Mother Earth is the only planet that sustains human life. Scientists estimate that the Earth came into being about 4.6 billion years ago. About 3.7 million years ago, Laetoli, a Tanzanian site , had Hominin footprints on its soil, which are still preserved in volcanic ash. But in a short span of about 200 years, the development strategies and technological processes adopted by humans, whose footprints had spread across all parts of the globe, have caused grave threat to the environment and human life on Earth. All industrial nations are big polluters of air, land and water. Enormous tracts of tropical rain forests are destroyed. Deserts are spreading in all parts of the world due to deforestation and land degradation. Ozone layer is being depleted exposing living organisms to excessive ultra-violet radiation. Bio-diversity is disappearing at an alarming rate. The other forms of environmental destruction are legion. These problems loom over our planet and affect all living beings. Devastation of the environment affects all regions, races and cultures as it is a universal threat. Because of the globalisation of the market economy and corporate practices all natural systems on Earth are disintegrating.
Mahatma Gandhi cautioned :
"Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's needs, but not to every man's greed ".
On this World Earth Day, let us not forget that our greed is at the root of the existential crisis of the twenty-first century humans.
Mahatma Gandhi cautioned :
"Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's needs, but not to every man's greed ".
On this World Earth Day, let us not forget that our greed is at the root of the existential crisis of the twenty-first century humans.
