Lesson on TATAKalikasan Ateneo de Manila University
97.8 FM Radyo Katipunan, 11 to 12 a.m. Thursday, October 10, 2024
Season of Creation 2024
Theme: “To Hope and Act with Creation”.
2nd Session on Laudato si: On the care of our common home (One Family, One Earth)
There are seven goals (areas of focus):
You can hear the earth breathe, old folks used to tell us kids. We believed them.
When we were kids the “sound of creation” was a beautiful one. It was a sound of sigh, of relief, of contentment. It goes with kind words, meekness, and joy. Sometimes it breaks into laughter and peals of thunder.
Wheatfield by Vincent Van Gogh
We have to understand that, on the viewpoint of both faith and history. The “loss of Paradise ” comes in three phases in the short history of humankind. The first was when man left the confines of a lush greenery described as a rainforest where he had practically everything for his biological needs and comfort, but it was the dawning of his intellect. Scientists and historians compare the Africa before and the Africa of today – the shifting of that great forest cover to a grassland where game animals roamed, and finally becoming into a dry land – the great Sahara desert – shaping man as Homo sapiens and hunter-gatherer, a life he followed through many generations, and until now for some cultures. Until the second loss of that Paradise came once more.
Colonialism ended towards the end of the 19th century and in the early part of the 20th century. A new Paradise was born once again – the Age of Nationalism. Liberty , Equality, Fraternity – the trilogy of the French Revolution became the universal cry for Democracy now led by the United States of America .
I presume that this is the “restlessness” of creation the paper discussed, and it could be that restlessness Paul described as the sin-story of Genesis 3. It is restlessness in man in seeking more and more of what he wishes to have – his want over his need.
There is Paul in the online lessons in ecology, Paul in the syllabus in Philosophy of Man, in the books and manual about caring the sick. Other than the pages of the bible, more than a half of which he wrote or caused to be written, Paul is among the most read saints of the church of all times, indeed truly a doctor and a general of the faith. Paul is in the temples of worship, Christian or non-Christian. Paul is in every Paulinian sister or teacher and student.
Which challenges the church and us today. Around 10,000 saints - 30,000 to 50,000 including the lesser saints and the blessed ones - are venerated as soldiers of Christ and keepers of the faith. The concept of sainthood took a new turn with the case of Kolbe (photos above) - that of sainthood for charity.
Along this line is the recent canonization of Mother Teresa, now Saint Teresa of Kolkota.
But we have yet to have a saint for Nature the expression of God on earth, the environment. Indeed there are heroes for Mother Earth featured by Time and cited by governments, private organizations and civil society. Among them, Rachel Carson (photo), Jane Goodall, EC Schumacher, including present leaders like Al Gore and Michael Gorbachev (photo below) among many others.
Frantic exploitation of natural resources through illegal logging operations, followed by slash-and-burn agriculture (kaingin), has brought havoc to the Philippines in the past century. The detrimental results are measured not only by the denudation of once productive forests and hillsides, but also destruction through erosion, flood, drought and even death.
6. The other frontier is man’s interplanetary travel beyond the distance of the moon, and for such ambitious adventure, man will have to learn to adjust to life in space and in the planets he targets at visiting.
1. How do you relate autotoxicity of yeast in fermentation, and the tale of the Pied Piper, with humankind’s possible extinction? Are we in our sunset as a species?
2. Were our ancestors a happier lot? In what ways? What has Folk Wisdom to do with our present lives?
3. What are the three scientific breakthroughs? What are their applications? (10)
4. There is an aspect in Human Ecology about “love life.” How do you relate it with health and values? Is married life a blissful life?
5. How is bioethics applied in present day life, specifically in ecology? Explain in relation to pollution, human factors in development, and the like.
6. Global warming has many consequences: What are these? Do these have anything to do with the biblical events and prophesies?
7. What is the Disconnection Syndrome? Explain. How do you relate it to Connectivity?
8. Today’s concept of heroes has taken a universal perspective. Compare it with the traditional concept of heroes, saints and martyrs. Cite prominent names.
9. What is the paradigm of salvation on the ecological perspective? How do you relate this with our lessons? What are the other paradigms to compare with? Is it compatible to them?
10. Present ten (10) scenarios created by the increasing atmospheric heat brought about by Greenhouse Effect.
11. Differentiate the following:
12.Present a scenario if all insects in the world were eliminated.
13. Inbreeding is apparent in parthenogenetic organisms, which include many inverrtebrates and plankton organisms. This phenomenon is contrary to Darwinian principles of survival and evolution? How can these organisms cope up with this disadvantage?
14.Why is Genetic Engineering controversial? On which side of the argument do you support? Explain.
15.“Stress predisposes an organism to shortened life cycle.” What is the background of this statement? Do you agree with it? What is its implication?
16.“Being small is a biological asset.” What is the rationale in the biological world? In the insect world? (Identify the insects in the photos.)
17.Arthropods dominate the animal kingdom in diversity and number.
18.Many organisms are called “living fossils?” Explain. What organisms demonstrate this phenomenon? What enabled these organisms to defy the conventional rules of evolution?
19.What are the components of Integrated Pest Management? Briefly explain each.
20.Make a list of destructive insects (be specific) and the nature of damage they inflict, in common names. You may provide other important information
21.How do insects survive extreme conditions of the environment? During summer? Winter? Cite examples.
22. What are the 12 most important orders of insects? Briefly explain each and cite examples.
23. There are poisonous plants found in nature which ethnic societies learned to deal with their poison. Explain how the poison is removed or at least reduced to safe level.
24. There are 30 pesticide-free vegetables in their common and scientific names which I listed in the Blog and in the book, Living with Nature. They are resistant to insects, mites, nematodes, snails, fungi, including weeds, rodents and birds, and are often found in the wild, or in the open spaces. Name as many as you can recall, in common names.
25. What group of vegetable is the most sprayed – in fact chemical pesticide is a must in its cultivation. What are the tips on how to minimize the effects of pesticides? What should we do with vegetables raised with chemical spraying as a prescribed horticultural practice? (Crucifers. How many can you identify in the photo?)
26. In your readings, what make Garlic a Miracle Health Food and Medicine
27. There are wild food plants or hunger crops that provide an alternative source of food and nutrition on the grassroots in times of poor harvest and calamities like drought. Being native or indigenous they survive extreme conditions of the environment, they need very little care, if at all. Name ten of them which are found locally and how they are prepared.
28. To make natural farming and gardening work, one must turn to the so-called “eight senses” - the intelligence of naturalism- which, in turn, makes a green thumb. Natural farming and/or gardening is described by five principles, to wit: (Give examples under each.)
29. What are sea vegetables, what are the 5 most common in the market
30. Trace the flow of solar energy from the physical to the biological world. Emphasize the role of the cell and its parts. Show the transformation of energy along the pathway. How is energy conserved and released? Illustrate and explain. ~
ANNEX - Top 10 Laudato Si’ Quotes on the Environment
1. “A spirituality which forgets God as all-powerful and Creator is not acceptable.”
2. “We are faced…with one complex crisis which is both social and environmental.”
3. “Unless we struggle with these deeper issues, I do not believe that our concern for ecology will produce significant results.”
4. .“There can be no ecology without an adequate anthropology.”
5. “Environmental problems cannot be separated from… how individuals relate to themselves.
6. “Acceptance of our bodies as God’s gift is vital for welcoming and accepting the entire world as a gift from the Father…thinking that we enjoy absolute power over our own bodies turns, often subtly, into thinking that we enjoy absolute power over creation“.
7. “The harmony between the Creator, humanity and creation as a whole was disrupted by our presuming to take the place of God and refusing to acknowledge our creaturely limitations.”
8. “The issue is one which dramatically affects us, for it has to do with the ultimate meaning of our earthly sojourn.”
9. “The best way to restore men and women to their rightful place…is to speak once more of the figure of a Father who creates and who alone owns the world.”
10. “We require a new and universal solidarity.” ~ Internet ~
- Response to the cry of the earth;
- Response to the cry of the poor;
- Ecological economics;
- Adoption of sustainable lifestyles;
- Ecological education;
- Ecological spirituality; and
- Community resilience and empowerment.
Dr Abe V Rotor
Living with Nature - School on Blog
Co-Host, Fr JM Manzano SJ, and Prof. Emoy Rodolfo, AdMU
Guests:Sr Bing Carranza, Mr John Din, Mr Joe O Nacianceno
Formators/Leaders of Laudato si Movement Filipinas
Reference and Review Articles:
Part 1 - Endangered Treaty of Nature and Man
Part 2 - Ten Important Concerns of EcologyPart 3 - Environmental degradation is the most serious global abuse
Part 4 - Major Concerns about Biology and Ecology - Open QuestionsPart 5 - Ecology's Dilemma Today - "All in the Name of Progress"
ANNEX - Top 10 Laudato Si’ Quotes on the Environment
What is the meaning of the Season of creation? The Season of Creation is a time to renew our relationship with our Creator and all creation through celebration, conversion, and commitment together. During the Season of Creation, we join our sisters and brothers in the ecumenical family in prayer and action for our common home.
How long is the Season of creation? Christians around the world are invited to give particular attention to praying and caring for God's creation as part of the global Season of Creation, observed from September 1 to October 4 every year, feast day of St Francis of Assisi, patron saint of ecology. It is an annual ecumenical celebration world wide.
What is the prayer for the Season of creation? Let us pray: God of all creation, Your spirit dances throughout the earth. You give drink to the trees, shade for the birds, bread for the hungry, you bring life and make all things holy. Flood us with your grace, so we may sow seeds of love, justice and beauty, and reflect your kingdom here on earth.
The Groaning of Creation
Romans 8:18-22 declares that the whole world groans. Creation is in a state of bondage, corruption and futility. Creation's position is strongly negative, yet not described with despair. This passage declares that creation “eagerly awaits” God's future glory.
Can you can hear the Earth breathing? A Reaction to "St. Paul and the Groaning of Creation" - A Theological-Ecological Perspective. Presented by Dr AV Rotor in a convocation at St Paul University QC 2005.
Saul falls on Damascus Road, mural (8ft x 8ft) by the author,
former St Paul University Museum QC 1994
You can hear the earth breathe, old folks used to tell us kids. We believed them.
It was part of our belief and culture on the farm. On some unspoiled landscape. On a patch of Eden , in romantic parlance. Being keen and observant about nature’s ways is as natural as being a farmhand, taking the carabao to the pasture – and back after school before sunset.
Or flying kites at harvest time.
We would stay late after the Angelus keeping company with the harvesters building haystacks (mandala) or gleaning some panicles strewn on the field. Then we would go home keeping our cadence with the breathing earth. A skink dashes here, the bamboo grove creaks in the slightest breeze, a gecko lizard makes a sonorous call. The crickets are happiest in summer. The fowls roost on their favorite tree, synchronized by the drooping of Acacia leaves.
Soon fireflies become visible. They light our path inside our pocket. It is picturesque of the Gleaners of Millet, or Wheatfield of Van Gogh. The rustic painting of rural life by our national artist, Fernando Amorsolo, Harvest Time .
When we were kids the “sound of creation” was a beautiful one. It was a sound of sigh, of relief, of contentment. It goes with kind words, meekness, and joy. Sometimes it breaks into laughter and peals of thunder. Wheatfield by Vincent Van Gogh
After harvest the earth takes a break. The bounty we get becomes “Santa Gracia” of the family. Like the body, the field takes a rest we call fallowing. Energy is recharged at the end of a cycle in order to prepare for the next one.
Harvest Time by Fernando Amorsolo
Summer wears off easily. The rain comes. And we kids would run into the rain, sans fear, sans anything. It was pure joy. Soon the earth is green once more. And this is the way our world goes round and around, ad infinitum.
You can hear the earth under your feet. But it’s a different sound now. It is groaning. It is the sound of pain, of distress, of agony. It is a different scenario. It’s the opposite.
This is the scenario presented in Sister Bernardita Dianzon’s paper and pictured in the CBCP’s report. It would be painful for one who had lived with the art of Amorsolo or the naturalism of Darwin to see eroded mountains, bald hills, silted waterways, and dried up river beds. And to live with polluted air, accumulating doses of pesticide, mutated pathogens, genetically engineering food we call Frankenfood. To live in the confines of a world of computers. And rigid institutions. Yet lose our sense of permanence. Where is home? What is the essence of who we are and why we are here?.
Who are we? The paper asks. Where is the humane in human, the kindness in humankind? Being in human being? Humanus in Humanity?
This is the groaning of creation, a sound that disturbs our sleep. That calls, Don’t go gentle into that good night. Which takes us to the letter of Paul which in part says, “We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now.” (Rom 8:22)
Paul was the best authority in his time to raise such issue, having traveled far and wide on three continents – Europe, Asia and Africa – practically the whole world then. He must have traced some routes of Alexander the Great in his conquest from Macedonia to India and back 500 years earlier. He knew well the Persian Empire – the biggest empire the world had seen, bigger than the Roman Empire in the height of its power. He must have known the uniqueness of different cultures – including the barbaric tribes - the Vikings, Ostrogoths Visigoth, the Saxons, Angles, and even the dominance of the Khans of China and Mongolia. He knew the strengths and weaknesses of leaders like Xerxes, Darius, Hannibal.
And the declining power of Rome then. It was when the northern provinces including England were ceding from the centralized authority –All roads lead to Rome Rome had grown too big, the Dinosaur Syndrome was creeping in. Paul knew when to strike with “a book and a sword.” The message is clear and firm: To spread Christianity and defend it. He was a general, and a general again in the name of Christianity.
Creation to Paul is a holistic one – the biological and physical world, the forest and valley, the rivers and the seas, the land on which humanity was born and being nurtured. The society man built and continues to build. The culture that shares his society. The commonalities and differences of people - their achievements, goals and aspirations.
Paul was a realist, with supreme military background. Thus he was also a strategist, fearless, adventurous.
Yet the inner man – the Little Prince in him, to recall Saint-Exupery’s famous novel of the same title – is a gentle kind, hopeful and patient. Which makes him an paragon of change - persuasive, sincere, and selfless.
I can imagine Paul’s concept and description of creation. First he referred to “a creation associated with labor pain.” The giving forth of new life. The birth of a baby. The germination of a seed. The metamorphosis of a butterfly. The rise of a new island. The formation of a valley. The growth of a mountain. Of a new river or a delta.
The sun is born everyday. Buds are born in spring. The desert suddenly blooms after an occasional rain. The fields ripen in summer. Even a volcano erupts and enriches the soil in its surroundings. And there are creatures born with some difficulty. But it is a groan of joy. It is a groan of self fulfillment and victory. It is a groan of happiness which at the end is shared by many.
Paul and the burning of Rome mural by the author, former St Paul Museum QC
But why did Paul express frustration on the same subject of creation?
Paul expressed frustration as a result of man’s disobedience. “Cursed in the ground because of you.” He said and pointed at man with a warning of Armageddon, “ … you are dust and to dust you shall return.”
But Paul also saw renewal in man’s sinful ways. He too, was once sinful. But on one dark night on the road to Damascus he changed, a 360-degree turn. His enemies became not only his friends – he became their protector. And helped preserve and nurture their new faith, increased their numbers even through extreme danger and sacrifice. He was leading them to a new Paradise . The Paradise of Salvation.
We have to understand that, on the viewpoint of both faith and history. The “loss of Again the groaning of creation.
As man formed societies, so with different cultures shaped by each. Cultures united and cultures clashed because of the conflict of interests, of trade and commerce, of thoughts and ideas. Leading to deeper conflict, this time in politics and religion. This is the scenario in which Paul founded his mission. The renewal of a paradise of unity and harmony by embracing a common faith – Christianity. It is Paradise Regained later epitomized by John Milton - the same author of Paradise Lost which he wrote before he lost his eyesight.
Religious wars fallowed after Paul had done his mission. More people were killed in those religious wars between Christians and non-Christian than all the other wars of history combined. For more than 1000 years the world remained in a state of torpor. The Dark Ages or Middle Ages was a long period of constant fighting, the Roman Empire fell and dissolved into fiefs and small kingdoms fantasized in love stories, fairy tales and children’s books.
Again the groaning of creation.
Paul must have dreamt of the Renaissance though distant it would happen. And it did in the 15th century. The Renaissance was the crowing glory of the church. The Renaissance is the story of the Church. It was Paradise Regained Part 2. West met East, but it was not on mutual terms. Europe invaded and conquered the East, the Orient. A new era was born – colonization. The ideology of conquest and colonization is clearly biased on the part of the invader and master. The conquered were made to appear as barbarians and were doomed unless they submit to a foreign master and a foreign god. Rizal’s books clearly pictured the lives of Filipinos under Spain . Hawaii , a novel by James Micheners projects a worse scenario. The colonizers were self anointed masters of the world and of god.
For us in the Philippines as in most colonized countries, we remained subjects of Spain for almost 400 years. India was colonized by England; Indonesia by the Dutch; Indo-China by the French, and so on down the line. Practically all countries in Africa and South America . Asia and the Pacific became colonies and the natives were “living in hell,” as some historians recall, the slavery of mostly Negroes in the US , notwithstanding. It was Paradise Lost to these countries ruled by the so-called “civilized” masters.
Again the groaning of creation.
Colonialism ended towards the end of the 19th century and in the early part of the 20th century. A new Liberty leads the People by Eugene Delacroix
Peace was short-lived. Two world wars shook mankind in disbelief. And when the last major conflict ended a new order came out – the Cold War, the polarization of the whole world into two warring camps – democracy and socialism. If there is a Dark Age here is a Cold War. Though the latter lasted for 50 years, in both cases, the quality of life was drawn down to a level whereby we ask ourselves, What is rationality?
Again the groaning of Creation.
If rationality – the power of reason to know what is good and bad, and even know the best and the worst of situations – is the singular gift of God to man, and to no other else among the millions of living organisms on earth, how come man destroys what he builds? Destroys that very thing he calls beautiful? Destroys other living things, their habitats and the environment itself that he shares with?
Why should man wreck his only spaceship, the Planet Earth? And finally, why should man destroy himself, his race, his entire species? It is a shame to our Creator that we, humans are the only species that is destroying its own kind.
What is this rationality that scholars talk about? What is the meaning of faith? Prayer? Research? Teaching? Progress? Values? How can this thing rationality make us true guardians of God’s creation?
Creation groans. It protests. This time against man. Man is the enemy of the earth.
I presume that this is the “restlessness” of creation the paper discussed, and it could be that restlessness Paul described as the sin-story of Genesis 3. It is restlessness in man in seeking more and more of what he wishes to have – his want over his need.
Utopia Harmony, Robert Owen
The quest for the highest building, the fastest car, the state-of- the art of entertainment, pleasure and comfort.
Quest for a Utopia built from the wealth of the earth. And the restlessness to have more of these even at the expense of others. And at the expense of Mother Earth.
All in the name of civilization.
“The ultimate test of any civilization
Is not in its inventions and deeds;
But the endurance of Mother Nature
In keeping up with man’s endless needs.”
AVR, Light in the Woods.
But what is civilization? Can’t civilization hear and heed the groaning of creation?
- It is civilization that wiped out the American Indian from the
- It is civilization that plundered the Aztecs and Mayas Empires.
- It is civilization that brought the Spanish Armada’s to its final defeat.
- It is civilization that killed 6 million Jews during the Second World War.
- It is civilization that built the atomic bomb – and dropped it in two cities to defeat an already defeated enemy.
- It is civilization that made a clone animal, Dolly the Sheep.
- It is civilization that threatens the whale and the Philippine Eagle into extinction.
- It is civilization that is causing global warming and the many consequences destroying lives and properties.
- It is civilization that is causing today’s fuel crisis and food shortage. Drastic inflation and loss of currency value, the recession of
All these constitute the groaning of creation. Creation gone wild and free. Creation without boundary. Creation on a global scale.
Man needs a model. Man needs conversion.
Paul is an embodiment of great men. We find in him the influence of Aristotle, the naturalist-philosopher-teacher, one of the greatest teachers of the world – the teacher of Alexander the Great; Plato of his concept of a Utopian Republic, the asceticism of Stephen the first Christian saint he witnessed while being stoned to death.
A touch of Paul is in Gandhi (photo right) philosophy of attaining peace through non-violence, in Saint Mother Teresa’s passion to help the poorest among the poor,
in Lincoln’s heroic struggle in abolishing slavery, in Maximillian Kolbe’s sacrifice by exchanging place with a doomed fellow prisoner, a father of young children, in a Nazi concentration camp.
in Lincoln’s heroic struggle in abolishing slavery, in Maximillian Kolbe’s sacrifice by exchanging place with a doomed fellow prisoner, a father of young children, in a Nazi concentration camp.
Paul must have inspired Nobel Prize Awardee Wangari of Kenya (photo) in planting 40 million trees to reforest denuded and eroded watershed, and the advocacy of Fr. Nery Satur who was killed while protecting the forests of Bukidnon.
There is Paul in the online lessons in ecology, Paul in the syllabus in Philosophy of Man, in the books and manual about caring the sick. Other than the pages of the bible, more than a half of which he wrote or caused to be written, Paul is among the most read saints of the church of all times, indeed truly a doctor and a general of the faith. Paul is in the temples of worship, Christian or non-Christian. Paul is in every Paulinian sister or teacher and student. Paul set a new horizon of sainthood, he an apostle – in fact, the greatest of them all, yet he was not one of the original apostles – because he never saw Christ, never walked with Him, never talked to Him – in person. Yet Christ was his way, his constant companion. Christ was always in his heart and mind and spirit – and in fact, he gave himself and his life to Him.
Which challenges the church and us today. Around 10,000 saints - 30,000 to 50,000 including the lesser saints and the blessed ones - are venerated as soldiers of Christ and keepers of the faith. The concept of sainthood took a new turn with the case of Kolbe (photos above) - that of sainthood for charity.
Along this line is the recent canonization of Mother Teresa, now Saint Teresa of Kolkota.But we have yet to have a saint for Nature the expression of God on earth, the environment. Indeed there are heroes for Mother Earth featured by Time and cited by governments, private organizations and civil society. Among them, Rachel Carson (photo), Jane Goodall, EC Schumacher, including present leaders like Al Gore and Michael Gorbachev (photo below) among many others.
But looking back to Paul, the investiture for sainthood is only by Heaven and it is for the glory of God. If that glory is the preservation of His creation, the protection of His face on earth, if that glory means relief from groaning arising from pain, loneliness, hunger, sickness, thirst, imprisonment, then that person who, like Paul, deserves the honor. He could be the first saint for the cause of the environment.
The earth actual breathes, the old folks used to tell us kids. I still believe it does. Acknowledgement: Internet images
Reference and Review Articles
Dr Abe V Rotor
Part 1 - Endangered Treaty of Nature and Man
Wounded Peace in acrylic by the author
An example of this kind of ruination brought about by abuse of nature is the tragedy in Ormoc City where floodwaters cascading down the denuded watershed, killed hundreds of residents and countless animals. It took ten years for the city to fully recover. Ironically, before the tragedy, Ormoc, from the air, looked like a little village similar to Shangri-La, a perfect place for retirement.
Decline in Carrying Capacity
A land area designed by nature to sustain millions of people and countless other organisms, was touched by man and we are now paying the price for it. Man removed the vegetation, cut down trees for his shelter and crafts, and planted cereals and short-growing crops to get immediate returns. He hunted for food and fun, and in many ways, changed the natural contour and topography of the land.
Following years of plenty, however, nature reasserted itself. Water would run unchecked, carrying plant nutrients downhill. On its path are formed rills and gullies that slice through slopes, peeling off the topsoil and making the land unprofitable for agriculture. Since the plants cannot grow, animals gradually perish. Finally, the kaingero abandons the area, leaving it to the mercy of natural elements. It is possible that nature may rebuild itself, but will take years for affected areas to regain their productivity, and for the resident organisms once again attain their self-sustaining population levels.
There are 13.5 million square miles of desert area on earth, representing a third of the total land surface. This large proportion of land may be man-made as history and archeological findings reveal.
Fifteen civilizations, once flourished in Western Sahara, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, the Sinai desert, Mesopotamia, and the deserts of Persia. All of these cultures perished when the people of the area through exploitation, forced nature to react. As a consequence, man was robbed of his only means of sustenance.
Man, being the superior organism, has not only won over his rivals - all organisms that constitute the biosphere. He has also assaulted Nature.
History tells us of man’s early abuse of nature in the Fertile Crescent where agriculture began some 3000 years ago. Man-made parallel canals joined the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers to irrigate the thirsty fertile valley. In the process, the balance of Nature was overturned when the natural drainage flow was disturbed. Because the treaty was violated, nature revenged. The canal civilization perished in the swamps that later formed. The sluggish water brought malaria and other diseases causing untold number of deaths and migration to the hinterlands. Among its victims was Alexander the Great.
Carthage had another story. Three wars hit Carthage, known as the Punic Wars. On the third one, the Romans ploughed through the city, ending reign of this erstwhile mercantile power, and removing the threat to the Roman economy.
“If a river dies – so with all the stars that shine on its water.” Painting by AVRotor in acrylic
After the conquest, the Romans pumped salt-water inland and flooded the fertile farms. Today, Carthage exists only in history and in imagination of whoever stands atop a hill overlooking what is now a vast desert.
Omar Khayyam, if alive today, cannot possibly compose verses as beautiful as the Rubaiyat as written in his own time. His birthplace, Nishapur, which up to the time of Genghis Khan, supported a population of 1.5 million people, can only sustain few thousands today. Archeologists have just unearthed the Forest of Guir where Hannibal marched with war elephants. The great unconquerable jungle of India grew from waterlogged lowland formed by unwise irrigation management.
It is hard to believe, but true that in the middle of the Sahara desert, 50 million acres of fossil soil are sleeping under layers of sand awaiting water. Surveyors found an underground stream called the Albienne Nappe that runs close to this deposit. Just as plans were laid to “revive” the dead soil by irrigation, the French tested their first atomic bomb. Due to contamination, it is no longer safe to continue on with the project.
The great Pyramids of Egypt could not have been constructed in the middle of an endless desert. The tributaries of the Nile once surrounded these centers of civilization. Jerusalem appears today as a small city on a barren land. It may have been a city with thick vegetation. This was true of Negev and Baghdad.
Part 2 - 10 Important Concerns of Ecology
1. The world everywhere, from the tundra down to the rich tropical forests, faces unabated threats to wildlife destruction, as human activities continue to defile nature not only of its flora and fauna but of natural habitats.
End of Summer, wall mural by the author
2. While the target of conservation is the protection of plants and animals particularly those that are considered to be facing extinction and are being endangered, the greater concern of ecology is the protection of natural habitats and ecological systems.
3. On another front of human activities often characterized by man’s quests for the “good life” through industrialization he believes to be the prime mover of progress and development, the production of unwanted by-products threatens the earth’s dynamic processes, Already the emission of gases from burning fossil oil has resulted to two serious consequences; thinning of the ozone layer and the building up of heat of the atmosphere resulting to global warming.
4. As human population continues to escalate which is going to double the present 6 billion mark by 2025, more and more people now believe that only by heeding the Malthusian prediction that our world may be spared of unimagined scenario of mass starvation and death.
5. On the other hand, quests for new frontiers of science has led us to the fore – unlocking the code of heredity that may soon replace conventional breeding, resulting thus far in the production of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) and Genetically modified Food (GMF).
Living with Nature in acrylic by the author
Interplanetary travel takes years, many years. Into the unknown man carries the environment of the earth in a capsule or bubble. Space biology studies not only the effect on man but to plants and animals as well – some kind of man-made ecological system in space. We have virtually started a new field, space ecology.
7. If a third world war is to come, what kind of war is it? People are in a quandary, even those who are witness to the last world war and different wars after that. On media, a third world war if really global and the enemy stalks, respecting no boundaries of politics, culture and faith. It will be a war everyone is concerned of – real or psychological, covering the ultimate warfare materiels - nuclear, chemical and biological.
8. On the concept of human habitat, how ideal can planning get close to it has been demonstrated in some models, which is far from the answer of what a human community should be. The crux of the problem is in drawing up a treaty between nature and man. Could this be an alternative to cities and high rise buildings?
9. Terms like ecotourism, ecomigtration, ecozones, etc. are jargons often disguised economic programs, rather than ecological in purpose. As such, projects of this kind must be reviewed in the light of ecology rather than economics.
10. Zero waste management is ideal, it is a utopia of a modern world. But looking at the experiences of industrialized countries like Japan, Germany and Norway waste is just another resource waiting to be tapped. Why not? Isn’t garbage the excess of our wasteful luxurious living?
Need of a Conservation Program
For the Philippines, it is high time we lay out a long-range conservation program to insure the future of the country.
Global Warming in acrylic by the author
This plan should protect the fertility of the fields, wealth of the forests and marine resources, in order to bring prosperity to the people. As of now, the country is being destroyed by erosion and floods due to unscrupulous exploitation by loggers and kaingeros.
It is only through proper management and effective conservation, such as reforestation, pollution control, erosion control, limited logging, and proper land use, that we can insure the continuity of our race. All we have to do is to keep ourselves faithful to the treaty between nature and man. ~
Part 3 - Environmental degradation is the most serious global abuse
Environmental degradation is the most serious global abuse, not only in pursuit of actual human need, but his unending want of affluence apparently of no end. The earth is slowly choking with deadly gases, its surface defaced and stripped of natural cover, man-made materials dumped on land and water, in fact its geography has changed and continues to be modified directly and indirectly by man.
1. What withheld the world to shift to alternative energy was the cheap fossil fuel, virtually oozing from the ground and flowing through pipelines around the globe to feed the
industrial boom and millions of cars as affluence rose to the point of ostentatious and frivolous living. But each car’s exhaust is a miniature volcano, erupting daily, worse than a Mt Pinatubo (Philippines) and Mount St Helens (US) combined.
4. Gases in the atmosphere trap heat from escaping, thus solar heat together with heat generated by the earth and man’s activities collectively contribute to global warming at an alarming rate. Climate change has been the cause of climatic adversities (typhoons, tornadoes, drought, blizzards), erratic weather, and other unexplained atmospheric phenomena.
5. In Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” the world is getting warmer and warmer at a geometric rate, far exceeding any period of the history of the earth except in its early formation. Warming is traced to increasing amount of CO2 in the air, the principal gas of combustion mainly of fossil fuel that runs agriculture, industry, transportation, and illuminate whole cities around the world.
6, The failure of timely shift to alternative fuel even as fossil fuel sources are dwindling, even as alternative energy is available, even as population demand tremendously increased in the past one hundred years, has grave consequences which we are feeling today, and this is just the beginning - fuel shortage, high cost of living, increasing inequity leading to mass poverty.
7. Environmental degradation is the most serious effect, not only in meeting actual need, but unending want of affluence apparently of no end. The earth is slowly choking with deadly gases, its surface defaced and stripped of natural cover, man-made materials dumped on land and water, in fact its geography has changed and continues to be modified directly and indirectly by man.
8. Reminiscent of the Dust Bowl of the Dakotas in the US in the early 20th century are similar desertification cases, farmlands becoming wastelands due to excessive farming and poor management, such cases include the Sahel region (Africa) struck in the 60s by extreme drought, farmlands around the shrinking Aral Sea (Russia), the source of irrigation now only a measly fraction of its original size.
A comparison of Aral Sea in 1989 (left) and 2014 (right)
10. All over the world lakes and rivers are dying: Lake Chad of Africa, Aral Sea of Russia, tributaries of Mississippi in the US, Nile in Egypt, Yangtze in China, Mekong in Vietnam. Who would believe that odor of methane and hydrogen sulphide from the polluted harbour of Hongkong is the first to greet passengers even before landing on the sprawling modern airport? So with tourists on reaching the deck of the 100-storey Sears Tower on Lake Michigan in the US. ~
Bad air over New Delhi, typical in other big cities like Beijing, New York and Metro Manila
industrial boom and millions of cars as affluence rose to the point of ostentatious and frivolous living. But each car’s exhaust is a miniature volcano, erupting daily, worse than a Mt Pinatubo (Philippines) and Mount St Helens (US) combined.
2. The air accumulates gaseous materials and particulates, building acid rain that turns soil acidic and unproductive, defacing valuable works of art (historical relics and artefacts), causing illnesses heretofore unrecorded in medical books, and triggering other diseases as well, including the resurgence of ancient diseases like tuberculosis.
Thinning of the ozone layer over Antarctica. Ozone hole has been detected over the Arctic.
3. The ozone layer, a protective blanket against radiation from space is being thinned by CFC and other gases. A hole at the southern hemisphere as big as continental USA, exposes millions, particularly children, in Australia and New Zealand to ultraviolet rays, a major cause of skin cancer. A smaller ozone hole is building up over the Arctic region.
4. Gases in the atmosphere trap heat from escaping, thus solar heat together with heat generated by the earth and man’s activities collectively contribute to global warming at an alarming rate. Climate change has been the cause of climatic adversities (typhoons, tornadoes, drought, blizzards), erratic weather, and other unexplained atmospheric phenomena.
5. In Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” the world is getting warmer and warmer at a geometric rate, far exceeding any period of the history of the earth except in its early formation. Warming is traced to increasing amount of CO2 in the air, the principal gas of combustion mainly of fossil fuel that runs agriculture, industry, transportation, and illuminate whole cities around the world.
6, The failure of timely shift to alternative fuel even as fossil fuel sources are dwindling, even as alternative energy is available, even as population demand tremendously increased in the past one hundred years, has grave consequences which we are feeling today, and this is just the beginning - fuel shortage, high cost of living, increasing inequity leading to mass poverty.
7. Environmental degradation is the most serious effect, not only in meeting actual need, but unending want of affluence apparently of no end. The earth is slowly choking with deadly gases, its surface defaced and stripped of natural cover, man-made materials dumped on land and water, in fact its geography has changed and continues to be modified directly and indirectly by man.
8. Reminiscent of the Dust Bowl of the Dakotas in the US in the early 20th century are similar desertification cases, farmlands becoming wastelands due to excessive farming and poor management, such cases include the Sahel region (Africa) struck in the 60s by extreme drought, farmlands around the shrinking Aral Sea (Russia), the source of irrigation now only a measly fraction of its original size. A comparison of Aral Sea in 1989 (left) and 2014 (right)
9. We don’t have to go far. Our own Laguna Bay, bigger than the Sea of Galilee, is dying, its once pristine blue water as I saw it in the sixties as a UPLB trainee in a lakeshore barangay, Gatid, Sta Cruz, is now shallow and muddy as siltation and pollution from homes, farms and industries from four surrounding provinces worsen by encroaching settlements and fishpens clogging the lake – indeed a desecration of the lake’s beauty as described in Rizal’s celebrated novel, Noli Me Tangere.
10. All over the world lakes and rivers are dying: Lake Chad of Africa, Aral Sea of Russia, tributaries of Mississippi in the US, Nile in Egypt, Yangtze in China, Mekong in Vietnam. Who would believe that odor of methane and hydrogen sulphide from the polluted harbour of Hongkong is the first to greet passengers even before landing on the sprawling modern airport? So with tourists on reaching the deck of the 100-storey Sears Tower on Lake Michigan in the US. ~
Part 4 - Major Concerns about Biology and Ecology - Open Questions
Here are questions often raised in the academe about Biological and Environmental Sciences. How familiar are you to these questions? You may find them useful in your studies, lectures, discussions, exams, researches, and the like.
UST Graduate School students visit vermiculture project of La Mesa Eco Park, QC
Photos by Sunshine Rolle
1. How do you relate autotoxicity of yeast in fermentation, and the tale of the Pied Piper, with humankind’s possible extinction? Are we in our sunset as a species?
2. Were our ancestors a happier lot? In what ways? What has Folk Wisdom to do with our present lives?
3. What are the three scientific breakthroughs? What are their applications? (10)
4. There is an aspect in Human Ecology about “love life.” How do you relate it with health and values? Is married life a blissful life?
5. How is bioethics applied in present day life, specifically in ecology? Explain in relation to pollution, human factors in development, and the like.
6. Global warming has many consequences: What are these? Do these have anything to do with the biblical events and prophesies?
7. What is the Disconnection Syndrome? Explain. How do you relate it to Connectivity?
8. Today’s concept of heroes has taken a universal perspective. Compare it with the traditional concept of heroes, saints and martyrs. Cite prominent names.
9. What is the paradigm of salvation on the ecological perspective? How do you relate this with our lessons? What are the other paradigms to compare with? Is it compatible to them?
10. Present ten (10) scenarios created by the increasing atmospheric heat brought about by Greenhouse Effect.
11. Differentiate the following:
a.Paedogenesis from Parthenogenesisb..Aestivation from Hibernationc.Most primitive vs most advance Organismsd.Shortest vs longest life span of organismse.Colony of termites vs a horde of migratory locusts
12.Present a scenario if all insects in the world were eliminated.
13. Inbreeding is apparent in parthenogenetic organisms, which include many inverrtebrates and plankton organisms. This phenomenon is contrary to Darwinian principles of survival and evolution? How can these organisms cope up with this disadvantage?
14.Why is Genetic Engineering controversial? On which side of the argument do you support? Explain.
15.“Stress predisposes an organism to shortened life cycle.” What is the background of this statement? Do you agree with it? What is its implication?
16.“Being small is a biological asset.” What is the rationale in the biological world? In the insect world? (Identify the insects in the photos.)
17.Arthropods dominate the animal kingdom in diversity and number.
a. What are the common characteristics of Arthropods?b. How are Arthropods classified? Describe each class, and cite common
examples.
18.Many organisms are called “living fossils?” Explain. What organisms demonstrate this phenomenon? What enabled these organisms to defy the conventional rules of evolution?
19.What are the components of Integrated Pest Management? Briefly explain each.
20.Make a list of destructive insects (be specific) and the nature of damage they inflict, in common names. You may provide other important information
21.How do insects survive extreme conditions of the environment? During summer? Winter? Cite examples.
22. What are the 12 most important orders of insects? Briefly explain each and cite examples.
23. There are poisonous plants found in nature which ethnic societies learned to deal with their poison. Explain how the poison is removed or at least reduced to safe level.
24. There are 30 pesticide-free vegetables in their common and scientific names which I listed in the Blog and in the book, Living with Nature. They are resistant to insects, mites, nematodes, snails, fungi, including weeds, rodents and birds, and are often found in the wild, or in the open spaces. Name as many as you can recall, in common names.
25. What group of vegetable is the most sprayed – in fact chemical pesticide is a must in its cultivation. What are the tips on how to minimize the effects of pesticides? What should we do with vegetables raised with chemical spraying as a prescribed horticultural practice? (Crucifers. How many can you identify in the photo?)
26. In your readings, what make Garlic a Miracle Health Food and Medicine
27. There are wild food plants or hunger crops that provide an alternative source of food and nutrition on the grassroots in times of poor harvest and calamities like drought. Being native or indigenous they survive extreme conditions of the environment, they need very little care, if at all. Name ten of them which are found locally and how they are prepared.
28. To make natural farming and gardening work, one must turn to the so-called “eight senses” - the intelligence of naturalism- which, in turn, makes a green thumb. Natural farming and/or gardening is described by five principles, to wit: (Give examples under each.)
a. Take advantage of the functions of living things as producers;b. From a single process, harness two or more products;c. Use leftovers and wastes as resource for the next process;d. Remember that the value of a given process can be greater than the sumof its parts; ande. Capitalize on natural assets of certain organisms and certain environmental factors.
29. What are sea vegetables, what are the 5 most common in the market
30. Trace the flow of solar energy from the physical to the biological world. Emphasize the role of the cell and its parts. Show the transformation of energy along the pathway. How is energy conserved and released? Illustrate and explain. ~
*Lesson on former Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid (People's School-on-Air) with Ms Melly C Tenorio
738 DZRB AM Band, 8 to 9 evening class Monday to Friday (www.pbs.gov.ph)Part 5 - Ecology's Dilemma Today - "All in the Name of Progress"
Pristine environment such as the Loboc River in Bohol is becoming rare
• It looks like man has been able to trace the source of the water that comes from the proverbial Pierian Spring, the secret of health and long life. For years it was believed that the spring lies up in Shangrila atop the Himalayas, or according to the Greeks on Mt. Olympus, or the Egyptians in the Pyramids. One does not have to go there now.
Even today the average life span of man is mid 70. It will not be a surprise if one out of a hundred individuals will be a centenarian. One report claims that the life span of man can be increased up to 140 years by the middle of the millennium. How long did Moses live?
• But cancer is on the rise, so with AIDS, and the spread of genetically linked defects and illness. Work-related and stress-related deaths will likewise increase with heart and severe depression as the leading diseases, followed by the traditional diseases like respiratory and diarrheal diseases. Already there are 15 million people who have died of AIDS and 40 millions more who are living with HIV, the viral infection. A pandemic potential with up to 1 billion people to become affected with HIV has started appearing on some crystal balls and this is not impossible if it hits populous Asia.
Street children rehabilitation center. Bahay ni Kuya, Cubao QC
• Cloning, the most controversial discovery in biology and medicine, will continue to steal the limelight in this millennium, stirring conscience, ethics and religion. It is now sensed as the biggest threat to human society, and if Frankenstein is back and some people regard him as a hero instead of a villain, we can only imagine the imminent destruction our society faces - the emergence of sub- and ultra- human beings. On the other hand, there are those who look at cloning as an important tool of medicine to enable doctors to save lives and increase life expectancy. They also believe that cloning in situ (on site) will do away with tedious and unreliable organ transplants.
• Gene therapy is in, medicinal healing is out. It means diagnosing the potential disease before it strikes by knowing its source. Actually diseases are triggered by specific genes. Reading the gene map of an individual, the doctor can “cure” the disease right at it genetic source. We call this gene therapy, the newest field in medical science. But the altered gene will be passed on to the next generation. Playing God, isn’t? Definitely it is, and it is possible to use this technology not only for the sake of treatment but for programmed genetic alteration. Another Frankenstein in the offing? But scientists are saying gene therapy can be a tool in removing permanently the genes that cause cancer, AIDS, and genetically linked diseases like diabetes, Down’s Syndrome, and probably alcoholism.
• We are in an age of test tube babies. There are now 100,000 test tube babies in the US alone since 1978, the arrival of Louise Brown, the world’s first test tube baby. The industry has just started booming with sperm and ova banks established and linked with the Internet and other commodity channels. Not only childless couples can have children, but even a sixty year old woman can - through what is coined as menopausal childbirth technology. Surrogate mothers for hire, anyone?
• If diseases can be predicted and successfully treated, and life can be prolonged – these have indeed grave consequences to population increase. Already there are 7.7 billion people inhabiting the earth today, and we are increasing at the rate of more than 80 million a year. After 2150 we shall have reached 13 billion, the estimated maximum capacity our planet can support. Is Malthus right after all? It looks like the ghost of this English political economist and priest is back to warn us, this time more urgent than his 1789 prediction that our population would grow until it reaches the limits of our food supply.
• Our Earth is getting warmer, and this is not any kind of comfort but destruction. We have experienced seven of the ten warmest years in the past decade and we are heading toward another Noah’s episode. Low lying areas where the rich farmlands and many big cities virtually squat will be flooded. Heat is trapped by the carbon that we generate from our cars and industries creating a “greenhouse effect.” As the world’s temperature increases, the polar ice will melt, more rains and climatic disturbances will ensue. Climate scientists have predicted that by year 2100 the earth’s temperature will go up from 1 to 3.5 degrees centigrade. But wait, the worst is yet to come. Global warming will plunge us ultimately – towards the middle of the millennium – into another ice age! There will be a buildup of ice at the polar regions as the ocean currents fail to carry warm water to the poles and back.
• The trend of lifestyle will be toward the simple and natural, even in the midst of high tech living. More and more people will go for natural food and natural medicine as they become conscious of their health. The media and the information highway will provide more people access to entertainment and information. Remote management and distance learning will greatly influence business and education. But people will still seek greener pastures in cities and in foreign lands.
• “Save the earth!” has yet to be a denominator of cooperation and peace among nations. The failure of the Earth Summit some years ago at Rio de Janairo, and the first summit before in Stockholm, has produced valuable lessons leaders must learn. There is only one ship in which all of us are riding. Let us all save our ship.
All in the name of Progress
It is all in the name of progress that nations are pursuing. The West insists of pushing the frontiers of technology into the so-called “third wave.” The East, the Asian Pacific region, insists on industrialization in order to catch up with the progress of the West, while the Middle East has yet to undergo a major socio-cultural and political transformation while aiming at lofty economic goals.
Progress, it is generally believed, is the aim of globalization, and globalization is building of a world village. Isn’t this the key to peace and cooperation? Sounds familiar to scholars and leaders.
Maybe, but the greatest challenge lies in the preservation of a healthy Mother Earth, a common denominator of concern irrespective of political, ideological and religious boundaries. It is the saving of the environment that will be the biggest challenge to this and the coming generations.
Even today the average life span of man is mid 70. It will not be a surprise if one out of a hundred individuals will be a centenarian. One report claims that the life span of man can be increased up to 140 years by the middle of the millennium. How long did Moses live?
• But cancer is on the rise, so with AIDS, and the spread of genetically linked defects and illness. Work-related and stress-related deaths will likewise increase with heart and severe depression as the leading diseases, followed by the traditional diseases like respiratory and diarrheal diseases. Already there are 15 million people who have died of AIDS and 40 millions more who are living with HIV, the viral infection. A pandemic potential with up to 1 billion people to become affected with HIV has started appearing on some crystal balls and this is not impossible if it hits populous Asia.
• Cloning, the most controversial discovery in biology and medicine, will continue to steal the limelight in this millennium, stirring conscience, ethics and religion. It is now sensed as the biggest threat to human society, and if Frankenstein is back and some people regard him as a hero instead of a villain, we can only imagine the imminent destruction our society faces - the emergence of sub- and ultra- human beings. On the other hand, there are those who look at cloning as an important tool of medicine to enable doctors to save lives and increase life expectancy. They also believe that cloning in situ (on site) will do away with tedious and unreliable organ transplants.
• Gene therapy is in, medicinal healing is out. It means diagnosing the potential disease before it strikes by knowing its source. Actually diseases are triggered by specific genes. Reading the gene map of an individual, the doctor can “cure” the disease right at it genetic source. We call this gene therapy, the newest field in medical science. But the altered gene will be passed on to the next generation. Playing God, isn’t? Definitely it is, and it is possible to use this technology not only for the sake of treatment but for programmed genetic alteration. Another Frankenstein in the offing? But scientists are saying gene therapy can be a tool in removing permanently the genes that cause cancer, AIDS, and genetically linked diseases like diabetes, Down’s Syndrome, and probably alcoholism.
• We are in an age of test tube babies. There are now 100,000 test tube babies in the US alone since 1978, the arrival of Louise Brown, the world’s first test tube baby. The industry has just started booming with sperm and ova banks established and linked with the Internet and other commodity channels. Not only childless couples can have children, but even a sixty year old woman can - through what is coined as menopausal childbirth technology. Surrogate mothers for hire, anyone?
• If diseases can be predicted and successfully treated, and life can be prolonged – these have indeed grave consequences to population increase. Already there are 7.7 billion people inhabiting the earth today, and we are increasing at the rate of more than 80 million a year. After 2150 we shall have reached 13 billion, the estimated maximum capacity our planet can support. Is Malthus right after all? It looks like the ghost of this English political economist and priest is back to warn us, this time more urgent than his 1789 prediction that our population would grow until it reaches the limits of our food supply.
• Our Earth is getting warmer, and this is not any kind of comfort but destruction. We have experienced seven of the ten warmest years in the past decade and we are heading toward another Noah’s episode. Low lying areas where the rich farmlands and many big cities virtually squat will be flooded. Heat is trapped by the carbon that we generate from our cars and industries creating a “greenhouse effect.” As the world’s temperature increases, the polar ice will melt, more rains and climatic disturbances will ensue. Climate scientists have predicted that by year 2100 the earth’s temperature will go up from 1 to 3.5 degrees centigrade. But wait, the worst is yet to come. Global warming will plunge us ultimately – towards the middle of the millennium – into another ice age! There will be a buildup of ice at the polar regions as the ocean currents fail to carry warm water to the poles and back.
• The trend of lifestyle will be toward the simple and natural, even in the midst of high tech living. More and more people will go for natural food and natural medicine as they become conscious of their health. The media and the information highway will provide more people access to entertainment and information. Remote management and distance learning will greatly influence business and education. But people will still seek greener pastures in cities and in foreign lands.
• “Save the earth!” has yet to be a denominator of cooperation and peace among nations. The failure of the Earth Summit some years ago at Rio de Janairo, and the first summit before in Stockholm, has produced valuable lessons leaders must learn. There is only one ship in which all of us are riding. Let us all save our ship.
All in the name of Progress
It is all in the name of progress that nations are pursuing. The West insists of pushing the frontiers of technology into the so-called “third wave.” The East, the Asian Pacific region, insists on industrialization in order to catch up with the progress of the West, while the Middle East has yet to undergo a major socio-cultural and political transformation while aiming at lofty economic goals.
Progress, it is generally believed, is the aim of globalization, and globalization is building of a world village. Isn’t this the key to peace and cooperation? Sounds familiar to scholars and leaders.
Maybe, but the greatest challenge lies in the preservation of a healthy Mother Earth, a common denominator of concern irrespective of political, ideological and religious boundaries. It is the saving of the environment that will be the biggest challenge to this and the coming generations.
Poor Rating of Earth Summit
The recent Copenhagen Earth Summit renewed basically the agenda of previous summits. But demonstrators expressed pessimism over the sincerity of world leaders on environmental issues.
They had in mind what happened to the promises made by leaders from 178 nations who gathered in the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro some years ago. These are the four areas of accord: biodiversity, climate, deforestation, and population.
On the biodiversity accord signed by 161 countries (except the US), ecosystems continue to be assaulted and fragmented. On arresting global warming as a result of emissions from industries and vehicles, developing countries on the path of industrialization have exacerbated the problem. Deforestation virtually knows no limits and bounds as long as there is wilderness to conquer. Every year forests are lost the size of Nepal. Asia has lost 95 percent of its woodlands.
There are now 7.7 billion people on earth. Every year about 85 million people are added. This is slightly bigger than the Philippines’ total population. Although birth rates are going down in the West as well as in the NICS, there is a boom in babies in rural Asia, Latin America and Africa.
What is the score of the Earth Summit? Rhetorics and promises can not be relied upon. It is in this area that globalization should be reviewed. Globalization should be defined in economic, cultural and environmental terms. This triad approach has yet to be addressed to all members of the global village. And there should be a new world governance, more credible than the UN, to undertake this gargantuan task.
“Hundreds of millions of people will starve to death,” warned Paul Ehrlich in his book, The Population Bomb. This is an echo of the Malthusian Theory raised 250 years ago. This means farmers, in spite of biotechnology, can not keep up indefinitely with increasing food demands. Yet there is a great disparity in food distribution. While the average adult needs 2200 calories a day, an American consumes 3603 as compared to the intake of a Kenyan which is only 1991 calories.
Degradation of the land, the breaking up of ecosystems, are resulting to modern day exodus of ecomigrants who cross borders, invade cities and build marginal communities, threaten security of nations, and creates other socio-economic problems. Desertification, soil erosion, overuse of farms drive multitudes to search for greener pasture, many in the guise of overseas workers, settlers, refugees.
The birth of megacities is a human phenomenon in modern times. The world’s cities are bursting at the seams. Half of the world’s population live in urban areas today, and more are coming in. In developed countries 75 percent of their population live in cities. By year 2015, 27 of the world’s 33 largest cities will be found in Asia, with Mumbai and Shanghai bursting with 20 million each. Today the most populous city in the world is Tokyo with 27 million people. New York has 16.3 million which is about the same as Sao Paolo. Metro Manila has 10 million.
On global warming, figures show how the world fares under greenhouse effect. This phenomenon is attributed to the severity of the last three episodes of El Nino in the last three decades, and to the prevalence of deadly tornadoes, hurricane, floods and natural calamities.
A hole in the sky was caused by damaging chemicals that tear down the vital atmospheric ozone shield that keeps us from too much heat and radiation. The size of the ozone hole about the Antarctic region is estimated to be like the whole continental US – and is still expanding. CFC use is now restricted in most countries, but there are other damaging chemicals used by agriculture and industry. Methyl bromide for one is 40 times more destructive to ozone than CFC.
Indeed, this millennium is the deciding point whether we can save Mother Earth - or fail. Already a decade has passed, and the trend of destruction has even increased. If we fail it is also the doom of mankind and the living world. It is yet the greatest challenge to civilization. ~
Idyllic rural life. People tend to go and live in the city. Painting by the author.
They had in mind what happened to the promises made by leaders from 178 nations who gathered in the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro some years ago. These are the four areas of accord: biodiversity, climate, deforestation, and population.
On the biodiversity accord signed by 161 countries (except the US), ecosystems continue to be assaulted and fragmented. On arresting global warming as a result of emissions from industries and vehicles, developing countries on the path of industrialization have exacerbated the problem. Deforestation virtually knows no limits and bounds as long as there is wilderness to conquer. Every year forests are lost the size of Nepal. Asia has lost 95 percent of its woodlands.
There are now 7.7 billion people on earth. Every year about 85 million people are added. This is slightly bigger than the Philippines’ total population. Although birth rates are going down in the West as well as in the NICS, there is a boom in babies in rural Asia, Latin America and Africa.
What is the score of the Earth Summit? Rhetorics and promises can not be relied upon. It is in this area that globalization should be reviewed. Globalization should be defined in economic, cultural and environmental terms. This triad approach has yet to be addressed to all members of the global village. And there should be a new world governance, more credible than the UN, to undertake this gargantuan task.
“Hundreds of millions of people will starve to death,” warned Paul Ehrlich in his book, The Population Bomb. This is an echo of the Malthusian Theory raised 250 years ago. This means farmers, in spite of biotechnology, can not keep up indefinitely with increasing food demands. Yet there is a great disparity in food distribution. While the average adult needs 2200 calories a day, an American consumes 3603 as compared to the intake of a Kenyan which is only 1991 calories.
Degradation of the land, the breaking up of ecosystems, are resulting to modern day exodus of ecomigrants who cross borders, invade cities and build marginal communities, threaten security of nations, and creates other socio-economic problems. Desertification, soil erosion, overuse of farms drive multitudes to search for greener pasture, many in the guise of overseas workers, settlers, refugees.
The birth of megacities is a human phenomenon in modern times. The world’s cities are bursting at the seams. Half of the world’s population live in urban areas today, and more are coming in. In developed countries 75 percent of their population live in cities. By year 2015, 27 of the world’s 33 largest cities will be found in Asia, with Mumbai and Shanghai bursting with 20 million each. Today the most populous city in the world is Tokyo with 27 million people. New York has 16.3 million which is about the same as Sao Paolo. Metro Manila has 10 million.
On global warming, figures show how the world fares under greenhouse effect. This phenomenon is attributed to the severity of the last three episodes of El Nino in the last three decades, and to the prevalence of deadly tornadoes, hurricane, floods and natural calamities.
A hole in the sky was caused by damaging chemicals that tear down the vital atmospheric ozone shield that keeps us from too much heat and radiation. The size of the ozone hole about the Antarctic region is estimated to be like the whole continental US – and is still expanding. CFC use is now restricted in most countries, but there are other damaging chemicals used by agriculture and industry. Methyl bromide for one is 40 times more destructive to ozone than CFC.
Indeed, this millennium is the deciding point whether we can save Mother Earth - or fail. Already a decade has passed, and the trend of destruction has even increased. If we fail it is also the doom of mankind and the living world. It is yet the greatest challenge to civilization. ~
ANNEX - Top 10 Laudato Si’ Quotes on the Environment
1. “A spirituality which forgets God as all-powerful and Creator is not acceptable.”
2. “We are faced…with one complex crisis which is both social and environmental.”
4. .“There can be no ecology without an adequate anthropology.”
5. “Environmental problems cannot be separated from… how individuals relate to themselves.
6. “Acceptance of our bodies as God’s gift is vital for welcoming and accepting the entire world as a gift from the Father…thinking that we enjoy absolute power over our own bodies turns, often subtly, into thinking that we enjoy absolute power over creation“.
7. “The harmony between the Creator, humanity and creation as a whole was disrupted by our presuming to take the place of God and refusing to acknowledge our creaturely limitations.”
8. “The issue is one which dramatically affects us, for it has to do with the ultimate meaning of our earthly sojourn.”
9. “The best way to restore men and women to their rightful place…is to speak once more of the figure of a Father who creates and who alone owns the world.”
10. “We require a new and universal solidarity.” ~ Internet ~
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