I’m sure everyone in Delhi
must have been baffled and to some extent annoyed by the recent dust storm
hitting Delhi and other parts of North India last week.
Baffled, because a dust
storm of this magnitude and force has not been witnessed in these parts for
some time now. And annoyed, because the inconveniences caused were not limited
to lack of visibility and the strong winds – Delhi’s biggest commuting service,
the metro was shut down and many parts of Delhi NCR witnessed power outages
that lasted well into the night.
This is Mother Nature just
showing a small glimpse of what it can do. If it can procreate, it can very
well finish life, as we know it. We can very easily accept it as change and
give it a fancy name like evolution, but the question to be asked is – how are
we contribution to this change? Do we have the power to stop it or are we
helpless at the hands and whims of nature?
We all know how greenhouse
gases and other man made anomalies have the capacity to change the very nature
of earth and its environment. But, do we take that point into consideration
when we use products, which create these gases? We always think it’s the big
industries and corporations who are to blame when it comes to environment damage
when the harsh reality is that we at a personal level ignore the environmental
impact of our usage of products and services which generate these gases.
The Wikipedia describes a
carbon-footprint as "the total sets
of greenhouse gas emissions caused by an organization, event, product or
person." When you drive in your car instead of utilizing public
transport services – you are leaving behind a carbon footprint. Do you want to
know what your carbon footprint is for the last month or the last year? You can
check that here:
We need to motivate
ourselves to make the small changes to our lives, which can make a big
difference to the environment. Reducing our personal carbon footprints will go
a long way in ensuring that we live in a safe and clean environment that is
capable of sustaining life for a long time to come.
Think green!