The clamour about climate change has been a global effort, with so many world leaders calling the attention of organizations and the public to participate in reducing the impact of climate change that is being felt all over the world. Yet, some people are of the opinion that climate change is unreal and they have no role to play, leaving the responsibility to world leaders and major organizations. There is no doubt that climate change affects everyone of us, and we all have a role to play to combating this.
Before we go any further, you might have been wondering, what does climate change mean? Climate change, as the name implies, is the change in the weather pattern of different regions of the world. This phenomenon is natural, but human influence has led to the rapid decline of our climate. Activities that increase the volume of carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases in the atmosphere contribute greatly to impacting our climate. These activities include: burning of fossil fuels – which is burning in general – which releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, cutting down of trees that are meant to absorb the carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Methane- a green house gas that emanates from decomposition of waste in landfills amongst other sources – is one of the major sources of damage to the ozone layer.
Evidence of climate change can be seen in the growing incidences of global flooding which has led to loss of lives and properties. In addition, we now experience extremely scorching hot weather or extremely cold weather in many regions. We are also no longer certain on what turns the weather will take – this unpredictability in weather patterns is also attributable to climate change.
So, what can we do to minimize the factors that result in climate change? Seemingly small actions such as turning off electrical appliances when not in use to not buying products from companies that have not adopted sustainable energy policies in their production process can make a difference. Choosing to ride a bicycle (which does not require burning of fossil fuels) or simply walking can be beneficial to saving our environment. Planting a tree could also help, and we can consider the option of planting flowers if trees sound overwhelming. What about our waste? Let us strive to reduce the amount of waste we generate by buying only what we need or opting for reuseable items rather than the disposable goods that end up in our landfills. In addition, we can recycle our wastes by turning them into other useful materials, thus minimizing the waste burden on landfills.
This is our world, and if we don’t take care of it, who will? Stay tuned to thegreenchic for more ways to protect our world.
The Chics Domain 