Development takes toll on environment

 
August 07, 2022

For centuries, humanity’s drive to survive and innovate has kept it firmly on top of the food chain. However, this rise to the top was anything but sustainable. In fact, like all conquerors, our ascendency has left behind a trail of destruction to such a devastating extent that we are now at a point where we have left no landscape untouched by development projects on earth, resulting in an easier life for humans, that is unfortunately inflicting constant damage on earth.

Advertisement

While ongoing for many millennia, this environmental damage has sped up ever since our society underwent the industrial revolution. This raises ethical concerns regarding the manner in which humanity has developed and succeeded.

One of the most detrimental side effects of development is the exponential increase in pollution levels, be it land, water, air, or noise pollution. The modern world’s reliance on fossil fuels has increased levels of toxic gasses in the atmosphere, polluting the very air we all breathe. Additionally, large-scale industries that are supported for economic growth, often release waste material into water bodies like rivers. This waste does not just pollute the waters making it unfit for consumption and agriculture but also kills unsuspecting marine life. Apart from air and sea, even the land is not safe from pollution. For example, plastic that was invented to make life easier is now a leading cause of visual pollution since it takes many years for plastic to decompose. In addition to this, when it is burnt, toxic substances like furnans, dioxins, mercury and BCP’s are released into the environment which cause air pollution. All of these damages are ultimately a result of industrialisation.

Moreover, ironically, our desire for a better quality of life has done irreparable damage to environment and thus, our quality of life. Due to advancements in medical technology, human life expectancy (and population by extension) continues to increase. To be able to sustain this ever-increasing population, we need to equally distribute the food amongst everyone. Although, as the population will keep increasing, leading to an increased demand of food, with few other choices, we have to clear forests and make space for both crop and livestock farming. Due to this “industrialisation of food production”, almost 80% of tropical deforestation today is due to agriculture.

This is alarming because deforestation not only destroys ecosystems and drives species to extinction, but also makes us more vulnerable to global warming and the looming climate crisis. However, this does not mean that we should stop growing crops. A sustainable way to reduce the damage of this can be by increasing afforestation around the world. It should be kept in mind that forests are as important as agricultural land. Thus, as we cut down forests to create more space for agricultural activities, we should also focus on afforestation projects in other regions.

Another major consequence, that also happens to tie the previous two consequences together, is the issue of global warming. This term refers to the warming of earth due to an abundance of greenhouse gasses. While these gasses have always been present in the atmosphere, human development has increased their concentration to an alarming point. The simple reason behind this is that the modern human has an unnecessarily large carbon footprint.

Our society encourages consumerism and individuality to a harmful degree. Industries keep on expanding to meet the increasing demand of goods. People keep on striving to personally own valuables such as cars and private jets. All of these things expedite the release of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere. Furthermore, the situation is worsened due to human neglect. If governments all around the globe seriously look towards measures such as improving public transport, people might be more willing to decrease their footprints. Unfortunately, most governments don’t take this seriously enough, as a result of which the situation is worsening progressively.

All this said, it is not as if human development should be completely frowned upon. In fact, the technology we have today is capable of significantly reducing further pollution, however, humanity is not ready to resort to sustainable methods as they do not want to change their current lifestyle choices. As the situation worsens day by day, people have started realising the consequences of the issue and adapting to new lifestyles to restore the damage done. One example of this is the restoration of the Ozone layer, which could only happen because we realised the destruction caused by CFCs. Secondly, we have started the use of sustainable techniques such as afforestation and land reclamation which allow us to remodel areas which were previously unsuitable for life.

Furthermore, with inventions such as lab grown meat and drip irrigation systems, the pressure on the environment is bound to lessen. If more of us shift to sustainable methods of production, earth can gradually start to heal again. —Hayyan Dawood Khan

Advertisement