In the 11th century, there once lived a shepherd named Hari.

He lived a happy life with his wife and two children in Kashi, India. Every day he took his sheep to graze. The climate of the 11th century was very nice. Flowers blossomed during spring; there were pleasant rains and energizing sunlight in summers.

In Kashi, some people earned their livelihoods by running small spice businesses, others were woodcutters. There was a king named Brahmaputra who ruled Kashi. King Brahmaputra ruled his kingdom well. He loved hunting. Every day he went hunting for deer, elephants, and other wild animals.

One day, Hari took his sheep to graze as usual. It was the monsoon season and he was close to the forest. The clouds and sky had already turned grey. Like always, King Brahmaputra had gone hunting. It started to rain, lightning struck, and Hari’s sheep ran away in fear. Hari tried to catch one of the sheep, but she ran deep into the forest.

King Brahmaputra was hunting in the same forest at the same time and he spotted a big deer. As soon as he released the arrow from his bow, Hari’s sheep jumped in between. The arrow hit and killed her, and the deer ran away. King Brahmaputra felt guilty, and then furious. He thought it happened because of the trees. He ordered all his kingdom’s woodcutters to cut down the forest.

Hari looked at this and thought, “If all trees are destroyed, what will happen to our coming generation?”

For many days he was disturbed. The woodcutters followed the orders of King Brahmaputra. Hari fell deep in thought. In spite of his sheep getting killed, he still thought of the greater good. After a couple of days he came up with a plan to save the forest.

He thought, “One day the earth will not remain beautiful. It will become an earth of crisis.”

He came to know that there would be sudden climate changes on the earth if trees were cut down. Spring, his favorite season, would never be the same.

Hari became a great philosopher. He went to King Brahmaputra and told him his philosophy. He asked him to refrain from killing animals and revoke the order to fell trees. King Brahmaputra did not want to consider this and threw Hari out of his palace.

Hari died some years later.

Today, in the 21st century, Hari’s prediction has come true. The Earth is truly in crisis. There are sudden climatic changes and no flower blossoms, even in spring, because in the modern world, forests are being destroyed and rivers polluted in the name of development. In India, where I live, we experience unseasonal rains, droughts, and increases in air and water pollution, which causes asthma and diarrhea.

The holiest river of India — the Ganges — is also polluted by industrial and human waste. We believe in bathing in the Ganges to clean ourselves of sin. To reduce this pollution, the Indian Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi, has hosted a “clean Ganga mission.”

Let’s take steps together to make our earth beautiful.

There are many ways that we can help. Here are some ideas: I ask that my friends come together and vow to plant and maintain at least five trees on their birthday. Please do not use vehicles for visiting places that are near your house. Consider taking shorter showers.

I invite my friends from all over the world to think like Hari and contribute to save our Mother Earth.

Years ago I remember reading a short story called “The Giving Tree” by Shel Silverstein. It went something like this: “Once there was a tree… and she loved a little boy.”

Throughout the story the tree sacrifices parts of ‘herself’ for the boy, so that he will be happy. I wondered if humans could actually be the boy of the story and the tree the earth. When we think about it, Earth does its best to provide us with its resources, but like the boy, our demands on the earth have become too great.

What do we mean by a “greener future”? In truth, a greener future will not only mean finding more enviro-friendly sources of energy, covering cities in solar panels, and planting substantial forests. A greener future means preserving what we take for granted today so that future generations can see what we saw, hear what we heard, and smell what we smelled.

Clearly, our goal should be creating a sustainable future where succeeding generations can live in harmony with nature.

However, this goal will not be easy to achieve. The problem is that humans consume more natural resources than the earth is able to provide. As a result, these resources are rapidly depleting, due to ever-greater demands. Human consumption patterns significantly influence the global environment, and since many of the earth’s resources are non-renewable, it is essential that we preserve them.

The obvious consequences of rampant human population growth and global industrialization include a loss of biodiversity, reduced quality freshwater, ocean acidification, and extreme weather caused by the changing climate. Numerous animals and plants suffer; in fact, many have become extinct due to our selfish indifference.

Building a sustainable or greener future requires our efforts, starting now. Everything we do impacts the planet. Everyday actions, from using lights at home, taking long showers, or using cosmetics, make a difference on Earth. People’s choices — our choices — can lead to the greener future we envision.

“And the boy loved the tree… And the tree was happy.”

Just like the boy in the story, if we learn to appreciate what Earth has to offer, a positive outcome is possible. The earth loves us and it is our shared home. Just like the giving tree, the earth cares for us.

It’s time to offer some kindness in return.

I believe that our future can be made greener by embracing technology rather than shunning it.

As a girl who plans to major in computer science, I’ve had many conversations with my friends about the opportunities to use what I learn to solve issues that plague society today, such as our environmental problems.

One of my favorite things about technology — the reason I was drawn to it initially — is how it can be harnessed to solve almost any issue. For example, technology can be used to improve the medical field as well as help teachers provide different styles of learning to students. When I was introduced to the world of computer science, I was surprised that I had found an area of study where I could creatively solve problems with concrete solutions.

My mother, on the other hand, avoids technology to the extreme. She still sends bills via snail mail, writes her schedule in a paper agenda, and goes to the library to look up information. On the contrary, I use technology to the extreme. My schedule is synced between my computer and phone; I’ve set alarms to go off on certain days; I almost always send email — never snail mail.

It is easy to see why people like my mom fear how technology seems to encompass and control our lives, especially after spending time with people like me. My constant connection often limits social time with my family. I become obsessed with my world and forget to think about what is happening around me. In some sense, technology actually handicaps my desire to stay connected to problems that our world is facing. However, this does not have to be the case.

Technology is the key to a greener future. Gadgets like the Nest Thermostat allow for a decrease in energy consumption that saves both money and the future of our planet. Additionally, a wide range of apps exist to incorporate eco-friendly thinking into everyday life, including Ethical Barcode, which allows users to scan items they are considering buying in order to better understand how “green” the product actually is.

The application Carbon Tracker is a free app that allows you to track your carbon footprint. After charting your carbon emissions, you can set goals to reduce your impact. After using this app, I found myself more motivated to be environmentally aware. It became more like a game, rather than just another task. These apps and devices are things that even people like my mother would use. They do not seek to take over one’s life but rather to help save the planet in easy ways.

With technology, we can brighten our future as whole. While a life surrounded by gadgets might not be for everyone, I think we can all agree that a greener world made possible by technological innovation is positive.

Birds chirp serenely in luminous green treetops on a crisp, autumn day in Yosemite National Park. Under jagged rocks, a rushing river houses thousands of gleaming fish. Ancient sequoias loom majestically overhead.

Under jagged rocks, a rushing river houses thousands of gleaming fish. Ancient sequoias loom majestically overhead.

While idealized, this view of our environment has been contemplated for centuries. Traced back to the Native Americans of the Great Plains from thousands of years ago to the efforts of John Muir in the late 1800s, preservation strikes a deep chord. But what is possible in a world dominated by expanding industry and never-ending technological change?

What many fail to consider is the idea of conservation: a delicate balance between environmental protection and economic advances. This ideal was heavily embraced by Theodore Roosevelt during his presidency in the early 1900s. He created 53 wildlife preserves and five national parks while also endorsing various irrigation and canal projects.

Roosevelt eagerly supported this concept of equilibrium, and rightly so. Both extremes of the argument have faults. On one hand, complete destruction of the land will, of course, lead to loss of life and potential for crises in the near future. Yet, the sweet, placid air of uninterrupted nature has its shortfalls just the same. Advances in society are what have fueled the world to revolutionary heights. Whether the hundreds of thousands of miles of railroad laid down in the Gilded Age or the innumerable dams that have been constructed worldwide, our world has become an interconnected network. If these factors of communication and advancement were removed, the world could no longer thrive.

Today, the Obama administration continues to make decisions and legislation which attempt to sustain a balance between conservation and utilizing the land for resources through various laws and executive orders. As pressure continues to build in the face of economic expansion, the movement continues to hold strong in educating, advocating, and influencing policy makers and companies.

Conservation combines, rather than isolates, the best factors from both extremes of sustainability and use of resources. While hard to believe, nature conservation is not about completely ignoring sustainability or focusing simply on expending resources. Rather, it is about striking a balance — a delicate equilibrium — that will ensure our world continues to be a base for human advancement.

I live in Pakistan, which is the sixth largest country in the world in terms of population, but 34th in area.

Our country is blessed with a lot of resources, but the population is growing. This will be a challenge as it is believed that by 2025 Pakistan will be the largest water-stressed nation in the world.

Since Pakistan’s inception, we have relied on the Indus River. The Indus, affected by climate change, is quickly drying up. Climate change is also manifest in the melting glaciers in the northern mountain ranges of the country. The result is floods that haunt the semi-urban areas of the country every summer.

My maid, Khalda, was a victim of one of these floods. She used to live in a village in Sargodha, Punjab. Her house and her children’s schools were destroyed, and her family was completely helpless after the flood. She, her husband, and their six children spent a week in the stagnant water, lacking resources and food to eat.

Eventually an NGO visited their village and took her family, along with others, to Karachi. After a lot of struggle, Khalda found a small home and jobs for her husband and herself. When the family was stable enough, she let her children go to school.

One day, after a week of working in my home as a maid, Khalda asked for help and money from my mother. She told us that her youngest child was suffering from typhoid. When my father and I looked into this matter, we admitted the child to the hospital. I looked after the five-year-old child’s health every day, but as he was very young, he died.

I felt helpless that a flood changed Khalda’s life; that she lost one of her children and was forced to leave her home. Khalda was completely devastated by grief when she lost her special one. The child’s death made me very upset and I kept questioning why this happened.

This is not just about the suffering of people, but the mismanagement of water. Eventually there will be a lack of water, because it is going to waste.

I felt bad when I saw a child lose his life because of pure ignorance, and worse when I was helpless to stop his suffering, though I tried my best.

There is nothing more vital than life. It is important to install efficient irrigation systems and hydroelectric power systems, and for the Pakistani government to show concern and plan ahead to make our environment sustainable and stable.

We really can’t afford to lose people because of natural disasters that we could control if we were more concerned. It’s high time we started thinking about human life: it is the most important thing in the world.

As our world’s population grows larger, we are faced with crucial dilemmas.

Since the population is growing exponentially, world leaders are faced with the challenge of safeguarding current natural habitats while satisfying their people’s needs.

I find it imperative that alternate technologies are found to replace those which currently deplete our natural resources or contribute to their destruction.

Notably, schools are now switching to tablets and computers as their main mode of teaching. However, I find myself at a disadvantage. I already have contacts; I don’t need to strain my eyes even more because I’m so focused on a screen! I am accustomed to paper in my hands so I make quick notes. Usually I ask for scrap paper, which is counterproductive. I propose that we find an alternative form of paper — not completely switch to electronic devices from paper materials.

Most paper, if not all, comes from trees that take years to grow. Felling so many trees a year has drastically increased the amount of carbon since trees are nature’s regulators of a healthy atmospheric mixture of gas.

Trees are critical to the carbon–oxygen cycle which ensures the balance of carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. The destruction of forests skews this balance. We can renew our forests by halting their mass use for commercial purposes. Wood is used in so many ways around the globe; if a sustainable substitute were found, millions of trees would be saved.

There is a Gujarati proverb which states, “Little drops of water can fill up a big lake.”

Using different kinds of pulp, recycling, carpooling whenever possible, and conserving water use may seem like small contributions, but future generations will thank us. The future could be a world filled with parks, forests, and clean air for all.

People in formerly smoggy cities could spot beautiful constellations on clear, starry nights. Children could play in local playgrounds and parks. Such a beautiful earth would be available for generations to come. To ensure this future, we must seek ways to convert what technologies we have into greener forms.

The earth has existed for over four billion years. Homo sapiens have dwelled here for less than 150,000 years.

The amount of time humans have lived here is minuscule compared to the age of the earth.

Since the earth’s creation, the climate has been changing. Countless climate cycles have been observed and innumerable ice ages have occurred. Today, many top scientists believe that the earth is going into a warming cycle. The questions that can be asked are many, but some of the most pressing are:

Is the earth really heating up?

If so, how much do humans contribute to this?

Is there anything we can do about it?

Climate cycles vary greatly and rarely do what is expected, so it is hard to draw hard conclusions from the evidence. In fact, in the 1970s scientists were afraid that the earth would go into a cooling cycle. Another issue is that there is a lot of data to process and it is sometimes hard to find the correct data.

Humans have only started affecting the climate in the past 100 to 200 years — following the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. Surprisingly, the most drastic climate event in that time frame was the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in 1991. The eruption released 20 million tons of sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere and caused global temperatures to drop one degree Fahrenheit for three years. In three days Mt. Pinatubo released one fifth of the sulfur emissions that would have been released by global industry and transportation in one year.

Nature’s power is shocking; it is one of the largest factors in climate change and had been the only factor for billions of years. Though the common scientific consensus is that humans are affecting the earth, the extent to which we are doing so is very hard to pinpoint. It may be quite low, but it could also be anywhere from 1% to 100%.

I do not think that humans play a large role in climate change. However, I may be wrong. If human activity does affect the climate significantly, then we will have to change the way we use energy. We will have to move away from our current non-renewable energy sources and shift towards the use of renewables. Instead of burning large quantities of oil and coal, we can use more energy from wind, water, and solar power.

If we continue to use coal and oil, we have to find cleaner means of producing them. We would need to put scrubbers inside the smokestacks of plants and produce better filters. Carrying out these reforms would be hard and expensive, but if necessary they should be done. Before we carry out these changes, however, we need to prove that humans have a big effect on the climate and, for now, I’m not convinced.

If it were proven that humans play a large role in climate change, I would change some things that I do. A great way to measure greenhouse gas emissions is carbon dioxide emissions per person per year. The average American is responsible for the release of 19 tons of carbon dioxide per year. That includes heating, food, transportation, and other household activities.

Air travel is very carbon intensive. On the average flight from New York City to San Francisco, three tons of carbon dioxide is released per person! Usually our family goes on an airplane once a year. If I were convinced that climate change is a big concern, I would substitute our annual vacation with a fun trip to a nearby beach. On a larger scale, we could ask people to travel less by air. We could create laws that make air travel more environmentally friendly. We could only fly planes that are filled to capacity, ask people to sit in smaller seats, and eliminate first class to fit more people into every plane. If such action were necessary, these steps would greatly lessen our carbon footprint.

SOURCES:

_{Diggles, Michael. “The Cataclysmic 1991 Eruption of Mount Pinatubo.” U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 113-97 (2005). http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/1997/fs113-97/.}

_{Elizabeth Rosenthal. “Your Biggest Carbon Sin May Be Air Travel.” The New York Times. January 26, 2013. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/27/sunday-review/the-biggest-carbon-sin-air-travel.html?ref=elisabethrosenthal&_r=0}

_{Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Homo sapiens. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1350865/Homo-sapiens}

_{Klimont, Z., S. J. Smith, and J. Cofala. “The last decade of global anthropogenic sulfur dioxide: 2000–2011 emissions.” Environmental Research Letters. 8 (9 January 2013). stacks.iop.org/ERL/8/014003.}

Levitt, Steven D., and Stephen J. Dubner. Superfreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes, and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance. New York: William Morrow, 2009.

Earth, the only living planet, is being destroyed by its own dwellers.

We have made devices that release halocarbons, which destroy the ozone layer. Many holes have formed in the ozone, which allow UV and infrared rays to reach earth, causing skin cancer and worse. We are burning coal and oil to produce electricity that produces CO2, forming a shield around the ozone layer, trapping the UV rays on the earth for several years. These, and many other reasons, are why we should think of ways and means to sustain our earth.

Scientists have predicted that between 2030 and 2040 there will be such a hot, killing summer that everything will burn. Food will be scarce so people will fight each other for resources, creating chaos all over the gracious planet.

Augustin Mouchot was a great scientist. I came to know Augustin Mouchot from watching a National Geographic program on television called COSMOS. Mouchot made a very important discovery about solar energy and created a solar generator. In 1878 there was a Universal Exhibition in Paris where Mouchot presented his generator. He said that the world’s coal would run out one day, but the sun will remain forever. He used his solar generator to run a refrigerator and other electrical appliances. It was a great invention, but due to lack of technology at the time, it did not work properly. However, his invention wasn’t a waste — it inspired many others to create advanced solar devices.

I think scientists should invent devices that need less electricity or fuel. A good example is the hybrid car. It has a large battery which charges itself while the car engine is running and helps decrease fuel consumption.

Humans are the main cause for increased climate temperatures. We should not pollute our homelands, should not cut down forests and jungles and destroy natural habitats. We shouldn’t throw hazardous chemicals into our rivers. All of this affects our environment. We should recycle and care more about animals and other living things around us. We have endless opportunities to change our lifestyle: using less electricity, wasting less water, planting trees, minimizing the use of paper, and avoiding using plastic bags. These small actions make a big difference.

I believe people should use available resources in constructive and productive ways to sustain our beautiful Mother Earth. If we do not save and conserve our planet there will be no place where humans or other life can live. Saving our planet is not only important for me but for everyone. It’s time that we do something. If we don’t, we will suffer. Time passed never comes back.