Save the Earth: the Corona Pandemic warning (पृथ्वी बचाओ: कोरोना महामारी की चेतावनी)

 

                                                                                                                           Dr. Devendra Kothari

Population and Development Analyst

Forum for Population Action

 “Humans face risks that give no second chances — Covid-19 is a warning to us”

Toby Ord

The outbreak of novel coronavirus (Covid-19) has created an unprecedented situation around the world. A joint statement by ILO, FAO, IFAD and WHO, issued on 0ctober 13, 2020, stated that the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a dramatic loss of human life worldwide and presents an unprecedented challenge to human existence. The statement further states that millions of enterprises face an existential threat. As breadwinners lose jobs, fall ill and die, the food security and nutrition of millions of women and men are under threat, with those in low-income countries, particularly the most marginalized populations, which include small-scale farmers and informal workers, being hardest hit. 

Toby Ord, Senior Research Fellow at Oxford University’s Future of Humanity Institute, writes about the existential risks that now confront human beings. ”We face possible catastrophes which threaten the permanent destruction of humanity’s potential, such as human extinction or an unrecoverable collapse of civilization.” These are known as existential catastrophes. [1]  

 

Pandemics such as coronavirus are the result of humanity’s destruction of nature and the world has been ignoring this stark reality for decades. The Covid-19 pandemic may be considered as a reminder that there are ‘limits to growth’. With awareness of climate change, food insecurity and biodiversity decline on the radar, such a statement sounds reasonable. It is therefore considered the covid-19 as a subtle warning from a smart teacher- Mother Nature.

 

The authors of the iconic book - The Limits to Growth (LTG) did say this almost fifty years ago. The LTG is a 1972 report on the exponential economic and population growth with a finite supply of resources, studied by computer simulation. The study was commissioned by the Club of Rome. The study concluded that if the present trends in world population, industrialization, pollution, food production, and resource depletion continue unchanged, the limits to growth on this planet will be reached sometime within the next 100 years. 

Time is running out. Humans need to colonize another planet within 100 years or face the threat of extinction, high-profile physicist Stephen Hawking has warned us in a  BBC documentary called “Stephen Hawking: Expedition New Earth”[2] He stressed: “with climate change, overdue asteroid strikes, epidemics and population growth, our own planet is increasingly precarious.”

Previously, Hawking theorized that humanity probably has around 1,000 years left before it becomes extinct. His timeline appears now to have shortened.

Hawking is not the only major figure in the technology and science world that has warned about the threat to human existence. Earlier, Elon Musk (Tesla CEO) and Jack Ma (Founder of Alibaba) warned that society could because of the disruption caused by new technology (like AI) and the internet.

The Corona pandemic continues to convey roughly the same message today, but with slightly more urgency. Today, we are at a point in human history where habits that once worked well don’t work anymore,  argued by Dennis Meadows, one of the authors of the LTG, at the United Nations University recently.

The coronavirus is a reminder to us all of our weak state. Regardless of our social standing and our financial position, we are helpless. Situations like this remind me the preaching or sermon of Lord Krishna when he said to Arjuna    in Bhagavad Gita (Chapter IV, verses 7 and 8): "Whenever there is a decline in righteousness and an increase in unrighteousness, at that time I manifest myself on earth".  

Should we wait for God to clear the mess created by us? 

Instead of looking for ways to leave this planet, shouldn't we instead try and solve the problems that surround us? I'm not a scientist, but personally I feel as though leaving the planet or putting in preparations to leave is almost like giving up. 

As we step into 2021, humanity must   address the danger of its own existence by changing the way of living. Humanity must think seriously about the un-intellectual industrialization, urbanization, deforestation, environmental degradation, resource depletion, and population explosion. In sum, it is a warning that climate change is real and we must urgently reduce global warming. 

On the last day of the year 2020, one of my friends asked me: What is there to smile in the Corona year? No doubt, there was no satisfaction or happiness but much yearning. But if one thinks a little bit differently, you will find reasons to smile. 

The Bhagavad Gita emphasised: “Whatever happened, happened for the good. Whatever is happening, is happening for the good. Whatever will happen, will also happen for the good.” 

This applies so accurately to the present situation.  We must change our way of living which has become very manipulating to our selfish advantages.   Think how much we have damaged Mother Nature!  So change the way of living and you will find hundreds of reasons to smile. 

Time is running out. Virus attacks, disease epidemics and catastrophic climate change are fast approaching threats to our beautiful green and blue home.

 Wishing you a Happier New Year!

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[1] Ord, Toby (2020). The Precipice: Existential Risk and the Future of Humanity, Bloomsbury Publishing Company Limited. Also, refer at: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/humans-face-risks-that-give-no-second-chances-covid-19-is-a-warning-to-us/articleshow/80063414.cms 

[2] https://www.bbcstudios.com.au/shows/expedition-new-earth/  Also refer article by Arjun Kharpal of CNBC (2017) Stephen Hawking says humans must colonize another planet in 100 years or face extinction at: https://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/05/stephen-hawking-human-extinction-colonize-planet.html