Are we not the least bit curious to know what shape our environment might take on with the relentless battering given to it by us in providing the resources we need?
Alexander von Humboldt,a 19th-century German naturalist and explorer after whom the Humboldt Current, off the west coast of South America, was named,once wrote:"From my earliest youth I had felt an ardent desire to travel into distant regions of our planet, which Europeans had seldom visited... because of the irresistible attraction in the impetuous agitations of the mind that attracted my attention...from the temperature of the ocean, the fish that lived in it, the plants I found in my path. The climbing of mountains, the exploring of rivers, the sailing of the oceans."
What Humboldt did and researched latter became the foundation in several fields of our modern science and understanding of the planet. Humboldt eventually compiled a 30-volume chronicle of his travels across the far reaches of South America which some of us highly appreciate.
Some of us might entertain the view that we don't have the time or energy to care about what happens to out planet. Rightly so because we all have free will and so can do what we feel like right!
Take petroleum for example and our need for what fossil fuel products can give us. Our dependence on petroleum products is undeniable.From cosmetics to paints to inks,drugs,fertilizers,plastics you name it,we need petroleum to produce these things.
Currently the USA alone consumes roughly 19.6million barrels of oil per day,which is more than 25% of what the entire world put together consumes.Staggering stuff is it not! South africa however is not that much addicted to oil as America is, as we consume only 579000 barrels of oil per day according to some.
Has the planet earth been able to cope with man's increase demands for more non-renewable sources of energy? If we constantly and relentlessly batter the earth to provide the stuff that we need for our own survival,how long before it(the earth) gives in?
Coal is South Africa's primary source of energy and fuel,yet look at the human health problems associated with mining this fuel. Air pollution that creates black lung cancer,the soil erosion and water pollution which harms ourselves and our environment. As long as there is petrol at the pump stations to fill up our vehicles,electricity and hot water to shower or take a bath with, then we all set, so who cares what happens to the planet some will argue.
We need these things to live because its a human necessity!Why though do we behave as if we own the planet and everything in it and could care less as to what happens to it? Has the earth become our own "disposable income" so lets just live life as if there is no tomorrow!
Have we been unconsciously damaging the planet for far too long now and it being reflected in our adverse weather patterns?Floods in Kruger for example!
Do we need to strike a neat balance between scientific advances,human necessities and not destroying our planet? If we get told that we were wasting,littering or abusing the planet and our immediate environment,do we become offended and extremely sensitive because of the criticism labelled against us?
Is all this talk (COP17/CMP7) about working towards greener energy sources and initiatives,sustainable development,less value-destroying industries just a pipe dream to many? Or have we South Africans become to dependent on fossil fuels, especially coal,that its an addiction we can't do without?
The better we take care of our environment,the less chance there is to destroy our planet. Or do we prefer to be an interesting quantity that remains constant in elastic collisions and therefore has no opinions on this matter of importance or meaning. Think about it,it's that important.