“Man has been endowed with a reason, with the power to create, so that he can add to what he’s been given. But up to now, he hasn’t been a producer, only a destroyer. Forests keep disappearing, rivers dry up, wild life’s become extinct, the climate’s ruined and the land grows poorer and uglier every day.”, these words were said by Anton Chekhov in the early years of the 19th century. Since then mankind has neglected nature’s need for fulfilling their greed. We should never fall for a victim of our own greed cause in nature there are neither rewards nor punishments-there are consequences.
Coronavirus or COVID-19 where nature strikes back!
We all have read about it, heard about it, the people sitting next to you are presumably having a conversation about it. This COVID-19 lockdown in India has shown us how fast nature gives us back our clean air. It is for us to seize this opportunity to keep our lungs clean and safe for the future. Humans tend to be unkind towards those who do the most for them. They feel like only they have the right to live alone on Earth but the truth is that they share the planet with all other natural beings. A recent report states that after Italy transpired with the coronavirus, ships are away from the ocean, river banks are empty and due to this Dolphins are seen on the banks for the first time. Amid the coronavirus lockdown, dolphins appear in the waterways of Italy.
Above all, a physical shock like COVID-19 is a reminder that the world is a physical place. That’s easy to forget when we apprehend it mostly through screens or through the cozy, contained environments that make up most of our lives. We seem to have a great deal of control, right until the moment that we don’t have any. Things can go very, very wrong, and very, very fast. That’s what scientists have been telling us for decades now about the climate crisis, and it’s what people have learned, from Australia to California, Kedarnath, and everywhere that flood and fire has broken out. That planet get sick somewhat slower than populations do-over a few decades, not a few weeks-doesn’t change the basic calculation. Biology doesn’t care what we deem of it, any more than physics or chemistry does. Reality is capable of biting and biting hard.
As the Native American saying goes, “We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children.”, so for once, nobody is fighting over religion and trade policies because finally, we’re viewing something like a common enemy, waging war against a common cause. Which makes me wonder why we cannot do the same for climate change which indeed is the bigger common enemy and has been around for years now, relegated to the side-lines by world leaders just because unlike coronavirus its symptoms and effects aren’t that apparent as of now but will be much greater and colossal in the coming decades. Today is the first time in so many years that streets remain deserted and you can see the birds chirping even in crowded cities like Mumbai, Delhi and other locations. Air pollution in Delhi has drastically gone down and thanks to Corona Virus for this. We are awakening to clear blue skies which might be a dream for future generations if we go back to our “normal” routines. Switching from “normal” to “natural” is a long process which we have to adapt at a fast pace because our “normal” is within our inherently egocentric, selfish, exploitative and fiercely individualistic reason, which reason has built the present Human socio-economic system, and all previous Human civilizations through history. Our “normal” does not have the right to exist in Nature’s thoroughly integrated and interdependent system, where natural laws sustain a fragile balance and homeostasis without which life, a positive development is impossible.
The benefits brought by the coronavirus are that we are now realizing how important it is to think above self-interest and help others. Now, people are thinking about the lives of health workers, housemaids who otherwise were the most unnoticed people. We’ve been mercilessly contaminating our environment, from poisoning the very air we breathe to corrupting the zones where other creatures dwell. But now, all that has abruptly evaded short. Mankind is suffering! With humans confined to their homes around the world, Mother Earth is healing, the water is cleaner, Skies are clearer and Wildlife is freer. A relatively healed planet is in progress. A healed planet that will, in turn, heal the humans back.
Another major benefit of COVID-19 is that India along with the whole world is learning the importance of hygiene. Especially, we Indians tend to litter our waste everywhere other than our home, we want our home to be spotless but we forget about our mainland i.e.; Mother Earth. It’s a clear message for foreign countries that it’s best to follow the practice of being vegetarian, and to keep cleanliness all around. Indian bus terminals and railway stations, where it was impossible to even stand, are now getting time to get back to their original state when the population was less. Since all public transportation is on a halt, proper cleaning is going on everywhere in the country which would be impossible otherwise due to overcrowding by a huge population.
Man’s avarice has always lead to hindrance in the prosperity of nature and environment but because of the on-going pandemic there has been an unexpected result. The most positive impact of the whole mishap is that the ozone hole in the Earth’s atmosphere which occurred as a result of the ozone layer depletion has started to heal. Hence it is high time to choose between what is right and what is easy.
With lockdown declared for a couple of weeks, we need to understand why the effective use of resources is a must and why we should not waste resources. Natural resources are hard to renew, once it’s gone it takes centuries to make. As we can see in this time of crisis hand sanitizers are going out of stock, masks are being sold at outrageous prices and people are panic buying everyday supplies. Schools and colleges are closing down, so are the theatres and other public places, conferences are being cancelled, the NBA has halted and IPL postponed. As deliberations conducted over matters of Tokyo Olympics and WHO declares it a pandemic and Trump a national emergency. Factories are being shut down, flights have been extensively cancelled, travel is being discouraged and hygiene has become the topmost priority. If not for humans, this virus will do wonders for nature, finally giving it some break that we didn’t, even when the Amazon burned for days and the Australian bush fires went on and on.
On one hand, this pandemic is causing havoc but on the other hand it has been ample proof in itself that if coordinated global action exerted against climate change then nature takes no time in reclaiming itself. This also echoes that the blame is on us humans for the declining environment but if they wish to change the situation then they can surely stop global issues like climate change in no time.
We have to swap our reason to Nature’s reason, seeing ourselves and the world not from our own, egocentric, subjective, single-cell point of view, but learning how to see reality from a selfless, objective, systematic, multi-cellular viewpoint. Thus, resolving my point here that no matter the extent of the calamity people are facing right now due to the pandemic COVID-19, the crux of the matter remains that COVID-19 has been both a boon and a bane.
REFERENCES:
https://grist.org/climate/coronavirus-and-climate-change-6-ways-the-trump-administration-has-botched-responses-to-both/ https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/covid-19-what-you-need-to-know-today-april-10-2020/story-UP2cakzLJXqyC66TEtNCpK.html https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/how-covid-19-will-hit-india
Twenties Unscripted 