WHO proposes framework for a safer, transparent & ethical use of human genome editing tools worldwide!

Human action is a purposeful behavior that determines consequences

Our mother Earth was created approximately 4.6 billion years ago with the accretion of solar nebula. Initially it was formed from molten lava, which on gradual cooling formed into different layers. Our earth’s creation has been unique and so was the creation of life that sustained on the mother planet. It’s the only planet that sustains life…that sustains us..

Population in billions is being carried by the mother earth and the numbers are being added at a gradual pace every year. The current population of the world is 7,504,902,001 billion where China tops the list with a population score of 1,387,488,913 Billion, India at second having 1,340,528,743 Billion and U.S.A at third position with a population of 326, 177, 221 Billion (worldometers.info).

World Population by Country:

Figure 1- World Population  

At present, the current rate of the growing population is around 1.11 % per year. The image below shows the population forecast from the year 2020 till the year 2050.

With the increase in population, the demand for space also increases. This leads to urbanisation, which further leads to deforestation. Nearly 3.5 billion to 7 billion trees are cut down each year for dwelling houses, for paper and other industrial needs.
                                                                             

                         Figure: World Population Forecast till 2050

Felling down of large number of trees leads to increase in the level of carbon-di-oxide in the environment. Trees play a vital role in absorbing carbon-di-oxide. This phenomenon has been happening since many years. As we know that the global average concentration of CO2 in earth's atmosphere is about 0.04% but there has been a gradual increase in the amount of CO2 of late.

Recently, a report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) cited that the carbon-di-oxide levels have breached a new ceiling, relentlessly turning up the atmospheric heat. Atmospheric carbon-di-oxide concentrations are now at the highest levels they have been in at least 3 million years. More importantly, over the past couple of years, they have increased faster than probably ever before.

Scientists say that carbon-di-oxide is one of those several gases that absorbs heat in the atmosphere, creates the ‘greenhouse effect’ which keeps the Earth warm and thus sustains the life. However, if the level of CO2 increases, extra heat is being trapped in the atmosphere, and global average temperatures begin to rise, the more the CO2, the greater the atmosphere’s capacity to trap heat.

Presently, the current rate of increase in the CO2 is about 200 times faster than what it was thousands of years ago. Emission from burning of coal, oil and natural gas are also adding to the cause. The global temperature is increasing rapidly which is leading to consequences like Global Warming and Climate Change.

Speculations have been doing the rounds since many years indicating the melting of large number of glaciers in the Arctic and Antarctic regions; rise in sea level, submergence of low-lying areas, increase in tropical diseases like malaria, dengue etc.

A few days ago, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched an integrated case management information system in the Supreme Court that will enable digital filing of cases. He urged the Indians to adopt such technologies that remain relevant in changing times. He mentioned that with a paperless approach, millions of litres of water and thousands of trees can be saved as ten litres of water is being used to make one A4 size paper each day.

Pollution has penetrated itself into the nerves of the system. There are various kinds of pollution that are disturbing the balance of ecology and creating an upheaval in the biosphere. The Human intervention coupled with a few factors such as rise in advance technologies and sophisticated innovations have resulted in changing the sanctity of the ecology. As the technologies rose, so were the kinds of pollution viz. air, water, land, noise, light, weight, thermal, e-waste and thought pollution.

All the aforementioned kinds of pollution in one or the other ways are caused because of human’s greed and need and its degree of capacity to exploit the environment for its own benefit.

In one of its latest report, World Health Organisation has revealed that more than 1 in 4 deaths of children lesser than 5 years of age are attributable to unhealthy environments. Every year, environmental risks such as indoor and outdoor air pollution, second-hand smoke, unsafe water, lack of sanitation, and inadequate hygiene take the lives of 1.7 million children under 5 years of age.

Moreover, worldwide, 11–14% of children aged 5 years and older currently report asthma symptoms and an estimated 44% of these are related to environmental exposures.

As per the reports of the medical journal The Lancet, over a million Indians die every year due to air pollution and some of the worst polluted cities of the world are in India.

Delhi, the national capital is the most polluted city in India and it’s the second most polluted city in the world. The following is the list of the most polluted cities in India carrying their particulate matter.

Pollution is becoming chronic disease that will engulf the entire world with slow poisoning. The earth that was green and beautiful has been formed into an uninhabitable land. The air that we breathe, the land where we stay, the water that we consume has become poisonous. The river Ganga, which was once considered a holy river, is gradually losing its purity. Lately, the High Court of Uttarakhand has given River Ganga as the status of living entity.

The nature has been exploited to a vast extent that it is irreparable. We cannot imagine to which degree, the earth and its nature have been ruined. Even a great scientist has warned that earth will become completely unfit to live after 100 years, so human should start discovering other habitable areas. Such is the panic among scientists, thinkers and other great minds all across the world.

We all humans have become so much self-centered that we are killing those precious things that are important for our living and for our children and the generation next. Have we ever thought how we are going to sustain without fresh air and water?

Elon Musk, the founder and CEO of SpaceX (Space Exploration Technologies Corporation) has rightly said that we're running the most dangerous experiment in history right now, which is to see how much carbon dioxide the atmosphere... can handle before there is an environmental catastrophe.

This is the height to learn and understand that our disaster is near and no one can save us now from the fury of nature!

Let’s take a pledge today that we will not ruin what is left now for us!