Month: July 2020

Nowadays, we get off on anything that is fast and all its synonyms – fast food, quick service, fast delivery, etc. Take more than a week for your ordered product to be shipped and you blow a gasket. Mornings are blurred memories full of instant noodles and easy to prepare cereals. We hurry through life by pressing down on the accelerator of our cars so we can race with others to get to our destinations. But in every squeeze of insecticide cans to kill off cockroaches or in every flick of the switch to turn the lights on, we – unwittingly for some, indifferently for others – are affecting our planet in a way that is, more often than not, destructive. We are changing our planet and we are changing it fast. How fast, you may ask? Fast enough that efforts to curb the significantly detrimental effects of human activities would not be sufficient in the long run.
Blame being busy or simple self-centeredness but we hardly notice what is going on in our environment. Blame our sense of entitlement and superiority or some other human quality but simply put, we do not care about it. We think that nature is for our taking, that we can do with it whatever we want. We throw garbage everywhere even if there is obviously a huge sign right in front us discouraging the act.
I am pretty sure you have went through this phase. Perhaps, you are stuck at this phase but I remember when I was a child and I did not really give a damn about throwing my candy wrappers and junk food containers on the street once they are empty of food. It took a scolding from my parents and school lessons to make me stop doing it. But for some people, no amount of knowledge and reprimands could change one’s attitude towards environmental preservation. And here stems most of the issues we are facing as of today in regards to our world.
Before you dive into this book, here is a food for thought: there is no disconnection between what we do and what our planet feels because of it. So, here is a little exercise for you. Think of an activity – any human activity – that you feel do not have any negative effect on the environment. Cooking? Showering? Reading? You choose. And keep your answer in mind and as you go through this book, find out if your answer is correct. If you are wrong, learn just in what way human activities could impact the world.
Speaking of, one of the most notable bearing human activities have on our planet is climate change. This is pretty much a familiar term. I would even bet a thousand bucks that you are living under a rock if you have not heard a thing or two about climate change. In this book, not only will climate change will be tackled but also other human activities that have drastically affected our planet and prodded it to change for the worse. I am going to talk about the earth bombs that we have individually wielded and detonated to destroy our Mother Earth.