Earth: Our environment, our heritage

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The world we live in has been around for longer than we will ever know. Regardless of which theory you subscribe to, be it evolution or Christianity, the fact remains that the same Earth inhabited by dinosaurs in the Jurassic era, by Adam and Eve when they were chucked out of the Garden of Eden and by homo sapiens before transition to humans, is the same earth you and I are on today.

The world we live in has been around for longer than we will ever know. Regardless of which theory you subscribe to, be it evolution or Christianity, the fact remains that the same Earth inhabited by dinosaurs in the Jurassic era, by Adam and Eve when they were chucked out of the Garden of Eden and by homo sapiens before transition to humans, is the same earth you and I are on today.

environment By Thandekile Moyo

The state of the earth as we know it today, is largely a result of how those who came before us “handled” the environment. The state of the earth tells us a story of how much damage was inflicted by our predecessors, how much development was carried out, at what rate each generation depleted non-renewable resources as well as to what extent each generation preserved the environment.

The quality of air we breathe today; the quality, size and cleanliness of our land and water bodies; the size of our mineral deposits, our sea levels, availability or lack of fresh water, the nutritiousness of our soils; our current climatic conditions; the state of the ozone layer — all tell us a story of whether those who came before us had us in mind when they ruled the earth or they just ploughed through with no consideration whatsoever for future generations.

Evidence shows that the past few generations have had the worst impact on the Earth due to industrialisation, population increase and development of new technologies whose side effects are different types of pollution. Countries like China are hailed for rapid infrastructural development in the past few decades, but at what cost has that development come?

China’s “growth” spurt which began in the 1980s has resulted in all sorts of environmental hazards. It is said that soil pollution has affected more than one-tenth of China’s cultivatable land, about 100 000km². Due to pollution from waste as well as irrigation with contaminated water in some areas, China’s agricultural produce has been condemned for containing harmful heavy metals leading to health problems, deaths in some cases as well as billions of dollars worth of losses annually.

In 2012 alone, China is said to have generated a staggering 300 million tonnes of waste. It is alleged that only 1% of China’s urban dwellers breathe in air that the European Union considers to be safe. This is because China’s cities are said to be covered by a cloud of air pollution detrimental to the health and lives of occupants.

China, therefore, is a classic example of why we should not put development before the “health” of the earth and its citizens. The people that “developed” China destroyed the environment not just for themselves, but for future generations as well; and not just for China, but for the entire world as the earth is a shared environment.

This means then, that as we try and improve our living standards by building better dwellings, developing machinery to make life easier and improving ease of movement, we must take into consideration the damage we leave on the earth in our bid to meet those goals.

We need to be conscious of the fact that the earth is a shared environment. I repeat this statement as it is the main reason why we keep studying, improving and devising ways to manage our environment better. Not only do we share the earth among ourselves, we share it with past and future generations.

What this means is that the Earth is our natural heritage. Our inheritance from both the gods or nature (depending on what you believe) and from our ancestors.

The Earth in its original state had a certain value. Generations that came by increased its value by making it more habitable and also decreased its value by depleting some of the resources. This value addition and depletion is an inescapable path we all must take. It is, as people say, part of life. But there has to be a balance.

What we can control is how much we improve our Earth and also at what rate we balance the two (depletion and value addition). The main aim is to find a way to improve life on Earth as much as possible while using as few resources as possible. We do this so that generations that come after us also have resources for them to use and be able to leave some for future generations.

This is called sustainable development. This is also explained as economic development that does not deplete natural resources. Or development that ensures there are resources left over for future generations.

Our responsibility does not end at using resources minimally, no. We also have the responsibility to replenish those resources that are renewaable. We have the burden of replenishing even those that were depleted by past generations. In other circumstances if not most, the fruits of our labour will not be enjoyed by us, but by future generations.

This may sound unfair, but it is the way of the world. Everyone must play a part. Leave some water in your garden for wild birds to drink and splash around in.

Donate your time or money to a conservation cause. Plant as many flowers and trees as you can. Produce your own food. Instead of throwing out dirty water, kindly recycle it (for instanceby watering a tree with the water you would have bathed in).

Re-use plastic containers if you can’t afford to stop using them altogether. Learn to and teach others to throw litter in the bin. Use all non-renewable resources wisely. Invest in gadgets that use renewable energy. Repair all leaking taps.

Our earth is our inheritance, but it is also the inheritance we shall leave for the following generation. Let us respect it, love it and nurture it. Let is not be the generation that received the revolving inheritance and failed to pass it on with as little damage to it as possible.