is laudable that people prefer so much of technological advancement which also enables them to perform task faster. However, the situation of recycling such waste is a tedious process that even labourers who work in the recycling units suffer burns and contract with terminal illnesses. Why doesn’t the government start industries in backward regions of the country so that people won’t migrate to urban areas for jobs? Such initiatives will also pave way for balanced development and bridge the gap between urban and rural areas.
Why do we need huge conferences and summits just to plant trees? Can’t we take initiative to plant trees ourselves? Do we always need somebody to tell us to “go green”? Our own greed for a better and luxurious life is killing us.
The melting ice caps, change in the climatic conditions is responsible for flooding and droughts which can cause huge devastation. Birds like sparrows and kingfishers are going extinct just because they could not adapt with the climatic changes. Therefore the onus lies on us to take steps for controlling pollution and save the environment.
Gayatri Pawar
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
