My last blog attempted to tie up my recent observations between the Natural World and that of the Human.
Far from the two worlds living in balance and harmony, it seems that the world of the human has been exploiting that of nature in order to increase wealth and power from both an economic and political stance.
We are all aware that from one point of view many people and governments are realizing this and are calling for major changes, the main reason being that the climate is being compromised through pollution of the atmosphere and oceans which undergo chemical changes and put planet Earth under threat.
DESTROYING THE ATMOSPHERE:
The main offenders have been identified as industrial sources and the like which allow emissions from fossil fuels to drift into the atmosphere creating global warming by the interaction of gasses, particularly carbon dioxide.
Other major causes are the exhaust from cars which pollute areas where there is congestion of traffic, such as city centres, and also the enormous aircraft which continually fly around the world.
Gradually, other sources are being included, such as wood burning stoves and gas boilers.
MESSAGE:
The overall message is that the human world has invented and created these causes which are now out of control, and affecting our climate, as there is evidence that extremes of temperature are altering the "normal" climatic conditions world wide.
There has been a concerted effort from most countries to accept this theory and to find a way forward to reduce the negative impact on climate, and introduce "greener" alternatives.
However, there is another argument, which is that our planet has been around for millions of years and has undergone many huge climatic changes every so often.
Examples such as the ice age and the presence of rain forests in now areas of desert highlight this, and for those subscribing to this theory, the world will find its own level in due course, and there is little we can do to stop it.
To date the emphasis has been on the pollution of the atmosphere by carbon emissions. If that can be reduced or eliminated, will the problem be solved?
Imagine that can or has been achieved?
Electric cars are the norm, renewable energy powers our homes, institutions and factories and the culprits producing carbon have been all but eliminated.
Have we restored the balance between the natural and human worlds?
I think not, financial and political gain will continue to remain powerful.
The natural world consists of an enormous range of animals, birds, insects, plants, trees and creatures both on land and underwater. They all play their part in the eco balancing act.
Over the centuries they have been affected by changes in climate, availability of food, predators and many outside forces. One need look no further than the Jurassic period, to have proof of a natural world which is now extinct.
This continues to happen in present times.
With the world temperatures rising, it is having a profound and often devastating effect on wildlife.
CHANGES IN CLIMATE:
With the ice melting in the Arctic, the polar bears` existence is being threatened.
Large mammals such as whales and certain fish and sea creatures are travelling into new warmer waters.
No doubt, mutations will occur over many years for certain species as they adapt to changes of habitat and way of life, but for many the species will cease to exist.
These changes can be put down to climate change, depending on whichever theory one subscribes to.
However, not all changes can be blamed on climate.
The human world has been playing fast and loose with the environment for many years, but particularly noticeable within the last hundred years.
PLASTIC WASTE:
As the world has advanced at great speed, from an industrial and now into a technological age, it has become careless and has not respected or given any thought to the natural world.
TOXIC WASTE:
Humans have invented many life changing things, such as the invention of plastic, rightly hailed as a revolution, but did not have its disposal considered. The result has been that as plastic is all but indestructible, it is discarded everywhere, and particularly at sea.
PLASTIC STRING:
Acres of the stuff are being washed up in areas all around the world.
It is lethal to marine life and is often the cause of death if wrapped around sea creatures.
Plastic microbeads eaten by fish, can enter the human chain when the fish is consumed.
Toxic waste in the form of chemicals is being discharged into rivers and into the sea.
Chemicals are sprayed on the ground and on crops to eliminate disease or pests, and traces will be present in the produce and eaten by wildlife and humans.
Practically everything we eat, drink or use in the home and at work, contain chemicals.
Additives are in everything.
Advertising promises that certain products will make us look better, feel healthier and provide us with cleaner homes, when in actual fact, we are poisoning our environment ourselves.
We are making the environment for wild life more difficult for them as we have reduced natural hedgerows and habitats due to expansion of housing and commercialism, with many species becoming extinct.
CHEMICALS:
Regardless of which climate camp you belong to, we as individuals can do much more to redress the balance between the natural and human worlds.
We should be much more responsible with the food and products which we eat and use.
We should be more mindful of the things we use in the home.
CHEMICALS IN THE HOME:
From when we get up in the morning until we go to bed, we will have been using chemicals in the form of shower gel, toothpaste, make up, food, drinks, cleaning agents, plus travelling.
They may be small changes, and not the big "green" changes that are spoken about, but if we all took time to change a few things, it would all add up.
Perhaps our health would improve too, as it stands to reason that the cocktail of chemicals present in most UK homes, may be having an effect on our immune systems.
We seem to have become a nation suffering from all sorts of immune disorders and have very little resistance to viruses and bacteria.
We live and work in often hermetically sealed boxes.
On the one hand we are told energy must be conserved, so the opening of windows etc is discouraged, but on the other, bacteria is therefore enclosed within a room or building with no escape, so whole households contract the same infections.
We have no one else to blame but ourselves.
As a human world we have certainly used our brain power, but we are also destroying our planet and everything that lives on it by our quest for speed and always having to be at the forefront.
However, every now and again, surprising elements take over, and show us that we can be cut down to size very quickly indeed.
It may be a disaster such a the recent forest fires in the United States, flooding or a hurricane, or it may be a pandemic of some sort caused by a virus.
These things are caused by nature and are very difficult and sometimes impossible to fight against, showing that nature often has the upper hand.
That is something that the human world should remember as it struggles for its future.
Opt In for for updates!