Carbon emissions: An invitation to disaster

Man has strived to prove his supremacy over nature and other animals.Although man has proved his supremacy in the Animal kingdom,there still lies a major difference between man and animal.The difference is that animals never go against nature while man has a tendency to challenge nature's law.Man has undertaken many developmental activities in this quest and these activities need fuels.Need of fuel means polluting the atmosphere.Now is the time that we must realize that too much meddling with nature will result in a muddle.

Studies have shown that half of the fuel required to bring about catastrophic rise of 2 degree centigrade has already been burnt.While carbon dioxide is responsible for 40% of the earth's warming,black carbon is responsible to an extent of 12%.Carbon dioxide and black carbon has an ability to trap the heat radiations which fall on earth.In absence of carbon dioxide these radiations reflect back to the space.Chloro fluro carbon (CFC)has already caused a ozone hole.

Carbon emissions have resulted in global warming.Glaciers in various parts of the world are melting which is causing the sea level to rise.Many coastal countries face the threat of getting submerged.President of Maldives recently conducted an under water Cabinet meeting to attract the attention of the world in this regard.Global warming has also resulted in irregularities in climatic behavior.Droughts and floods are being experienced all over the world.

Alternatives to plastic is a necessity

Plastic Bags are ubiquitous in most of the cities and hill stations.Plastic bags are easy to use and are also very durable.But we must also see that they disturb the ecology.Polythene from which plastics are made are non-biodegradable.Plastic bags choke the drainage lines and cause overflow of the drains.Plastics also cause deaths of millions of cows and birds all over the world because they cannot digest it.Polythene also releases harmful chemicals in the soil which contaminates underground water.

steps must be taken to curb the menace of plastic bags.The solution to this problem is recycling and reusing of plastic.The use of plastic with thickness less than 40 microns should be discouraged.Plastic tax must be imposed on the use of plastic bags to discourage its use.Alternatives to plastic must be found out,for example plastic bags made of starch is biodegradable.