By: NASIR AHMAD DAR
Owing to climate change, surface of the oceans will change color by the end of 21st century leading our blue planet to look visibly altered- a new study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) reveals.
The earth is being polluted fiercely and it is just getting worse every day. The oceans are being filled by the plastic and other wastes and the sea creatures are dying along with the ocean vegetation. This is happening at a very fast rate and it is clear that there is no looking back particularly when the world powers seem busy in fighting each other and in producing more and more wastes. Although there are innumerable NGOs and organizations working for the cause but they are not enough and their work is always hampered for political or geo-political reasons.
We are 81 years away from 2100 and the way each of the oceans and air is being polluted, it can be said that earth may stop looking blue much before the times that the estimated studies have suggested. The countries seem to be ignoring one of the biggest and the most evident threat that is lurking ahead of us and is going to shake the entire earth. Man has started a quest to explore extra terrestrial bodies but ignores his home- The Mother Earth.
It is high time that we all ignore the political and regional differences and we start working towards our environment. The first step would be to avoid dumping plastic waste in the oceans. Australia is one of the few countries which has started to work for it and has set up nets at the ends of the dumping pipes. This method can help us reduce plastic pollution but it won’t be enough at all as the rate at which the oceans are being polluted is far worse than we can even imagine. Oceans are very deep and vast and when we begin to dump plastic in their chests, we consider the plastic to be negligible in comparison to the enormity of the oceans. But the reality is that every day we dump so much of plastic that the consequences are pretty much evident to us now and that is why so many studies are being carried to see the impact of such a catastrophic trend.
There are other countries also which have switched to organic farming and organic culture in order to reduce the dangerous chemicals to flow into our water bodies. But the problem is that these countries are very small. Just like Scandinavian countries, these places may be doing a great job but the problem we are facing at the global level needs big countries to take such positive initiatives as well. However we must appreciate the efforts these countries and it is hoped that bigger countries with larger piles of wastage to need to follow the trend.
The beautiful coral reefs of Australia are dying and they are taking the very charm of Australia away. These are some of the last remaining coral reefs but even they are not being spared. USA is one among the countries with the most amount of plastic junk. In fact the amount of plastic junk of USA can be imagined by the fact that USA has a plastic Island. And hundreds of fishes, birds and other creatures die because of it.
The time is now or never. We either act or we start looking for another earth which is elusive and a far away dream!
Earth was never unstable and that is why it survived for billions of years without a glitch. But sadly only after the industrial revolution, things have turned bad and this blue planet is fast turning into dark grey. If we don’t act now, we might end up losing the privilege of being the residents of this beautiful planet. The mother earth is calling us and we need to respond wisely!
The writer can be mailed at nasirdar1992@gmail.com
