S.Charandeep Singh
Doomsday predictions had filled the air on this day, April 22, in 1970 during the proclamation of first Earth day,started as ‘The Earth Day movement’, by John McConnell,however many of those predictions were off. Althoughthe initial rallies hadwarned of overpopulation,starvation,a denuded planet and a new ice age 20 years hence, yet the real time experience is though scary but not that worse. Having said that,it is not a rosy tale to tell,anthropogenic activitiesinstead have thorns deeply penetrating the -The Earth.
The mission of Earth Day was formally established by the Earth Society Foundation in 1976. Its mission was:
“To conduct educational programs and seminars and promote research and investigation throughout the world for the purpose of providing data to all individuals and institutions who are joining in the movement to promote and implement the Earth care ethic: namely, that the stewardship and care of earth requires action to produce and use materials and services that help nurture, conserve and recycle, without destructive pollution, the organisms and nutrients of Earth’s web of life. Coordinate or assist the work of like-minded organizations for the purposes of minimizing unnecessary duplication of energies and maximizing the impact and effectiveness of the earth care movement.”
The Earth day (April 22),means differently to different people in different parts of the world. It may be a chance to plant few seedlings, a cry for help, a call to activists,and a chance to get media attention or to actually make the New Year resolution pass the test of time.But since 1970 it could not achieve the best possible options out of the available alternatives to making the planet a no-problem one.
Vividly, climate change is the major concern of the Governments and the environmentalists and initiatives to check climate change, at various levels of governance and civil society are under way. Historically,the main polluting countries have been dictating the world, in the past and even today, to rearrange-reorient technologies,contemplate policies and programmes as per their wishes and fantasies which had been best suited for stabilising and booming their economies. But the problem at the global level has cumulative effect and thus is making the less polluters, if not more,but equally responsible for the state of the blue planet as it exists today.
In the landmark climate agreement in Paris in 2015, a framework has been laid to keep the global temperature from rising since the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has noted “widespread and consequential” impacts and human driven greenhouse gases have been evidently found as primary drivers of warming in the recent centuries. An agreement to set aside $100 billion in funds to be raised each year from 2020 for financing projects aimed at curbing climate change hasneutralised “Developed nations to pay more” argument to some extent for funding being linked largely to the country’s wealth and past emissions.
As a sequel to the framework laid down in Paris, today on Earth Day 2016, United States, China, and some 120 other countries are scheduled to sign the landmark Paris Agreement which is the key requirement for bringing into force the draft climate protection treaty which was adopted by 195 countries present at the recently held United Nations Climate Change Conference.This will provide the required push for obtaining the required 55 countries accounting for a minimum of 55% of global emissions.Significantly,signing of the climate agreement mainly between the two power houses i.e. United States and China will be marked as the most important Earth day in history as itis expected to change the gloomy environmental scenario furthering the following words of Margaret Mead
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
In recent years, Earth Day has been a nature’s celebration wherein different types of fairs and expositions are featured providing communities an opportunity to discuss the role of environment and its impact on lives. These are organised by the governments, international organisations, civil society organisations, activists etc. Some events have given impetus to the world for toeing the same line for the preservation and conservation of the environment.Based on the study that students only know that food and other items are available in the grocery,in the United States of America’The Farm to Table Dining Movement’ was launched wherein ‘Edible schoolyard Project ‘wasincorporated in the curriculum. Students were asked to grow something in the school and feel their relationship with the environment by growing and taking them to their dining table. Also as Zoos, gardens are celebrating Earth day every day and children enjoy getting dirty and wet in the gardens, visit to Zoo, botanical gardens, birdhouses and feeders for bird watching,identification of plants and animals are some of the successful interventions at school level in different parts of the world.
The Earth Day Network has pledged to plant 7.8 billion trees worldwide to account for every single person living onthe Earth in a lead up to the 50th anniversary of Earth day in 2020.The governments have fixed few targets which may be achieved within the stipulated time,but individual efforts are the most significant in this cycle of ‘Save the planet to save humankind’campaign. How an individual conducts vis-à-vis the environmentmeans a lot for the planet. Celebration of the Earth week, switching off lights for an hour,conduct ofseminars/symposiums,debates in institutions and on television will not suffice. We have to keep in mind that we have to activate ourselves for the betterment of the planet and celebrate Earth day every Day during our conduct for keeping life rejuvenated.
We know that for each degree of temperature increase,grain yieldsdecline by 5 percent.There has been drastic yield reductions of Maize,wheat and other major crops at the global level. Global sea level rose about 17 cm in the last century and average sea level rise has been predicted as 24-30cm by 2065.Global emissions of carbon dioxide have increased by almost 50 percent since 1990.We have seen that plant and animal ranges have shifted and trees are flowering sooner.
We are living in a scenario where more than 1 billion people worldwide don’t have access to safe drinking water and 5000 people die every day as a result of drinking unclean water. Pollution kills more than 1 million sea birds and 100 million mammals every year, more than 3 million kids under the age of 5 years die every year due to environmental factors like pollution.As per WHO- Global Health observatory data,23% of global deaths (and 26% of deaths among children under five) are due to modifiable environmental factors. Clearly, the Stage is alarming so let’s become a part of history this Earth day to make sure we leave this planet as beautiful as it was when the day we were born till the day we die and plan our survival on the planet because a ruined planet cannot sustain human lives in good health.
(The author is a KAS officer)
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