by Wu Yingyi
PureTravel Writing Competition 2025
Please be kind to the mysterious nature
Honestly, climate change is not new to me. However, nature is full of secrets. Sometimes it gives us stunning views, and sometimes it gives us unexpected ‘surprises’. Actually no one knows when it will turn our lives upside down ,and when it will come to an end.
I remember when I first heard about it in primary six, but at that time I didn’t even give it a thought — what is climate change? What does it mean to me? Till I saw a video about wildfires in Canada.
The terrifying beauty in the video really scared me. The wildfires began as a distant glow, but it speared like spilled ink when the wind pushed it forward— yet it’s inevitable. Trees were burnt with orange flame , heat immediately covered the surroundings making it difficult to breathe. The cracking sounds of the trees and the bright red flame were significant at midnight. I couldn’t help thinking how helpless were those animals living in the forest ? Were they still alive? Those questions caused me to get deeply into my mind and started looking back. Then I realized that we , human beings, are facing a difficult time. Not only the animals, but we also did — climate change .
Though I didn’t experience it, the recording was shocking and heartbreaking. Seeing the forest burning day after day and firefighters rushed into the blaze to put out the fire. However, many parts of the forest still remain in flames. That time I realised how tiny we are and we are even weaker than we thought. This recording takes me back to 2018. That year I was just 9 years old . As usual, I woke up at 6:00, and all of a sudden windows started popping. I looked out the window. The horrible rain was coming. Then I turn on the television and notice that Typhoon Mangkhut has come.
That day the government had announced that all the classes were cancelled due to Typhoon Mangkhut. I was really surprised and excited at first, as I did not need to go to school ! How amazing I thought, but later on when the typhoon was coming, I’m not excited anymore, in fact I’m frightened . Wind hit the window strongly and the thunderstorm was as loud as a screaming beast. Outside the window, trees were whipping back and forth and nearly falling down. Trashes were scattered throughout the ground. How terrible it was ! After the typhoon was over, I went down the street and all I saw was a messy pile of trash and damaged infrastructures, windows, trees.
Since that I started searching and finding out what’s causing these destructive disasters and how it occurs. Through months and years, I recognize that humans are responsible for these disasters. Why? It is because human activities trigger and intensify the climate change, leading to the rise of global temperature ( 1-2 °C each year) . Increase of temperature will not only cause the occurrence of typhoons but also lead to the rising of sea level , disrupting the ecosystem and altered weather patterns.
These natural phenomena led to serious loss of life and property for both humans and animals. Which means that all living things will suffer in the future if we do nothing, but keep destroying the environment. If so we will lose our homeland as well as the wildlife, they will lose their habitat too !
Therefore, it’s time for us to take action to protect our Motherland! Do something to help, and stop hurting the Earth. It shall be hard to think of a way to help, how about starting with something simple and easy. For example, saving energy during the morning , stopping wasting water, reuse or recycling unwanted clothes and materials. Remember every small step led to a great change , so let’s work together to make our future better and brighter !
Photo by Carl Kho on Unsplash
