10 REASONS WHY EARTH WOULD BE A BETTER PLACE IF WE HUMANS WERE NOT HERE

Image Courtesy: Vision Times

February 2019,

            "THE HUMAN RACE MAY LEAD TO ITS OWN EXTINCTION AND THAT SUCH A POSSIBILITY WOULD NECESSARILY BE A BAD THING."

            Opinion pieced by Todd May in The New York Times. A professor of philosophy at Clemson University says humans are destroying the environment and are "a source of devastation of the lives of conscious animals on a scale that is difficult to comprehend." 

            Hey! readers I'm back, so after my last blog was published there was an incident that took place. While promoting my blog on Instagram I found a reader (*page owner of @thethinkschool) who questioned me that don't you think that mother Earth would be a better place to live if we humans wouldn't have existed? And I tried to defend us by saying no it wouldn't. Everything was going well the situation was well under controlled unless he said "Don't you think we humans ruin "everything?". I still tried to defend us by quoting that yes, we ruin thing but still it's because of us the world has become a better place to live, we have developed it. And that was my biggest mistake ever because the next question shot me dead, he simply quoted give me a few reasons that how humans have developed the world. Bang I was speechless and I'm still too. So, hey buddy thanks for an inspiration to write this one that YES, this world would be a better place to live if we humans were not here. If anyone disagrees with me, I'll request you to stay connected till the end of the post and if you still are not convinced then you'll be finding the comments box at the end hit it and I'll be happy enough to be proven wrong.

Image Courtesy: Forbes

            Earth the third planet from the Sun. The only planet to have survivals in it. The only planet having air, water, plants, and life. All of us know this but the point is how many of us care? Earth is home to millions of species of plants and animals. But only one of them dominates it. Us. Its outs cleverness, our inventiveness that have modified almost every part of our planet. We as humans have become dependent on luxuries such as cars, houses, and even cell phones. But what does our love for the manufactured metallics and plastic do to the world's environment?   

            We, humans, emerged as a species for about 200,000 years ago. In the geological time it's really incredibly recent. About 10,000 years ago there were just 1 million us. In 1800 just 200 years ago, we were about 1 billion. By the recent time in 1970 we were somewhat around 50 years back, we were about 3 billion. While at the recent times we are over 7 billion living here. And if this increase will go on like this which will then this number is likely to increase to about 9 billion till 2050 when your children's or more likely children of your children will be living over here. It's just an assumption but somewhere around the end of this century there would be about 10 billion of us living here or probably more of us.

           

Image Courtesy: Kids Discover

             Human activities can be directly attributed as a cause of extinction for hundreds of species in the past 2 centuries, as compared to the natural extinctions in millions of years. As we head in this 21st century I can say that we humans have changed this world in unprecedented ways. 

           

            Human impact on the environment has become one of the main topics for university staff all over the world. While they all are searching for the answers, the public needs to perform its part. At least you need to be aware of all the factors affecting our world's environment and changing it. We need to be known to all those factors and need to spread and acknowledge people worldwide about it.

Image Courtesy: Google Images

            We have got to where we are today through several civilizations and society shaping events. Most notably we have gone through the industrial revolution, the green revolution, the white revolution, the agricultural revolution, the public health revolution, and on the top the scientific revolution. In 1980 there were about 4 billion of us on this planet but in 1990 just in 10 years, the number increased by a billion now it was 5 billion. That was the time when the initial signs of the consequences of our growth were starting to come into existence. But not the least of such growth signs were noticed on the life-saving elements like water, oxygen, plants, etc. 

Human Contribution in deteriorating the planet:

1. Overpopulation:

Image Courtesy: Renewable Resource Coalition

            Overpopulation is a major cause of the world’s most of the problems. Whether it's a question on food storage, lack of drinking water, or energy shortages, every country in this world is affected by it- or will be. Survival used to mean repopulating. Overpopulating has grown into an epidemic since mortality rates decreased, medicines have improved and the industrial farming was introduced to keep the humans alive for a much longer time. As a consequence of that now we are living with the maximum capacity that can be sustained by our planet.

            The effects of overpopulation are severe, with one of the most severe being the degradation of the environment. We, humans, require space and a lot of space weather it's for living purposes or as an agricultural/farmland or the factory/industrial land. And we require these spaces in tons. As a result of overpopulation, we are more clear-cutting which has led to severe damage to the ecosystem. Without enough trees to filter the air, the Co2 ratio in the atmosphere is increasing which is potentially damaging every single organism on this planet earth. The cons just not end up here another dependency is of the fossil fuels and coal for energy. The larger the population the more will be the demand for the fuels. The excessive use of fuels (like oil and coal) results in copious (abundant) amounts of carbon dioxide into the air- threatening to the extinction to thousands of species.

Image Courtesy: Fee.org

2. Pollution:

Image Courtesy: Deccan Herald

                  Pollution is too bad at about 2.4 billion people do not have access to clean water sources. Humanity is destroying the resources like air, water, and soil which are indispensable and require millions of years to replenish.

            Air is arguably most polluted and China contributing it the most by producing about 30% followed by the US with 15% and India with 7%. Sadly, India holds a record of having the most 21 cities out of 30 in the world with the worst Air Quality Index. I don't think I need to address the problems faced by Delhiites in recent times due to the bad air or the industrial areas like Gurugram, Okhla, or Ghaziabad suffering from the smog with impurities due to the air pollution. As soon as the developed nation has reduced the air pollution in their countries the developing countries started to increase plummeting smog which is continuously blocking out the sun in a dense shroud of pollution. 

Image Courtesy: Washington Post

3. Global Warming:

 Image Courtesy: Conserve Energy Future

            Global Warming is the biggest impact on the ecosystem by us. The largest of causes emanating through CO2 levels from respiration to more detrimental causes like the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation.

             In 1950 the highest level of CO2 recorded was about 300 parts per million. Whereas now this record has exceeded about 400PPM and is still increasing at an unknown rate every year. The current CO2 records have broken all the records of the past 400,000 years. 

            The constant increase in CO2 emission has contributed to raising the temperature of the planet by almost a whole degree.

            As the temperature is increasing it has forced the ice burgs and the glaciers at the artic region to melt and due to which the ocean level has reported an increase of 3.42mm per year, allowing more water to absorb more heat, which melts more ice which will cause to rise the ocean to about 1-4 feet till 2100.

Image Courtesy: Vox

4. Climate Change:

Image Courtesy: Lberdrola

            The historical development of the industries and technology has a close relation to the climate change.  Earth's weather pattern is drastically changing as the global temperature is increasing. As some are facing longer seasons and maybe more regions are likely to experience those. While some regions have turned into wastelands or barren lands as the water has depleted there which were floral at some stage of time.

            The increased impact of the weather patterns has more promising and more intense hurricanes bot in size and frequency. Not only this but we have intensifying and prolonging droughts and heatwaves as a result and which are not at all exciting. 

            The evidence that our planet is suffering to the worst phase of climate-changing is that the air quality and rising temperatures are ruining our delicate ecosystem, even the cancer and asthma cases are increasing with a leading rate ever recorded before in the past.

Image Courtesy: The New York Times

5. Genetic Modification:

Image Courtesy: Wur.nl

            Genetic Modified Organisms (GMOs) are one of the contributors to the survival and prosperity of humans. GMOs are the plants whose DNA has been modified either by nature naturally or by humans intentionally for better yielding of plants or to provide an advantage to the crop, whether it's sustaining them at colder places or requiring less water for their growth.

      

            GMOs are not always intentional as I said above. We humans for years have used glyphosate, a herbicide designed to eliminate weeds- the biggest threat to plants. Just as humans have a learning immune system some weeds to have shown acceptance to 20-25 known herbicides, with about 249 species of weeds completely immune according to the latest reports.

Image Courtesy: Google Images

6. Ocean Acidification:

Image Courtesy: Whoi.edu

            Ocean Acidification is caused when CO2 dissolves into the ocean bonding with seawater creating carbonic acid. the acid reduces the pH levels in the water essentially changing the Ocean acidity by 30% in the last 200 years according to analysis - a level that the ocean has not been at in over 20 million years.  

            The acidity depletes the calcium concentrations, making it difficult for crustaceans to build their shell, leaving them vulnerable without their armor. Between the global temperature rise of one degree and the ocean acidification,  scientists say a quarter of all coral reefs are considered damaged beyond repair, with two-thirds under serious threat.

            Coral reefs are home to 25% of aquatic life, many of which are responsible for the natural filtration of the ocean and production of necessary nutrients that are vital for life under the sea. However, acidification is not the only watery threat as other human activities are causing severe changes.

Image Courtesy: World Atlas

7. Water Pollution:

Image Courtesy: Intrestingengineering

            Every year over 8 million tons of garbage is dumped into the ocean. Not only is garbage introduced into the oceans, but also the excessive amounts of fertilizers that find its way into the ocean through rains, floods, winds, or dumped in excess right into the large producer of oxygen we have. 

            Year after year, millions of tons of garbage are dumped into the oceans. Since the garbage mainly consists of plastics, it's largely insoluble. The garbage accumulates in large vortexes(a whirling mass of fluid or air, especially a whirlpool or whirlwind) across the ocean. 

            Marine life, including the loggerhead sea turtles are tricked into thinking they are eating food when it's only a floating plastic bag or other poisonous plastic that will cause starvation or suffocation to any unfortunate animal that mistakenly indigests it.

Image Courtesy: NRDC

8. Deforestation:

Image Courtesy: World Wildlife Funds

With an exponential expression in human beings, more foods, more materials, and shelter are being manufactured at stupendous rates, mostly stemming from forestry.

            Forests are cleared to make way for new humans, which in turn, makes more humans, you can see the problem. According to international data, an estimated 18 million acres of trees are clear-cut each year to make a way for new development and wood products- that is just under half of all the trees on the planet since the industrial revolution began.

            With trees being one of the largest producers of oxygen, clearly that is not a good thing for humans- and especially not for the animals that call the forest home.

            With millions of different species that live in forests, deforestation is a major threat to their survival and a big conservation issue. It also increases greenhouse gases within the atmosphere which leads to further global warming. Such human activities need to be stopped if we wish to survive.

Image Courtesy: Intrestingengineering

9. Acid Rain:

Image Courtesy: Bhaskar

When humans burn coal, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides are released into the atmosphere where they rise up and accumulate in the clouds until the clouds become saturated and rain acid, causing havoc on the ground beneath. 

            When the rain falls, it accumulated in water bodies which are especially harmful to lakes and small bodies of water. The ground surrounding the water soaks up the acid, depleting the soil of essential nutrients. Trees that absorb the acid accumulate toxins that damage leaves and slowly kills large area forest.

          Acid rain has also been known to completely eliminate entire species of fish, causing a snowball effect of damage to the ecosystem that relies on diverse organisms to sustain the environment.  

            Not only humans, animals, or plants are affected by this acid rains but even our monuments are getting affected by this. Agra's Taj Mahal was also getting yellowish due to the Acid Rain caused by the Mathura Oil Refinery.

Image Courtesy: Daily Mail

 10. Ozone Depletion:

Image Courtesy: Global Environment Facility

            The ozone layer is renowned for its ability to absorb harmful UV rays that would otherwise be detrimental to the health of all walks of life. Without an ozone layer, walking outside would be unbearable.

            Ozone is made up of three bonded oxygen that float up to the stratosphere where they absorb a substantial amount of UV radiation, protecting all life down below. However "ozone-depleting substances" (or ODS) primarily made up of chlorine and bromine find their way up to the stratosphere where they strip the O3 of an oxygen, destroying its capabilities of absorbing UV light.

            The human impact is devastating for plants that are extremely sensitive to UV light including wheat and barley, two indispensable crops to humans.

            Although most chemicals that deplete the ozone layer have been banned, the chemicals that have already been released can take upwards of 80 years to reach the upper atmosphere, so it will be some time before our protective boundary will be fully functional again. Until then, slap on that sunscreen and be safe out there.

            We must support the earth that we live on, but no matter what, the earth will live on. Human impacts the natural habitat in so many ways and we need to be aware of our personal environmental input.

Image Courtesy: Outlook India

            Whether we live with it or not solely depends on the decision and actions we make next. Mother nature is an unrelenting, unforgiving force, do it's probably best if we treat her well and maybe, just maybe we can make up for the damage that has already been delt.

            The best time to act, was yesterday, the best we can do is today, but if we wait for tomorrow, it may just be too late. Society needs to help itself to survive.

           

Questions still to Answer:

• When will we stop harming the planet?
• Will we ever act within the time in hand?
• Do we really care about Earth even now or we are just doing things for our selfishness?

*Appeal to all the readers stays home, stay safe. 

*And please do comment, share and subscribe.