Sixty seconds, sixty minutes or beyond an hour Earth needs our time and the world observed one hour of darkness from 8.30 to 9.30 pm marking Earth Hour on March 25.
Global leaders, role models, influential celebrities and not to forget youth groups and businesses from over 190 countries and territories participated and what could be the result?
According to World Wild, 410,000 hours of planet-positive activities were pledged as part of Earth Hour’s ‘Hour Bank’. WWF has warned that, “Alarming and unprecedented rates of nature loss are putting species at risk of extinction, with an increasing number of communities across the world set to lose their homes and access to basic necessities like food, clean water and a livable environment.”
Is it not amazing how the world come together for such a cause with numerous ideas and projects.
Recognising the importance of protecting ecosystems, and climate ecological systems from pollution and environmental degradation, and reducing the negative impact of global warming and climate change, Environment Authority of Oman marked the day by sending out the pledge for the public to enrol via social media which stated, ‘I commit to be part of the change, and to participate in turning off unnecessary lights and electronic devices during Earth Hour from 8.39 to 9.30 pm.’
In their tweet, Environment Society of Oman, ESO, reminded that this week, ‘the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) had published its sixth report, which draws on the studies of more than 200 scientists over eight years and provides the most comprehensive scientific assessment of climate change. The report clearly warned that the current pace and scope of our actions are not sufficient - and scale of our actions are insufficient to tackle climate change. But the IPCC also offers hope.’
The report has identified the readily available and highly cost-effective actions that can be undertaken now to reduce emissions, scale up carbon removal and build resilience.
ESO tweeted, ‘While the window to address the climate crisis is rapidly closing, the IPCC affirms that we can still secure a safe, livable future. But we must act now.’
Earth Hour day had set off in the year 2007 when it was first observed in Sydney, Australia. It was first put forward by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). The objective of the event was to create awareness about environmental degradation and encourage people to take action to protect the planet. Since then the event has grown and today has 192 nations partaking in the initiative.
Australia urged people to plant and protect trees.
There are 24 global deforestation fronts. The Deforestation Fronts report offers an in-depth analysis of 24 ‘deforestation fronts’ around the globe.
Did you know that nine of these clusters of deforestation hotspots are located in Latin America, eight are in sub-Saharan Africa and seven are in Southeast Asia and Oceania.
Earth Hour organisation stated, ‘Trees are lungs of our planet, and we need them to help reverse the impacts of climate change. Now is the time to press pause and work together to protect nature and restore what we have lost.’
Of course we cannot forget desertification which has its own ways to expand. The biggest cause of deforestation is agriculture, according to the experts. Behind almost every imbalance it happens to be man. Our ever increasing demand for food and water has a cost and nature has been paying for it.
We have seen the consequences of climate change and physical features of land. Even the soil is seeking protection as the latest conference in Oman highlighted the pressure soil is undergoing not to forget the fact that our nutrients come from what is provided by the soul. In other
words our health depends on the quality of the soil.
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