Picture credit: Indian Express
Actor Rainn Wilson, or as we all know him, “Dwight Schrute” from the mockumentary sitcom “The Office,” has taken a considerable step towards spreading climate change awareness by changing his name unofficially to Rainfall Heat Wave Extreme Winter Wilson on social media platforms amid the ongoing annual United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27), which started on November 6th in Egypt. The actor is associated with Arctic Basecamp, whose objective is to generate climate change awareness of the global risks that Arctic weather change poses.
Climate Change & How It Is Affecting
Climate change has been visible to our naked eyes in various forms like the melting of the glaciers resulting in the sea level rise. Antarctica holds the largest chunk of ice on earth, “The Thwaites Glacier.” Due to climate change the air and water around Antarctica warmed up because of man-made climate change, causing each side of the sheets to melt in such a way that it has doubled over the past thirty years and already contributes to 4% of the global sea rise.
The disasters that occurred during 2019-2020, ‘The obliteration of Amazon Forest’, the fire that endured months (began on 22 August 2019 and went on till 2020). The ‘Australian Bushfire’ killed or uprooted almost 3 billion animals. It was viewed as one of “the most horrendously awful fierce blaze catastrophes in modern history” which commenced on June 2019 and went on till May 2020 due to the record-breaking temperature and months of drought.
In the event that environmental change further affects the Thwaites Glacier, resulting in the complete collapse of the glacier could trigger a much bigger catastrophe on the ground because Thwaites reaches into the middle of West Antarctica and its failure can cause the melting of the rest of the ice sheets, which will increase the sea level by 3 meters in the next few centuries, bringing about the flooding of not only Miami and Southern Bangladesh but also parts of the Netherlands and New York City.
COP 27
It was that time of the year when climate change took the global center stage with the aim of ensuring full implementation of the Paris Agreement adopted in 2015.
It has been more than a decade since the countries at COP are pledging- To Hitting A Net Zero, To Quitting Coal Power, To Limiting Global Heating To Below 2 Degrees, To Restrain Its Greenhouse Emission, To End International Financing For Fossil Fuels.
The overall climate objective is to ensure that the rise in global temperature does not go beyond 2 degrees (more effectively, it should be limited to 1.5 degrees). However, the results are not in accordance with their pledges, the annual global emissions are still rising (though between 2010 and 2019, they grew by over 1 %, then the growth of 2.6% in the previous decade). Looking back in the last year, only 25 countries have strengthened their climate action plans, with scant potential to bend the emission curve.
On the opening day of COP27, for the first time ever loss and damage finance is added to the agenda, they landed into an agreement to provide compensation to the poor and vulnerable countries which had to suffer because of man-made climate change disasters. It is being visioned as a huge step in helping the poor & vulnerable countries who are facing the wrath of the decisions taken by the developed and economically strong countries. The poor countries are left with nothing but to face the disasters that are laid ahead of them like- Europe’s worst drought in 500 years, Pakistan’s worst-ever flooding, devastating storms, and fires caused by the extensive heat wave all around the world.
THE REASONS TO BE OPTIMISTIC
- The Nations have started taking action (it’s a slow one but can be seen as growth). After former US President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, there was a massive panic among the world for the US is the second-largest emitter of CO2. But with President Biden, the US is back on the table with Paris Agreement and has partnered with the EU to set up the Global Methane Pledge.
- Abstinence from investing in the coal mines. China has promised not to build more coal power plants overseas and Greece is scheduled to phase out coal by 2025.
- Only the companies with net zero goals for 2050 or sooner are invited with open arms and the others are not welcome.
- The addition of “loss and damage” to help the poor countries.
These measures have potential in them but only the response from the government will not stop the earth from moving toward its devastation. Awareness among the citizens is extremely crucial too.
In a video on Twitter following his name change announcement, Wilson said, “what happens in the Arctic doesn’t stay in the Arctic. As the polar caps melt, it drives up risks throughout the world, including extreme weather events that affect all of us. So as a cheap little stunt to help save planet Earth, I’ve changed my name on Twitter, Instagram, and even on my fancy writing paper (Acid Rainn Kills Trees Wilson) because I am an Arctic risk name changer which is going to be a game changer.” He even asked various notable celebrities to support him in this by changing their names as well.
This move involves a fun, creative, and indulging way to entice attention toward the amplest imminent problem. One should not forget that the earth belongs to all and everybody has a role to play in it.
