Varin Sikka, Age 15, Khan Lab School, Mountain View, California; Image courtesy from rusticpathways.com

During my spring break earlier this year, I traveled around Asia and experienced firsthand the devastating effects of climate change. In Delhi, the U.S Air Quality Index (AQI) didn't drop below 250 for a single day during my stay. The Southeast Asian skies were laced with dust and ash particles, and hospital wards were filled with patients suffering from smoke inhalation due to wildfires - many of which were human-caused - in countries like Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia. One could look straight at the mid-day sun, obscured by thick layers of pollution. Despite the sun being obscured by the dust, each day that I was in Southeast Asia was scorching, with temperatures nearing 40 ºC every afternoon.

Every year, humanity adds roughly 40 billion tons of carbon dioxide to our atmosphere. Since the start of the industrial revolution, we have emitted a total of over 1,000 billion tons of carbon dioxide. Despite a brief dip in emissions during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, human-caused CO2 levels are on the rise again. Trees have remarkable abilities to absorb carbon, but there simply are nowhere near enough of them in the world. To remove the 40 billion tons of CO2 we produce each year, we would need approximately 1.6 trillion additional mature trees. This is half the amount of trees that already exist in the world today. However, even if we had the ability to plant these, and had the time to wait for these trees to mature, we would still face a land shortage as planting this many trees would require an area equivalent to that of the entire North American continent.

Clearly, it is well past time for us to take substantial action to combat climate change. Reversing its impact will require the same ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit, and focus towards sustainability and survivability that has driven countless innovations in fields like AI software, personal computing, electric vehicles, and reusable rockets. The last decade has witnessed significant progress in green energy, however now we must accelerate these efforts. Societal changes, such as rethinking how we consume energy and produce goods, will also play a crucial role. For instance, constructing energy-efficient buildings, developing roads and infrastructure sustainably, and promoting responsible food production - all without the false promises and greenwashing - could all help minimize our carbon footprint.

While all these societal changes are necessary, we may no longer have enough time to implement them. And yet, the cost of inaction against the issues of climate change is far too high. The immediate need must be to remove excess carbon from our atmosphere, right now. Investing in technology that enables planetary-scale carbon capture and sequestration is essential.

On this Earth Day, I urge our leaders to enforce the Paris Agreement and support the transition to cleaner energy sources and more sustainable consumption practices. Additionally, I call on them to prioritize funding and development for carbon capture technologies just as much as a transition to clean energy. I encourage young entrepreneurs around the world, and especially those here in India, to develop innovative, affordable, and scalable solutions that can remove greenhouse gases from our atmosphere. As the saying goes, let a thousand flowers of bloom; and let the thousand flowers multiply into billions; real flowers, and flowers of our innovation. Together, we can, and must, create a cleaner and healthier future for all.

As a 15-year-old who simply wishes to live in a world as prosperous as the one we all cherish, I implore our leaders to take swift and decisive action. Climate change is not a distant issue; it is happening right now, right in front of us. We owe it to ourselves.