Alaul Alam :
The world environment is experiencing various threats resulting in a dire catastrophe on living beings as well as nature. Many factors, which are responsible for environmental catastrophe, are man made in many cases that can be easily averted if we try to do so. Though we cannot check natural catastrophe, our unwise acts may be responsible to worsen the crisis.
Truly, to protect environment for better survival is not a recent concern, rather has been the burning demand of the global community over the years but the question is that how far we have made accomplishment. Many people from national and international platforms raise voice but hardly come out with effectiveness concerning environmental issues.
It seems apparent that we are all busy with our bargaining to become short-term gainers leaving the long-term consequences waiting for us. Every country is highly engrossed with its own interest and hardly thinks of others facing problems due to environmental catastrophe but likely, it takes no time to affect others unless we are all concerned coming out with an effective solution.
An English proverb is appropriate in this concern that who will bell the cat? The answer may be none as we are overwhelmingly engulfed with our own interest. Meetings and seminars are held every day at many corners of the world to find out ways to save the environment but are meetings and seminars or talk show enough to address the problem?
If we look at ours, can we see that every individual is conscious enough to save the environment? The answer may be almost negative. It is true that we have made the green revolution in agriculture resulting in producing bumper crops.
However, it is alarming that our farmers are in most cases using excessive chemical fertilizers and pesticides in the field and they hardly use natural compost. These chemicals produce nitrous oxide emissions, which contribute to contaminating the environment posing a serious threat to the human being, livestock, wild and aquatic lives. For example, green vegetables growing amid agrochemicals have turned out to be nothing but the green toxic.
Unwisely, ponds, canals and rivers are filled with for making dwelling places for mankind and trees are cut down randomly, destroying the nestling place of birds and killing and hunting wild animals which help keep our environment ecologically balanced.
On top of that, we are burning fossil fuels like, coal, diesel, petrol, kerosene, gases apart from raising poultry and livestock that cause greenhouse effect leading to the environment vulnerable and help breakout different disasters.
It may not be unfair to claim that the outbreak of coronavirus is the revenge of nature against human beings as we do nothing but to bargain for being profitable leaving others at stake. For example, during this Covid-19 crisis, one-time equipment like facial tissue, hand gloves, mask, face shield, etc. people often throw away to and fro after the use are posing a severe impact on human life and environment, even animals and birds have the greater chance to be infected, what we hardly realize.
The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) is working relentlessly to combat the environmental catastrophe and goes on creating public awareness worldwide along with taking actions for the protection of the environment. The question is, are we really aware? If we are aware, how can we do such nonsense acts?
We often argue that environmental hazard is a global problem and how we dare to solve this? It is nothing but a lame excuse to avert the crisis ignoring the deadly consequences we are experiencing.
So, let us not be so engrossed into ourselves putting the next generation into risk by doing unwise acts, which make our environment vulnerable. Change yourself first as you have every potential to be the pioneer of a new tradition breaking the existing wrong-doing culture and make people fathom that if you shun behaving unwisely with the environment, it will return you a great deal of for you and your world .
(Mr. Alaul teaches at Prime University. Email: [email protected])
