[Melting Glacier ice, Photo Credit to Wikimedia commons]

As the relentless effects of global warming continue all over the world, the melting glaciers and rising sea levels loom larger than ever before.

With each passing year, the world inches closer to a critical tipping point, urging humanity to confront the severe reality of changing climate and take immediate action to preserve the future of the planet. 

The European Space Agency says ice loss from Greenland and Antarctica has increased fivefold since the 1990s, and the rate of ice loss has increased sevenfold.

In 2019, ice loss was at its peak, a loss of 612 billion tons.

Especially, Greenland lost 444 billion tons of ice because of the summer heatwave in the Arctic.

The amount of it can flood the entire California state.

The rate of sea level rise is accelerating owing to global warming. 

Melting of the polar ice sheets has caused a 21 mm rise in global sea level since 1992.

Almost two-thirds (13.5 mm) of which has originated from Greenland and one-third (7.4 mm) from Antarctica.

In 2021, the global sea level set a new record high, 3.8 inches above 1993 levels.

Sea-levelrise increases the humidity of the earth leading to climate change.

Economically, More than 300,000 of today's coastal homes, with a  market value of about $117.5 billion, are at risk of chronic inundation in 2045.

Approximately 14,000 coastal commercial properties, currently assessed atroughly $18.5 billion, are also at risk during that time frame.

The properties at risk currently house 550,000 people.

April 22 was Earth Day.

But despite it being Earth Day, the Earth’s ice sheets are melting away.

Back in the 1960s, there was a lack of environmental raw materials and movement.

Many people, including American college students and Gaylord Nelson, the father of Earth Day, have started demonstrating their environmental efforts.

Nelson served two terms as Governor of Wisconsin, where he began his environmental legacy and earned the title "Conservation Governor."

In 1962, Nelson was elected to the U.S. Senate and worked for 18 years to bring environmental issues to the national stage.

On April 22, 1970, Americans marched and demonstrated for the environment.

Ever since, various campaigns and movements have been held to save the planet.

For example, there is a “Think Eat Save" campaign. 

Think Eat Save is a campaign made by the Save Food Initiative, which consists of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization and the U.N. Environment Program.

It means that people should reduce the food that is discarded unconsciously (think), that all people who eat food should participate (eat), and should reduce food waste and save it effectively (save) to save food.

Another example is the “Surfers Against Sewage” campaign.

Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) is one of the environmental organizations created in 1990 by surfers from the towns of Saint Agnes and Postowan in England.

SAS conducts beach cleaning campaigns across the UK every spring and autumn in April and October.

With all these programs and efforts, the urgency of the situation cannot be overstated.

Time is of the essence, and the actions put together today will determine the world for future generations.