As we slow down, the world around is spring back to life. In Dehradun, an elephant was seen casually walking down a street, and Jalandhar residents were delighted to wake up to the sight of snow-capped peaks of Himachal Pradesh’s Dhauladhar mountain ranges for the first time in decades.

The air quality index in Delhi has drastically fallen as a side effect of the Coronavirus lockdown. The AQI is below 50 across large parts of the capital, and the scary “hazardous” in blood red has turned to a pleasant green “good” on air quality monitoring apps, leaving Dilliwallahs in shock and awe.

The current coronavirus pandemic is a reminder of how we need to use our resources sustainably. For us, hand washing is routine, but for many marginalised people across the world, it’s a luxury. In slums and refugee camps, where supply is erratic they need to ration their water.

In Italy’s Venice, the water in the canals has become clearer since tourists have stopped thronging the city. Residents of China’s Hubei Province have seen the clearest skies in recent memory. Perhaps it’s the planet’s way of telling humans to take it easy on the whole “exploitation of the earth” thing.

With raging bushfires, melting glaciers, and toxic air pollution, our immediate future is looking a lot less like Rivendell and a lot more like Mad Max Fury Road. But along with activists like Greta Thunberg, we need companies to comply. Until someone finds a great way to profit from climate change, it’s unlikely to have the kind of impact we are desperate for.

Apart from their common love for cricket, there are some pretty disturbing parallels between India and Australia. Political as well as public denial of climate change in both countries means a climate disaster like the Australian bushfires could easily happen in India.

Solutions for Delhi’s (and any other city’s) pollution lies in new government policies and programmes – improved public transport, building cycle lanes, a well-thought out ban on plastic. Someone using one less firecracker during Diwali or cycling to work is not going to help.

While cycling in New York, I felt a sense of great pride in being a part of the two-wheeled, non-carbon-emitting vehicle tribe. I realised that maybe it was time to unleash my inner Greta Thunberg on Delhi, a city desperately in need of some eco-warriors. What happened next will shock no one.

As Delhi’s pollution levels escalated post Diwali, I took a bus to the mountains. There are many who’ve left the city permanently to escape its toxic air. But what about the millions who cannot afford this luxury, who live on the roads?

Right-wing, left-wing, or centrists — elite, well-to-do Indians have ecstatically declared their ownership of everything from air and water, to discourse and dispute. Pollution is for the rich to create and the poor to suffer.

A ban on single-use plastic is not something that can be achieved simply by carrying a reusable cloth bag to do your sabzi shopping. The ban will be successful only when a few basics are taken care of: Public awareness campaigns, investing in alternatives, creating an efficient recycling process, and then, systematically, creating economic incentives to switch from plastics.

Tourist trash is becoming a global emergency. In Nepal, 11 tonnes of garbage was collected from the Everest, which included everything from empty oxygen canisters to shrapnel. Manali turns into dump yards every holiday season, and in Goa, almost every beach has been vandalised by garbage.

Ignoring the thousands of clarifications from the Save Aarey movement that it was in no way against the building of a metro shed, the city’s “whatabouters” believe there’s only one thing standing between Mumbai becoming a world-class city of the future and the dystopian nightmare it is today — anti-development hypocrites.

Most of us have probably heard Greta Thunberg’s viral appeal to stop climate change. But few know that she’s not alone in this fight. Joining Greta at the UN climate summit is young Uttarakhand girl Ridhima Pandey, who has been fighting for the environment since she was nine.

Last August, Greta Thunberg was a lone 15-year-old sitting outside the Swedish parliament, with a “School Strike for Climate” placard. A year on, the world is rallying behind her as she leads one of the biggest climate change protests in history. How has this teen managed to do so much in such little time?

Excitement and optimism characterised Steve Irwin’s approach to conservation. But with all that we’ve learned about climate change, habitat destruction, and wildlife extinction in the 13 years since his passing, would he be the same jolly optimist?

World leaders and the common man alike have taken to social media to #SaveTheAmazon. As the outrage escalated, Brazil’s Jair Bolsanaro took a diplomatic U-turn and sent in the military to fight the fires. Donations have now started pouring in from around the world to help those on the ground.

For the past three weeks, the Amazon rainforest, the planet’s lungs, has been on fire, and only recently has the media taken notice, drawing global attention to the crisis. It sounds like an apocalyptic scene out of a blockbuster — but in real life, there are no superheroes to save the day.

This month is likely to be the wettest September in India in over a century, with the average rainfall across the country being 48 per cent above normal. At this point, the question must be asked – in a world impacted by climate change, will disastrous weather events become increasingly commonplace?

The Chennai water crisis has been a wake-up call for many Indians. Those of us who lived somewhere comfortably between “sab chalta hai” and “jugaad” are now a seriously conflicted lot, worried about the future of the planet. If this spurs us into action, eco-anxiety might not be such a bad thing.

Do my dreams of hopping on airplanes to visit places across the world nullify all my efforts to save something for my child? The more I think about it, the more I realise that this question sums up the reality with which I raise my son. I beat my chest about raising temperatures while making sure he is indoors, cooled down by the running air conditioner.

Comparisons have been drawn between Cyclone Fani and a superstorm of a similar scale that struck in 1999. The super-cyclone, sometimes referred to as Cyclone Paradip, hit Odisha and caused the deaths of almost 10,000 people, making it one of the worst natural disasters recorded in Indian history.

From inaugurations of events like the IPL to star-crossed lovers in our films staring dreamily into the distance as the sky lights up with fireworks, we’re hostage to the belief that no celebrations are complete until a few rockets have been fired into the night sky.

In Delhi, winter is now the time of difficult breathing. The throat itches, the eyes water, the nostrils hurt. A city that lends itself so well to the outdoors forces everyone to stay indoors with windows shut tight.

Delhi’s parks have often served as a haven for those marginalised by the city’s many problems – space, pollution, and security. To some, the park is just that stretch of earth that doesn’t smell of burnt rubber. To some, it’s the only place where they can take a deep breath without worrying about the air quality index.

Not only do Indians have an astonishing lack of civic sense, we can also counter it with classic whataboutery. India will continue to top lists of dirtiest cities in the world, until we teach the next generation to pick up after themselves, instead of posing with brooms on social media.

Perhaps the most enduring image from the Kerala floods is of a fisherman selflessly kneeling to help victims climb aboard inflatable boats. It’s true. Some superheroes don’t wear capes.