It is yet another Earth day commemoration. But this time for a lot of
communities around the world, the events are being marked sombrely. Nearly
all of earth's human citizens, over 7 billion of us are hunkered in waiting
for the worst of this deadly invisible virus to pass.
Lives have been lost, the global economy decimated as the disease now
officially a pandemic continues to take no prisoners. At a time such as this, once the crisis is over we need to put aside our old ways of doing things. It
has brought us immense benefits but also great harm. Our airs are polluted, watershed poisoned, some of the natural resources depleted to extinction. Unsustainable politico-economic system and population explosion being the major culprits.
None is advocating communism but certainly, unregulated capitalism is equally
as bad.
Some studies have
shown that deforestation pushes the spread of vectors. While epidemiologists
are still working their way to understanding the novel virus; perennial hosts
such as bats and pangolins of other wild viruses are suspected of being vectors
that transferred this virus to humans. Pangolins are the most trafficked animal
in the world; most taken from the wild in West Africa and used in
places like China and South East Asia for medicine and food.
Such unhelpful and antiquated practice of consuming wild animals must
be discouraged, and awareness created on the dangers of eating into wildlife
habitats. The gamut of climate crises is a long one bordering on diverse aspects
and complex situations. The interplay between humans and the abiotic
environment is a critical area of climate research. There have been reports of
sick Covid 19 patients been made worse due to incapacitated lungs as a fallout
of air pollution and underlying diseases. The issue of air pollution is part
of the climate change agenda- an agenda of better air indices by adopting
renewables and decarbonizing our communities, states, and metropolis.
Napoleon once said to never let a crisis go to waste. As we hope for
the end of this pandemic, the next one lurks around the corner; within the forests,
the thawing permafrost, the illegal trade in exotic animals.
We must act more responsibly to end practices that serve no purpose.
Happy Earth's day and change is possible.
Comments
Post a Comment