The Dilemma of Ecology - All in the Name of Progress
Dr Abe V Rotor
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But cancer is on
the rise, so with AIDS, and the spread of genetically linked defects and
illness. Work-related and stress-related deaths will likewise increase with
heart and severe depression as the leading diseases, followed by the
traditional diseases like respiratory and diarrheal diseases. Already there are
15 million who have died of AIDS and 40 millions more who are living with HIV,
the viral infection. A pandemic
potential with up to 1 billion people to become affected with HIV has started
appearing on some crystal balls and this is not impossible if it hits populous Asia .
·
Cloning, the most
controversial discovery in biology and medicine will continue to steal the
limelight in this millennium, stirring conscience, ethics and religion. It is now sensed as the biggest threat to
human society, and if Frankenstein is back and some people regard him as a hero
instead of a villain, we can only imagine the imminent destruction our society
faces - the emergence of sub- and ultra-
human beings. On the other hand, there are those who look at cloning as an
important tool of medicine to enable doctors to save lives and increase life
expectancy. They also believe that
cloning in situ (on site) will do
away with tedious and unreliable organ transplants.
·
Gene therapy is
in, medicinal healing is out. It means
diagnosing the potential disease before it strikes by knowing its source. Actually diseases are triggered by specific
genes. Reading the gene map of an
individual, the doctor can “cure” the disease right at it genetic source. We call this gene therapy, the newest field
in medical science. But the altered gene will be passed on to the next
generation. Playing God, isn’t? Definitely it is, and it is possible to use
this technology not only for the sake of treatment but for programmed genetic
alteration. Another Frankenstein in the
offing? But scientists are saying gene
therapy can be a tool in removing permanently the genes that cause cancer,
AIDS, and genetically linked diseases like diabetes, Down ’s syndrome, and
probably alcoholism.
·
We are in an age
of test tube babies. There are now
100,000 test tube babies in the US
·
If diseases can
be predicted and successfully treated, and life can be prolonged – these have
indeed grave consequences to population increase. Already there are 6 billion people inhabiting
the earth today, and we are increasing at the rate of more than 80 million a
year. After 2150 we shall have reached 13 billion, the estimated maximum
capacity our planet can support. Is the Malthusian theory true after all? It looks like the ghost of this English
political economist and priest, the
founder of this theory, is back to warn us, this time more urgent than his 1789
prediction that as population grows and that food production grows only
mathematically, there will come a time when population will outstrip the
capacity of the earth to feed the world’s population resulting to famine.
·
Our Earth is
getting warmer, and this is not any kind of comfort but destruction. We have
experienced seven of the ten warmest years in the past decade and we are
heading toward another Noah’s episode.
Low lying areas where the rich farmlands and many big cities virtually
squat will be flooded. Heat is trapped
by the carbon that we generate from our cars and industries creating a
“greenhouse effect”. As the world’s
temperature increases, the polar ice will melt, more rains and climatic
disturbances will ensue. Climate
scientists have predicted that by year 2100 the earth’s temperature will go up
from 1 to 3.5 degrees centigrade. But
wait, the worst is yet to come. Global warming will plunge us ultimately –
towards the middle of the millennium – into another ice age! There will be a buildup of ice at the polar
regions as the ocean currents fail to carry warm water to the poles and back.
·
The trend of
lifestyle will be toward the simple and natural, even in the midst of high tech
living. More and more people will go for
natural food and natural medicine as they become conscious of their
health. The media and the information
highway will provide more people access to entertainment and information. Remote management and distance learning will
greatly influence business and education.
But people will still seek greener pastures in cities and in foreign
lands.
·
“Save the earth!”
has yet to be a denominator of cooperation and peace among nations. The failure of the Earth Summit five years
ago at Rio de Janeiro , and the first summit
before in Stockholm
All in the name of Progress
It is all in the name of progress that nations are
pursuing. The West insists of pushing
the frontiers of technology into the so-called “third wave”. The East, the Asian Pacific region, insists
on industrialization in order to catch up with the progress of the West, while
the Middle East has yet to undergo a major
socio-cultural and political transformation while aiming at lofty economic
goals.
Progress,
it is generally believed, is the aim of globalization, and globalization is building
of a world village. Isn’t this the key to peace and cooperation? This sounds familiar to scholars and leaders.
Maybe,
but the greatest challenge lies in the preservation of a healthy Mother Earth,
a common denominator of concern irrespective of political, ideological and
religious boundaries. It is the saving
of the environment that will be the biggest challenge to this and the coming
generations.
Poor Rating of Earth Summit
Let
us look at what happened to the promises made by leaders from 178 nations who gathered in the Earth Summit
in Rio de Janeiro
On the biodiversity accord
signed by 161 countries (except the US Nepal Asia has
lost 95 percent of its woodlands.
Last
October marked the six billion population record. Every year about 80 millions people are
added. This is slightly bigger than the Philippines Africa .
Rhetoric
and promises can not be relied upon. It
is in this area that globalization should be reviewed. Globalization should be
defined in economic, cultural and environmental terms. This triad approach has yet to be addressed
to all members of the global village.
And there should be a new world governance, more credible than the UN,
to undertake this gargantuan task. Kyoto Kyoto , Japan US and Australia
“Hundreds of millions of people will starve to
death,” warned Paul Ehrlich in his 1968 book, “The Population Bomb.” This is an echo of the Malthusian Theory
raised 200 years ago. This means
farmers, in spite of biotechnology, can not keep up indefinitely with
increasing food demands. Yet there is a great disparity in food distribution.
While the average adult needs 2200 calories a day, an American consumes 3603 as
compared to the intake of a Kenyan which is only 1991 calories.
Ecomigration
Degradation of the land,
the breaking up of ecosystems, are resulting to modern day exodus of
ecomigrants who cross borders, invade cities and build marginal communities,
threaten security of nations, and creates other socio-economic problems. Desertification, soil erosion, overuse of
farms drive multitudes to search for greener pasture, many in the guise of
overseas workers, settlers, refugees.
The birth of mega cities
is a human phenomenon in modern times.
The world’s cities are bursting at the seams. Half of the world’s population live in urban
areas today, and more are coming in. In
developed countries 75 percent of their population lives in cities.
Kiribati of the Micronesian group of island is "sinking" due to rising sea level
By year 2015, 27 of the world’s 33 largest
cities will be found in Asia, with Bombay and Shanghai Tokyo New York Manila
On global warming, figures
show how the world fares under greenhouse effect. This phenomenon is attributed to the severity
of the last three episodes of El Nino in the last three decades, and to the
prevalence of deadly tornadoes, hurricane, floods and natural calamities.
A hole in the sky was
caused by damaging chemicals that tear down the vital atmospheric ozone shield
that keeps us from too much heat and radiation. The size of the ozone hole
about the Antarctic region is estimated to be like the whole continental US –
and is still expanding. CFC use is now
restricted in most countries, but there are other damaging chemicals used by agriculture
and industry. Methyl bromide for one is 40 times more destructive to ozone than
CFC.
Business versus Environment.
The
environment and the economy need not be viewed as opposites. It is possible to
have a healthy environment and a healthy economy at the same time. More and more businesses have begun adopting
this concept as a business philosophy. People behind business organizations are
becoming more aware of the ethical decisions they face, and their
responsibility for their consequences. A multi-national corporation, responding
to the provisions of GRI (Global Reporting Initiative), CERES (Coalition of
Environmental Responsible Economies), UNEP (United Nations Environmental
Program), came up with the following thrusts:
·
Restore and
preserve the environment
·
Reduce waste and
pollution
·
Education of the
public on environmental conservation
·
Work with
government for sound and responsible environmental program
·
Assess impact of
business on the environment and communities.
One
of the few places on earth unexploited by humans is Antarctica . Not now, not until recently. With the Antarctic Treaty of 1991 declares
that “Antarctica shall be open to all nations
to conduct scientific or other peaceful activities there,” seven countries have
already laid overlapping claims on the continent, which comprises one-tenth of
the world’s total land area. Thousands of tourists are now visiting Antarctica every year.
Scientific research is economically motivated, such as oil exploration,
with geopolitical or military objectives in mind. Earlier – in the 1970s New Zealand proposed designating an Antarctica World Park Antarctica
is fragile with simple and short food chains that support few organisms such as
the penguin, whales, shrimp-like krill.
Any slight disturbance is likely to upset the delicate balance. We have
already caused the growing hole of the ozone layer above Antarctica
through unabated release of CFCs , and fossil-fuel combustion worldwide. Would humanity be better served by
developing the natural resources of Antarctica
than turning it into a world park and preserve its ecological balance? We also ask the same question to areas
similar to Antarctica, such as the pristine wildlife of Canada , Greenland, the Yukon
Territories , the unexplored islands of the Pacific, and main Amazon Basin
Ecology and Stock Exchange.
In
2000, Earth Sanctuaries was listed on the Australian Stock Exchange, making it
the world’s first conservation company to go public. We know that conservation efforts have been
conventionally under foundations and government projects. But this time this intriguing approach to
conserving the environment raised as lot of questions. Does the market place really have a role in
habitat preservation? Is this approach really conserving natural ecosystem or
just creating large zoos? Would we rather save and give our children good
education that helps rescue an endangered animal? Indeed the conflict between
maximizing profits and conservation raises ethical issues.
Ecology advertising.
In
the supermarket we find tags, organically
grown, environment-friendly, eco-safe, environmentally safe, children-safe,
ozone-friend, and so on. But are these claims true? Consider the following:
CO2 emission is the principal cause of global warming
·
Look for the
three-phase symbol of recycling – three interacting arrows to form a
triangle.
·
When buying a
refrigerator or air-conditioned get the one that is Freon-free, ozone friendly.
Be sure the purchase is covered by company guarantee.
·
Producers of food
claimed to be safe, such as organically grown, must be able to show a reliable
track record. It is good to trace the source of food that we eat, from
beginning with production to processing, and ultimately to the dining table.
·
Even materials
claimed to be biodegradable, photo-degradable, and the like, may not be readily
converted into safe materials. As a general
rule, save money from “over-packaged” commodities, and you save the environment
as well. Don’t be misled by package
advertising, how attractive it may appear.
Acknowledgement: Internet photos
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