If Change is inevitable, then why are we so afraid of Climate Change? We all know our ancestors lived through the ice age, so why is our planet warming or dimming a big deal now? Why should you be concerned about it?

Climate change is Real. It was real in 1896 when the Swedish scientist Svante Arrhenius published- As humanity burned fossil fuels such as coal, which added carbon dioxide gas to the Earth’s atmosphere, we would raise the planet’s average temperature; It was real in 1988 when The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was established; it is real in 2023 when the earth is warming, the ice is melting and the sea level is rising, And it will still be real if we don’t take any action.

The time to debate if climate change is real or not was over way before typhoon Lekima struck in China, hurricane Dorian in the United States, the devastating California wildfires, and many more natural disasters that occurred in the past years due to the catastrophic changes in our climate. If in the year 2015, Senator Jim Inhofe from the USA comes with a snowball to prove climate change isn’t real, then you have to know that he is saying this because he is a slave to the fossil fuel industry. He is bankrolled by it and therefore, his job is to protect it. But we have to stand up to him and people like him and force all of them to acknowledge the dire consequences of climate change. Or we will keep on having these hurricanes, these typhoons, these wildfires and we will keep on calling them natural disasters rather than the effects of climate change.

If the former president of the nation that produces the largest, 20% of all global fossil fuels calls ‘Climate Change’ a hoax, a myth, and not a very serious subject; we will have to look up to the 17-year-old girl who skips school and inspires an international movement to fight climate change. It is high time we go from asking for a more radical, sustainable, eco-friendly policy to demanding actions from people we put in the parliament who should have the guts and the consciousness to do the right thing.

You don’t have to be a scientist to believe in the science of climate change. You don’t have to be an environmentalist to stop the burning of forests. You don’t have to be an activist to demand companies associated with fossil fuel lobbies pay Carbon Tax. All you have to be is a human with fear of the present and hope for the future. Because fear is wisdom in the face of danger. And hope is something that will keep your faith in humanity. Faith that it is not too late. Faith that we can still save our planet, our home, Earth.

It is not the ego of the man to think that he can change the climate. It is his worst abuse of power to change the climate; plants, animals, insects, birds, corals, all living beings need to survive and thrive. I believe it is the ego of the man that makes him obsessed with the idea of growth and development at the cost of precious mother nature. We need to switch our mindset from development to sustainable development. Even if the development of one may or may not be the development of the other. We need to make sure that the development of one is not threatening the survival of the other.

Climate change didn’t happen in a day or a year, it happened over a period of 100 years. Therefore, it won’t go away in a second. It will take a significant amount of time to reverse the effects of climate change. But if we work together at both local and global levels, I believe in my heart that not only we can give the future generation a planet where they will thrive but also, but we can also set an example for them so that history doesn’t repeat itself. And God forbid, if it did, I hope our successors will look up to the 17-year-old girl to guide them and not the greedy bureaucrats.

In the end, I can say that change is inevitable and climate change has become inevitable as well and therefore we have to be afraid of it. We have to fear the doomed future ahead of all of us. We have to take responsibility for Global warming and Global dimming. We have to be considerate enough to help save humanity. We have to take charge and control things as soon as possible.

Because from where I stand, as a 21-year-old in 2023, I am petrified to even imagine the consequences my generation, my future generation, and their future generations will have to face just because some greedy, cold-hearted, ignorant people refused to take action. I will be ashamed and embarrassed to stand in front of my children and grandchildren and look them in the eyes while I explain to them Climate Change and why we did not do enough about it. I won’t be able to make excuses or give them any reason other than corrupt politicians and helpless citizens. And I don’t want a future like that. I want a future where I will teach my children how 196 countries came together to fight against climate change and won that fight with determination and sincere efforts.

I was born in India, a developing country and I would want nothing more than to live in India, a developed country but that development can happen if we overlook the bigger picture, the bigger problem. Therefore, it is my humble request that for once, we shift our focus from the individuals to the communities. Think of ourselves as residents of a home that is on fire and no one from the outside can help us. Only we, the people inside the burning building can put out the fire, or else everything will be burned down and destroyed. So, before the fire gets beyond control, take action; take action that should’ve been taken yesterday. Come together to fight against the inevitable.

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