👉On the occasion of Earth day, let’s take a pledge to save this planet❤️

Dear Steemians! Today Earth Day is being celebrated worldwide. This is a good opportunity for us to take a closer look at the serious environmental issues this planet is facing. There are some biggest environmental threats that must be addressed quickly to sustain life on this planet.

Climate change

This issue should be given top priority. We are continuously feeling and observing that the weather is getting hotter year by year. The occurrences of droughts, unusual storms etc. can be seen in many parts of the world. Polar icecaps are melting rapidly and high altitude areas, where once permanent snowline was a common feature, are now becoming free of ice and various plants species have started to grow there. Plants, which are the common feature of the topical or semi tropical areas, are now spreading away from the tropics towards poles. This is also happening in high mountains where low altitude plants can now be seen on higher regions.

Certainly, climate change and global warming is not a hoax as some people are trying to depict it. It is a bitter truth now. Occurrences of Sudden flood in some areas while continuous dry weather in other parts of the world has become usual phenomena on planet earth.
Unquestionably, in the life cycle of the earth hot and cold weathers have alternatively came and changed the pattern of flora and fauna here again and again by destroying many species but this time we humans are the cause of this destruction. Our greed and reckless exploitation of mother earth has caused this problem. It is noteworthy that global warming and climate change are not problems; they are the symptoms of an acute disease which can be treated.

To address this issue, we need to take some steps like consuming less power, eating less meat and stopping the emission of green house gases. Some scientists are suggesting that we should capture carbon-dioxide from the air and make it solid under high pressure and that solid to bury in containers so that the level of carbon-dioxide may reduce from the atmosphere but I think this is a silly thought. They are blaming CO2 for our faults but they are forgetting that this gas is the cause of the origin of life on this planet. CO2, NO2, CH4 etc are not villains, we are the villains. These gases are emitted by our vehicles, thermal power plants, factories, agricultural fields etc. We should develop technologies to curb the unabated emission of these gases. For this we need to stop deforestation. Forests are the lungs of this planet. We need to plant more trees and let jungles to grow. Mining and other activities must be stopped in forest areas so that forests may grow and the climate of this world may remain good for us. To achieve this feat even if we have to ditch our luxurious lifestyle, we should do that without any hesitation; otherwise, we won’t have life either.

Pollution

We are using chemicals in every sphere of our life. We need chemical fertilizers to grow our plants and crops, we use chemicals to kill pests, and most of our industries are based on chemicals. It is apparent that these chemicals are harming our environment and causing the destruction of many plant and animal species. Also, we use plastics which are made of chemicals. This abundant use of plastic has turned this planet into a planet of plastic. This plastic waste is harming our oceans and lands.
Hence, we need a new approach for agriculture and industries in which dependency on harmful chemicals may be reduced and use of natural stuffs may be encouraged.

Over population

This is the mother of many problems which are tormenting the earth. We are more than seven billions now and our number is still growing. Most of the people on this earth are facing acute shortage of food, water and a shelter above their heads just because of availability of limited resources and unlimited demand from the vast population. But it is also true that these people are not trying to understand the problem. In third world countries, it is necessary for every couple to have at least one child; otherwise they will not get respect in their society. Also, in some places use of contraceptives is still taboo and a large number of children is taken as a symbol of pride. They can’t afford to feed their children but they don’t like to check the number of their children. This mentality must be changed. For this these people should be educated and inspire to keep a small family. If we may keep our population in check, we can solve many problems related to corruption, pollution and destruction of environment.

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This planet is our home and nature is our mother. We don't have any other option, so we should do our best to keep this planet safe and preserve its environment. This is the question of our own existence. Hence, on this occasion we should take a pledge to reduce our dependency on chemicals, plant more trees, stop the destruction of forests and change our lifestyle so that we may save ourselves.

All photos are credited from http://pixabay.com.

@akdx