Climate Change: Think Globally, Act Locally

Climate change has been a cross-cultural issue for the last decade or so. We hear slogans about saving the earth in the media, on the internet and through environmental organizations. We, as youth, have the power to do something about it. As we have seen here in Nepal, change is possible, but only if we unite as one.  It is high time we act on making this earth a safe place for us to live.

In the last decade, we used to hear “global warming” every now and then but now “climate change” is the most used word in the environmental world. Climate change is any long-term significant change in the “average weather” that a given region experiences. Average weather may include average temperature, precipitation and wind patterns.  Previously, it was thought that the change in climate had only a warming effect but now we know that climate change also incorporates a cooling effect but, on average, warming effect is higher.

Many of us may have preconceived notions that Nepal does not contribute much to climate change as we do not emit much carbon and are getting a large sum of money on carbon trading. Climate change has a global, regional, national and local impact but the impact will be high where the pollutant is released, referred to as the Hot Spot Problem. So we might think that we are on the safer side and countries emitting the carbon are vulnerable. If that were true then the Imja glacier, east of Everest, would not be the most rapidly retreating glacier in the world. The Asian brown cloud (ABC) is another reason for the retreating of glaciers. ABC is a giant brown stain hanging in the air as a result of Chinese coal powered electric plants and other industries. The Asian Brown cloud has highly contributed to the retreating of glaciers in the Himalayas. So we cannot escape from the fact that Nepal is being affected.

Think Globally and Act Locally—that should be the rule. Young people are a significant part of society and they are also the agents of change. The youth of Nepal must know that they are going to live longer in this world and there is an urgent need to save our only planet. We cannot let our successors suffer for our misdeeds.

In Nepal, there are many small vehicles (motorbikes, scooters) compared to big vehicles and they, as a whole, contribute more to pollution than the big vehicles, and youth use more small vehicles compared to other age groups. In order to reduce the different types of pollutants emitted by these small vehicles, youths need cut their use of vehicles. If we shift from motorbikes to bicycles, it will not only help save our environment but also will solve the problem of petroleum crisis in Nepal. In Nepal, social status is compared on the basis of the person’s vehicle usage and the society looks down upon cycle riders but a cycle culture needs to develop in our society.

The problem of waste management also has a great impact on the population so the youth really needs to be pro-active and act on proper waste management. The gases emitted from landfill sites can be used for burning but the proper mechanism is missing. This will not only solve the problem of petroleum products but will also help Nepali economy to foster as large amounts of money are being spent on purchasing petroleum products. Nepali students are seen burning tyres every now and then for protests which not only affects the environment but also affects health. We definitely need to protest but we need to find different ways of protesting rather than creating chaos among innocent people. We can protest by burning incense sticks. Such kind of symbolic protest should be carried out rather than burning tyres.

The 3Rs—reduce, recycle and reuse should be the main motto. Using paper bags and reducing the use of plastic bags while shopping can help contribute to saving the environment. Youths are the main users of technology so sustainable usage of mobile phones, television and computers will also help in lessening the effect. Simple things such as turning off the lights, computers, televisions while leaving the room, proper disposal of waste, flushing the toilet less often or keeping the bottle in the flush tank will also result in less wastage of water.

Conducting rallies and protests will not save the environment. Educating yourself, taking action and telling others about how we can act to make a change will save the environment. So it is high time to take action and as Mahatma Gandhi said, “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” If we want to change the world and save the environment, we need to start with ourselves, because each Nepali, each global citizen, one person at a time, can change the future of our earth, our only home.