“The end is nigh!”

“Repent ye sinners”

And all the biblical adjectives and expletives one can shout out when trying to make sense as to what is happening to Mother Earth nowadays. It’s all doom and gloom, or so it appears.

The whole world is literally on fire as we speak, yes Greece is burning so it was reported that the fire has also moved into neighbouring Turkey. The same goes with Canada where almost all of the provinces have parts that were burnt to the ground.

Provinces such as British Columbia, Alberta, Nova Scotia, Northwest Territories, pretty much there are fires all across Canada. Thousands of people have been evacuated and taken away to safer places.

Their homes were literally burnt with everything inside. The Natives or the indigenous people were also badly affected and have to be evacuated to nearby cities.

On top of all these tragedies, there is a sad war involving Russia and the Ukraine. In this one-sided power dynamic, as far as I am concerned, Russia appears to be a big bully.

Thousands of the Ukrainians have fled to nearby European countries and many came to settle down in Canada as refugees.

Then there is this Hurricane Idalia that wrought havoc in Florida and regions near it, creating misery and mayhem. According to a meteorologist the last such catastrophe occurred sometime in the 1800!

A recent earthquake, although minor at 4.3 magnitude, shook at some towns in southern Ontario? Now this is something that rarely happens in this part of the world. For another earthquake at a 6.3 on the Richter scale in Morocco caused misery recently.

Rain in Saudi Arabia, caused areas of flooding and also caused flooding in the Holy City of Mecca. So is Libya, that is badly hit by flooding that has killed thousands. How about minor tsunamis that hit Japan about once a year, that go unreported in the west?

Yes, all of these natural disasters are the symptomatic of climate change that is directly caused by human activity, leaving a big carbon footprint by producing too much greenhouse gases (GHG).

Too many vehicles are being manufactured and the demand for fossil fuels are on the rise.

Bad enough we are destroying earth, now human kind is also setting up their first pollution footprints on other planets.

India will open its first Curry House on Mars, following the US already opening its first McDonalds on this red planet, while China with its Peking duck restaurant, and Russia with its Borscht and Vodka joints are soon going to follow.

Back to countries like Malaysia, we have no choice but to stress and to move toward a low carbon-economy and it is better for us to start early with our contribution to reducing GHG into the atmosphere.

Canada has started an became a leader in the world’s first major carbon neutral country. It is pressing for expansion of electric vehicles, and for a low carbon food production.

Policies are touted as the boldest attempts to tackle climate change while providing real food for its future generations to come.

So, the land, water, forest and the whole environment must be protected.

One of the biggest culprits of global warming is corruption. Never forget this. Make no mistake that environmental degradation is also due to greed. Whomever is in charge of any country of the world must make sure that they have the courage to combat this scourge.

In the late 80s, when I was working as a cub reporter with a tabloid, I wrote on protection of our environment. I wrote on global warming, which all fell on deaf ears.

“Why are you writing too much on the environment,” someone would ask. Now perhaps you’ll understand.

Finally, I have to say that, we must have a collective awareness to ensure our survival as a species by preserving of our planet. Earth’s health must be constantly checked by us the – guardians! Or maybe I am asking too much!