World Environment Day: A planet to live for
Declarations of climate emergency had reached a crescendo, when the pandemic brought us all to a standstill. In the abrupt quiet, we heard the birdsong, and signs that a lesser human footprint could help the environment regenerate itself. But it can't be at the improbable cost of shutting down an intricate machinery of economies and human endeavour. On occasion of the World Environment Day, what then do we hope for this living planet to be?
Curated By: Madhu Kapparath
Smoke billows from a fire in the Amazon rainforest, Rondonia State, Brazil. September 10, 2019.
Restoration of forests is a potential measure to combat climate change. A total of 1,20,000 sq km, of which some 36,000 km was pristine primary rain forest, was lost in the last decade, fuelled by El Nino conditions and uncontrolled fires. An increase of 1 billion hectares of forest will be necessary to limit global warming to 1.5 degree c by 2050, says a report by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. How such reforestation could come about is being debated currently.
