It was a bright day when I was out for a walk with my grandfather.
“Oh grandpa, see the amazing trees, and the flowers are so mesmerizing. The beach we visited yesterday was so beautiful too.”
“Grandpa, why are you silent? Even yesterday you kept all quiet while I was enjoying on the beach. Is everything okay?”
Letting out a deep sigh of despair my grandfather replied, “No dear, nothing is beautiful today in a true sense. Indeed these vast trees and those flowers are mesmerizing, and the beaches are a blessing to our world but this isn’t their reality dear.
The trees are laden with dust and pollution, innumerable trees have been cut since I was a child. The trees have lost their real fresh greens and the flowers have lost their natural bright hues. The beaches are unclean, polluted with plastic wastes that affect the life in the seas, the waters are warm, and coastal belts are on the verge of extinction due to the rise in sea levels. The biosphere is under a big threat due to climate change and global warming. There are unbearable heat waves these days. Pollution is crumbling down peoples’ and children’s health. Increasing temperatures are also affecting the healthy mechanisms of our biosphere. The sea below and the land above, all creatures on our planet Earth are suffering today.
How beautiful was the world! Till today its beauty doesn’t fail to mesmerize us even after we humans have left our environment in its worst health, which is further getting worse due to our careless actions. The beautiful “Green String” that connected us with our environment is now polluted by our misdeeds in the name of development, but it is high time for us to reconstruct that green nexus.
My biggest regret is, had I acted consciously back then to help save my planet, today, my children, you would have seen a far more beautiful and healthy world, and also lived healthily in a healthy environment, with cool breezes, clean beaches, pollution free air, and lots of trees with pure oxygen.
I am sorry, dear. But let me tell you, do not repeat our generation's mistakes. Climate education is a must. Urge your school to include climate education, and you too can educate yourself with the help of the web today and spread your voice against the Climate Crisis with your friends on social media. It is an emergency to act now. Our healthy environment and a bright future of our world with upcoming generations are in your hands.”
I was struck with the truth of our world being draped with pollution and climate change due to our careless actions. I replied, "Thank you, Grandpa, for motivating me. I am glad that you are acting consciously unlike other adults who do not care for the environment. Thank you for helping me to act consciously against Climate Crisis. I will share this with all my friends and teachers to urge them to include climate education in our curriculum."
** Climate Education is a must. Climate Change is real. **
#ActNow
Adyasha, 19, India.
