It's Earth Day, How Far, So Far?

It’s Earth Day: How far, so far?

Oladosu Adenike on field work

                                                

The planet Earth is a shadow of itself, from one planetary problem to another. We choose profit over the safety of our planet. If the Earth becomes inhabitable, where do we go next? One day is not enough to celebrate Earth Day, it is an everyday affair. We are overexploiting the earth, more than what it can produce. This is why we are currently faced with an unprecedented crisis and these crises are avoidable. In some countries like mine, Nigeria, we are not just faced with a single crisis but rather multiple crises. The current heatwave pattern in Nigeria is a testament to the reality of the climate crisis in Nigeria and the world at large.

In China currently, millions are at risk of floods in China’s Guangdong province after heavy rain urged municipalities to begin emergency planning after major rivers and reservoirs threaten to overflow. Major rivers, waterways, and reservoirs in China’s Guangdong province are threatening to unleash dangerous floods, forcing the government to enact emergency response plans to protect more than 127 million people.

Whilst in Afghanistan, Around 70 people have been killed by heavy rains lashing Afghanistan over the past five days, the government’s disaster management department said on Wednesday.

Not to mention the reoccurrence of floods in Pakistan has also been hammered by spring downpours, with 65 people killed in storm-related incidents as rain falls at nearly twice the historical average rate, officials told AFP. The largest death toll was in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where 32 people have died, including 15 children, and more than 1,300 homes have been damaged.

The recent happening is the Dubai flood, a city that hosted the 2023 Conference of Parties with some mortality recorded, while houses and cars in the northern Ras Al Khaimah emirate. About four people have reportedly died from heavy rains earlier this week in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), authorities said on Friday as flooded roads clogged Dubai's international airport.

A report from Russia on Monday stated that more than 10,000 residential houses were flooded across the Urals, Volga area, and western Siberia as emergency services were evacuating cities hit by rising rivers.

Whether we like it or not, we have no option but to choose life over death. This is why the climate crisis is a life-and-death situation.