Timber!

Published October 5, 2019

LAST week, around 15 trees were chopped down in my neighbourhood. It felt like someone was asking us not to breathe any more. This is what man is doing to the Earth and the people living here. It is important for us and those around us to understand that it takes decades for these trees to grow and mature in the soil while it just takes minutes to cut, chop or burn them down.

Every year 10 billion trees are cut rather than planted by man for the sake of short-term gains and means.

Last month about 1,145 sq kms of the Amazon were destroyed by fire. Studies have suggested that reforestation can prove to be an effective way of saving the earth as trees inhale all the unhealthy greenhouse gases emitted by man increasing global warming.

At this devastating position of climate change, it is important to realise that it is equally necessary to look after the existing trees along with planting new ones.

I pray to witness a more serious attitude of people towards climate change and saving our homeland.

Mahrukh Khan

Karachi

Published in Dawn, October 5th, 2019

Opinion

Editorial

Depopulating Gaza
Updated 07 Feb, 2025

Depopulating Gaza

The least feasible "solution" is the Trumpian plan for Gaza’s ethnic cleansing and occupation, which is a non-starter.
‘Pause’ in US aid
07 Feb, 2025

‘Pause’ in US aid

THE impact of the Trump administration’s decision to ‘pause’ all US foreign aid programmes, especially those...
Mobilising opposition
07 Feb, 2025

Mobilising opposition

POLITICS makes strange bedfellows. There has not, for quite some time, been a guest list as intriguing as the one...
No time left
Updated 06 Feb, 2025

No time left

Climate change concerns continue to remain a footnote as politics dominates national discourse, surfacing only when disaster strikes.
Karim Aga Khan
06 Feb, 2025

Karim Aga Khan

PRINCE Karim Aga Khan was a man who straddled various worlds and cultures. Beyond his role as spiritual leader of ...
Cotton production
06 Feb, 2025

Cotton production

PAKISTAN’S cotton crop is on the ropes. The crop output has been falling since FY15, when the country harvested a...