Progression Vs. Regression

by Smriti Raghunandan on September 11th, 2010

Common man lives in an environment that is altered and changed by him. Over the years, he has evolved, therefore having an after-effect in his surroundings. He started to change his channel of thinking and developed his milieu that suited his way of living.

A society is subject to change; the main reason being, the residents are humans. Human beings are never constant. Their basic needs and necessities keep altering as they evolve. Thus, man decided to take nature’s assistance to provide his ever growing population with food, clothing and shelter. This is where it all began: Climatic Regression.

Change is good when the society has sustainable development. This means the society moves up the ladder without damaging its surroundings or disturbing any part of nature. This was not how man was going to achieve his goals in life: “keeping nature in mind!” Instead, he decided to sabotage the vivacity of nature and her components and keep himself happy.

Climate, like humans is subject to change. In other words, it is a variable. Just like how you and I would have a repulsive reaction when we touch a hot plate, similarly climate would react to unexpected changes made especially by man. This is similar to Newton’s third law of Motion: For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

According to the Environment Policy, climate change refers to the change in modern climate. These changes may occur in a specific region or may affect the earth’s surface as a whole. There are a few factors, both natural and man-made that lay the foundation to this climatic change phenomenon. These factors are otherwise called “forcings”. More than nature causing climatic variations, it is us humans who cause most of the damage.

As the population is increasing by the minute, there is more space taken up. This means a few more trees are sawed down; tall buildings built all across the cities; no space for a green patch to grow! This gives you an idea about how selfish we are. Without thinking about repercussions of using 2 four-wheelers by the people from the same household thereby emitting abundant amount of CO₂into the air we breathe simultaneously, we still continue to do what we want. No amount of environment protection Act by the government or public awareness campaigns conducted by Greenpeace has changed the way we think. Man, unlike other living beings has the ability to think. However, the anthropocentric view of the human race has blindfolded him to think of his needs and desires primarily.

With the sea levels rising, no rains and glaciers melting, the earth will soon reach its saturation point. Before we are caught red-handed, it is our responsibility as dwellers of Mother Earth to save her from being engulfed into darkness because of our own selfish motives. The secret towards this is: Sustainable Development. Live and let live is the mantra to be followed. Use resources, but use them efficiently. You need to save up for the future generation. Development on one hand is a good thing, but at the cost of nature or the future generations can have adverse effect. Therefore, choose the smart way to live keeping Mother Nature in mind.