Although the monsoons have arrived in India. But not forgetting the extreme heat the country had faced in the 1st half of 2024.
The world around us is changing at an alarming rate. Extreme weather events have become part of our daily lives. In June, temperatures soared to a staggering 50 degrees Celsius, making daily survival a daunting challenge. Our air conditioners, our last refuge, are failing against the relentless heat. In Delhi NCR, there have been reports of AC units exploding in flats in high rise apartments catching fire due to the extreme heat. Our “home sweet home” is no longer a heaven.
Even within the supposed sanctuary of hospitals, the heat follows. Recently, a shot-circuit in AC unit in a hospital caused a massiave fire in hospital in Delhi.
Climate Change Is Making Airplane Turbulence More Common and Severe. Researchers, flight attendants and transportation officials alike are warning about links between warmer air and turbulence. From 1979 to 2020, severe turbulence in some locations increased by as much as 55 percent, according to a 2023 study.
On 21st May, extreme air turbulence caused a Singapore Airlines plane to drop 3,000 feet (about 914.4 m), resulting in the tragic death of a passenger. This incident highlights the very real and ongoing dangers our changing weather poses.
https://x.com/ChannelNewsAsia/status/1792925224461025753
An unusual heatwave in Gurgaon pushed temperatures to 43-47 degrees Celsius in May. In just a week, 50 transformers caught fire due to the high heat causing long power outages. Many housing societies in Delhi-NCR installed coolers and fans for transformers and spraying water on them to prevent overheating.
It’s heartbreaking to see that our negligence has brought us to this point. If things continue like this, what will become of our world? The sun feels closer than ever, a constant reminder of the urgency of our situation.
Taking Action: More Than Just Planting Trees
These incidents show how critical immediate action is. Global warming is no longer a distant threat; it’s here, making extreme weather more common and more dangerous.
And now, the question is, what are we doing about it? Are we just lying on our sofas, having ten-minute discussions about the bad news, and then ignoring it?
The summers also saw a surge of calls to join tree plantation drives by various NGOs and civil society groups. Madhya Pradesh govt on 14th July set a world record for planting the max number (12+ Lakh) of trees in 24 hours.
But is that the best we can do? Is planting trees to combat climate change enough?
The Reality of Tree Plantations
Many people support tree plantation drives to combat climate change. While these efforts are commendable and necessary, they aren’t enough on their own. Growing trees from seedlings to mature, carbon-capturing giants takes time and effort. The costs are high, and many planted saplings don’t survive for long in the absence of proper care.
Protecting What We Already Have
Protecting the trees and forests we already have is more crucial than planting new ones. Mature trees have been storing carbon for years and are more resilient to climate change than young saplings. When a mature tree is cut down, all the carbon it has stored is released back into the atmosphere, worsening the problem we’re trying to solve.
Our Role in the Solution: Save Trees
We humans often seek fun solutions rather than necessary ones. Many people start tree-planting drives and form communities, but few think about the importance of protecting the existing trees. It takes years for a sapling to become a tree, but it takes just a minute to cut one down. In this extreme heat, even small saplings struggle to survive.
We can’t be everywhere, but we can save the trees in our locality, the place where we live. If someone is cutting down a tree, we can stop them and, with the help of the government, care for the existing trees to keep them healthy.
Join a protest or raise our voice against the govt or authorities if their plans include cutting trees or destroying forests in the name of development.
Like the recent protests by the locals against the state government’s proposal to cut approximately 2000 trees in Dehradun’s Khalanga Forest.
Before investing in planting more and more trees, we need to protect the trees we already have.
In conclusion: A Call to Action
By preserving existing forests and encouraging sustainable actions, we can reduce some immediate effects of climate change while working towards broader, long-term solutions. Let’s take proactive measures to protect the environment now so that future generations inherit a healthy planet.
It’s time to look at ourselves and think about what we are doing to address this problem and what more we can do. Protecting our existing trees is one of the most impactful actions we can take. Let’s preserve our forests, safeguard our environment, and take responsibility for the planet we call home.
