Coronavirus has had a sobering effect on the Planet. It has shown how quickly nature moves to restore ecological balance. The shutdown of the world economy has been advantageous to the environment but at a major cost to mankind.

To eliminate climate change, we can’t stop living life; we must, however, modify our lifestyle. Every day is Earth Day and it is important to realize that climate change is real and it is not going away easily.

Earth is suffering due to our selfishness

The planet is suffering due to our negligence and selfishness. The use- and- throw ideology of people has adversely affected the environment. Every aspect of nature and life is affected by waste and pollution.

Water pollution and the scarcity of potable water is so severe in India that it is estimated that many cities in India will run out of fresh water in the near and foreseeable future. Most of the rivers in the world, and nearly all of them in Asia, are severely polluted causing several water borne
diseases.

In Asia, air pollution is such a severe problem that it feels like breathing is killing us. The issue of open disposal of garbage affects every society in the world, causing disease and death to many.

Unwritten norm of society is to make their surroundings unhygienic

The unwritten norm of society is to make their surroundings unhygienic and unsanitary while ensuring their immediate living area is clean. Oil spills, plastics, thermal wastewater, and effluent discharge into water bodies are killing all marine, terrestrial, and aerial life dependent on these
water bodies

Over-consumption and exploitation of fossil fuels, minerals, and all-natural resources is straining the planet. To save it, we need to modify our current lifestyles and pattern of production and consumption. The planet, People, Product, and then Profit must become the new normal.

We must accept science to succeed and survive as a species. Scientists say that we have until 2030 to reverse climate change and global warming. In dealing with this crisis it is now or never.

Opportunity to rebuild and reboot our systems and economies with planet-friendly policies

While it is true that the Coronavirus has disrupted global economies and the way our world functions, but, in this disruption, is a huge opportunity to rebuild and reboot our systems and economies with planet-friendly policies and behavioral patterns.

The global lockdown has shown us how quickly nature moves to heal itself and restore ecological balance. It’s a learning for humans that they must live in harmony with all species and the planet I would like the sky to be blue again, no smog, dust, and no air pollution.

We should be able to breathe clean air and roam around without wearing masks. Rather than deforestation and desertification, we should have afforestation and reforestation. There should greenery and wildlife all around.

We must stop taking trees for granted, they have a marvelous tendency to recover and we must allow them to draw on their natural resilience. By 2050 I would like the seas to abound in fish and other aquatic life and not plastics. A future wherein we see responsible consumption of water to assure a lifetime supply of water for all.

Celebrate each day as earth day

To achieve all this, we have to modify our lifestyle, refuse single-use plastics, learn to live with less, switch to renewable energy, and adopt many other solutions. A world with more compassion and cooperation, where humans harmoniously coexist with nature. We must refuse if we cannot reuse it.

We must leave the world a little better than how we found it- only then may we celebrate each day as Earth day.

(Aditya Mukarji is a 16-year-old student environmentalist, passionately working to rid the planet of single-use plastics. He is an intern at UNDP India, a volunteer with Chintan and an Earth Day Network Rising Star. A noted voice in the space he has been published and quoted in various media around the world.)