In the face of alarming environmental concerns, the question still has to be asked why mankind still uses certain kinds of environmentally-degrading activities, especially technologies that burn fossil fuel and coal and produce methane, other greenhouse gases, and carbon cycles with enormous quantities of carbon dioxide that are destroying our helpless atmosphere, oceans, seas, plants, and lands all year round.
Our insistence on using certain kinds of technology has unfortunately brought us face-to-face with threats that are largely self-inflicted—threats that have grown out of our own short-sightedness about how Nature responds to activities that may be against its very nature or ethics.
Because of the desires, inventions, and activities of some individuals and countries, the greater mankind now faces the danger of global warming—a situation that clearly appears as if Mother Nature is turning the Earth’s atmosphere against certain kinds of mankind’s technology or activities.
Global warming is just one self-inflicted problem out of others: we face the danger of nuclear weapons proliferation, especially in modern-day warfare; we face the danger of weaponized disease-causing bacterium, such as COVID-19 and Ebola which are transmitted during coughing or sneezing and could wipe out much of the human race; in addition, we face an ever-increasing population that consumes inadequate resources at an alarming rate which may exceed the Earth’s capacity to replenish.
The following conclusions were drawn by the scientific community in the past; they further highlight a bit of the issues surrounding our planet—issues that our activities may still aggravate in the future:
- Greenhouse gases have been causing the “greenhouse effect” and negatively impacting global climate by warming.
- Carbon dioxide emissions have been at the highest levels in the past thousands of years—specifically, 100,000 years- as reported by some outlets.
- “Atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide that are unprecedented in at least the last 800,000 years”—according to a past Assessment Report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
- Large chunks of ice at the South Pole around the Antarctic Circle gradually breaking off, even though they have surprisingly been stable for tens of thousands of years. In fact, during the year 2000, a piece of ice with an area of 4,200 square miles, broke off. Also, in 2002, a large piece of ice broke off the Thwaites Glacier. In 2007, Greenland’s ice shelves decreased in size by 24 square miles. In 2008, it decreased further to 21 square miles.
- Rising ocean and sea levels allegedly due to global warming and glacier/ice melting. Each time the ocean rises vertically by one foot, it spreads horizontally by about 100 feet and covers more land. Researchers observed that sea levels rose by 8 inches in the past century; this was due to the expansion of seawater as a result of absorbing more heat.
- Fear that water levels may continue to rise if man-made heating activities are not curbed or put to appreciable or permanent rest. According to the United Nations, sea levels could rise by 7 to 23 inches by the year 2100. The weight of our technologies is seemingly causing an imbalance in the Earth.
So maybe, Mother Nature has reached Her limits. The obvious reactions from the atmosphere, bodies of water (oceans, seas, rivers, etc.), and lands reflect one thing: Nature had been coping but seems fed up with some man-made technologies: she has drawn the line with mankind and stopped fooling around with us.
Unfortunately for us, the more our technology and activities continue to disrupt the Earth’s natural balance, the more likely Mother Nature will overturn any imbalance by turning against mankind in order to bring back balance. She may do it, even if life becomes inhospitable for us.
If we are not careful enough to heed the advice of researchers and scientists, our planet may well become inhospitable to human life, and all life—as we have known it—may, unfortunately, come to an end.
Currently, we can still make some unselfish efforts to stop increasing emissions, even though we’re adapting to the harsh climate that the emissions have eventually created. But how much longer will the world continue to be a bit hospitable or comfortable if we don’t change our ways?
Do we have to keep going like this until we experience a disaster so great that it would be virtually impossible to adapt to any level of hospitality? No, we don’t. It’s not essential and also not necessary!
If we don’t change now when the environment is still degrading, environmental conditions could become so tough that we—mankind—would either have to struggle to adapt, leave the Earth, or perish in any self-inflicted conditions that arise as a result of using our technology without caring about the quality of our world.
Notwithstanding, there is hope because of our rich history. If there is only one lesson we can learn from our history, it’s the undisputable truth that when mankind is faced with life-threatening or global crises, somewhere, somehow, they always rise to the challenge and achieve even far greater goals.
The GOD-given spirit of soul-searching and exploration is in our genes; it is hardwired deep into our souls and will once again find its way out. We have to give up or adequately modify our technologies in order to brace up for the great challenge of saving the planet.
If we don’t give up or adequately modify our technologies, then sooner or later we will face an even greater global crisis that can threaten our very existence. Our life is too precious to be left at the mercy and in the shaky hands of man-made inventions which are usually guided by selfishness and personal gain.
Motivation & Environment 