Destruction of the rain forests- the lungs of the Earth; increasing number of human beings fighting for limited resources; growing urbanisation and industrialisation -- more and more cities and factories, cars and other vehicles- churning out smoke and rubbish; polluted rivers and oceans; endangered species of flora and fauna and most serious of all - toxic and radioactive waste.
The warning signs are already here, but we just ignore them. Warming of the Earth's atmosphere, ozone holes over the poles, melting of the polar ice caps and acid rain.
Are the increasing incidences of floods, storms, earthquakes and other natural disasters, the emergence of new deadly and strange diseases - AIDS, the JE Virus, the Nipah virus, Chicken Flu, Mad Cow disease - a sign that Mother Earth has had enough.
Why do we forget that, even though we are separated by man made boundaries - we live on the same Earth and breathe the same air.
Are we really superior to other species of animals?
The way we act sometimes, shows that deep down we are the worst of beasts. If we don't stop to think and act before its too late...
In the end, it might be us the human beings, who come under the endangered list.
When we talk about the Environment and the need to preserve it, many people just ignore it saying:
- It's none of our business;
- It's the Government's Job;
- Why should the Third World worry about polllution when the developed countries are the worst polluters;
- What can we do?
- Leave that to Green Peace and other tree huggers.
.... and so on.
Come on Guys! We can't continue giving excuses. The environment is everybody's business. After all we inherited it from our ancestors and we are only borrowing it from our children.
The fact that the developed nations are the worst polluters doesn't mean that the developing world has to follow them. We should learn from the mistakes that they made and avoid making the same. We can start by teaching our children to recycle, teaching them the wonders of nature and to save energy. We can't leave that to the Green Peace movement. It's everybody's duty.
"The Forest is a peculiar organism of unlimited kindness and benevolence that makes no demand for its sustenance and extends generally the products of its life activity; it affords protection to all beings, offering shade to the axe man who destroys it." -- Gautama Buddha
Tags: Earth Environment
No comments:
Post a Comment