Nature has a fever: Ramesh Shrestha

A human body temperature of 36.5℃ (97.7F) to 37.5℃ (98.6F) is considered to be normal. Body temperature exceeding 38℃ (100.4F) is considered a fever. When it exceeds 40℃ (104F) people actually panic as it means the body is infected with some bacteria or virus or there are issues with internal organs in the body. It just increased by 2℃ but we really became sick. Now imagine a similar increase in atmospheric temperature. It makes every kind of life on earth exposed to such an increase in atmospheric temperature make them feel feverish and they all suffer. Unfortunately, they do not have a voice to scream. One hundred percent of the reason for the increase in atmospheric temperature is related to our daily activity - our lifestyle - on Earth. As we begin to industrialise, we started to increase the consumption of energy which produces CO2 and other greenhouse gases (GHGs) cumulatively which are deposited in the atmosphere. 

The biomass of 8bn human beings on the Earth constitute just 0.01% of the total biomass in the planet with the rest being other forms of life such as forests (the forests alone constitute about 82% of biomass), wild life, insects, (even) bacteria, aquatic life, etc. Despite the fact that humans constitute just 0.01% of the biomass, we manage to create such an atmospheric imbalance on Earth that makes every living being on Earth suffer. But we justify everything we are doing in the name of development and economic growth. Yes, of course, we talk about preservation  of nature, animal rights, human rights and sustainable development and a lot of blah blah. As a matter of fact, the idea of sustainability and development are contradictory and are an oxymoron. 

As mineral excavation on Earth becomes scarce and increasing in cost, industries are beginning to plan for excavation of minerals in the ocean floors using robots. It is certain to destroy the ecology of the oceans as we have destroyed earth’s atmosphere. But of course, there will be studies conducted to see if excavation on the ocean floors will destroy or harm the oceans. Based on past experiences of similar studies om Earth, the results will suggest mitigative measures so that excavations can go on as planned ‘without damaging the ocean floor’. This is hypocrisy at its best.  

Byproducts of development 

In 1950 the world population was 2.5 bn and the world consumed 28,564 twh of electricity. In November 2022 world population reached 8bn and our energy consumption in 2023 exceeded 180,000 twh (insert Figure 1). It increased the greenhouse gases (GHG) emission by 626% compared to 1950. Please note that in 2023 the world was able to produce only 8,989 twh of energy from renewable sources. (insert Figure 2) The world population is expected to stabilise only in 2086, that is if human civilization survives that long. As our efforts to maintain economic growth continues, our energy consumption will remain on a linear scale with no hope or reason to believe that use of fossil fuel will scale down. Contribution of renewable sources of energy is still limited due to lack of investment and technical reasons. The largest consumption of energy is the transport sector (41% of total energy consumed globally; Research Gate 2020). Despite efforts for mass production and use of electric vehicles it is unlikely to dent on energy use as the charging of vehicles still needs a source of energy, which often comes from traditional fossil fuel sources. In addition, the cost of replacing batteries in the electric vehicles does not come cheap ($ 8-10k each). Production of batteries has its own issues with pollution serious chemical too. 

There is regular news of people demanding to shut down the fossil fuel industry. Well, based on reality of the situation it is not going to happen as there are no viable alternatives yet. Should there be a dramatic reduction in fuel supply, there will be shortage of essential good in the market. And the same group of people will complain that there are shortage of supplies in the market. Contrary to the demand to shut off fossil fuel industries, according to Global Coal Mine Tracker there are 2,384 new coal mine proposals for excavation as of April 2024, majority of which are in Australia, China, India, Russia and South Africa. Similarly, there are new oil fields being discovered in China, Namibia, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, etc. Senegal started producing oil starting the week of 16th June, operated by an Australian company. 

Do we have a solution?

Maybe, it is basically a lifestyle issue. Solutions to slow down global warming are in the hands of the general public globally. It needs everyone’s conscious decision to minimise waste of energy by cutting off avoidable consumption. Everyone must decide what adds value to life. People must get rid of ideas of wanting things that just have window dressing values. Everything we do - eat, drink, wear, travel, etc. have a cost to the environment in the form of GHG emission. We buy ‘things’ because the TV ad makes it look good on us. We have to stop being part of this unchecked dog-eat-dog consumer world. 

We live in a world hyper-glamoured by celebrities no matter where you live. People are constantly hammered with countless ideas of how best to live your life in every media people have access to – TV, mobile devices. People are made to believe that everything people owned last year is outdated today. Social media and marketeers have blindsided people by merging the concept of need and want. We need to relearn the meaning of need and want and be able to decide what adds real value to life. People are persuaded by the marketeers to adapt to a lifestyle to be a ‘new You’. ‘You’ are made to believe that the world exists for ‘You’. But in reality ‘You’ is defined by your inner emotions and feeling deep down in your heart not by what you wear or where you hang out. Our consumer culture has made us believe that the foundation of our life is built on possessing as much materials as possible, even at the cost of heavy financial debt. The basic idea is to optimise our lifestyle and living which will reduce GHG. It appears impossible to reabsorb the excess GHGs from the atmosphere but we can at least try to not to add more.  

This idea of ‘You’ - ‘You can be what you want to be’ is also indirectly fueling the idea of individualism. This inward-looking consumer culture is even destabilising people’s mental state while chasing illusive glamour and fame. People must understand that fame, success and glamour are temporary while the long-lasting choice is balancing life with nature, not chasing celebrities worldwide. Of course, people have the right to enjoy glamour but not to be obsessed so much that it becomes part of their lifestyle. A New Yorker mother flew her 9-year-old daughter from New York to Edinburgh to watch a Taylor Swift performance on 7 June because the girl insisted. No one should be judgemental; this is just an example of how the media and celebrity culture has colonised the minds of the younger generation.   

About three per cent of climate studies are funded directly or indirectly by fossil fuel industries, the results of which managed to push the idea that climate change is a natural phenomenon that happens every few millennia and cannot be prevented. There may be some truth in it but we must understand that our activities are accelerating the global warming phenomena, which is making nature sick. Optimising our lifestyle could slow down global warming, if not totally prevent it from happening.