A sustainable attitude for a sustainable world.
Carl Sagan remarked that astronomy is character-building. Seeing the picture and reflecting for a moment, we would find it tough to disagree.
That bluish pearl suspended in the cold darkness of space is home to billions of people and is a definitive place from where the universe comprehends itself. The happenings here occupy so much of our thoughts and feelings that sometimes we forget how small we are, and how small even our seemingly big planet is.
Our fantastic achievements, our petty fights, and our self-importance make us take it for granted. With the accumulation of power grew arrogance. With power and arrogance, we have proceeded to bite the hand that feeds us all.
What is the ‘tragedy of the commons’?
The meaning of the original ‘tragedy of commons’ is related to resource crunch. Individuals acting in their own self-interest by utilizing the ‘commons’ (like air, oceans, rivers, earth or even the office refrigerator) invariably seem to degrade the common, if left un-regulated.
Tens of thousands of years ago, this activity in self interest was no problem at all; but with the exponential rise in world population and the technology to change earth in the hands of most groups, it is a catastrophe in a myriad different ways.
The environmental crises we face today are captured with some interest by the news agencies of the world. They ought to be frightening to most of us. Here are a few headlines —
1. The world plastic production is expected to double in next 20 years at current growth rates. 90% of all recyclable plastics are dumped or incinerated. There is virtually no place on the lithosphere completely devoid of plastic pollution — its been found in Mariana Trench and the Himalayan mountains.
2. About of 1/3rd of all food produced globally is lost or wasted. This happens at a time when around 13% of the world population does not have enough food to eat.
3. In 2015, greenhouse gas emissions from textiles production totaled 1.2 billion tonnes of CO2 — equivalent, more than those of all international flights and maritime shipping combined. Apart from this, they have notorious pollution records. This comes at a time when it is known that clothing items are massively under-utilized compared to even a decade ago.
4. Ground water resources are rapidly declining, owing to over-exploitation. This is a global phenomenon. Water pollution is a parallel challenge. Just under 2/3rd of the world population lives in areas of physical water scarcity already.
5. Global warming has been very strongly linked to increased frequency and strength of tropical cyclones in multiple recent studies.
6. In less than 10 years, the Arctic could be completely free of ice in summer. Ice in the arctic is critical for ocean ecosystems, ocean current circulation, global albedo effects — all of which we depend indirectly on, for a stable global climate and food systems.
7. The effects of global climate change are linked in multiple studies to food security threats. Increased unpredictability of the weather systems, massive scale land degradation, pollution are some factors that directly affect food production already.
8. Close to 9% of global greenhouse gas release comes from agriculture activities. Methane released from livestock is many times powerful compared to carbon dioxide in the greenhouse effect. Agriculture is also the major cause of large-scale deforestation and land degradation. Rising population and the increasing threat to food security will make humans take up more agricultural land and produce more of that effect.
9. Scientists agree that limiting the temperature rise to 1.5-degree celcius above pre-industrial levels is necessary to prevent a run-away climate degradation. But it is estimated that we will reach that end in just 12 years from now if we continue to run the world as usual.
10. Of all the species that went extinct in the last 500 years, 75% of them were harmed by over-exploitation and agriculture, which are the result of spiraling human consumption. The global rate of species extinction is already at least tens to hundreds of times higher than the average rate over the past 10 million years and is accelerating.
Our global home is on fire for the last few years. It is raging now, fanned furiously by nothing but our collective inaction.
This is the true and only tragedy of the commons — lack of responsibility.
As a species of workers, we are trained to know more and more about less and less. Our economic system encourages expertise and specialization and our social systems celebrate the same thing. We are now easily the experts in being onlookers. Someone crashes on the road in an accident, we wait and watch — we want the police and the hospital to take care. Our roads cave in or become flooded, we expect disaster response teams to take care. Examples are abundant, and we are all guilty of this. We are a generation that has happily and conveniently outsourced all responsibility — because it is economically more efficient.
Although degradation is universally acknowledged as bad, and people do mobilize protests against rampant exploitation of nature, is it ever enough?
Is it moral to protest plastic pollution, come back home and eat a pack of chips or chocolate we love? Is it okay to protest deforestation and come home to languish on our favorite furniture, looking straight ahead at the classy wood artworks we have in our home in various forms and sizes? Or is it okay to protest biodiversity loss while having three-time sumptuous meals, a product of forest swallowing agriculture industry? Is it okay to protest air pollution by going to the protest venue on our bikes and cars?
By allowing manipulation of ourselves or practicing negligence, we are also guilty of sharpening our consumerism. The biggest threat to a global order might not be the exponentially increasing population; the rising affluence and sophisticated demand for resources is perhaps a greater threat.
We as a generation of consumers, are ignorant of how we get what we get. Numerous studies have linked deforestation and degradation to consumer demand. Together with companies’ opacity and vulnerability of poor countries, our demands wreck havoc. Our entertainment, food, travel, work and possessions all contribute in different ways to environmental degradation. We are all equally guilty of this crime.
The science has always been clear about potential damage. Incredibly large number of media outlets too are now focusing on climate change and environment. The reach and impact of these outreach efforts has been commendable. For example, it is the extensive online and TV coverage of Plastic Pollution by the National Geographic that probably inspired the United Nations Environmental Programme to make plastic pollution the theme of World environment day, 2018.
We thus have access to a large variety of sources to educate us and inspire us. It is the prerogative of our generation to understand the effects of what we consume. Not only do we fail morally if we do not do so, we will unconsciously lay traps for ourselves and our future. The very fate of human species may depend on what we choose to do today.
Here’s a four-stage look at what we can do.
Despite the gloomy picture that science has repeatedly painted for over a decade now, not all is lost. Nature can be incredibly resilient. The most powerful example is given by the incredible recovery of flora and fauna in Chernobyl, 30 years after it was abandoned by human beings due to the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. New species will evolve, new processes might come up that helps nature in its resilience. If only we let nature take its course, there can still be something worth living for us.
There are many beautiful things about being a human being. Are we going to pursue beauty, peace, happiness and harmony and are we willing to let other generations to enjoy the same? Are we ready to redefine and re-imagine what it means to be happy? Or will we remain stuck in our ignorance and inertia, our petty fights and self-importance, and set fire to our very own home? Join a side now!
