When a patient consults a doctor, they
are examined and given prescription. In many cases they are asked to visit
again for a review. The point of a review is to find out whether the patient is
experiencing perhaps a remission or a relapse. In a case of relapse further
examination is required, to find out whether the relapse was due to the patient’s
failure to keep to the prescription, or whether the case was more complicated
than previously thought, or both.
The natural environment is the patient
as it were. It is obvious that the natural environment is not in the expected
state of health, due to the unsustainable way it is being handled by man.
One way of reviewing the health of the
natural environment is a system put in place by the United Nations
Organization (United Nations Environment Program). The system is a periodic
review of the state of health of the natural environment through reports called
Global Environment Outlook (GEO). The current report (2019) is Global
Environment Outlook 6. The current report is the sixth of such reports.
The review of a patient’s case is
based on previous examinations of the patient. So is the Global Environment
Outlook 6 based on the previous GEO reports.
THEME
The theme for the current report
is “Healthy Planet, Healthy People”. The theme speaks for itself. The theme
binds the health of the planet with the heath of the people, INEXTRICABLY.
Every material thing man needs for good health, and indeed sustenance of their
very material life, is derived from the natural environment (planet Earth), and
the natural environment only. If one breathes in air oxygen is taken into the
body to keep physical life going. If the quality of oxygen in the atmosphere is
compromised, the health of the person (you and me) taking the oxygen from the
atmosphere should be compromised as such. The concrete jungles we are building
all around us are being built with raw materials from the natural environment.
The consumables we have manufactured and consume for our gratification are made
from resources from the natural environment. As such, the natural environment
is the very foundation of human civilization.
The foregoing is to show how
critically important the natural environment is, not only to human health but
more importantly to human survival. Species after species are being lost to
extinction time and again. This is happening because the systems that support
their lives are being destroyed mainly by the activities of man. Is man himself
working out his own extinction by such activities?
COLLECTIVE RESOLVE
So what is the 2019 GEO 6 Report saying
about the current state of the natural environment?
What follows is what the United
Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres says: “GEO-6 details both
the perils of delaying action and the opportunities that exist to make
sustainable development a reality. We have the necessary policy guidance and
the science that underpins it. The only missing ingredient for success is our
collective resolve.”(2019 GEO 6 Report- page xxvi)
Also, the co-chairs of the GEO 6
Report, Joyeeta Gupta and Paul Ekins, in a foreword (page xxviii) stated thus: “What
is the Outlook for humanity? This sixth Global Environment Outlook (GEO-6) shows
clearly that our species now stands at a crossroads. It can choose a
challenging but navigable path towards a new golden age of sustainable
development as envisaged by the United Nations’ Agenda 2030 in which
human hunger and poverty are consigned to history through the
sustainable use of Earth’s resources and the natural environment that
leaves no-one behind. Or it can continue with current trends and
practices, which will lead to a losing struggle against environmental
disruptions, which threaten to overwhelm large parts of the world.”
Statements made by the United Nations
Secretary-General and the co-chairs of GEO 6 draw a distinction between the
activities of man which has led to the rundown state of the natural
environment, and on the other hand activities of man which should lead to a
restoration for sustainable balanced natural environment. Remember that without
a healthy planet a healthy people should be a non-starter.
TUSSLE
What man does to cause
destruction- destruction of the natural environment, and on the other hand what
man does to cause restoration and preservation of an ailing natural environment
sustainably, originates in the human mind. When the mind of destruction is
greater than the mind of restoration and ultimate preservation, the mind of destruction
gets the upper hand (I am afraid that is what obtains now). On the other hand
when mind of restoration and sustainable preservation is greater than the mind
of destruction, the mind of restoration and preservation gains the upper hand. A psychological tussle is ongoing, as to what
is the cause of the rise in global mean temperature, and for that matter
climate change.
It is therefore imperative that
earthlings look at the issue critically from the psychological plane. As earthlings we must have the mindset of
preservation strong enough to overwhelm the mindset of destruction. The idea of
environmental preservation must be steadfastly fixed in our minds.
There are some who believe that
the climate change man is experiencing now is not as a result of the activities
of man. This kind of ideation is spearheaded by top scientists, not ordinary
people! What follows in the next two paragraphs is a quote on one such skeptic.
He is called Nir J. Shaviv. He holds a PhD. in Physics from the Israel
Institute of Technology in Haifa. He is currently Professor and Chair of Racah
Institute of Physics at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. (https://thebestschools.org/features/top-climate-change-scientists/)
“Of more direct relevance to the
climate-change debate was a series of papers Shaviv wrote, beginning in 2002
(see below), detailing a bold theory linking earth’s ice ages with successive
passages of the planet through the various spiral arms of the Milky Way galaxy,
and with cosmic radiation more generally. He has also expressed his conviction
that variations in solar radiation have played an equal, if not greater, role
in the observed rise in mean global temperature over the course of the
twentieth century than has human activity (see his 2012 paper, below). He
maintains, not only that anthropogenic greenhouse gases have played a smaller
role in global warming than is usually believed, but also that the earth’s
climate system is not nearly so sensitive as is usually assumed.
In recent years, Shaviv has
become an active critic of the results and predictions of the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and other organizations supporting the consensus
view. In particular, he rejects the often-heard claim that “97% of climate
scientists” agree that anthropogenic climate change is certain and highly
dangerous. Shaviv emphasizes (see the video clip, below) that “science is not a
democracy” and all that matters is the evidence for these claims — which he
finds deficient.”
The Offline English Dictionary
tells me the etymology of the word psychology traces down from the French
(psychologie) and the Latin (psychologia) languages to the Greek language, from
two words- psukhḗ (soul) and logia (study of), putting the two words
together it should read study of the soul.
The fourth sense (countable) of
the word psychology defines the word as “the mental, emotional, and behavioral
characteristics pertaining to a specified person, group, or activity”
ENFORCEMENT
The United Nations through GEO 6
has given prescription for the ailing natural environment to the world, will
the world apply it? I have indicated that a patient may suffer a relapse if
they did not keep to the prescription given them. The United Nations has no legal mandate to
enforce recommendations in their reports, they merely submit their reports to
governments and policymakers etc. for consideration, and hopefully, implementation.
That is why the current American president Donald Trump was able to pull out of
the COP 21 agreement, which his predecessor had ratified.
Meanwhile
global temperatures rise at a faster rate: “2018 also marks the 42nd
consecutive year (since 1977) with global land and ocean temperatures, at least
nominally, above the 20th century average. During the 21st century, the global
land and ocean temperature departure from average has reached new record highs
five times (2005, 2010, 2014, 2015, and 2016), with three of those being set
back-to-back. From 1880 to 1980, a new temperature record was set on average
every 13 years; however, for the period 1981–2018, the frequency of a new
record has increased on average to once every three years.” (https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/global/201813)
PARTING SHOT
While the patient is
deteriorating in ailment, those diagnosing the ailment are sharply divided over
the cause of the ailment. One group of cutting edge scientists says the main cause
is anthropogenic, on the other hand, the opposing group is saying it is
triggered mainly by cyclical change in the solar radiation. Consequently,
timeous interventions that ought to be applied by collective decision and
effort are being delayed, thus compounding the condition of the patient (natural
environment).
The will of choice is innate, but
the choice of will is ours to exercise!
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