There is a silence at the junction where stood the giant tree that lived to see more than what my forefathers could. This tree has known me, my father, his father, and those before him. A tree that was more native to our place than all the people that came after. It has known the stories of my grandfather’s run in the wild, my father’s fortune pastured by the industrial revolution, and my stories in and out of the flood. But it didn’t live up to see my children’s days in an apocalyptic world. If that is the future we would not avoid it.
Climate change is not a thing of the future. Our nature does not heal by our theater of climate summits. It does not have the balance to be kind to us with more time. In fact, the negative effects of climate change are observed to have accelerated at a much higher rate than was anticipated to happen a decade ago. Some of its effects are unavoidable and many communities have already felt its tremors and will spread its havoc on more lands very soon.
Our governments have had enough summits to keep our climate sane, most of which have ended up in failed promises. We have begun the talk on climate change from as long as 1994 by framing an international environment treaty under the decision of The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC). The treaty visioned to reduce human activities that can affect the climate system and majorly missioned to stabilize the amount of greenhouse gas concentrations in our atmosphere.
But even after 28 years we are still at the stage of big talks and failed promises that do not do enough for our planet.
Climate change is a solid fact and agreed upon by 97% of our scientists. They have solid studies, data, and now live realities to prove fossil fuel and other human activities to be the cause of climate change. But Unfortunately, to distract the ordinary there is a misinformation lobby funded by the fossil fuel industry.
The latest IPCC report has warned about the rising greenhouse gases that can soon make many communities vulnerable beyond their abilities to bear its effects. The saddest part of it all is the fact that the waves of climate change are hitting and would hit first the communities and island nations that have contributed least to it. Our children will be born into incredible bad luck, alien to their natural habitat. Climate Change is real and there is an urgency to cure it like never before.
Misbah Thevarmannil
Misbah Thevarmannil's writing is both tech-savvy and grounded in creativity. She combines a play on words with an encyclopedic knowledge of technical subjects to produce pieces that is clear, concise, and accessible to her audience. Misbah has been at the forefront of technology for years, and she keeps up with software trends from writers, developers, and the like.
