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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