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To care for the earth and all the living creatures on it is one of
the most important responsibilities of humankind. I have written
previously about the dedicated people, many of them missionaries,
who have been assassinated and died protecting rain forests, the
environment and the people whose survival depends on these habitats.
Human health and well-being, and even survival, depend on the
harmony between all living creatures. Plants, animals and humans
need each other to thrive and survive.
Last month, television images showed the
slaughter of whales in the Southern Ocean, close to Antarctica, by
the Japanese whaling fleet of four ships led by the Nisshin Maru.
This huge factory ship had an estimated 50 dead whales in the hold,
harpooned to death by the other hunter ships. The video footage
taken by the anti-whaling group Greenpeace showed big and small
whales being hauled up a ramp. It was a pitiful sight. In fact, the
present generation of young Japanese people is turning against it
and prefers fast food. Besides, most of the whales end up as pet
food.
The Japanese government says slaughter is for
scientific research as if they need 1000 whales, to discover
something they already know after past years of hunting. Iceland and
Norway are also killing whales but the vast majority of nations are
against it. It’s a senseless needless destruction of magnificent
sensitive creatures. It indicates an uncaring attitude towards
animals. No life should be destroyed unless there is a true natural
need such as sustaining human life and feeding the hungry.
Yet most nations have a bad record protecting
their own magnificent animals and plant life. The polar bear will be
soon on the list of endangered species. Climate change caused by
human activity is changing the planet. About 30% to 50% of all
species will be extinct by the middle of the next century if we
don’t act now to stop the emissions of CO2 and methane gasses.
Environmental destruction has been justified in
the name of “progress.” In fact, wanton waste is the opposite.
Drilling for oil in the arctic and burning it as quickly as possible
for the greatest possible profit is the greedy goal of the oil
companies.
Burning fossil fuels like oil and coal without
restraint has to stop. The CO2 that results is rising into the
atmosphere and wrapping the earth in a chemical blanket causing
temperatures to rise rapidly. Politicians and industrialists
believed that the massive production of a substitute, ethanol, made
from plants, especially corn and edible plant oils, would solve the
problem. It has now been discovered that more destructive CO2 gasses
are released in the production of ethanol than it would supposedly
save.
Besides, they are using arable land around the
world to grow the plants so there is a drop in food production and a
rise in food prices. In India, there is a huge shortage of edible
oil and wheat. The poor become poorer and hungrier. Driving cars is
apparently more important than food production.
Can you blame the poor for fleeing starvation
and poverty to the developed nations for a job and a full stomach
for their families? If we are against migration, we better stop the
multinational corporations and industrialists exploiting and
impoverishing the poor countries in cahoots with their corrupt
rulers. It began hundreds of years ago. The slave trade was the
foundation of the world economy for 300 years.
There is hope. Brazil is deploying hundreds of
troops and forest guards to crack down on illegal logging in the
Amazon rain forest which is being cleared to grow soya beans and
make ranches for beef production. New legislation to control
polluting industries is showing reductions in emissions. The auto
industry is moving steadily closer to a car powered by hydrogen fuel
cells and electricity.
Consumers are demanding Fair Trade products that
are made from renewable and recyclable materials. Above all, there
is a growing awareness worldwide of the problem and a desire for
change and urgency to save the planet. We can all do our part and
that starts today.
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