Hi, reader! Thank you for clicking on this post. I know you find it a bit vapid and shallow to obsess over paparazzi photos of celebrities, and for good reason! Studies have suggested that the more interested one is in celebrities, the less likely they are to vote, protest, and engage with politics.
But dude, you're only human. Of course you want to look at photos of hyper-groomed, conventionally attractive, famous people! You can't beat yourself up for that. (And of course I want the easy page views that your interest in celebrities provides.)
So I have arrived at a workaround. While you enjoy the following photos of a celebrity, I will sprinkle in some facts about a "real issue" that needs your attention. Because why choose between celebs and global empathy? It's frickin' 2017. We can have everything we want! Pretty photos! Political engagement! All of the above! Woohoo!
With that I present to you: 9 photos of Kareena Kapoor Khan leaving the gym,
and also a few facts about India's contributions to climate change.
1. To understand our contributions to global impending doom, you must first understand what a "greenhouse gas" is. Greenhouse gases are compounds that, when released into earth's atmosphere, start trapping heat in it.
2. So basically: greenhouse gases make the earth's surface hothothot, and therefore contribute to climate change, which has a whole range of disastrous effects, including the eventuality of the earth being uninhabitable.
3. Some ways climate change could kill us all are: food shortages because of extended droughts, coastal floods, epidemics of diseases that resurface as ice-caps melt, oppressive heat waves, and unpredictable natural disasters.
4. Now, a MAJOR source of greenhouse gas emission is the burning of coal to produce energy. And guess which country does a LOT of that? Yeeeeeep. India is the world's fourth largest contributor to global greenhouse emissions!
5. As Modi's government attempts to bring 300 million new Indians access to electricity and as the middle class grows, those emissions are likely to grow too, unless we can significantly reduce our dependence on coal for energy.
6. But there is good news: Last year, India pledged that by 2030, 40% of our energy will come from non-fossil-fuel energy sources. The energy ministry projected we may even overshoot that goal.
7. Also, Modi's government has invested heavily in solar power, unveiled the world's largest solar power plant, and is bringing rural homes access to electricity using solar! Woohoo!
8. But at the same time, India has planned to activate 370 new coal-based power plants by 2025!!! If those get built and activated, we would make the world's OVERALL climate goals impossible!
9. So we're in a really confusing place right now! Because of our massive population and industrial growth goals, our government's attention to the climate in the next few years could basically save or destroy the entire planet. It's a situation we need to ALL be watching closely.
I know what you're thinking. "Cool story, but WTF can I do?" Well, a few things.
• You can reduce your own carbon footprint by making teeny-tiny lifestyle changes.
• If you're up to a bigger change, you can install solar energy panels at home.
• You can continue to educate yourself and your friends, and hold our government accountable to its climate-saving pledges.
• And, if Bebo's more your thang, that's chill too. Here are some more pretty photos of her!