Protect the Planet to save Humanity
Neeraj Kumar Pande
Like every year, the World Environment Day 2022 has a critical theme attributed to it, “Only one Earth”. Curiously this is not a novel subject! Back in 1972 this was also the theme of the first global environmental summit held in Stockholm. However the theme in question has acquired a whole new dimension in the contemporary world. Five decades back it connoted the indispensability of Earth, being the only celestial body capable of nurturing life ! The protection of this unique planet was being endorsed as a pivotal duty of humankind. Then which new dimension has this exact theme developed in today’s time? Besides what are the factors propelling this novel dimension?
Scrabbling deeper into the first question, the answer is not difficult to understand. For the difference between the old and new perspective is rather modest! While the older one is about duty, the new one is all about necessity. The notion of ‘One Earth’ corresponds in today’s time to the realization that all components of the ecosystem, be it flora, fauna or humankind are essentially an integrated whole. These components which superficially seem diverse from one another actually work in perpetual tandem to sustain the planet. Ironically human society has become accustomed to a reductionist perspective. This automatically superimposes the superiority of mankind over other elements of nature, namely animals and plants. When the interests of each of these are considered separate or sometimes even conflicting then it is quite natural that humans will end up exploiting the other two. This itself is the reason why the same environment day theme has a new interpretation just fifty years after it was initially conceived.
After all the global ecology has been subjected to intense anthropogenic onslaughts since then, a more critical question arises here then. Why suddenly is the reductionist approach towards the ecosystem proving to be a disaster? Apposite reasons are – recurring waves of health crises which have been taking human life by storm. Secondly ecological pollutants are becoming intrinsic to human physiology, which of course poses a grave future threat.
Climate changes have been invariably linked to increasing vector borne diseases related to extreme heat or flooding. Food security is getting threatened due to food shortages owing to enhanced possibilities of droughts or flooding. Similarly smog and pollen-related respiratory problems and a possible increase in conditions related to exposure to ultraviolet radiation are equally pertinent issues. However in the discourse on climate change and public health, the most blazing yet ambiguous issue is that of zoonosis ( Diseases transmitted to humans from animals). Now COVID-19 pandemic was just an eye opener. Not that communities across the globe have already taken stringent measures to combat environmental pollution, but what corona has indeed done is, opened the eyes of the world populace to a hitherto overlooked reality.
Although the instances of zoonotic diseases in some countries had been reported as early as in 1996 , their pace and magnitude has spiralled after 2000. Pathologies like rabies, avian influenza, swine flu , anthrax and several such , were existing albeit without assuming pandemic proportions. COVID then came as a final reminder! Today all discourses on climate change begin and end at securing global protection against such pandemics. The cause behind them is evident.
As global warming magnifies, Earth heats up. The infectious diseases which were once confined to warmer latitudes now slowly begin expanding their ambit into other regions. Besides, climate change triggers zoonotic epidemics by altering host-pathogen interactions.
Today zoonoses account for 60% of the total emerging infectious diseases and controlling this demands urgent intervention.
Besides the looming global health crisis, there is an aspect of ecological pollution which poses a no lesser threat to human existence. Till recently, plastic toxicity seemed like an extrinsic factor causing environmental pollution. We would see it manifesting in the form of marine plastic pollution, animals choking on polythene, heaps of unattended plastic waste littered across streets, especially in less advanced societies. However the covert manner in which plastics have invaded the human food chain and human physiology is rather hard to calibrate. A 2022 research conducted in Holland revealed the presence of micro plastics in human blood samples with the most commonly traced element being, Polyethylene terephthalate (PET). The notorious plastic PET is commonly used for packaging water, food and clothes. This revelation had shocked health workers, medical practitioners and the public alike. It pointed to how micro plastics can invade human blood steam through inhalation as well as ingestion.
The challenges highlighted these far talk volumes about how environmental health and human health are two sides of the same coin. In this highly integrated and interconnected world, unless human, animal and ecological well being is tackled together, no tangible policy outcomes can emanate. So what constitutes a multidimensional intervention?
Global strategies aimed at bringing together agencies involved in creating public policy are essential. Besides collaboration of experts from fields like – human health, animal health and environmental sciences, in a manner that resonates with the innovative “One World, One Health” approach is the need of the hour. As far as plastic menace is concerned, the most viable solution seems to be the 3 R approach, corresponding to reduce, recycle and reuse. These acts are instrumental in eliminating plastic and polythene from daily life by nipping it at source. By adopting a nature friendly and minimalist lifestyle we can prevent many catastrophes which otherwise are awaiting us.
The planet is for all living organisms to share. Humanity has been paying dearly for the inhumanity, neglect and abuse of animals and plant life. Each time we threaten our terrestrial counterparts, we end up suffering miserably. Who would want human beings to walk around the planet with plastics floating inside and new epidemics staring in the eyes?
As WHO appropriately opined – In terms of climate change, we have reached a point where we can make a breakthrough or experience breakdown!
(The writer is a retired civil servant. Views expressed are personal)
