A CLEANER ENVIRONMENT, ARE THINGS GETTING BETTER?

BY EMECHO TED

How can we live happily; when we can’t breathe clean air? when we are trapped in a concrete jungle full of vehicles emitting noxious gases? When indiscriminate waste littering is the theme of the day? When our inability to maintain a sanitarily clean environment is on the increase, when there is high rate of reluctance of people to cooperate with the authorities?
Below are pictures confirming these questions.

Experts disagree about how serious our environmental problems are and what we should do about them. Some analysts believe human ingenuity, technological advances, and economic growth and development will allow us to clean up pollution to acceptable levels, find substitutes for resources that become scarce, and keep expanding the earth’s ability to support more humans, as we have done in the past. They accuse many scientists and environmentalists of exaggerating the seriousness of the problems we face and failing to appreciate the progress they have made in improving quality of life and protecting the environment. These arguments leave us worried and put questions on our lips; ARE THINGS GETTING BETTER?

Environmentalists and many leading scientists disagree with this view. They cite evidence that we are degrading and disrupting many of the world’s life support systems for us and other species at an accelerating rate. They greatly encourage technological experts for the progress they have made in increasing average life expectancy, reducing infant mortality, increasing food supplies, and reducing many forms of pollution, especially in developed countries. But they point out that we need to use the earth in a way that is more sustainable for present and future generations.

The most useful answer to the question of whether things are getting better or worse is both. Some things are getting better, some worse.

Our challenge is not to get trapped into confusion and inaction by listening primarily to either of the two groups. One group consists of technological optimists. They tend to overstate the situation by telling us to be happy and not worry, because technological innovations and conventional economic growth and development will lead to a wonder world for everyone. 
But what is the end point ?

The second group consists of environmental pessimists who overstate the problems to the point where most people in the society think of our environmental situations as hopeless. Technology is promotes global warming which presently is melting the ice region of the world.

This is not the time we should begin to take sides with any group; in fact, both groups are just right in their own views. But, come to think of it, can we really do without the technology if we must give in to the views of the environmental pessimists? If yes, then we must be ready to live a life of the very beginning, living in the forest, being vegetarians again, walking long distances for longer time periods, working in the farmland with our hands, having no electricity, discarding our communication systems etc. If this is the only way, then man is already doomed before the environment problems we are debating about put us in extinction.  Or, do we just enjoy these benefits of mans ingenuity and pretend all is well; generating solid, liquid and gaseous wastes, polluting the water, air and soil that sustains us? If yes, then of what good is this technological progress to humanity if there is no consideration for the future?

At this point in time it seems all hope is lost, but I tell you, there is always a way out to every problem. We would not disregard the views of both groups because they are only what they are because of societal development. Rather, we should begin to know that living the life of the beginning is not the solution or, claiming that technology has solved it all. As a matter of fact both have no consideration for the future. We should turn focus to sustainable development where future considerations brings about the dependence and interconectivity of  all social, economic and environmental values in our society making habitation viable, equitable and bearable for us.