{"id":6941,"date":"2019-12-03T11:50:00","date_gmt":"2019-12-03T08:50:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/africasustainabilitymatters.com\/?p=6941"},"modified":"2026-01-11T05:30:44","modified_gmt":"2026-01-11T05:30:44","slug":"the-time-to-act-on-climate-change-is-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/2019\/12\/03\/the-time-to-act-on-climate-change-is-now\/","title":{"rendered":"The Time To Act On Climate Change Is Now"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

For\nall the immediate challenges we seek to address as a continent- terrorism,\ninstability, inequality, disease, poverty, hunger- there\u2019s one issue that will\ndefine the contours of this century more dramatically than any other, and that\nis the urgent and growing threat of a changing climate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Indeed, the relentless rise in global atmospheric temperatures, driven by the greenhouse gases released by fossil fuel combustion and other human activities, is the root cause of a host of challenges facing the planet and bedevilling humanity. Itself is a highly complex physical phenomenon, involving a host in intertwining physical, chemical and biological systems, climate change and its multitude of impacts demand a multifaceted response from us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sure, we have facts, on climate change, the number of trees cut, people who pass on due to floods, hunger due to drought and the amount of CO2 on the atmosphere from our embracing industrialization without factoring in the climate. The good news is we can buy oxygen<\/a>, well the venture is not yet in Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
\u2018Oxygen bars\u2019 are all the rage in pollution-choked New Delhi. Source: eTurboNews<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

So\nmuch exists in paperwork, yet so little is done on the same. Climate action is\nthe gateway to achieving all the other sustainable development goals. Let me\nbreak it down for you. A warming world exacerbates society’s inequalities; how\nit effects (rising waters, deluges, and droughts) fall disproportionately on\nthose who are the least responsible for its causes. Everything for the\nunderprivileged only goes from bad to worse. A slow drip of climate change can\nmake us complacent and lock us into the very habits that are precipitating the\ncollapse of our planet leading to more inequalities yet we are supposed to\nachieve equality by 2030.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our\nglobal climate crisis- part of an encompassing environmental disaster that\nincludes staggering pollution and biodiversity loss-is a case in point. It\nultimately affects the lives of every human being. The health of most people is\nat risk from the same. Children under 5 especially are prone to precipitates\nfrom the atmosphere and natural disasters that are sometimes man driven lead to\ndeaths of some children from a tender age.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our\nresponse to climate action has been political, way below the scope of what is\nneeded to save our generations and future generations.  Corporations have shed crocodile tears about\nreducing their carbon footprint. Fossil fuel giants, hedging their bets with\nsome investments in renewables, are still relentlessly pursuing the ultimate\ngoal- get all of it out of the ground, sell it, and burn it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The result? The percent of CO2 in the atmosphere\ncontinues to rise. The year 2018 set a record year for annual greenhouse gas\nemissions- all this in spite of the brave and dedicated work of various\nbusinesses and organizations such as Green Peace o reduce climate crisis. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So how do we respond to all this?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

First by Anger. To say as loudly as possible that this\ncrime of environmental ruin is putting our entire civilization at risk. As\nwell, there is fear for a future that is deeply in doubt; and grief for what\nhas been lost. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reading facts and carrying out research on the damaged\nareas will not do much per se but action on climate change as the sustainable\ndevelopment goals calls for is what is required.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It may take decades, even centuries- if at all- before\nhumanity may learn environmental values; respect for ecosystems, modesty in\nconsumption, great care in the implementation of technology, and that community\nand personal virtues are the sources of true well-being. To cope with the\nchanging conditions, we need to understand and act on the processes that impact\nclimate negatively and ultimately us. No other sustainable goal will matter in\na world that is faced by the negative effects of climate change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The world needs more Greta Thunberg’s,\nthat is You and I<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For all the immediate challenges we seek to address as a continent- terrorism, instability, inequality, disease, poverty, hunger- there\u2019s one issue that will define the contours of this century more…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":6943,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[92],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6941","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-environmental-responsibility"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6941","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6941"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6941\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6943"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6941"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6941"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6941"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}