Dear Nox

03/06/2022

Dear Nox,

Lately, I find myself desiring a conversation; to not only pour my worries, but to also receive consolation. Considering all the transformations that I am being put through, I don't think I can be blamed. My children seem to be driving 'climate change' into history's memory with ferocity. I am unable to find stability with rapidly rising temperatures and shifts towards extreme weather.

Mankind's insistence on development is prideful, nonetheless, the lack of sustainability in it grieves me. Despite what fossil fuels boast in development, over 80% of CO2 emitted is due to their combustion. 35 billion tonnes is over and beyond what I can remove. Contemporary agricultural practices and industrial processes add on to the greenhouse gas emissions. These trap heat at my surface, resulting in global warming. Though the Accord de Paris gives me a flare of hope with its aim of zero emissions by 2050, the current response to it douses the flame. It sorrows me that my children may be all about making promises but lack action.

Did you know that The Paris Agreement aims to keep temperature rise to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels? I have already seen an increase of atleast 1.1°C since 1880. Warming of the Artic has lead to a significant loss of permafrost, glaciers and sea ice. My oceans drown and my surface burns. I am witness to the extinction of many species. Several creatures have had to leave their homes of centuries and migrate to more hospitable spaces. The beautiful coral reefs are bleached; zooxanthellae killed, and my oceans lose life-sustaining oxygen. Deserts are expanding, and wildfires and heat waves becoming common. Hurricanes, landslides, earthquakes and other disasters are not what I wish to bless my children with. I do not understand why humans are putting themselves and their kin-though they do not consider my other children even as equals-through this.

Humans themselves are threatened with food and water scarcity, extreme heat, more disease and economic loss. Oceans are encroaching much needed land and floods will destroy all creations. WHO, the human agency, calls climate change the greatest threat to global health. I intensely hope that my children can put a brake on the causes; halt climate change, because even at this stage, effects like rising sea levels and warming, acidyfing oceans will continue for centuries.

What is ironic is that humans have the keys to all the issues and yet, they do not put their minds completely to it. Sustainable development, clean energy, energy conservation, carbon sequestration, sustainable agriculture, green industrial policy and afforestation have all been discovered as feasible solutions by their gifted intelligence. It appears that they wish to solely appease someone though I cannot imagine who. It cannot be me because they have to realize that it is impossible to deceive me.

When, earlier, all the lives that I nourish could present me with joy and contentment, today, I'm weighed down with worries about each and every one of my children and left unable to breathe.

Yours,

Terra