IT’S TIME FOR NATURE
It is indeed a time for nature. There is no better time to act than now. The future this planet deserves can be attained not only by a few professionals but by everyone working together collectively. When we talk about Nature, we are not talking about the fields of Naturalists, Biologists, Geographers or Environmentalists, we are talking about every person in every field of human endeavor; we are talking about us working together to make the planet a better place irrespective of our profession, race or beliefs. We are part of nature and it is our responsibility to take care of this resource. We cannot keep on ignoring all that is around us; we cannot relegate matters of nature to Environmentalists and just focus on business as usual; we’ve got to act, we’ve waited too long. Now is the time for nature.
The planet Earth is faced with one of its greatest challenge and this seems to pose a serious threat to not just humanity, but every other creature on the Earth surface. The greatest threat to the planet now is global warming. Global warming is the increase in the average temperature of the Earth, leading to climate change. This phenomenon, unfortunately has been going on for a long time and it is being ignored or not taken seriously. Global warming is caused by the excessive emission of carbon into the atmosphere, which creates a blanket-like covering preventing long wave radiation from leaving the earth, resulting in the warming up of the planet. Humanity is the primary polluter of the atmosphere due to activities such as burning of fossil fuels and indiscriminate felling of trees. Humanity need to realize that these acts are seriously destroying the planet, and it is our responsibility to safeguard and protect the planet for posterity.
Biodiversity is the greatest gift to the planet. Imagine a world where there are no other animals or plants but only humans, that would be so boring to live in. Fortunately, our dear planet is biodiversified. Biodiversity is the variety of plants and animal species in a given environment and in this case, the world. Nature is beautiful; we are lucky to be here and should appreciate this eternal beauty every day of our lives. The biosphere or the living part of the earth is so diversified that we cannot really know all about the species on the planet, though we might have gone far in taxonomy, our knowledge of the Earth, most especially life in the ocean is grossly inadequate. The last time I checked, there are over 4,500 species of mammals, 9,000 species of birds, 6,000 species of reptiles, 4,600 species of amphibians, 750,000 species of insects, 20,000 species of fish, 5,000 species of sponges, 110,000 species of mollusk, 30,000 species of crustaceans and 250,000 species of plants. It is important that we celebrate Biodiversity. Humanity should live in harmony with nature.
We live in harmony with nature by preserving lives. A lot of animals and plant species are at the brink of extinction. What this means is that, once the last kinds of this species die, we will never have them on the Earth again — they are gone forever. It is our duty to protect nature and preserve it for the upcoming generations to enjoy. We do not want a situation whereby our future generations only get to see some of the animals we presently see roaming around us, in pictures and videos, they should also see them life and live with them. Now that’s harmony. In bush burning, a lot of plants get destroyed. The Amazon rain-forest and Australia which holds some unique species of plants and animals were recently engulfed in fire, destroying lots of lives. It is man’s duty to protect the Earth. It is his sole responsibility.
It is time for nature, and we can only present to the upcoming generations a planet unscathed by man’s activities if we act now. Since the industrial revolution, the planet has experienced so much pollution that in some environments, the air there is toxic to breathe in. Three types of pollution are very common: Air pollution, water pollution and land or soil pollution. Two main polluters account for this three — industries and households.
The burning of fossil fuels by industries on a large scale to power up their operations has done more harm to the environment than good, this causes global warming. Small polluters such as households and vehicles also have their imprint on the environment. These activities are important for productivity, however, alternative measures should be employed to perform same task without harming the environment. The answer is the use of Green Energy. Around 70% of the earth surface is covered by water; 97% of this water is salt water, only 3% is fresh water. Out of this 3%, one third is locked up in ice caps and glaciers, the remaining are available in lakes, rivers, ponds and underground water. The Earth is said to be a close system so we can never run out of water, but we can actually run out of clean water. People living in deserts have little water for their domestic use. Water pollution poses a serious challenge to communities where they do not have access to pipe borne water. This can be curtailed by cleaning up water ways, and discouraging indiscriminate waste disposal in water bodies.
The same should be applied to land or soil pollution. Alternative waste management should be introduced and adopted. It is indeed time for nature, and the nature waits patiently for us to act. Let us have less carbon footprint, have less air water and land pollution, let us live in harmony with nature. Above all, let us join hands to fight global warming by playing our roles. It is our responsibility. The next generation looks up to us. It is time for nature
