India, April 22 -- By Divya Jain Such initiatives are key to fighting the issue. And, they must be set in motion now. According to NASA, 2019 was declared the hottest year ever with average global temperatures recorded at 0.98-degrees Celsius warmer than the 20th century. Even forests are disappearing at an alarming rate; our planet lost 1.3 million square kilometres of forest area in 15 years (1990 to 2015), according to the World Bank data. For an easy reference, the total area lost is larger than South Africa. The reasons for extreme shifts in temperatures are many, including deforestation and global greenhouse emissions. Along with rising temperatures, other effects of climate change are warming oceans, melting glaciers, decreasing se...