Change begins at home!

‘Change begins at home!’

We can all endlessly complain and protest about the government’s policies towards the climate, we can move the courts against industries to prevent them from destroying the planet, we can go on door to door campaigns to educate people  - but if we ourselves aren’t green enough we would simply become pastors who only preach but not follow!

The green movement today needs pastors who lead by example. And what better way than to begin your green campaign your house! ‘Friends of the Earth’, I hereby present a few simple tips make our lives cleaner and greener

• Save Energy - reduce pollution:

1. Turn off the lights when leaving the room
2. Reduce air-conditioning requirement by planting a few trees around your house.
3. Do not idle your car engines for more than 10 seconds.
4. Turn off all electrical appliances and do not leave them in stand-by modes.
5. Wash your laundry in cold water
6. Carpool
7. Use the public transport system.
8. Plan your activities smartly while running errands to avoid making frequent trips to the same place on your car.
   

• Save water – save energy:

1. Turn off dripping taps.
2. Take shorter showers or simply use a bucket and a mug.
3. Do not use the entire capacity of the flush tank when not needed.
4. Plant low water consuming plants and trees in your garden.
5. Avoid washing your car every day.
6. Plan your laundry day smartly to avoid wasting water.
   

• Avoid plastics, E-waste:

1. Always carry your own bag while going to the supermarket.
2. Reduce dependence on bottled water - as the bottles are not bio degradable.
3. Segregate garbage between bio degradable and non-biodegradable.
4. Be careful while disposing electronic waste – ensure that it gets into the right channels for disposal.
5. Buy recycled products and promote them.
   

• General tips:

1. Always print on two sides of the paper.
2. Avoid printing if not necessary.
3. Pay bills and shop online – saves energy and paper.
4. Plant trees in your backyards – provides cleaner localized environment and reduces air-conditioning requirement
5. Walk short distances – saves energy and promotes good health

I am sure we cannot follow all of these, but we could always try and consciously do so. If you have any more tips you would love to share, please feel free to share them through your comments.

Emma Dcruz

The writer is an ardent supporter of the green movement and an active member of this blog.

Climate change - the child killer!

In the last few articles, we discussed about climate change and how it would affect us. But then, our selfish mind always reasons out and the most common response I get to my attempts at convincing people about climate change is – “I won’t live to see that day!” Sometimes I wonder if this is a ready-made answer aimed at consoling ourselves or are we so stubborn that we just don’t care?

Most of us are family persons. We live with our families, love them unconditionally and protect them from any harm whatsoever. Our families are a source of support and encouragement to us. Our families are the basis of our lives – hence we call ourselves ‘civilized’.

But have you ever wondered - what is family love? How do we express it? Is it the respect and priority we assign to our families? Is it the amount of sacrifice we make for them? Or does it also have a monetary angle behind it – saving up, building assets and securing a good future. Yes, all of this is family love and there is nothing wrong about it. But this present definition of this so called family love lacks a basic ingredient - securing a safe livable environment for our families.

Children are the bundles of joy and blessings in a family. And every new-born simply adds to this bounty of joy. But wait; let us think about their future! Is it secure? Or are we secretively conspiring to destroy it through our actions (climate change)?

Climate change due to global warming is going to have a profound impact on the health of the mother and the new-born.  We all know that the mother is extremely vulnerable during pregnancy. We also know that the experiences / illnesses of the mother during this period have a lifelong impact on the health of the new-born. 

Climate change as we know is going to cause food and water shortages. The quality of the available food and water would also be compromised. Such a scenario would lead to poorly fed mothers and malnutrtioned new-born. Poorly fed mothers produce lower quality of milk, which in turn would compromise the healthy growth of the child. A poorly fed child would have a compromised immune system, and would fall easy prey to the hundreds of new deadly diseases of the day.

Acute weather conditions would aid the spread of diseases and pregnant women and the new-born would be most vulnerable. Adverse weather conditions would also increase the number of climate change refugees in developing and under developed countries, forcing mothers and new-born to succumb to various harsh factors and die.

In one of my previous articles, I discussed how climate change will affect human behavior  A healthy environment is essential for the mother and the new born. However climate change would change the behavioral aspects of the mother, who would in adverse cases develop enmity towards the child. An increase in domestic and social violence influenced by climate change would also hamper the growth of a healthy baby. Increasing occurrences of terrorism, riots and civil wars – a direct result of climate change would simply spell the end of your child’s future.

The above mentioned effects would occur within the next fifty years.

If you think you are well off and have enough money to face any eventuality, please think again. The food shortage would be so acute that only the elite 2% (millionaires) of the rich would be able to afford it. What is happening in the Middle East is just the beginning.

Close your eyes and imagine such a future. Are you ready to gift your child this?

Wake up! Arise and act!

Your health and climate change

There is a lot of noise these days about global warming and how it threatens to annihilate the human race. There are also numerous versions and theories both supporting and discrediting this. Before this catastrophic event occurs, there would exist a very long process of human suffering and torture at the hands of a merciless nature. If I may ask – what is the one thing that you wish to have till the end? While wealth would definitely be a priority, health would be the most important one. Good health brings happiness and happiness is the healthiest of human emotions. So before climate change wipes out our race, what suffering has it got at stake for us?

Global warming as the term suggests is causing an increase in the average surface temperature of the earth. Warmer surface temperatures would result in a variety of ill effects affecting people of all ages alike. A prolonged spell of hot weather, with high relative humidity and less cooler nights would induce severe heat related stress on elderly people, leading to death. 

Warmer surface temperatures would also cause an increase in the breeding rates of rodents and pests – which are disease carriers. There would be a decrease in the overall quality of water, as the microorganisms purifying this water would reduce their functioning as a result of a warmer climate. This would lead to an increase in water borne diseases. Warmer atmospheric conditions would result in an increase in ozone production. Ozone in the lower levels of the atmosphere is a pollutant and together with pollen would lead to deadly cases of respiratory diseases amongst the new born and the elderly.

Climate change is also going to influence our health through a number of indirect factors. Topping this list is – natural disasters. Climate change would result in numerous natural calamities often with devastating effects. Changing precipitation patterns coupled with a warmer atmosphere would result in longer dry spells with sudden heavy downpour causing annual flash floods. People living along the coasts would be forced to migrate due to rising sea levels and non-availability of fresh drinking water. People would also be force to relocate due to adverse weather conditions, land slides, earthquakes, increased volcanic activity and food availability. This mass relocation of people would instantly lead to a rise in the number of diseased population.

The second factor is the reduction in the quality of available fresh water. The United Nations Organization estimates that about one third of the world population would be deprived of quality drinking water by 2050. This would result in an increase in the spread of water related diseases. 

Another important factor is food scarcity. Changing soil patterns, failing monsoons, annual flash floods and increase in surface temperatures would result in large-scale crop failure. Lack of adequate food intake would result in further aggravation of the spread of diseases. Finally, scientists claim that there would be a hundred per cent rise in the occurrences of new incurable diseases, many of which (MERS, SARS, H1N5 etc.) are already causing wide spread panic.

The question we need to ask ourselves today is – where are we headed? Is this the future you want to live in? Is the future you want your children to grow up in?

It’s high time we make a choice and chose our alliances. Climate change and its catastrophic effects can be mitigated. A deep thought provoking approach must be initiated by every local and national government for this cause. People must be educated and enlightened. Governments must have a plan for its citizens. If we still chose to be ignorant and consider living foolishly, then we would simply suffer and die a painful death and our children would curse us for the gifts we have given them.

We can change the world! Let’s join together and act! Wake up!

Rising temper - blame it on climate change!

Are you increasingly turning out to be short tempered? Are your children becoming increasingly arrogant and violent? Is your relationship with your partner being hurt due to silly fights? Are people on the road tending to argue / fight for trivial reasons?

Have you ever pondered over these questions? 

No? , then please pause for a movement, close your eyes and think about your experiences. Are humans slowly turning out to be more violent?

Researchers from the University of California Berkeley recently published a paper in the journal Science, in which they suggest that humans may become more hostile as global temperatures rise. Their suggestion was based on strong evidence linking the recent regional conflicts and climatic changes. One of the most classic example of which is the fact that changes in the local weather pattern coupled by an acute shortage of wheat largely fueled the Arab Spring.

The researchers assumed an average increase of four degrees Fahrenheit and concluded that humans would do little or nothing to adapt, but simply turn violent and perish! The study also claims that occurrences of human and inter-group conflicts would increase by fifty per cent by 2050. We already know that humans would turn to cannibalism when climate change causes a food crisis, but would needless violence predate this by decades? Is the recent turmoil in the Middle East, the rising number of rapes in India, increasing terror related violence in Pakistan, the occupy wall-street movement in the west and the anti-government protests in China and Russia just the beginning?

Yes, the occurrences of such events will increase exponentially, but no government will understand the real reason behind them and take steps to mitigate climate change. This can be comparable to the attitude of the governments during the sixties when the first research linking cancer and cigarette smoking was published. Since scientists could not explain the exact phenomenon linking the two, every major government in the world chose to ignore it. The same is the case with this research. While our elected representatives time and again choose to simply betray us, the mammoth task of protecting our future and that of our children is in our hands. 

If you are a parent reading this, please pause and ask yourself – Is this the future you want your child to experience? I am sure your answer is no. But you would also immediately express your helplessness about the issue. After all what can an ordinary person like me do? Well, you are no ordinary person. You are an earthizen. And every earthizen has the moral responsibility to protect nature and the right to make decisions regarding this. We all live in a selfish world – where everything within my house in important. But nature has no boundaries, and therefore let’s not be selfish about this! Change begins at home. Start leading a greener life. Educate and encourage your neighbours to follow suit. You can start a revolution! Go for it!

Honey - not so sweet?

When you look at a beehive, what is the first thing that crosses your mind? Is it the hunger for free honey? Is the fear of a bee sting? Or is the fascination for these marvelous creatures?

Honey forms an essential part of our diets. Its nutritious and medicinal value has been well documented.  We also have learnt in school about the entire process through which bees make honey available. But is it all for us? And did we ever question, why do these bees store the honey? These questions I leave it to you, because today I want to confront you with another, more difficult question – What role do honey bees play in nature?

Albert Einstein, one of the greatest physicists of all time, famously claimed – “If the bee disappeared off the face of the earth, man would only have four years left to live”. Of course back then no one took him seriously, especially because he was famous for making huge claims, which were often proven false. But in this particular case, Einstein was one hundred per cent right.  Honey bees are the single most influential creatures that hold the keys to human life.

Honey bees extract honey from flowers and in the process help the plant in completing the process of pollination. Nearly one third of the global farm output depends on pollination, mostly by bees. About thirty five per cent of the calories, most of the minerals, vitamins and anti-oxidants in our daily meals are obtained from foods, whose production needs pollination by bees. Virtually every fruit and vegetable you enjoy needs pollination by bees. And yet bees are disappearing at an alarming rate – either by being killed by humans or through the process of colonial collapse disorder. But no one seems to care. After all, for a busy man like me, do bees matter?

But the simple fact is that whether we like it or not – bees matter. I had a chat with a friend of mine who owns a coffee plantation. Most planters do not share their troubles or problems with the world outside. But this lady chose to give me a rare look into their grievances. Their problem – a steep drop in coffee production due to lack of cross pollination by bees. She exclaimed and I quote – “There are no bees left!”

The bee crisis has not been accorded a much alarming status as of now, but the UN's food index rating sums it all. Globally food availability has decreased and food prices are at an all-time high. Where food is available in plenty, quality of this food is the cause of concern. Will food security soon be a thing of the past?

Where are we headed? And what are our reactions? Do we care? In my opinion, it is high time we start giving a damn about this problem. Our big bank balances or large properties won’t assure us / our children food. Nor can we / our children go about eating money! It is time we rise and act. Join hands in protecting the bees. Educate your neighbours and prevent them from burning down beehives. In this way, you are securing food for your children.

We live in a selfish world, but we can always work towards a change. Change begins at home. Think about your children and grandchildren. Preserve and protect nature. Remember – it starts from your own backyard.