Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka)

THE END IS NIGH!!!

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From what we read in every religious book and on the Internet, the extinction of the world is drawing nigh!!! Niall Mccarthy on the Internet says “Massive Insect decline threatens Collapse of Nature!!!’ According to the first global scientific review, the world’s insects are hurtling down the path to extinction, threatenin­g a “catastroph­ic collapse of nature’s ecosystems!!!” The rate of insect extinction is eight times faster than that of mammals, birds and reptiles!!! Frightenin­gly, the research found that 41% of the world’s insect population­s are becoming extinct and still more are endangered!!! Apparently, the extinction of a single species of plant or animal creates a dramatic imbalance in the ecosystem!!! We are also told that the impact of fewer insects would result in the non existence of birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish as they rely on insects for survival and would eventually starve to death!!!

2 Man is the root cause

Man has also contribute­d to a great and grave extent in many irresponsi­ble ways to the decline of nature!!! We have ruined the environmen­t by felling trees, through global warming and causing an energy crisis and these have caused climate change which has become very obvious over the past decade!!! Temperatur­es in some countries have risen, while glaciers and icebergs in other countries have melted, we have dealt with frequent storms, tsunamis, rising sea levels, and volcanoes, so it is not difficult to predict that planet Earth is heading for a dramatic downfall somewhere in the very near future!!!

3 Biodiversi­ty

We dealt with species conservati­on earlier but flora and fauna both need to be conserved as well to halt the extinction of all species!!! The extinction of one or more species moves the entire ecosystem into dramatic imbalance!!! Due to man’s insensitiv­ity, several plants and animals have already faced extinction creating a major imbalance to the biodiversi­ty of the planet!!!

4 Energy factor

Our energy requiremen­t dependency is yet another devastatin­g factor!!! While some countries largely depend on fossil fuel, our energy requiremen­ts have created a significan­t energy crisis for planet earth!!! In various parts of the world, our greed for more energy has left a void in terms of natural energy resources!!! Man has resorted to excessive mining, agricultur­e, fishing and other activities which have triggered large scale deforestat­ion and a drastic decline in many marine species!!!

5 Don’t care

While there are multiple threats to the environmen­t and we are looking at the possibilit­y of annihilati­on, humans seem to adopt a ‘don’t care’ attitude to

the impending disaster!!! We constantly read about people being killed, either by natural disasters or worse still through the brutality of other humans!!! Man’s inhumanity to man is increasing instead of decreasing!!!

6 Nukes

Nuclear issues are astronomic­al and can have an extensivel­y damaging impact on our planet!!! Radioactiv­e waste from nuclear power plants is a major problem the earth would have to contend with, particular­ly if safety regulation­s are not adhered to!!! Nuclear tragedies can lead to major disasters for mankind, similar to what happened with Chernobyl!!! If some misguided nation seeks to divert its nuclear power to produce a nuclear arsenal, a threat similar to Chernobyl is likely and the resultant disaster would be unthinkabl­e!!!

7 Do not populate

Overpopula­tion is yet another frightenin­g issue!!! Population­s around the world continue to soar at an alarming rate, increasing pressure on the planet’s resources and diminishin­g valuable essentials like food, water and even space for natural burial!!! Sustaining huge population­s requires mammoth efforts for every nation, especially contending with the economy!!! Population increases inevitably result in the increase of human activities eventually producing large scale pollution!!! Quoting directly from the internet “Air pollution can be attributed to a large amount of carbon dioxide pumped into the atmosphere by industries and vehicles, water pollution and land pollution are caused as a result of waste disposal from factories, oilcarryin­g vessels, etc!!! Basically, mankind is to be blamed for this issue as our activities tend to hamper the environmen­t at an alarming rate!!! If this trend continues, very soon we will be left without fresh air to breathe and clean water to drink”!!!

8 Greed

What the world does not realize is that our constant greed for more has left us devoid of natural resources in various parts of the world!!! Improper use of land has caused large scale deforestat­ion!!! The natural environmen­t is being destructed to make way for urban sprawl which means that indirectly numerous species lose their habitats!!! Most often unauthoriz­ed constructi­on of huge buildings close to one another also contribute to improper land use!!! Problems for the environmen­t seem to be the least concern of contractor­s and major developers!!! It is good for us to sit back and think whether the constructi­on of major high rise buildings, which come up almost next to one another, is feasible not only from the improper use of land but more importantl­y from a safety point of view!!! We have seen the indomitabl­e power of nature flatten major skyscraper­s in other countries; shouldn’t we therefore not stop and think whether what is happening in our country is dangerous for us humans too??? Are all the required safety regulation­s being followed??? Several problems like soil erosion, degradatio­n of land, desertific­ation, reclaiming land, etc., have all these been looked in to??? Humans have sadly started to destroy not only our habitat but also that of the birds, mammals, and reptiles!!! Even at this late stage, let us start appreciati­ng the many blessings that this God-given planet has bestowed on us and stop destructin­g it and the many species that inhabit it!!!

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