By Siti Nurzahra Rusdi
It is less than a year ago that we thought we saw a hope to revive the Earth. This planet seemed to breathe a sigh of relief when we (humans) went through our first lockdown of COVID-19. For a moment, the pandemic has been an incidental boon to nature.
The phrase œnature is healing became a hit as we read the news that animals have started to go out on the streets. The news on herds of buffalo wandered along empty highways in New Delhi and mountain goats roamed through the seaside town of Llandudno munching on hedges and flowers are surely giving us hope for nature” but for how long?
With the recent data from a Norwegian nonprofit, it seems that the hope that we look forward to is slowly fading¦
The data shows a frightening fact about humanity’s destruction of the natural world. It is revealed that humans have destroyed two-thirds of the world’s original tropical rainforest cover. So, what does this mean? It means that the key to shielding our planet against climate change is vanishing very soon.
Tropical rainforests are home to over half of all plant and animal species in the world, and more importantly, they are the lungs of our planet. Without them, this battle against climate change is not even near to possible. And in fact, the deforestation that is still ongoing in the Amazon rainforest albeit the wildfire last year is making climate change even worse.
œThe Amazon is now releasing more greenhouse emissions than it stores in plants and soil, say researchers.
They added, œThe world’s largest tropical forest likely pumps out more greenhouse emissions than it absorbs, hence the rainforest is potentially warming the climate more than it is cooling it
When experts say the rainforest is vital to save our planet, they mean it. The impacts of climate change are not inclusive to humans but to everything that resides in this planet” and that includes animals.
As our planet gets warmer, the ice is shrinking. Animals like polar bears, narwhals, and harp seals are struggling to hunt and eat. What’s worse, their home is no longer a saving grace. The sea ice could be gone anytime soon, and so are their home.
National Geographic has captured a heartbreaking video of harp seals struggling to survive amid melting ice. The harp seals are meant to live on ice, not on the beaches or the sea. When the ice is melting and getting smaller, they are in danger, especially the pups. They will face huge possibilities to get drowned or being eaten by predators.
Polar bears and narwhals also are in great danger due to the ice loss. Since they are highly dependent on the Arctic sea ice, it makes them more vulnerable to the impact. The saddest are, polar bears and narwhals are declining in population. And if their populations keep on dropping, we will witness large changes in the Arctic marine ecosystem.
Another frightening news is scientists revealed that this year sea levels are rising 25 per cent faster than they predicted. And they also said that one of the worlds best-known mountains is cracking due to climate change.***
(The writer, Siti Nurzahra Rusdi, is an alumnus of IIUM. She is a graduate in Communication)