Better earth, better us

Of all the nine planets and the seemingly infinite space, earth is the only place we can live in. Earth is the place we call home. It baffles me then, how we manage to not take care of it properly, and even engage in acts that harm it.

When we take care of the earth by taking care of our environment, we in turn enjoy the benefits. And if we don't take care of the earth, we suffer the consequences.

Recently, I've gone through the worst heat wave I have ever experienced. The heat is so high that the discomfort it causes can spoil your day. Of course, I'm not the only one experiencing this heat wave. Everyone in my country, Nigeria, and even those in other west African countries are experiencing this heat wave.

The terrible heat wave is just one anomaly that we as humans are facing. There are so many others. But one question boggles my mind, "why have these anomalies continued and are getting worse?". The answer is simple, we haven't taken responsibility enough.

Let's start with the oceans. The oceans have now become a well recognized dumping site for all kinds of things, especially plastics. The amount of plastics and garbage in the ocean is disheartening. When you weigh the importance of the ocean, you'll see that this kind of pollution is very detrimental.

There are a lot of carbon emissions these days. Various machines we use in our daily lives emit carbon as they operate. This carbon is detrimental to the environment, and by extension, the earth. This carbon contributes to depleting the only thing that protects us from the harmful rays of the sun. Keeping that in mind, it's shocking how people keep taking down the means nature devised to handle this carbon. People cut down the trees that take in this carbon without replacing those trees. It's a recipe for disaster.

The lesser trees there are, the more carbon emissions accumulate. This invariably means we suffer adverse weather conditions. When it's hot, it gets too hot. Ice glaciers melt and the water in the oceans becomes too much, contributing to flooding. When it rains, it rains so much that flooding happens, damaging people's properties and forcing people from their homes. In recent years, we've seen different kinds of hurricanes, and bush fires starting all of a sudden because of how dry and sunny the weather is.

I remember how, every December, I would look forward to the harmattan season. For context, the harmattan is a popular season in West Africa when the air is dry, there's a lot of wind and cold. It is my favorite weather. In recent years, harmattan rarely comes in December. Rather, what we see is rain, something that used to be highly unlikely in December.

In order to take care of our planet, and avoid these terrible conditions, we have to be deliberate about taking care of our environment.

Individual and communal efforts in cleaning up the surroundings and proper refuse disposal can go a long way. Properly educating individuals on the consequences of our actions on the environment as well as how to do things right can help instill the right practice in people.

Furthermore, recycling should be practiced more. This can go a really long way towards protecting our environment.

In conclusion, if we all make better choices about the earth, we will be better off for it.

This is for the April inleo Day 22 writing prompt. You can learn more about it here.

Images are mine

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