I’ve spent my childhood amidst nature, and the greenness I imbibed has remained with me through my entire life. This is one of the primary reasons why I keep one thing in mind while approving the campus infrastructure of the educational institutions of our group – to have ample green space. The dynamics of our lives are directly controlled by environmental parameters. Coming to the point of building a career in education, career options are endless for students holding a degree in environmental science.

The frightening scenes of Hollywood sci-fi drama ‘2012’ are truths narrated in celluloid. There will come a day when the oceans will rise and the mountains will sink, and the world will come to an end, hailing the truth ‘nature’s power is the ultimate power’.

A career in environmental science is a combination of mathematics, physics, chemistry and analytics. Students pursing bachelor’s degree in environmental engineering or civil, chemical, general engineering can take up this career as an environmental engineer. Environmental engineers need to design systems and processes which can create positive impact, and they also see how the latter will work with components of larger systems like workers, equipments, etc. Programme officers in environment sector oversee the development of the environment based programmes in the organisation. They need to take care of staff development, project management, implementation and regular management of activities. Environmental managers oversee environmental performance of private, public and voluntary sector organisations. The manager’s role will involve examining activities and projects to determine where improvements can be made and ensuring compliance with environmental legislation. As an educationist in the industry for over three decades, I believe each of us should contribute to the best of our abilities, to make the earth greener.

Naturalist and writer John Muir had spent much of his adult life wandering around, and fighting to preserve the wilderness of the western United States. Environmental activist David Brower was associated with wilderness preservation since he began mountain climbing as a young man, and he had warned the scientists around the globe of the possibility of an ozone layer depletion which is a bitter reality today. Indian environmentalist Vandana Shiva’s doctoral dissertation ‘Hidden variables and locality in quantum theory’ has been debated several times, but it has stood the test of time in its power of relevance.

The world is in dire need of environmental awareness. It is our youth whom we should channelize in the right path, so that they become the warriors to conserve nature in order to protect the environment for future generations. The ozone layer that had been thinning since the latter part of the 1970s, about which the scientist had raised an alarm, and ozone-depleting chemicals were phased out worldwide, is finally healing from damage caused by aerosol sprays and coolants, the United Nations report recently confirmed. The upper ozone layer above the Northern Hemisphere should be completely repaired in the 2030s and the gaping Antarctic ozone hole should disappear in the 2060s, according to a scientific assessment recently released.

Surviving amidst ultra-urbanism woven in concrete, what we call our luxury in one word, we are forgetting what the reality is beneath our feet. It is high time we take a positive step to give back to the earth.