The emissions graph of greenhouse gases as generated by the National Aeronautics Space Administration (NASA) indicates a steady increase in emissions for years together now. COP27 has ended in Sharm el-Shaikh in Egypt, but concrete action to reduce with urgency the rise in temperatures worldwide went mostly unheeded. Besides the increase in use of fossil fuels such as coal, petroleum products such as aviation turbine fuel, petrol and diesel, it should be noted with seriousness that rain forests like the Amazon, which was a huge carbon sink is now turning to be net emitters due to logging cattle rearing clearances of the forest, mining and even development of real estate.
Add to this fact the thawing of the permafrost in the Arctic region which releases captured carbon and methane and the world seems to be on the cusps of environmental catastrophe due to heating of the earth which in turn causes heat waves, wildfires, drought, and even other climatic imbalances such as flooding, hurricanes, tornadoes, cyclones and typhoons.
These are direct consequences of relative formation of high pressure zones and low pressure zones along with differences in temperatures that enable high velocity winds from occurring causing death and destruction wherever these aberrations take place.
The evolution of high velocity winds is the cause for violent storms.
Unless the entire world realizes that the main reasons for global warming and consequent climate changes are directly proportional to the quantity of heat trapping emissions and take action urgently, it would be right to forecast that whatever happened last year will happen again this next year since major emitters are doing insufficient to curb global warming and the consequent climatic anomalies which is taking the earth by the scruff of the neck.
Clean renewable energy such as solar, wind, hydroelectric and even nuclear energy and green transportation solutions like electrical vehicles as well as even hydrogen fuel cell technologies should be used while phasing out to the greatest extent fossil fuel usage.
In fact, the major emitters such as China, United States, India and European countries should do much more than what has been pledged at COP27 so as to at least limit temperature rise to 1.5 degrees centigrade of the pre-industrial levels as mandated by the Paris Agreement.
Also, major emitters should realize that turning to green and clean renewable technologies is the best way to save losses incurred due to delay in phasing out of fossil fuels and which leads to greater financial losses that also endangers the earth’s ability to sustain the now newly achieved population target of 8 billion.
Turning to clean and green renewable energies will definitely lead to a sea change in the amount of losses of life, vegetation and property that has become evident with greater degrees of GHG emissions and heating of the earth.
If global warming is reduced considerably, temperatures will decline, extreme weather conditions will cease and sea levels will not rise like is being seen now. The clock of ticking, urgent action taken now will benefit humanity in all possible ways.
Let saner sense prevail Turning to renewable energy will not only be less costly but it will also be a win-win situation for all humanity. Accelerate the phasing out of costly, polluting and heat generating fossil fuels to turn to a much better world.
