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Lesson from coronavirus and a need to stop environment degradation


             Lesson from coronavirus we must not forget


With increasing threat of a global pandemic and rising death toll across the world, people wonder what the flaw embedded in human interaction with nature is there to cause such a massive emergence of the deadly virus. Is this a high time to think and re-assess our behavior with the mother nature and our planet to which we used as our captive for the exploitation of resources rather than viewing it as our savior. We failed to grasp communication from nature and our natural environment as to what messages are transmitting to us in the form of recurring pandemic around the world. Whenever a new pandemic outbursts, we engage ourselves in discovering remedy and after getting rid of it, we forget everything and again plunges into the blind race of reckless damaging of our environmental balances, thus waiting for the next such outbreak of a pandemic. Needless to say, every 100 years, the cycle of global pandemic repeat itself, yet we have learned nothing from it.

          Environment degradation and climate change

          The COVID 19 pandemics have been brought about by humanity by constantly disturbing ecological cycles. Similarly, climate change is being driven by the unrelenting exploitation of natural resources and deforestation. Our need to consume more and more is actually starting consuming our earth which is our home. Emission of greenhouse gases, raising the level of the ocean, melting of glaciers, drought, famine, and the unseasonal storm is some manifestation of impending disaster more fatal than coronavirus pandemic.

          A number of us may have realized the bliss of proximity with nature during this pandemic while living in isolation. The only thing during this difficult time soothed us to see nature in its diverse color. While everything was on standstill, nature began its expression in pure form. Significant improvement in air quality, resulting in cool breezing, and the songs of birds flying in utter freedom, the transparent water of rivers gradually re-appeared that connected us with nature. These things that were real blessing have been ignored by us in the name of material prosperity. The pandemic, in fact, allowed us to re-think and ignite transformation within us. To change our perspective towards nature and to re-define the meaning of prosperity.

          We are on the verge of collapse of the life support system due to environmental degradation

          George Monbiot an iconic environmental writer, a conservationist outlines the period of the current pandemic as an opportunity to reset our environmental behavior. As we have seen that social distancing, sanitizing, isolation have become a new normal these days, which seems to be last very long. George Monbiot says if one virus can make a radical change, imagine the changes that can be wrought by the steady collapse of the life support system by climate change that we are facing. A global shortage of food grains due to a persistent reduction in harvesting would potentially threaten our livelihood. It has been predicted that climate breakdown shall severely impact global harvesting and the scale of the fight for food grain shall be so much that the present crisis of pandemic would look small.

     The unnatural way of economic prosperity leading to environment degradation

The the whole concept of material prosperity is based upon degrading the environment, we live in. In this process, we overturned the genuine concept of health and happiness. In the rat race for more and more economic development among the nations of the world, we are damaging the very essence of elements of life for that the only planet earth is presumed worth of survival of life in the universe.
Apart from human beings, nature created several other species on the earth which have equally been bestowed by nature to survive on its rich resources and to co-exist with human beings. In fact, all these creations, contribute to a conducive environment altogether for the survival of life on this planet, but the greed of humanity degraded the bio-diversities resulting in the mass extinction of several species. Can we imagine the damages it caused to the ecological balance?
 
The way out is need for transformation and to stop environmental degradation
          The pandemic has re-enforced the need for transformation in our approach towards nature. People are now realizing extensively the importance of environmental protection. This is why we are witnessing increasing activities of environmentalists, engaged in protest march, revolution, mass awareness program. The world data says that forests house 80% of land-based animals and birds and it is a part of humanity’s life support system. They absorb greenhouse gases, stop soil erosion and limit harmful zoonotic diseases. Agriculture, livestock farming, and mining amount to half of the deforestation of the world which endangered several animals living therein. Since human beings started felling trees, 46% of the earth’s tree cover has been destroyed. Up to 20% of greenhouse gas emissions annually are due to forest cover loss.
          Conclusively we can say that we must act collectively for the common good. The past few decades were of selfish individualism. If anything that inspires us to break out this behavior will help us dealing with the greatest threat we have ever faced, the danger of losing an environmental life support system. 

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