Sense of gratitude towards Mother Earth, and our actions not to hurt Her keep our body, mind in receptive & healthy mode. This Earth Day (22 April), mind not to temper it for the sake of posterity.
In contrast to how we view Earth today – as an average planet of 12,735 km diameter in our solar system – to early man it was the epicentre of entire universe. A mysterious entity feeding, sheltering, nourishing and sustaining all living beings, it was blasphemy to understand it as it was held in high esteem and worshipped. Due to its immense purifying as well as consecrating characteristics, its abstuse powers are still solicited in rituals & ceremonies of most faiths. No construction of a residential, institutional or industrial premises including advanced scientific lab is considered to augur well without initially bhumi pujan i.e. invoking the benevolence of Goddess Earth.
Man’s symbiotic ties with Earth
Aware of being interal part of Earth in which his existence shall be subsumed one day, far from vitiating the sanctity and order of Earth, all his routine and other activities conformed to the health & well being of Earth. Continuing researches in various areas related to Earth including its topography, and the varied fauna & flora in symbiotic relationship with it, new layers of knowledge ever go on unfolding and man’s understanding remains skin-deep. Lambasting those who do not value earth, Alex Trebek said: If you can’t be in awe of Mother Nature, there’s something wrong with you.
Continual proximity to Earth while sitting, walking barefoot, eating, sleeping etc. regulated the electrical system of human body and its fitness by virtue of its congruence with Earth’s, since both are of same magnitude as discovered much later. In most comfortable and ergonomically designed shoes available today you don’t have the feeling of wearing anything at all. With advancement we created barriers and lost the seminal need to keep Earth intact was compromised.
Protect the soil
A third of Earth’s soil is already degraded and, 90 percent of land surface is projected to be irreversibly degraded by 2050. Due to continued human nonchalance, other life-sustaining resources viz. water and air are also getting polluted at alarming rate. At the instance of Senator Galord Nelson, the Earth Day, later renamed as International Mother Earth Day, is celebrated on 22 April annually by about 1 billion people in 193 countries with resolve to protect the environment and biodiversity. With this year’s theme ‘Invest in Our Planet’, the activities planned shall promote awareness about the concerns of overpopulation, loss of biodiversity, and depleting quality of the environment.
Afforestation Brooks no laxity
Two interlinked factors adversely affecting the health of Earth are: deforestation and ozone depletion. As vast storehouse of carbon and global diversity, absorbing huge quantum of reenhouse gases, protection of forests is imperative. The ozone layer, in about 20 km range around Earth, is essential to sustain human, animal & plant life and forms a protective cover against sun’s high level ultraviolet radiation as supported by satellite studies. So, the Montreal Protocol treaty signed way back in 1987 prohibits production, use, and transfer of chemicals like chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and halons that deplete the ozone layer, and their progressive disuse. As a corollary to deforestation, the continuously rising carbon dioxide forms a dense cover in atmosphere and unusual warming of Earth’s surface, called global warming. The lowered atmospheric oxygen due to deforestation has been implicated in thinning of the ozone layer.
Therapeutic powers of Earth
Earth also has cure for most of our health disorders, it’s an abdiding source of all the herbs and medications. Calling upkeep of Earth as urgency Victor Schauberger’s said, “Our primeval Mother Earth is an organism that no science in the world can rationalise. Everything on her that crawls and flies is dependent upon Her and all must hopelessly perish if that Earth dies that feeds us.”
Two significant initiatives of Government of India to protect natural resources are: rainwater conservation and replacing petrol- or diesel-driven vehicles to electricity-driven ones. Electric vehicle charging stations are being planned on both sides of road at every 3 km in urban areas and at 25 km in rural areas.
What we can do
In routine life, simple measures like minimal use of polythene & plastics, espousing organic lifestyle in life including consumption of local foods, proper disposal of non-biodegradable stuff, collecting the leftover vegetable or fruit seeds and sprinkling it anywhere in rural areas can help maintain Earth’s health. Yet for substantial outcomes to follow businesses, governments, civil society organisations and student groups should include conservation of Earth in their agenda.
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