"Those who contemplate the beauty of the Earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts..."
Since the year 1970, the world has celebrated Earth Day each year to demonstrate support for protection of the environment. Formerly known as Earth Day Network, EARTHDAY.ORG is the platform that organizes a host of events annually with 1 billion participants from 193 nations.
The 1969 Santa Barbara Oil Spill tragedy in California, USA, which killed more than 10,000 seabirds, dolphins, seals and sea lions marked the trigger point for activists who sprung to action in the aftermath of this gory accident. The conjoint efforts of John McConnell, Gaylord Nelson and Denis Hayes pushed for the Earth Day to be established and recognized internationally.
The landmark Paris Agreement is the greatest highlight of the Earth Day, 2016, which caused enforcement of the historic climate protection treaty, adopted by 125 nations.
This year's theme is Restore Our Earth, a conglomerate of five programs i.e., The Canopy Project, Food and Environment, Climate Literacy, Environmental Justice and Youth Led Climate Focussed Issues. Here's what we can do today and everyday to save our home:
1. Cut down on what we throw away;
2. Plant trees wherever possible;
3. Use long lasting light bulbs;
4. Volunteer for clean-ups in the community;
5. Shop wisely and chose a sustainable lifestyle.
These littlest of changes would bring a huge impact in letting our planet breathe, and with this message we wish you a very Happy Earth Day, 2021!
Provided that we today have very limited resources to lead a sustainable life, should we be working towards conserving them or spending them on such experiments that even if successful would be accessible to a handful few? This post by ACRSS discusses precisely that:
Elon Musk, the billionaire entrepreneur has time and again reiterated his idea of facilitating human colonization of Mars, our neighbouring planet. His vision of the human species becoming multi-planetary, living in "glass domes" on the red planet forwards with the hope of a million people inhabiting it by 2050.
Albeit, the million dollar question that arises is whether humankind should really dedicate our already replenishing resources into building the Starship rocket or allocate the funds into saving the hearthstone which harboured and witnessed the very inception of mankind. The predicament does not lie in the idea of colonizing Mars, but in our laxity in saving Earth. Are we as a world of the civilized nations doing enough to protect Earth from the doomsday it will face? We watch End of the World, Disaster and Apocalypse movies all the time but do we plant a tree every birthday or repair those forever leaking taps? When will hurting the environment be made a sanctionable offense of the first degree under our laws, conventions and treaties?
While SpaceX estimates that one day it will cost an individual less than $500,000 to migrate to Mars, studies have revealed that even today we can reverse the damage done and save at least half the terra-firma. It is pertinent to remember that planet Earth is perfectly suited for human survival. Regardless of how many of the "privileged" us shift to Mars in the future, leaving behind another kind of class difference due to our crooked financial statuses, we have to conserve the strength of nature for the billions that will still walk this planet.
Of course, space exploration is a matter of pride for every nation and a satisfaction mechanism for the endless urge of human beings to discover the unknown. However, a little of these funds could easily be re-directed towards saving Earth, unless we wish to spend a lifetime dying here or living on Mars under irregular temperatures, monumental sand storms, lack of gravity, trapped inside glass bubbles letting our hearts weaken and shrink and bones deteriorate... Let us save the planet that has offered us the magic of nature and allow it to thrive, while we still can.
While we talk of conservation, Sweden has been leading the world towards sustainable sources of energy, explained here:
For over 150 years, our homes, offices, and factories depended on fossil fuels as their major source of energy. As a result, we now face pollution and climate change on a global level, along with other harmful impacts. This realization prompts a clarion call for cleaner, renewable sources of energy.
The transition to fuel based economy to sustainable renewable resources can be seen majorly in Scandinavian countries. According to the Global Energy Transition Index by the World Economic Forum in 2020 Sweden has been ranked 1st. It is a result of multifaceted, incremental approaches, including pricing carbon, retiring coal plants ahead of schedule and redesigning electricity markets to integrate renewable energy sources.
Sweden is a global leader in building a low-carbon economy, with the lowest share of fossil fuels in its primary energy supply among all IEA member countries, and the second-lowest carbon-intensive economy. Sweden has been successful in its energy transformation through market-based policies that focus on energy efficiency and renewable energy, notably CO2 taxation, which has helped drive decarbonisation across several sectors. Sweden’s energy policy is also well-integrated with its climate objectives, In the 2016 Energy Agreement and the Climate Framework from 2017, Sweden set ambitious targets, including the long-term goal of zero net emissions by 2045. But additional action is needed to achieve these results, as the country’s total carbon emissions have been flat since 2013. The electricity system is another important element in Sweden’s energy transition. Sweden has largely decarbonised its electricity generation through investments in nuclear power, hydropower, and most recently, other renewables.
“Sweden has shown that ambitious energy transition policies can accompany strong economic growth. With the Energy Agreement now in place, the time has come to implement a clear roadmap towards the long term target of carbon neutrality.” -Paul Simons (IEA’s Deputy Executive Director) Surely all countries across the globe can imbibe similar measures in their workings to shift towards sustainable renewable resources.
We hope these resources would help you educate yourself and be more eco-friendly and eco-conscious towards our environment.
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