Save the Earth: Address the Root Causes

The earth is hurting. The fires, the viral outbreaks, devastating floods, destructive hurricanes - these are all signs. And if we don't recognize the signs, we are fools!

Just like the human body manifests signs when coming down with an illness, so does the earth. At a much larger scale. When we see the signs in our bodies, we visit a doctor. We try to find a cure. Some illnesses are small. Swallow a couple of tablets, and life is back to normal. Some illnesses are debilitating. They need a long term solution. A solution that works from the root. Holistic healing, if you will.

That is the state of the earth right now. We need to look at holistic measures to restore the earth to its healthy state. The time for stopgap solutions is passed.

No more time for Band-Aid measures. It is time to attack the root causes.

There are tons of things that can be fixed at the root level. I will examine a few here in the hope that more people will acknowledge this, and it becomes a movement.

A Tree for a Tree Leads to a Forest

According to global warming studies, deforestation is one of the biggest drivers for global warming and environmental degradation. Wikipedia states:

This deforestation is the most significant aspect of land use change affecting global warming. The main causes are: deforestation through permanent land use change for agricultural products such as beef and palm oil (27%), forestry/forest products (26%), short term agricultural cultivation (24%), and wildfires (23%).[

Unless we earthlings as a body say that we will not use paper anymore, or print any more books, or build any wooden furniture, or eat much (more on the effects of population later) let's face it, trees will be cut. What can we do?

We can establish rules that say that for each tree that is cut, a fresh sapling HAS to be planted. A rule. No questions asked. No excuses.

This may not solve all problems. Many saplings may die. And for a sapling to grow to a full glorious tree may take years.

Yet, this is better than nothing. At least, it sets the wheels in motion. At least, it gives the earth a chance to a fresh start.

The power of this suggestion is not to be trivialized. Don't think of this as an activity in tiny pockets. If well implemented across the globe, it has the power to change the landscape of the earth.

There are enough examples of single families or single humans who have made reforestation their mission, and created a flourishing habitat for local flora and fauna armed with sheer dedication over the years.

Take the case of Jadav Payeng. One man. One mission. To save the earth. Working alone painstakingly over 30 years, he built a small forest by himself. This forest is now inhabited by so many species of trees and so many different animals. Just reading about it is heartening. Read all about his work over 3 decades here. What this one man's sustained effort has done to the ecological balance in the area is nothing short of a miracle.

If one man can do it, imagine what an entire country can achieve. If one country can do it, imagine what the whole world can achieve!

Shut Down Plastic Factories

Plastic waste disposal and plastic pollution is a growing problem. We all know that plastic takes the longest time to decompose. We are not talking a few weeks or months. We are talking decades, centuries even.

A plastic cup that we use to drink water once and throw away apparently takes fifty years to decompose! Imagine that kind of junk accumulating on earth.

Worse, this 'I refuse to decompose' waste ends up in places that can cause acute trouble. Already, many aquatic and even terrestrial animals are ingesting or getting stuck in plastic articles and dying in droves. How can the human race live with this kind of murder on their hands?

One might argue that it is not intentional. But aren't we all in a way guilty of being accomplices to murder by continuing to propagate and use such 'deadly' material? Or guilty by standing by and watching?

Widespread use of plastics did not occur until the mid-1900s. In fact, plastics became highly popular only after World War II. So this earth-disrupter is a relative newbie. This also means that eradicating plastic will probably not be as crippling as it sounds at first suggestion.

There are so many messages about banning single-use plastics. So many campaigns to educate the masses against the use of plastic. Great!

But...plastic bags and tons of other plastic objects continue to be manufactured. As long as something is available and accessible, it will be used. This is a human tendency. And yet, if something goes away, we will adapt soon enough to a different way of life.

Haven't we heard of the saying, 'nip it in the bud'?

What stops us from absolutely doing away with the manufacture of plastics across the earth? If there is no plastic, no one can use it.

Of course, this will cause great trouble to a race that is obsessed with plastic. In our daily lives for day-to-day usage, or for industry-level consumption. From simple everyday use objects such as cups, spoons, forks etc., to industrial usage such as automobiles, construction, computers, pipes, to name a few.

Obviously all of these uses cannot be replaced overnight. But if replacing plastic is treated as a critical necessity, and there is enough backing with powers that be, alternatives will be found soon.

And the discomfort due to non-availability will be temporary. We will adapt. The human species has shown the greatest propensity for adapting to any circumstance. Doing away with plastic is not a life-threatening condition. We will get over it.

But the earth, the poor earth will breathe much easier because of this.

Stating the Obvious - Invest in Renewable Energy Sources

A renewable energy source as the name suggests is energy that is generated from sources that will never run out. Prime examples are Solar and Wind Power. Both these resources are available to us in unlimited supply.

Yet, the world only produces approximately 10% of its total power needs using renewable sources. The reason for this is obvious. Producing power from these sources is still a 'research in progress' domain and takes a lot of money and space to generate.

As a result, the easier and time-tested options such as fossil fuels are being used.

Fossil fuels are one of the biggest pollutants on earth, and are single-handedly responsible for producing unimaginable amounts of carbon dioxide that raises the global temperature.

My worry here is - the earth is dying. Humans are being impacted by all the pollutants released by fossil fuels. The earth is being impacted due to large scale mining for these fossil fuels. The delicate balance is nature is being disrupted. The damage is huge.

We are not talking about a tiny blip on the 'damage scale' radar. We are talking about a huge curve.

And yet, we worry about the cost involved in setting up renewable energy sources?

What would it take to put the might of the developed countries of the earth into aggressively working towards generating and propagating clean energy?

For example, how does one produce and store solar power in places up North where the Sun is a rare visitor? We may not have the answer today. But when I look at how far the storage capacity for data has come, from city-sized data storage rooms, to a small cell phone in our hands, I think we can think of similar storage solutions for power as well.

One thing that the human race has proved time and again over millennia is that if we can dream it, we can make it happen.

What if we can store solar power in tiny cells? What if solar power can easily be transported from the sunny tropics to the cold and dark regions at the tips of the northern hemisphere?

And if clean energy is available at affordable rates, no one in their right minds will insist on fossil fuels and other polluting sources of energy.

And the Biggie...the Herd of Elephants in the Room: The EXPLODING Human Population

According to Wikipedia:

It took over 200,000 years of human history for the world's population to reach 1 billion, and only 200 years more to reach 7 billion.

At this rate, the earth will just heave and collapse under the weight of humans.

Say what you will, this is the single largest contributor to the destruction of balance on earth.

What Does Such a Burgeoning Population Mean?

More people means we need more of everything:

- More land to live on

- More destruction of forests to make way for agricultural land to feed the masses

- More man-animal conflicts due to invasion of forests by humans

- More animals disappearing off the face of the earth due to indiscriminate killing

- More pollution due to greater transportation needs to serve the masses

- More fossil fuels being burnt, more plastics being generated, more forests being destroyed

Do you see? All the causes of global warming and damage to the environment are a direct result of the growing population. Isn't it obvious then what needs to be tackled first?

The list of things that are going wrong on earth due to aggressive human breeding is just endless.

Just how much resources can the earth provide?

If overpopulation is the single largest cause of all earth's problems, isn't that the first thing to tackle?

Unfortunately, reasons such as ignorance, religion, or just plain apathy get in the way of curbing the rising population. Will baby steps help here?

According to the 2019 birth rate trend reports, there is a slight decline in global birth rates. Unfortunately though, there are already so many people on earth that this miniscule decline may not be enough to cause a shift in the earth's ecological balance.

We will have to supplement this birth rate decline with steps of our own to be able to effect any sort of tangible change in the earth's environment.

It is estimated that with the current rate of birth, the earth might be severely overpopulated by the 2050s.

How do we stem this explosion of humans?

The answer seems obvious. Stem the birth rate. Easy. Mere education and handing out of benefits are clearly not helping curb the birth rate. Are stricter laws necessary? Naturally, this will not go down well with people. There are severe emotional, cultural, and religious barriers to the implementation of any such drastic birth control measures.

This is a tough fight, and this is the most important one. All other measures such as clean energy etc. will just be a drop in the ocean as long as humans continue to multiply on earth.

How do we Solve These Problems?

Obviously, none of these are easy problems to solve. There is a growing awareness about all of this, and pockets of activities are underway to tackle all these and several other problems that stare at the earth today.

However, the activities haven't picked up enough momentum. At the current slow pace of such efforts, the earth does not have enough time to regenerate and heal itself.

What we need is a very aggressive approach to solve the problems.

While I am no expert, my two cents about how to go about this are noted below. We need a top-down and bottom-up approach.

Grassroots Activism

Grassroots level activities need to be promoted. The common man has to invest time and effort in working towards solving some of these problems. We must not underestimate the power of the masses in creating movements that will change the way the world functions.

For example, if all citizens of all countries decide to absolutely stop using any kind of plastic, that would be a powerful change. Plastic industries will have no choice but to shut down.

Sounds Utopian? It won't, if we remember that we are probably a hair's breadth away from mass annihilation of the human race itself if we continue our irresponsible behavior.

If every family on earth plants and tends to just a couple of trees in their lifetime, that in itself will help in greening the earth to a large extent. The current population is 7.8 billion. Even if a billion of these plant trees today, and even if 50% of the trees survive in 10 years, the earth would be a greener place!

If every family decides to have a single child, and adopt if they want more, the population problem will be addressed to a large extent.

Movements Driven by Power Centers

There are two major power centers worldwide. Political power holders and religious power holders. Both of these sets of people have the kind of influence that is unimaginable. A single decree by these power centers can work miracles.

Imagine if these powerful influencers came together for greater good! Again, sounds Utopian. But let us not forget that we are heading towards mass extinction of the human race itself if we don't take drastic measures.

Just hypothetically, if various religious heads said that plastic use is against certain religious principles, the use of plastic will reduce literally overnight. Think about it!

The Final Word

This article is not addressed to any single leader. It is addressed to all of humanity. If enough people believe that the earth's environment is under attack, and that natural balance needs to be restored urgently, a movement will start.

What we need is for humanity to admit guilt for the havoc that human greed is wrecking on the earth.

Recognition and admission of guilt are the first steps. We can then take measures to contain the damage. It will be a natural fallout of admission of guilt.

Climate change and global warming are no longer someone else's problem. At this rate, the human race itself is in danger of extinction.

We should all be very scared. If the Mother Earth decides to take matters into her own hands, the fury she will unleash upon us will be unimaginable. Today, she is giving us major warnings in terms of all the natural calamities befalling the human race.

Mother Earth won't be patient for long!