Happy Earth Day!

Come April 22, it’s Earth Day once again! It has been more than 4 decades since the celebration was first observed in March 21, 1970. Well it’s not the earth’s actual birth date. So has anyone ever wondered how old is mother earth? Geologists estimated through radiometric age dating, that the only living planet in the solar system is approximately 4.5 billion years old! Can anyone imagine how many candles she’ll blow this year? I don’t. Seriously – How happy is Mother Earth now?

During my school years, I’d been taught many essential things about the environment. Thanks to my teachers. I learned that cutting of trees could lead to soil erosion. And after heavy precipitation, land slides and flash floods might occur leaving damage to properties and even human lives. And that heavy smoke from factories and smog from vehicles could pollute the atmosphere. And that hazardous chemicals and oil spills that spread across rivers and oceans could poison fishes and other marine creatures. And that burning coal could increase carbon dioxide emissions which might worsen the accumulation of greenhouse gases. And that using hair spray and other refrigerants emit CFCs (chloroflourocarbons) that could deplete the ozone layer subsequently increasing ultraviolet rays exposure. And so much more. It doesn’t take a genius to understand these facts.

And in succeeding years of my life, I’d been constantly reminded of matters concerning mother earth. Who could ever forget the disastrous Chernobyl accident in 1986 that killed dozens of plant workers, and eventually thousands of local residents due to nuclear radiation? Who could not recall the worst Gulf War oil spill in 1991 that reached a hundred miles and caused considerable damage to wildlife? And what about the cutting-and-burning of trees in Indonesia that caused the 1997 Southeast Asian haze with over-all damage estimated at 9 billion US dollars? (And not to mention other equally mind-boggling mishaps as Bhopal gas tragedy, the Baia Mare cyanide spill, and the recent Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster.)

And so I thought I know everything. But after watching Al Gore’s critically acclaimed video, An Inconvenient Truth, I definitely felt more concerned of our environment, knowing the earth is experiencing unprecedented changes that results to climate crisis which had affected, is affecting, and will continue to affect every human and living creature on this planet. And that is, not in a good way! My school days had long been over but statesmen, businessmen, scientists and concerned people all over the world are still talking about the very same things discussed inside the classroom. Environmental issues like deforestation, pollution, ozone depletion, intensive farming, slash and burn, cyanide fishing, nuclear fallout, and global warming – are still the most vital issues in the 21^st century.

I assume we know that dwindling forest covers due to continuous illegal logging is bad news. But nature conservation and planting more eco-friendly trees and other anti-pollutant plants is highly recommended. We know that proper garbage disposal and recycling have good benefits. We know that utilizing renewable energy is better than exploiting fossil fuel. And so we know the problems for quite some time now. And I believe we know the answers as well. But the question is... 

How far have we acted on these solutions?