By-
Sudeepto Dixit
The Earth is our home and supports us in all possible ways. The earth is enriched with all entities required for safe, healthy, and joyful living. The Blue Planet has natural vegetation which provides us with the life-giving gas Oxygen and most of our resources. The surface and groundwater present on Earth satisfies our thirst and ensures us relief. We grow our crops on land which is necessary for satisfying our hunger. We have got an adequate atmosphere. The Environment is filled with the fragrance of flowers, the chirping of birds, and the fascinating wildlife. Our happiness and pleasure are directly linked to the environment around us. Without suitable environmental conditions, we can’t be well off.
But currently, we are losing our prestigious ecosystems rapidly. The air is turning poisonous. The land has turned unfit for producing crops. The soil and water bodies are filled with toxic chemicals and effluents, from factories and industries, adversely degrading the aquatic life. The birds cannot take a free flight into the vast sky because their paths are abruptly disturbed by electromagnetic signals. Trees are being cut selfishly to acquire more and more ground for human activities. Wars are being fought recklessly and the environment is getting deteriorated enormously. Nations are in a run to develop nuclear weapons without even paying any heed to their disastrous effects. The supreme cause behind all such behaviour is our greed and complete disrespect towards Mother Earth. We have taken everything for granted and everyone wants to obtain more and more assets even if it comes at the cost of demolition. We must always remember-
“Wars may bring victory but leaves none to celebrate it.”
The insane cutting of forests not only increases global warming and disrupts the ecological balance. But at the same time snatches away the habitats of other creatures. It is the same kind of activity that takes place in a war when the uncontrolled use of arms destroys the residence of innocent people. This not only leads to the migration of animals toward human societies but also contributes to climate change. Trees regulate the water cycle. No trees result in decreased rainfall leading to droughts.
Currently, there are more than 142,500 species on the Red List of IUCN, with more than 40,000 species under extreme danger of extinction. Apart from this trees and animals are also killed for their valuables namely wood of trees such as Shisham, Sandalwood, Dalbergia, tusks of elephants, skins of tigers, horns of white rhinos, skin, and fur of whale shark, etc. and the list continues.
It is a bitter truth that just for some materialistic pleasure, the mercy in us dies and we stop caring about other organisms knowing that all this in turn will affect us only. We must always remember-
“Greed always leaves despair behind.”
Resources are vital for our survival. But at the same time, it is our prime responsibility to use them judiciously. However, Overpopulation and Irresponsible behaviour have been two primary reasons for their depletion at a faster rate.
According to the World Oil Reserves, ‘the world is left with just 47 years of oil at current consumption parameters’. The trouble lies not only in their depletion but also in their consumption.
They lead to pollution and adverse health hazards such as cancer, asthma, fatigue, nausea, irritation, irregular heartbeats, etc. They fill the air with pollutants such as particulate matter (PM), Nitrous oxides (NOx), Carbon monoxide (CO), Sulphur dioxide (SO2), Hydrogen Sulphide (H2S), and other noxious gases. They lead to acid rains, ozone layer depletion, and climate change and so on. Now acid rains cause the darkening of monuments, ozone layer depletion results in penetration of harmful UV rays into the earth’s atmosphere. It clearly picturizes that; One act connects to others and in return magnifies the distressful cycle!
Efforts are continually being made by International Organizations but most of them have been unsuccessful in accomplishing their motives. International initiatives for Environment protection may include The Montreal Protocol (1987), Kyoto Protocol (1997), United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (1992), etc. One big reason for their incomplete success is that the machinery is still weaker at the ground level. If the ground floor of a building is weak, the building can’t stand upright, in a similar way unless and until the initiatives don’t result in a revolution in the society, we won’t be able to reap the seeds of our efforts to protect our environment.
In the present scenario, we need to re-channel the Human-Environment Interaction. In order to save our Earth and in a greater sense ourselves from the atrocities that might occur due to Environmental imbalance, we need a positive step. We need to put aside our satisfaction and think of Mother Earth. We can come up with green zones in our localities for nurturing trees and plants. If we try, we can minimize our power consumption by adopting positive habits such as bicycling, carpooling, and walking on foot for short distances. Awareness programs can be organized by local authorities in each society at least once a week for behavioural change. We can devote two days a month to planting young saplings.
At the same time, a lot lies with the government as well. Government agencies must take seriously strict actions against any infiltration that violates the rules framed for Environment protection. An officer in charge of Environment Welfare can be appointed in each state. We must try to switch more efficiently to non-polluting modes of Energy like solar energy, wind energy, tidal energy, biomass energy, etc. At the root level of every move lies our devotion and dedication for the aim.
IF WE ARE ENTHUSIASTIC AND ENCHANTED FOR OUR EARTH, THE BLUE PLANET WILL REMAIN SECURE FOR BILLIONS OF YEARS IN THE SAME WAY WE DREAMT OFF AND WILL CONTINUE TO NOURISH OUR GENERATIONS WITH JOY AND CARE.
By-
Sudeepto Dixit
B.Sc. (H) Physics, 1st Year
Hansraj College