Showing posts with label We. Show all posts
Showing posts with label We. Show all posts

Sunday, April 2, 2023

Our Climate, Our Ecosystem and We

Article 
Our Climate, Our Ecosystem and We
 -    Dr (Ms) Sharad Singh
Writer, Author & Social Activist
Blogger - "Climate Diary Of Dr (Ms) Sharad Singh"
 
"We live in the seasons
And many seasons live in us.
Rain, sun, wind
As long as it is balanced
Until then
We are and our world is..."
     - These lines are from my long poem which I wrote after seeing the frequent changes in the weather. At the same time I felt that our ecosystem, our climate and we are the three corners of such a triangle, in which deterioration of one can spoil the other two as well. Unfortunately, the same corner where we are standing is responsible for all the mess.*
 
We, our climate and our ecosystem, all three are interdependent. Climate determines the seasons and everything starts changing as the seasons change. For example, after the winter season is over and as soon as the summer season starts, warm clothes are washed, dried, pesticide pills are put in them and handed over to the boxes. Cotton socks and cotton gloves take the place of woolen socks and gloves. Instead of a warm hat on the head, a sun-protecting hat comes. Cotton clothes to wear, cotton sheets on the bed and normal showers are used instead of geysers. You would think that even children know this, why am I discussing all this? Well, when the season changes, the lifestyle changes. This very simple thing that In the summer, instead of a room warmer, have definitely takes place a cooler. With the change of season, our diet also changes. Where we used to spend our days with tea and coffee, we start liking soft drinks. Instead of avoiding the cold, advice is given to avoid the heat.
If we look at nature, then as soon as the season changes, nature also changes its dress. The green leaves turn yellow and start separating from the tree and we understand that autumn has come. As the temperature of the season increases, so does the greenery. The flowers and leaves which were visible in the winter season are not visible. Other flowers and leaves take their place. Semal, Palash flowers have also developed the power to absorb heat on their own that is why their petals are thicker than Marigold or Dahlia flowers. Surviving in less water is the specialty of these trees. These summer trees paint the earth in their own distinct color.
As soon as the summer comes, CC Road and Tarkoal Roads start heating up. Earlier there was a practice of planting dense shade trees on both sides of these roads. We can see the evidence of this in our history books as well. The rule of the same king was considered the best, which used to plant fruitful and shady trees, dig wells, make ponds and step wells for the convenience of his subjects. Be it Europe or India, there was a trend of planting big gardens till the medieval period. For example, Shershah Suri's rule, despite being short-lived in Indian history, is considered a good medieval rule. If we go further back in history, there is a mention of planting beautiful gardens in India even during the reign of King Vikramaditya.
Our ancestors were not careless about the ecosystem. They knew that just as it is necessary to have clouds for rain, it is necessary for clouds to have water in rivers, ponds and oceans, and for these water bodies to have water, it is necessary to have forest. In the same way trees are necessary for birds to shelter. It is necessary to have and birds are necessary for pollination of trees. Our ancestors knew that every living and non-living things of nature are mutually dependent on each other. That's why they considered rivers, oceans and trees as deities and worshipped them. We adopted the method of worship from our ancestors but our attitude towards rivers, oceans and trees changed. We have polluted the huge and holy river like Ganga, by disposing all kinds of garbage in the oceans, we are polluting it as well and our current generation has shown complete ruthlessness towards trees.
We did not take lessons from our past but did all those things to make our life convenient, which may make our present life look convenient but its future is dark. Think a while, how does climate change influence the lifestyle of people? So answer is that with a change in season, there is a change in food habits and clothing. There are also changes in the variety of crops and fruits grown. Burning fossil fuels, cutting down forests and farming livestock are increasingly influencing the climate and the earth's temperature. This adds enormous amounts of greenhouse gases to those naturally occurring in the atmosphere, increasing the greenhouse effect and global warming. Impacts from human activity on land and in the water can influence ecosystems profoundly. Climate change, ocean acidification, permafrost melting, habitat loss, eutrophication, storm water runoff, air pollution, contaminants, and invasive species are among many problems facing ecosystems. We're the ones who burn fossil fuels, produce livestock and clear trees, increasing the amount of heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere. 2011-2020 was the warmest decade recorded, with global average temperature reaching 1.1°C above pre-industrial levels in 2019. Human-induced global warming is presently increasing at a rate of 0.2°C per decade. An increase of 2°C compared to the temperature in pre-industrial times is associated with serious negative impacts on to the natural environment and human health and wellbeing, including a much higher risk that dangerous and possibly catastrophic changes in the global environment will occur. For this reason, the international community has recognized the need to keep warming well below 2°C and pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5°C.
Actually, we ourselves are responsible for weakening the links of our ecosystem. We are the ones responsible for pushing our climate into the abyss of catastrophic changes. That's why we have to rectify our mistakes and change our habits which are responsible for climate change. Uncertainty in weather has not come on its own but has come because of us, so instead of blaming the weather for any loss in ecosystem, we have to look at our own faults.
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 (02.04.2023)
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Sunday, April 3, 2022

Article | Climate Change and its Impacts: Hollywood aware but We? | Dr (Ms) Sharad Singh | Central Chronicle

⛳Friends ! Today my article "Climate Change and its Impacts: Hollywood aware but We?" has been published in the Sunday edition of #CentralChronicle. Please read it.  
🌷Hearty thanks Central Chronicle🙏
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Article | Climate Change and its Impacts: Hollywood aware but We?

-    Dr (Ms) Sharad Singh
Writer, Author & Social Activist
Blogger - "Climate Diary Of Dr (Ms) Sharad Singh"

While we consider cinema only as a means of entertainment, Hollywood has been making cinema on climate change for the last several decades. The sole purpose of these films is to show the impact of climate change and to warn of possible future dangers. It is not that a person entering the film industry does not want to earn money. Cinema makers on climate change also want to make money because their cinema costs not less than other commercial cinema, but sometimes more. Yet they take risks because they want to warn everyone about the dire effects of climate change. They are aware. Maybe more aware than us.

"Climate change is real. It is happening right now, it is the most urgent threat facing our entire species and we need to work collectively together and stop procrastinating." actor, environmentalist and philanthropist Leonardo Di Caprio said.
We can talk here about a few Hollywood movies based on climate change impacts.  'Racing Extinction' - It is based on evidence of flights like ocean acidification, rising temperatures, and CO2 emissions. In the 'Interstellar' movie, struggling to survive due to climatic, Dust Bowl-like conditions, the movie follows a group of astronauts in search of a new home for mankind, ultimately traveling through a wormhole to do so. FernGully: The Last Rainforest (1992)
The Day After Tomorrow (2004), An Inconvenient Truth (2006), The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008), Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012), Snowpiercer (2014), mother (2017), Chasing Coral (2017), The Hottest August (2017), Don't Look Up (2021). Few other movies are Twister, Geostorm, 2012 and Best Tsunami Movies are Deep Impact (1998), The Perfect Storm (2000), Tidal Wave (2009), Hereafter (2010), Immortals (2011). 
Several Showy Hollywood blockbusters have imagined a world devastated by climate change. In “The Day After Tomorrow” (2004), the most famous example of a “cli-fi” disaster film, the planet is beset by super storms, hurricanes and tsunamis. A paleoclimatologist must save his son as the globe is plunged into a new ice age. The basic plot of Day After Tomorrow is the beginning of an ice age over a large part of America, including New York, due to global warming. A group of students who had gone to New York to participate in a competition take shelter in a library to save their lives. Where precious books are burnt to escape from the cold. In the film 2012, the entire earth is hit by a tsunami due to global warming. Continents sink. Large ships built in secret by China give space to the world's most powerful and capitalists, while the general public is left to die. In this film, while on one hand the horrific effects of climate change have been shown, the cruel faces of administration and capitalism have also been exposed. It also draws attention to how the dangers of climate change are allowed to grow by capable countries in the pursuit of becoming superpowers.
Environmental devastation is the backdrop to dystopian stories, too—think of the desert world of “Mad Max: Fury Road”, the smog-filled city-scapes of “Blade Runner 2049” (2017) or the icy tundra of “Snowpiercer” (2013). Climate change may also be the Mac Guffin that forces characters to abandon Earth and seek a new home elsewhere, as in “Avatar” (2009) or “In Lincoln’s words still resonate to all of us here today: “We will be remembered in spite of ourselves. The fiery trial through which we pass will light us down, in honor or dishonor, to the last generation… We shall nobly save, or meanly lose, the last best hope of earth.” That is our charge now – you are the last best hope of Earth. We ask you to protect it. Or we – and all living things we cherish – are history." Actor and Director Leonardo Di Caprio spoke at the United Nations Summit.  
Leonardo Di Caprio, an Academy Award-winning actor, has been an outspoken advocate for environmental issues throughout much of his career. In 1998, at the age of 24, Di Caprio established his foundation with the mission of protecting the Earth’s last wild places and implementing solutions to build a more harmonious relationship between humanity and the natural world. Through grant making, public campaigns, and media projects, Di Caprio has worked to bring attention and funding to the protection of biodiversity, ocean and forest conservation, and climate change. The Leonardo Di Caprio Foundation supports over 35 innovative conservation projects around the world that protect fragile ecosystems and key species. Di Caprio also serves on the board of several environmental protection organizations including the World Wildlife Fund, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and International Fund for Animal Welfare, Pristine Seas and Oceans 5. He is also an advisor on The Solutions Project, an organization dedicated to scaling up the adoption of clean, renewable energy. In 2014, Di Caprio was honored with the prestigious Clinton Global Citizen Award for his philanthropic work. The Secretary-General designated Di Caprio as a Messenger of Peace with a special focus on climate change ahead of the 2014 Climate Summit, aimed at catalyzing and galvanizing climate action towards a global climate agreement in 2015.
Leonardo Di Caprio said he'd been looking to do a film about the climate crisis for a while but finding the right approach had proved difficult, until now.  “You either do some existential journey through a person's lifetime, or you make it a catastrophe movie where New York freezes over,” Di Caprio said.
How many actors in our country India have serious concerns on climate change and its impact? How many movies have we made on climate change? Do we have any data competitively with Hollywood? No, we have not because our Bollywood is not interested in this topic. Unfortunately our Filmmaker and directors centralize mainly on crime and political issues. Perhaps they thought that topics of environment and climate change are risky or they do not want to work hard. I can not understand that will climate change not affect them? They also live on this earth. Like Leonardo Di Caprio, no influential actor of our Bollywood even thinks of raising a strong voice about global warming until the government makes him the brand ambassador of climate change or environmental affairs or a commercial agency has contracted him. It's shameful for us.
Today we are all familiar with changing climate change. As a responsible citizen, it is the responsibility of us and every section to think seriously on this subject and pay attention to its publicity, so that an atmosphere of discussion can be created in this direction. Media and film industry can intervene in this matter much better, because today it has reach to every section. Looking at the reach of cinema, we can say that if a film on climate change comes today, it can get a good response from the people.                                  
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 (03.04.2022)
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