By Barnes Mawrie
“Nature has enough for man’s need and never enough for man’s greed” (Mahatma Gandhi)
“If you slap nature she will slap you back” says Pope Francis reminding humanity of the danger of abusing Mother Earth. Every year on June 5, the world celebrates World Environment Day. This year too like last year, we have observed it in the midst of the Corona Pandemic. Hesiod’s Theogony carries a Greek mythology about Gaia (Mother Earth) and it is said that in the period of chaos, Gaia became the everlasting seat of the immortals and she gave birth to the heaven and the sky, to the mountains, the seas, lightning and thunder and creatures of every sort. Mother Earth was so revered by the ancients that she was always personified as a goddess. Tribal people in general used to have the same reverence for Mother Earth. The ancient Khasis called her Mei-Mariang (Mother Nature), Mei-rilung Mei-risan (Proseperous Mother). The ancient people always had awareness that human beings are organic constituents of the Earth. They always considered themselves as elementally connected to everything in Nature. This was what prompted in them an attitude of love and respect for Mother Nature. They never lost sight of the fact that their existence totally depended on the magnanimity of Mother Nature. This is the reason why in tribal agricultural customs, there used to be a petition ritual to request Mother Nature for her blessings on their cultivation and a thanksgiving ritual to express gratitude to her for the prosperous harvest.
Unfortunately, as civilization progressed and human beings became more intelligent and creative, they have also become more exploitative. In becoming highly technological, human beings have lost touch with the natural. This is clearly seen in the modern products which have become more synthetic and less organic. This phenomenon has estranged us more and more from Mother Nature. Over this, the culture of materialism and consumerism has aggravated the situation. It has led to an unbridled exploitation of natural resources which is causing tremendous injury to Mother Earth in the form of pollution of all sorts, deforestation, fossil fuel drilling, mining and quarrying. It is chilling to know that tropical forests are being cut down at the rate of thirty football pitches a minute and 200 species are going extinct every day.
Human beings have acted arrogantly and proven to be dictatorial in their relationship with Mother Nature. It is evident that Gaia or Mother Earth has reached the limit of her patience and she is unleashing her wrath against humanity. These pay-backs of Mother Nature are evident in the form of rising temperature causing a global warming. Green house effect on the surface of the Earth has risen due to the atmospheric pollution and our planet is getting warmer day by day. This in turn has got a collateral impact in the form of glacier melting. The rapid degradation of Thwaites Glacier in Antarctica in recent decades has caused alarm among environmentalists. With the melting of this massive glacier the sea level will rise by three meters and that would spell tragedy for low-lying countries like Bangladesh, Netherlands and cities like New York, Miami and others.
Global warming is also responsible for much of forest fires all over the world as it has created climate changes which increases wind speed and surface temperature. The great inferno which took place in Australia in the summer of 2020 claimed the lives of 33 people, over 1 billion animals, destroyed over 300 homes and incinerated 12 million hectares of land. The rapid melting of glaciers on the Himalayas would mean that major rivers like the Ganges and Brahmaputra would lose the milk water feeding them and soon these rivers may run dry. If that happens then our subcontinent would become a desert and one can only surmise what misery and tragedy it would spell.
Scientists agree that global warming is also responsible for adding fury to tropical cyclones. Warmer oceans mean added strength for these cyclones. Cyclone Harvey in the US, in August 2017 which is said to have dumped over 27 trillion gallons of rain water and responsible for the massive damages on lives and properties has proven beyond doubt the close connection between climate change and frequent furious cyclones in different parts of the world. Just a few days ago India has witnessed the fury of the Taukte Cyclone which had caused massive damage in the states of Kerala and Gujarat. Then came Cyclone Yass in the eastern region of India.
Scientists have predicted that we are just 11 years away from triggering an irreversible chain reaction which would spell doom to human civilization. Why do these things happen? The answer is loud and clear “Gaia is unleashing her wrath on human civilization” because we have oppressed her, exploited her, mistreated her and objectified her beyond measure. Perhaps the Corona pandemic affecting the world today is another manifestation of her anger. When will we humans learn from our mistakes? When will we cease our greed and ambition and stop tormenting Mother Nature? When will we learn to go back to her bosom and once again behave like her responsible and caring children? We have to revive the eco-consciousness and eco-spirituality of our ancestors if we want to survive as a species on this planet.
Email: [email protected]