The impact of climate change on our lives

A nine-year-old boy is playing in his courtyard. The rays of the rising sun are falling in front of the Himalayas, and the boy is admiring the changing colour of the Himalayas, and is thrilled by it, as for him its meditation.

Right now, it was shining like silver, now it turns red, the boy is saying, hey, it has started to become yellow now. He drowns in the imagination, and then the next moment reality surfaces.

The boy is playing with his dreams when suddenly a man-eating leopard takes him away. His shoes fall away, the clothes are torn, the head collides with the wall and a painful scream is heard. The scream of the boy is heard all over.

People run behind the leopard, start searching for the boy and recover his body late at night. People gather around the mourning family and say it is not even safe now to sit in the courtyard and chat. Some very softly say that it is not even the fault of the man-eater and that there must have been some reason for the animal to have turned into one.

In Uttarakhand, these days, the terror of a man-eating leopard is spreading. In the past decade, hundreds of people, especially innocent children, have become the victims of man-eating leopards.

Public outrage is spreading slowly. There is a question mark put on the policies of the government. The tiger is an important component of our food chain. The Government of India started Project Tiger in 1973 with the support of World Wildlife Fund (WLF) International.

The objective of this important project was to secure the tiger and its habitat. For this, nine tiger habitations were constructed in the country which spread across 16,339 square kilometers.

By 1997, the sanctuaries increased to 27 and the number of tigers increased to 1500 from 268 in 1997. One data says that today science has about 1.8 million species of plants and animals.

Not surprisingly, the number of creatures and flora has multiplied. If human lifestyles do not change, then 25 percent of the world's species will end in the next 30 years. So, understanding the importance of the environment, knowing one element is understandable, being sensitive to it is the only option. Apart from this, we cannot do anything.

Someone has said rightly, "When nothing remains to be done, then everything will be destroyed". Therefore, it is also necessary to save the environment.

What does this earth give us? Is it fair that we are taking from it? Today, the total population of the earth is about eight billion. The pressure on the resources is increasing. Growing population is the first and second challenge - reducing the impact of climate change.

Most of the solutions to the above problems are being searched by the majority of the people themselves. It is a matter of great concern that the relationship between human and nature is being destructive. How to correlate this relationship is the most important question.

From April to mid-June is the time when forest fires can be seen ravaging the mountains. People set fire to grasslands; this fire spreads to the jungle, destroying the habitat of animals. They have to migrate from the forest to human populated areas to avoid the fire and search for food. Half of the population is troubled by the intervention of wild animals in agriculture.

Every day, the voices of protest are rising. People are demanding that some arrangements should be made to shift the animals away from the populated areas. But at the same time, this large population does not oppose the fire in the forests.

The large part of this population has a problem with leopards, wild pigs, monkeys, bears, etc. But there is no objection to the proposed All Weather Road in its area. Thousands of trees are being cut for the construction of this All Weather Road in Uttarakhand. What will happen if a large section of the public is not sensitive towards the environment?

Who was the one who started the chaotic stroll of development in the calm solitude of the forest? Machines were brought to make roads and mines, animals were exhibited through jungle safaris. The free flowing rivers were diverted or stopped by building dams. In the name of development works, forest dwellers were oppressed. Not only human beings, but the innocent animals also had to face problems, including annihilation.

Then what should be done? Talk about the solution or focus on just two or three problems? In the current situation, the solution seems more meaningful. The solution will also have to be at many levels. Government provided solutions that include all types of development policies and related administrative arrangements.

The aim of sustainable development goal 13 also aims to point out these efforts, as the emphasis is on measures to overcome climate change and its effects, all the causes of climate change in national policies, plan and to overcome it.SDG 13 states the following: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts. Target 13.2 states - Integrate climate change measures into national policies, strategies and planning; 13.3 states - Improve education, awareness-raising and human and institutional capacity on climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction and early warning

There are community attempts at the second level, when the government fails, people will move towards creative development like voluntary efforts in mutual cooperation, construction of roads in the village, provision of drinking water etc.

Creating a biosphere park just to enrich the forest will not work. For those whose life is dependent on forests and who are friends of the forest, there should be some relaxation in the rules. The forest grows naturally. But forests have to be re-enriched to completely re-consolidate the bio-diversity that has been completely destroyed.

If the wild animals get food in the forest itself, they will not have to go out of the forest in search of food, and there will be a kind of balance. To maintain this arrangement, policies need to be developed with better understanding and the policies have to be taken by the people. Jungle is not just a means of earning; it is also synonymous with life. The war of man versus animal has been centuries old. It is not that those who attacked animals have not been punished, but they also get relief almost immediately. How to include wildlife protection in government schemes? This is also a challenge, to sustain the diversity of forests and societies.

Can efforts be made to take this conversation forward in schools? For example, one day in a week, keep environment as the theme for discussion. By talking to the children, the whole village will get involved in their discussions. The village plantations, things related to them, the struggle related to the source of the water, the stories of the forest, the story of the leopard or the story of another animal, tales of farming, the songs related to farming, and many more things which are often left unsaid.

When children and teachers become habituated in this exercise, a plan can be made for the school and its surroundings. In the village, research on the work of various communities and their status can be done. Discussions and work on improving the environment can be done. There may also be research about how the changes in the environment are taking place. Education is helpful in developing values.

We should not forget that centuries ago human life began with forests and through forests we understood the depth of life, but later, by burning our own forests, we are facing many other problems like climate change today. Trees are important components of this earth and the entire ecological cycle revolves around this, in order to protect this important component in order to tackle it, we must strive to protect it at many levels, not only for sustainable development The goal can be fulfilled, but the order of the life cycle on earth will remain natural.

The views expressed in the above article are that of Bipin Joshi of Charkha Development Communication Network.

(ANI)