An Emerging Earth
The environment, commonly referred to as living things in interaction with their surroundings, or simply put, everything around us, belongs to all of us. It influences all life activities, therefore it is important to us all and we have the utmost responsibility to protect and care for it. Okwulehie Nmeri Orabelema, Nigerian born seasoned environmentalist is the Creative Director @Eventzbylemaz and a Fellow of The Young African Leaders Initiative speaks more about this to commemorate the 2020 World Earth Day.
How important is this environment that we live in?
The environment is as important as our health, livelihood and well being. The subject of the environment is one that is both local and global in nature, that is to say while we are focusing on what can be done to help protect our environment on a global scale we should also think and look within ourselves, there's a lot we can and should be doing.
We have lived in sheer disregard for this for too long and battled it's consequences with a lot of efforts, in terms of funds and resources- half of what we could have saved by being proactive and conscious. We must come to terms with the fact that the environment is as important as we who live in it, propelling us as individuals, groups, communities, NGOs, governments etc. to make better and informed decisions as well as take actions concerning our environment.
Covid-19 has affected the whole world and the lives of its inhabitants. The environment is certainly one of it, therefore, if not too early, can you envisage the effects of pandemic on our planet in relation to the environment?
Indeed, this pandemic has greatly affected and disrupted the normal activities of the entire human populace, with cases of the virus continuously being recorded, lives being lost on a daily basis and many others recuperating, nevertheless we cannot fail to take cognisance of the effects that this pandemic is having on our planet and environment.
A lot of the busy and bubbly cities of the world are currently on lockdown. Factories, industries, airports, companies etc. have paused if not halted activities and everything seems to be on a stand still. We cannot refute the effects that this outbreak is having on our environment.
The environment is seen to be renewing, rejuvenating and replenishing itself. We have read a couple reports already about the behavioural changes from coronavirus having an effect on pollution around the world and for the first time in thirty years, the Himalayas mountain in India came into view. Clearly this is as a result of reduced anthropogenic activities. Our carbon footprints rapidly reducing and carbon dioxide levels have greatly collapsed resulting in the significant enhancement in the quality of air in the environment; tremendously reducing the risk of a lot of airborne diseases.
For a moment, I'd like us to pause and see this as the beauty in our tragedy. This temporal change is only but a glimpse of what the planet would look like if we take cue from this pandemic and decide to live intentionally, paying more attention to the constantly increasing and demanding climate needs. It also gives a clear picture of how our environment can care for us later if we care for it now.
The Pandemic has forced people to stay at home and this has resulted in the increasing usage of energy for example our household air conditioner, fans, TV, telephones etc. How does this affect the environment or probably send us back to the old earth we thought had rejuvenated?
It is rather unfortunate that this outbreak has forcibly kept, a large chunk of the entire populace in their homes (for those who even have one in the first place anyways) thereby automatically increasing the use of energy consumed in various homes. A lot of businesses have moved into the online space, schools as well as students continuing with their academic work and schedules via online platforms, individuals steadily staying connected to family, friends and events online. All of these activities and more contribute immensely to the increased energy consumption levels.
Studies have shown that approximately 81% of energy consumed in the world is generated from fossil fuels. It goes without saying that a lot of the electrical appliances used in homes account for a good percentage of residential electricity consumption, a primary source of green house gases.
Given the current situation of the world today, there is not much we can do about this situation, but we can do our own little bit by making sure to use energy more efficiently in our homes, we can adopt measures such as; replacing regular light bulbs with compact fluorescent light bulbs, as much as possible reduce the use of hot water (it requires a lot of energy to heat water), turn off appliances such as; sockets, televisions, pressing irons, laptops, sound systems etc. when not in use.
Young persons have raised concerns about the implications of this reality to Africa. Considering that we still have a long way to go on issues of fossil fuels and other climate related matters, it appears that we have still not figured out how to manage our waste and that should be a big concern. Do you think We can do away with fossil fuels if we have not found better ways to create alternative energy?
Definitely, Africa is nowhere close the point where we can do away with fossil fuels. I mean there are other pressing and 'seemingly' more important issues such as food security, quality education etc. that we have at hand to deal with, so the issue of doing away with fossil fuels seems so far fetched. While we deal with the cleansing process there seems to be an increased plastic pollution and this is not pleasing enough but not withstanding, there are also areas that we can address in this regard especially as young persons who are informed; we must decide to be intentional in doing our own bit regardless and we can start with proper waste management.
Final words?
I would like to encourage everyone especially young Africans to continue to adopt good environmental practices, as much as the world was not prepared for the novel coronavirus, there is still hope that we will get through it and it will soon be history, but climate issues we would still have with us if we continue to neglect and ignore these climate needs and if we fail to take actions to help curb green house gas emissions and strengthen climate resilience.
If we are going to tackle this ever increasing climate issues, then everyone needs to come on, and play a part. The environment is not for some of us, it is for all of us and the earlier we realise this, the higher our chances of winning this fight for a cleaner and greener environment.
Thank you.
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