My grandfather, an ecologist and environmentalist, shared with me his bleak vision for the future. It is a vision of a future in 50 years time in which earth is likely to become increasingly inhabitable.

I would not have agreed with his belief in normal circumstances, but the circumstances due to the coronavirus outbreak make me agree with him. His dire prediction also seems realistic enough due to our attitudes towards the environment and Mother Earth.

Here is an analysis of the bad things, among others, that have started to happen and deserve our immediate attention.

Prevalence of diseases

Industrial smoke and air pollutants are damaging the ozone gas layer that surrounds our planet. This ozone layer protects us from harmful ultraviolet radiation from sun. As the layer gets increasingly damaged, harmful radiation that reaches the earth is causing diseases such as skin cancer and visual impairment.

Air and water pollutions are causing lots of diseases, especially in the underdeveloped world.

Natural disasters and climate related problems

Another ill-effect of the aforementioned pollutants is global warming due to greenhouse effect. Increased levels of carbon dioxide and nitrogen gas do not let the heat escape from areas that are near the earth’s surface. This causes icebergs and polar caps to melt. The result is an increase in sea levels which causes tsunamis.

Climatic changes are also happening due to global warming, leading to floods, cyclones, tornadoes, etc. Increased heat also leads to bushfires and forest fires. All these natural disasters are indirectly manmade.

And then untimely rainfall due to climatic changes are causing damage to crops. Heat waves are leading to droughts and many living things perish as a result. Damage to crops and dying cattle lead to a shortage of food supplies.

Loss of marine life

All industrial waste and manmade garbage is being dumped into rivers and seas. These untreated wastes pollute the water and act as poison if marine life swallows it and when consumed by humans. Plastic materials are a major cause of deaths of thousands of marine animals and birds each year.

Nuclear testing in seas, oil leakage from oil containers and oil drilling sites have also played their part in contaminating waters and killing marine life.

Loss of non-renewable resources

These are resources which are very hard to replace once they are used. Resources such as coal, petroleum, timber, etc. are being used at such a fast rate that they would become scarce for the future generations.

Rainforests are also being cleared at a swift rate for agriculture and for other short-term benefits. This would lead to energy crisis and shortage of supplies of other important things in the future.

Viruses and plagues

The maintenance of an equilibrium or balance with nature is essential. In many cases, diseases become widespread when we go against the natural state of things. Man’s role in the emergence and spread of the coronavirus is a clear case of man going against the natural order of things.

The power of making a difference lies in each one of us. The spread of the coronavirus has taught us to have better hygiene and take precautionary measures. We can build on this. Let us cut down on all the activities, or the lack of action, on our part that is causing all the aforementioned problems.

Many of the following steps are logical and require little:

• Conserve electricity, water and fuel.

• Avoid cutting trees and plants. Plant more trees.

• Avoid using plastic and items made from plastic.

• Avoid littering and carefully dispose garbage.

• Use recycled items.

• Save paper.

• Join groups and organisations that have the mission of solving earth-related problems.

• Raise awareness and your voice for (by means of social media, social events, school events, etc.): saving wild life particularly the endangered species; finding and using alternate sources of energy such as solar energy, wind turbines etc.; preserving non-renewable natural resources; treating garbage by environmentally friendly methods; reducing water and air pollution.

The cause of all environmental/ecological problems is our indifferent attitude towards the causes of these problems. It is important to realise that all elements of earth and all living things are interlinked to each other. If a single link in this chain is broken, then this chain cannot work properly. It means that by damaging any element of the earth’s systems, we end up damaging our own survival and well-being.

Published in Dawn, Young World, April 18th, 2020