The Cry that Only Few Can Hear

Do you hear what I hear? I can hear someone crying but I don’t know where it is
coming from. I can feel the pain on it. I feel the grievance. She is crying for help. She is
dying.
Have you ever wondered how old is Earth? It’s been existing for 4.543 billion years
without stopping on rotating, revolving around the sun, and sustaining life. Already old,
huh? But the equilibrium in it is keeping it young and going. But here comes mankind who
happened to be the keeper but turned out to be destroying it for his own sake.
Over the past 50 years, the average global temperature has ascended at the fastest rate
in recorded history. As experts see the trend is accelerating, all but one of the 16 hottest years
in NASA’s 134-year record have occurred since the entrance of the year 2000.
Global Warming and It’s Causes
Global warming is the long-term rise in the average temperature of
the Earth's climate system. It occurs when carbon dioxide, other air pollutants and greenhouse
gases is being ammassed in the atmosphere and absorb sunlight and solar radiation that have
bounced off the earth’s surface. It is a major aspect of current climate change, and has been
demonstrated by direct temperature measurements and by measurements of various
effects of the said warming. Normally, this radiation would escape into space—but these
pollutants, which can last for years to centuries in the atmosphere, trap the heat and cause the
planet to get hotter. That's what's known as the greenhouse effect.
The term global warming usually refers to human-caused surge in global surface
temperatures and its projected perpetuation. In this perspective, the terms global
warming and climate change are often used interchanged. Climate change includes
both global warming and its effects, such as changes in precipitation and impacts that
differs in the different parts of the globe. There were ancient records of global warming,
but it was an observation that it became more severe the mid-20th century. I was seen
that global warming is more severe than those seen in previous records covering decades
to thousands of years.
Hotter and Hotter, More Severe Effects
 Scientists agree that the earth’s rising temperatures are fueling longer and hotter
heat waves, more frequent droughts, heavier rainfall, and more powerful typhoons. In the
Philippines, in between 1947 to 2014, Haiyan, Thelma, Ike, Fengshen, Washi, Durian,
Bopha, Trix, Amy, Nina are just 10 of the deadliest typhoon which had ever hit the country.
What is alarming about it is that, five of the 10 typhoons have occurred since 2006,
affecting and displacing thousands of Filipinos every time. Seven of these 10 deadly
storms each resulted in more than 1,000 casualties. But the deadliest storm on record in
the country is the Typhoon Haiyan, known locally as Typhoon Yolanda, which was
responsible for taking more than 6,300 lives, over four million displaced people, and $2
billion of damages in the year 2013.
The Earth’s ocean temperatures are getting warmer, too. This means that tropical
storms strengthen itself. So, global warming could turn, say, a category 3 storm into a
more dangerous category 4 storm. Taking again the Philippines as an example, the
country has long been particularly at risk of extreme weather. But in recent years the
country has suffered from even more violent storms like Typhoon Haiyan. On average,
about 20 tropical cyclones enter Philippine waters each year, with eight or nine making
landfall. Over the past decade, these tropical storms have struck the nation more often
and more severely which is scientists believe that it is because of climate change.
The impacts of global warming are being felt across the globe it is not just in the
Philippines. Though, The Global Climate Risk Index 2015 listed the Philippines as the
number one most affected country by climate change using 2013’s data. This is just
because of its geography–the Philippines is located in the western Pacific Ocean which
is surrounded by naturally warm waters that will likely get even warmer as average sea-
surface temperatures continue to rise.
Moreover, the extreme heat waves have caused tens of thousands of deaths around in
the world for the recent years and this is an alarming sign of events to come. Antarctica, which
is known to be covered majorly with ice, has been losing about 134 billion metric tons of ice per
year since 2002. This rate could speed up if human keep burning fossil fuels at our current pace,
doing activities that are very dangerous to the environment. This is concluded to cause,
according to some experts, sea levels to rise several meters over the next 50 to 150 years.
 As there are people who denies climate change and who have argued that there
has been a “pause” or a “slowdown” in the rising world’s temperature, but several recent
studies shows, including a 2015 paper published in the journal Science, disapproval on
this claim.
You who Hears the Cry
The current warming trend is of particular significance because most of it is
extremely likely to be the result of human activity since the mid-20th century and
proceeding at a rate that is unprecedented over decades to millennia.
In recent findings of Environmental Defense Fund, China is the world's top emitter
of greenhouse gases, burning half the world's coal supply each year. With its new carbon
market and renewable energy efforts, China is working to change course and become a
world leader in green energy, while remaining prosperous.
China however is not just the country in the world, and solving climate change is
not a single-way road as it needs collaborations, unity and synergy towards slowing down
of the total devastation of the planet. What is good news is that there is still time left for
people to work and to reduce global warming.
The first way to prevent climate change is to move away from fossil fuels. Instead,
make use of alternative such as renewable energies like solar, wind, biomass and
geothermal.
Second is reducing our consumption of energy and water by using more efficient
devices is less costly and equally important.
Third is by promoting public transportation, carpooling, but also electric
and hydrogen mobility. This is seen to be an effective way to definitely help reduce CO2
emissions and thus fight global warming.
Next would be, to reduce the CO2 emissions from buildings caused by heating, air
conditioning, hot water or lighting, hence, it is necessary both to build new low energy
buildings, and to renovate the existing constructions.
Encouraging better use of natural resources, stopping massive deforestation as
well as making agriculture greener and more efficient should also be prioritized.
 Adopting responsible consumption habits is also crucial, be it regarding food
(particularly meat), clothing, cosmetics or cleaning products. Last but not least, recycling
is an absolute necessity for dealing with waste.
It is not yet late for an action to be undertaken. If you hear the cry, don’t just hear
it. If you hear it, do something for it, because at the end of the day, we are dealing with a
problem that doesn’t only concern us today. We are dealing with a big problem for the
future generations, too. Earth is the only place we have, don’t look for somewhere new,
just take good care of what you have now.