Baby Sharma
Living in 21st century people are more aware about their environment yet still not enough, to be motivated to protect it. The gradual loss of our environment will eventually lead to an irreversible damage to earth which is directly going to impact us in numerous ways. The degradation of environment is caused by many issues like Global warming, Deforestation, Ozone depletion and Pollution.
Let’s dive into some major challenges:
GLOBAL WARMING : The rise in the temperature of earth due to greenhouse gases is known as Global warming. The rise is the temperature leads to the extreme weather events, like drought, cyclone, heavy rain and storms. Change in climatic patterns, melting of glaciers leading to the rise in water levels. Changes in ecosystem, coastal areas, biodiversity.
DEFORESTATION : Permanent clearing of forests is known as deforestation for reasons like agriculture, urbanization, mining and logging. Deforestation leads to biodiversity loss, change in water cycles, soil erosion, climatic changes and loss of food and shelter for local communities as well as the species.
OZONE DEPLETION : Ozone layer protects earth from harmful radiations of sun. The depletion in the layer creates a way for those radiations to enter our atmosphere which can lead to various consequences like Skin cancer. Chloroflurocarbons have been a leading cause for the depletion of Ozone layer released from refrigerators, ac’s and aerosols. To protect ozone an international treaty was signed in, 1987 Montreal Protocol, to reduce the emission of Cfc’s and greenhouse emission. It’s also known as one of the most successful environmental treaty.
The impact of environmental loss is slow but gradual.
Numerous policies, treaties, campaigns, awareness efforts made by government and organisations, still at fundamental level people don’t consider protecting environment, as their responsibility.
Where are we lacking to make people understand that they aren’t existing separately from their environment?
Changes in our surroundings will impact us directly. There’s no other place to be called home if we failed to protect our planet.
(The writer is MA, Mass Communication and New Media, Central University Jammu)