The most expressive event that preceded the Copenhagen Climate Summit (this week) was the “Mount Everest Summit”. The Nepalese government thus held its cabinet meeting in preparation for the climate summit on a mountain plateau in the shadow of Everest, and warned of the dangers of global warming and its impact on the process of snow and glacial melt in the Himalayan region. The Nepalese government then approved a plan for the reforestation of 40 percent of the country's surface area and chose one of the most effective methods to combat global warming on our planet, since trees protect soil from erosion and desertification, and produce pure oxygen for the benefit of human beings, while storing carbon emissions. Nepal thus placed the concept of a “green base” over a white carpet. It is perhaps worth mentioning that before the Everest meeting, there was the underwater cabinet meeting of the Maldives, to warn of the threats to island-states from rising ocean levels. The Copenhagen summit, which opens today, is aimed at protecting the planet and its vast wealth of biomass, biodiversity, and ecological diversity, which are unique among the other known planets of the universe. Ultimately, the summit aims at saving mankind from its repeated and persistent transgressions against nature, after it weakened the latter through excessive exploitation. Mankind has thus upset nature's ecological balance, damaged the components that make up the planet's ecosystems and transformed the atmosphere into a vast bog of deadly poisons, while emptying its interiors of resources and raw materials that have led civilizations to their peaks, and still are. Needless to say, this has caused human and material losses, both direct and indirect. The price that the planet's inhabitants pay as a result of environmental pollution is tantamount to a slow suicide, if not of the present generations, who have become black holes in terms of the exploitation of nature, then of future generations. Following the extinction of many species of birds, mammals and fish, and thousands of species of plants and forests, the human race has become susceptible to many catastrophes, diseases, epidemics and wars that push millions of humans into displacement, ecological immigration and even death. Perhaps, in a generation or two from now, the world will start setting up human reserves, akin to the natural reserves that are now being established for the animals, birds and fish threatened with extinction. The Copenhagen Climate Summit is essential. It will help the world decide whether it is ready to pledge to save the world and the planet. Environmental experts and scientists do not have any more doubt that human activity has directly contributed, since the middle of the eighteenth century, to rising temperatures, something that compels humans today to seek to rescue their future, and that of their children. Moreover, many NGOs, officials, experts and laypeople are now fully aware of the weakness of the icecaps and the glaciers, whose melting is causing the sea levels to rise. The Maldivian president warned: “Our country is currently suffering, despite the fact that the average global rise of temperature is 0.8 degrees. This has led to the erosion of shores, the bleaching of our coral reefs, and an increased salinity of water and intensity of hurricanes. If the average temperature rise reaches 1.5 degrees, this effectively means that many island-nations will be wiped off the map”. Meanwhile, the media is more aware of the officials who place what is in the interest of their countries' economies above saving the planet. Thus, the global media campaign that is accompanying the Climate Summit is voicing stronger warnings than other parties against the consequences of failure. In fact, a simple comparison between the conditions of many regions years ago with those at present reveals the sheer size of the Earth's tragedy. Hence, the expression “climate refugees” was not coined by coincidence, since many men and women were uprooted from their environments, because of natural disasters, including 20 million people in 2008 - a number that may easily increase tenfold by 2050. Some of the figures are in fact crushing. For instance, emerging countries will have to pay 1.5 trillion dollars annually to protect themselves from global warming and to deal with its effects. In addition, 13 million hectares of forests are disappearing annually, which is the equivalent of one football field every two seconds. Tree logging alone is responsible for 20 percent of harmful emissions, not to mention the hazards that deforestation causes to biodiversity. Also, 38 percent of the species being monitored by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) are threatened with extinction. One of eight birds has already gone extinct, in addition to one in four mammals, and one of three amphibians. Copenhagen is not the last resort. Meanwhile, the countries of the South are at the forefront of those damaged by global warming. The economy of poor countries bears the brunt ten times more than the rich countries economies. Also, the fatal dangers, as a result of flooding, have increased by 13 percent between 1990 and 2007. In Sudan, for example, desertification has spread in 40 years by about 100 kilometres to the south, while precipitations fell by 70 percent, threatening to reduce the cultivation of grains there. Lake Chad, meanwhile, has lost 95 percent of its surface area. While its shores used to cover 4 countries, Niger, Nigeria, Chad and Cameron, it only exists in two countries today: Niger, and Nigeria. In this world, there are men and women who are scientists, politicians, industrialists and economic warriors. These are all on the move to save the planet. There is a stunning and hopeful dynamism. Some are watching and warning, while others are analysing and attempting to forecast. From the smallest to the biggest, everyone is monitoring the frail nature being greedily attacked by the exploiters. Yet, environmental awareness has started to spread. The eco-cities, despite their rareness, are using clean and renewable energy, and adopting environmental engineering, all in a bid to build a clean planet. For instance, environmentalists are citing Masdar City in Abu Dhabi as an example of a city that does not burn any fossil fuels and a model for environmental conservation. Will the politicians consider themselves to be a part of this world, or will they go on destroying the blue planet? Perhaps some are even trying to exploit the vast mines under the ice of the Arctic! This would only upset the planet's gravity!
