The world is going through a transitional period because of climate change. Lives and livelihoods in countries around the world are now vulnerable due to unplanned human activities and natural calamities. Various gases known as greenhouse gases, such as carbon-dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, etcetera, are trapped in the atmosphere to make the earth increasingly hot.

These greenhouse gases are released due to the burning of – fossil fuels (e.g., coal) for electricity generation, fuels used in vehicles such as gas and diesel, and fossil fuels for manufacturing products from raw materials in industrial factories. If the global temperature rises by 1.5 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial temperature, all the ice in the Himalayas could melt within this century, exposing people to extreme climate conditions such as floods, storm surges, heat waves and food insecurity.

Meanwhile, we’ve crossed 1.38 degrees Celsius, and emissions haven’t stopped. That is why, 195 countries of the world agreed to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels at the COP 2022 Conference held in Egypt.

Almost half of the world’s carbon dioxide emitted from industries and other sources is absorbed by the oceans, plants, and soil. Due to indiscriminate destruction of trees and deforestation, this absorption level has been greatly reduced. As a result, the temperature has been gradually increasing and innumerable species of animals and food crops are disappearing. Fishermen’s livelihood is also affected by dried up rivers.

To rein in this rise of temperature (which could rise by maximum 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial temperatures), we need to consider renewable energy resources such as solar, wind and biomass as alternatives to fossil fuels.

Countries around the world are increasingly being dependent on renewable energy sources and are developing laws and policies along with necessary infrastructure for their widespread use. Even Germany, China, Japan, and the United States has pioneered to express their political commitment towards renewable energy.

According to an estimate, the US will be able to meet 80 percent of the country’s total demand of electricity from renewable energy sources by 2050.

However, the costs associated with installing the technology must be reduced to increase dependence on renewable energy. Hopefully, the costs of wind and solar-powered technologies are gradually decreasing in different countries. Millions of people in Africa are now using low-cost solar energy at home.

Dependence on fossil fuels will not end completely if the use of renewable energy cannot be made popular. Few specialists have recommended nuclear power generation systems as an alternative source of energy. But setting up power generation plant in this system is much expensive. The nuclear power generation plants are technically complex in nature and risky to manage – the toxic wastes emitted from the nuclear power plants affect surrounding environment and the lives of people in adjacent areas, sometimes, triggering terrible disasters.

So, we must consider the use of renewable energy such as biomass, hydroelectric, solar, and wind-based energy. It is environment friendly and cost-effective compared to fossil fuels and nuclear power. And only through continued use of renewable energy can we reduce the rate of global temperature rise. Along with this, other action steps that can contribute to the reduction of global temperature are afforestation, conservation of forest areas, large-scale tree plantation programmes, adoption of climate-smart agricultural technologies with moderate use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides in agriculture, conservation of grasslands, tree plantation in crop fields, and conservation of coastal wetlands and mangrove forests.

So now is, therefore, the time to be aware and respond appropriately to limit global temperature to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Otherwise, this world will not forgive us for pushing our future generations to the brink of destruction!