Crimes Against Nature: Why We Need to Change our HABITS
"Humans have changed the face of the Earth more than any other species in the planet's history-- and the pace of that alteration continues to increase"
~National Geographic~
By 2016, the first century of the 3rd millennium of existence it should be clear the ways in which human consumption has had negative impacts on the planet. Policies and social norms that promote the the reduction of our consumption need to be employed, or very simply we will live in a world which no longer resembles the one we were given. To those thinking, well of course things could never stay the same its ignorant to think a planet would stay the same after hundreds of thousands of years I would say this: the fact of the matter is there are only widespread detrimental changes to the environment through the impact of human life. As apex predators on the top of the food chain it is difficult to think of ourselves as being part of a greater whole, and even more difficult to admit that the way of life we've all been taught to uphold is actually a life of excess that harms more than it brings joy or wealth to our communities. The way of life in first world countries readily equipped with air conditioning, petrol fuled cars, unlimited water and electricity to burn for any activities people see fit is something to strive for in the global landscape. However,
I am going to argue that our modern conveniences lead to ecological issues that outweigh our selfish wants.
Material wealth can do nothing for those who no longer have a habitable world, and that is exactly where we are headed with the current lack of urgency with which we continue to conduct ourselves. None the less, in the wake of the worst environmental landscape planet Earth has ever seen in its billions of years of existence. Living in unison with nature is an ancient notion that thrived in the eastern world, and has been deemed unnecessary in this modern western society riddled with convenience. Instead we have revered the most important factor for human existence as the possession and continued accumulation of material wealth.
At what point do we notice our consumption and contribution in the economic system leads to an unsustainable future? That ultimately we must work to reduce our impact, when will that be at the forefront of American discussion?
The solution to the environmental issues then becomes the problem because the lack of consumption itself does not work with the current economic structure of life in the 21st century.
Our way of life is becoming increasingly unsustainable, but any scholar or scientist can vouch for that. Their powers to spread knowledge is seemingly useless in the century known for an inter web of information. A century where any current newspaper contains more information than an individual in the 18th century was exposed to in his/her entire lifetime. We accumulate more information than ever before in our lifetime, and we still cannot learn enough about the world to tear ourselves from the consumer culture.
Starting "Global Warming"
We like to make it seem like our only issue is Global Warming and through fixing that issue society as a whole will be rid of this problem. The pollution and disruption of the natural world as a whole is not accounted for when one speaks simply about climate change. Recognizing the breadth of the threats to the planet is essential in trying to reduce humans negative impacts and create a healthy safe environment for everything including ourselves. For example, there is a lack of understanding that pollution doesn't end with the fumes from our cars and factories just as the rising temperature of the planet isn't the only cause of global warming.
Pollution is an interesting topic to examine in terms of what directly affects humans and what can get lost in the way-side through an out-of-sight-out-of-mind mentality. Pollution can be defined as "the process of making land, water, air or other parts of the environment dirty and unsafe or unsuitable to use." One automatically assumes the position of land pollution, which is still important to discuss. In 2010 alone American's produced 250 million tons of waste, 4.3 pounds per person per day. Just like people should know that 54% of that waste ends up in landfills and only 34% is recycled. While the average consumption of one American equals that of up to 13 people in some countries and Sweden has revolutionize their recycling rate to 99% in recent years, one wonders why we are so far behind? Lets start with the fact that throwing away trash efficiently is actually a small part of the larger issue which includes air, noise, and light pollution contributing to the reclining health of plant and animal life. Air pollution according to the Live Science article kills more than 2 million people per year from the chemicals essential to modern life such as driving or cooling a home. Even noise pollution is imposed from humans machinery usage and can be linked to the disruption of underwater animals navigation systems and even human "stress-related illnesses, high blood pressure, speech interference and hearing loss." Lastly, light pollution similarly has effects on humans and wildlife, which seems almost unbelievable. Here are just a few:
Plant's flowering and developmental patterns can be entirely disrupted by artificial light.
According to a study by the American Geophysical Union, light pollution could also be making smog worse by destroying nitrate radicals that helps the dispersion of smog.
Research published by the International Journal of Science and Research estimates that over-illumination wastes about 2 million barrels of oil per day and lighting is responsible for one-fourth of all energy consumption worldwide.
More than just "warming"
It is important to note that the planet provides extremely valuable ecological services through its biodiversity.
Changing the name of this topic from global warming to something that actually represents what it is that human life has done to the earth: ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION
Environmental Degradation disintegration of the earth or deterioration of the environment through consumption of assets, for example, air, water and soil; the destruction of environments and the eradication of wildlife.
Simply changing the name of the issue allows us to reach a larger scope of issues that cannot be discussed with the current limiting term of "climate change." By expanding our understanding of what it is that causes our drinking waters and farming land to no longer be safe and healthy and how we kill the ecosystem which provides our most basic and essential needs it becomes more
apparent that eliminating the issue of global warming isn't as simple as the impression lets on.
CAUSES:
Land Disturbance
Pollution
Overpopulation
Landfills
Deforestation
The video above aligns with the notion that global warming is lacking in its descriptiveness by pointing out the multitude of effects and causes that come with this topic, ones that may be overlooked by a disconcerted populous.
A great amount of mainstream coverage on these crimes against nature include an in-descriptive title "Global Warming." The planet is in fact heating up, but limiting the very term with which we speak about this issue works to undermine the gravity of the problem itself for the sake of a neatly packed explanation for people's concern for our water, land, and air.
Maybe This Was a Bad Investment
For a society so concerned with paper money, we don't seem to pay much attention to times when there may be a shortage upon us, like times before the economic crash in '08. According to the Time Magazine article published October of 2015 there has been predictions that link our ecological issues to having negative effects on our pockets. This part is so much more important than the animals hunted into extinction or the wildlife in our coal reefs who no longer exist, because this is the part where we talk about pockets no longer containing its essential nutrient, money. Researchers conducted a study for the journal Nature which concluded that temperature change alone will effect the productivity of certain products enough to "leave global GDP per capita 23% lower in 2100 than it would be without any warming." Marshall Burke an assistant professor at Stanford University explains further, "we see our study as providing an estimate of the benefits of reducing emissions."
Add keeping ourselves in good economic standing to the list of why we should save the environment, because having access to clean drinking waters or breathable air wasn't a reason persuadable enough for people.
Serious warnings about the economic crash didn't change the public perception of the housing market, so how beneficial was this study in actuality?
We've Upgraded to E-Waste!
As we progress through time our negative impacts have always been overlooked and instead replaced with the praise of human evolution. Walking into a Best Buy would bring the majority of people feelings of joy and astonishment with how far we have come as a race to say that we can fill an entire store with some of the latest technology for the commercial market. Majority of people do not walk into a store lined with desirable gadget and think, "Now what do we do with this when we are done?" However, this only furthers our consume-now-act-later attitude towards the economic structure of capitalism. A growing problem has captured the attention of the United Nations, disposing of electronic waste or e-waste.
Piles of toxic e-waste is piling up in underdeveloped nations. 23% of the developed worlds televisions, cell phones, and other discarded or outdated electronics are recycled and donated to seven developing countries. The promotion of these recycling programs include the notion that we can close the digital divide between these countries, but the reality is much different.
"When a person recycles a television, for instance, there's a chance it could end up exported to a country like China, India or Nigeria, where workers at informal recycling operations often use crude, hazardous techniques to extract valuable metals from the equipment and then burn what’s left." ~US News~
Established by the Obama administration the lead agencies on the Interagency Task Force on Electronics Stewardship points out that domestic and foreign handling of electronic waste is unsafe and leads to environmental and health hazards. Placing blame fully on underdeveloped countries which use our discarded products in search for the gold used to power it and burn the rest is a direct reflection of our terrible example of letting them sit in landfills as the alternative. We create land pollution while they create air pollution, but the fact pointed out by the lead agencies on electronics is that we all are contributing to crimes against nature. These toxic materials have contaminated the soil and water in two regions of Delhi, India which practices unregulated e-recycling. These regions Loni and Mandoli have astonishing levels of metal in their soil and drinking water. Lead found in Loni soil is almost 147 times the control sample. The mercury levels in their drinking water was 710 times the Indian standard limit in Mandoli and 20 times in Loni. The fact is that India only comes second to the highest rate of e-recycling worldwide after China "followed by Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Benin and Liberia, according to the Environmental Science and Technology." There are very few countries, mostly European that employ a system that works to resolve these problems. For example, e-recycling has been banned in the European Union while still legal in the United States.
Now What? Fight Back
Deathly waste management practices in an area north of Naples is the reason for the newly coined term for the region The Triangle of Death. According to The Telegraph The Triangle of Death has caused spikes in health issues leading to an unprecedented number of cancer afflicted patients in recent years. The toxic waste stems from the state's disposal of toxic waste near prime agriculture, town's, homes,and historic lands. highly toxic environmental pollutants is the scientific diagnosis for the spike in unhealthy occupants of the area. The mafia soon discovered that they could make a profit by hiding and disposing of industrial waste. Starting in the 1980's the mafia began a new business. Trucks in the night would dump waste and set fire to it. A member named Schiavone confessed to dumping "millions of tons" of waste in 1997 to a parliamentary Rome in fear of environmental causes. He predicted that nearby residences will be killed by cancer in the coming years, a startlingly accurate prediction on his part.
"The fires intensified environmental damage and health risks. Soon doctors noticed an upturn in birth defects and cancers."
~The Telegraph~
The Mafia's personal gain from environmental degradation is only one of the many instances of power and money being put over the health of the planet and its inhabitants. There is a notion that there isn't much we can do about it, or this eco-problem will simply run its course. That couldn't be farther from the truth, because we can do something and people are doing amazing things to combat negative ecological impacts right now.
Think you can't help the environment? Europeans disagree...
