Nature’s revenge
A landmark UN
report on the present state of Nature has delivered a powerful and timely
warning by stating that humanity is squandering the natural capital that has
allowed society to thrive, driving a million species to the brink of extinction
in the process. A 132-country meeting validated a Summary for Policymakers of
the report forged by 450 experts. It says relentless plundering and poisoning
of Earth’s bounty in the shape of water, wildlife, soil and forests threatens
societies as much as climate change. In fact, the report states, climate change
and biodiversity loss feed off each other in a vicious cycle. It turns out
humanity is eroding the very foundations of our economies, livelihoods, food
security, health and quality of life worldwide. The accelerating pace of
extinction of species that is now ten to hundreds of times faster than over the
last 10 million years could tip Earth into the first mass extinction since the
dinosaurs died out 66 million years ago. Halting and reversing these dire
trends will require “transformative change”, i.e. a sweeping overhaul of
production and consumption of almost everything, especially food. Humankind’s
growing footprint and appetites have compromised the natural renewal of
resources that sustain civilisation if not life itself, starting with fresh
water, breathable air, and productive soil. Deforestation and industrial
agriculture are major drivers of species and ecosystem decline. They also contribute
at least a quarter of man-made greenhouse gas emissions. Global warming, which
scientists want to cap at a rise of 1.5 degrees Celsius, is pushing thousands
of animals and plants out of their comfort zones and intensifying heat waves
and droughts that are fuelling unprecedented wildfires in many parts of the
world. In other words, human activity is rapidly destroying the natural world
upon which our prosperity, and ultimately our survival as a species, depends. There
is no certainty in the long run, if present trends described in the report
continue, how serious the risks to human life and survival may turn out to be. To
put the issue in perspective, every extinction of a species portends a
disturbance in the natural order, symbiosis and food chain, which will
ultimately impact all human life too. Interestingly, indigenous peoples, the
report found, have slowed the rate of degradation of Nature across the quarter
of Earth’s land mass over which they have some form of tenure, using as they do
traditional knowledge and techniques that ensure sustainability.
Mankind has come
a very long way in the evolution of civilisation. But for at least the last
three centuries, a new phenomenon is the actual source of natural degradation.
This is the modern system of capitalism, driven by the profit motive without
care or concern for the effects of human activity, unfettered exploitation of
natural resources, and the pollution and disturbance of Earth’s ecosystem to an
extent that not only are a million species that are critical to the
continuation of life threatened, eventually this rapacious, irresponsible trend
will end up threatening the survival of mankind itself. Our age, in which our
home, Earth, is being despoiled at an alarming rate, has been dubbed the
Anthropocene Age. It implies that man himself now poses the greatest threat to
life on Earth. Unfortunately, there are Neanderthals like US President Donald
Trump who stalk the Earth, denying the evidence of science to the extent of withdrawing
from the global consensus Paris agreement on climate change. While the UN
report has highlighted the crisis, it remains for mankind as a whole, through
its governments and representatives, to take the hard decisions required to
reverse the present potentially catastrophic trend towards the destruction of
Earth, our mother and life giver.
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