Winter closes its doors today and spring will start tomorrow.
People who love the warmer months will now start looking forward to longer days and brighter skies, while others who prefer the cooler months will start complaining about the heat.
Those of us who have lived long enough to make comparisons will admit that the last few years have seen changes in our climate. Some might think it’s just a perception, but it is clear to most that the extremes have widened further – we have colder days than we used to have in winter and hotter days in summer. Scientists say that the result of human activity in the last 150 years has resulted in an unprecedented acceleration of changes to world climate. Fourteen of the Earth’s 15 hottest years have occurred this century.
Added to this, there is also an overlapping of seasons all throughout the year. Thunderstorms have become more common in the summer, while warm – sometimes hot – days are not so rare in the winter. What’s more, abrupt changes in the weather are a common occurrence. Only this past week, we had a 12 degree temperature fluctuation, a staggering difference.
So much has been said and written about climate change and its effect on the earth we live in and, more importantly, on human health. The sceptics do not believe that the changes we are experiencing are so much to worry about, arguing that the impact will be limited. The worriers think that unless the world changes its attitude and, most of all, its ways then the end of the world is closer than we think.
What is sure is that, yes, the changes we have experienced in the world climate in a relatively short time have had a negative impact. The problem is that the issue is so complex, with all its political ramifications, it is hard for all the countries around the world to agree on a common solution, largely because the effects on them are different from the effects elsewhere.
Efforts to move from the use of harmful products to the environment, which then cause harm to the ozone layer and progressively lead to climate change have not been enough. This has happened in spite of an overwhelming scientific consensus that climate change is due primarily to the use of fossil fuels, which release carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the air.
Most people still fail to see the advantages of using harmless sources to generate electricity. Shutting down power on one single day of the year to create awareness is simply not adequate.
Thankfully, the younger generations are more inclined to change, and educators are doing their best to instil better understanding of the dangers they could be facing unless action is taken.
Our future, and their future, depends on how much the world is able to adapt to new ideas in the way energy is generated.