By Tayo Ogunbiyi
SIR: Though it rained recently in some parts of the country, experts have, however, maintained that the intense heat wave being currently experienced across the country might persist for some time.
Experience from across the globe actually validates the reality of the menace of excessive heat. In August 2003, Northern France had a nasty experience of rare extreme heat for over three weeks. The result was catastrophic as it led to the death of over 15,000 people. Same year in England, over 2,000 people died as a result of a 12-day heat wave.
In Lagos, the situation is even more unpleasant as the metropolis is presently experiencing a protracted heat wave which has ushered in strange hot weather with temperature over and above 32.2oc.
Experts have offered useful tips on how to keep abreast of the situation. A good eating habit, effectively complemented with drinking of plenty of hygienic water at intervals, has been acknowledged as quite essential. Reduction in the intake of caffeinated or intoxicating drinks is also one of the recommended antidotes to the consequences of excessive heat. Also, ensuring good ventilation in residential places as well as regular bathing at nights has been recommended
It is, however, important to emphasize that, being a direct consequence of the global warming challenge which the entire world is currently contending with, long term solutions as against immediate remedies would be more appropriate and effective in dealing with excessive heat. In this respect, one would like to make a strong case for tree planting.
Trees have been scientifically proven to be very useful as first line of defence in the fight against global warming as they absorb the carbon-dioxide in the atmosphere, replenish the air with oxygen and also contribute immensely to the aesthetics of the environment. They also check erosion and stem the tide of windstorm by serving as wind breakers. On another note, trees are brilliant cleansers. They remove other pollutants through the stomates in the leaf surface. It is considered that trees act as what some call a Carbon Sink, storing the gas in its branches, trunk, leaves etc. instead of leaving the gas to become free floating and further polluting the atmosphere. In this natural function alone, trees directly reduce the growth of the Greenhouse Effect and counteract global warming.
Trees also serve the purpose of overall air quality enhancer, and a much needed one at that. They provide natural habitats for many small creatures, and reduce the temperature by providing shade. All in all, a tree is not just a beautiful work of nature standing amongst the many phenomenal picturesque settings of this world; it is a powerful and vital tool for human survival.
Modern science recognizes that without tree manufacturing oxygen, life on earth would have been impossible. As the world concentrates on global warming and its adverse effects on climatic changes, it is imperative that the public be more educated and enlightened on efficacy of trees. Although planting of trees has long been a suggestion to better the earth, there is a desperate need for sustained action at making it not just an annual ritual as it is being practiced in most states of the country but what everybody, especially land owners, must embrace if we are to take the decisive trend of climate change serious.
Hopefully, in our country, more individuals, corporate bodies, community leaders, religious bodies and NGOs would give sufficient attention to tree planting. In view of the enormous importance of trees to the quality of human life, it would be foolhardy to neglect this simple and less expensive venture that is naturally endowed with life giving aura.
- Tayo Ogunbiyi, Ministry of Information & Strategy, Alausa, Ikeja.
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