Assignment 1- home.docx
- 1. HOME The existence of life started from 4 billion years ago and yet we have just disrupted it on a huge scale in very small amount of time. The documentary “Home” talks about the nature, its origin, its elements, its characteristics and mainly the impact of humans over it. It makes us think about if our actions are really threatening our own existence along with thousands or more species? Our environment is a very sensitive topic for the modern-day world. Human activities are literally disrupting the balance of our ecosystem resulting in a huge negative impact on it. So let’s see what and how we have done it. The miracle of life occurred from the earth which was just a ball of fire to begin with. The documentary explains what life on earth is exactly and what it is made up of. The land and water are considered to be essential elements. The land was all that was coming from lava and volcanoes covering land. Also the water is essential for life, but when earth is like a furnace and fuming the land, isn’t it a miracle that the earth is conserving water in the liquid state. The water over the earth is spread over it like the veins in a body forming an essential network to support life. Since childhood we have been taught that sharing is everything, but look at mother earth setting examples, look at water and air- inseparable. The engine of life is linked. Nothing on earth is self- sufficient but it is codependent. Talking about the heart and soul of nature Ocean, trees, and soil play important roles. Our earth relies on the balance, every being existing on earth has a role to play. The earth counts time in billions of years, it took 4 billion years of time to earth to form trees. Every tree that you see is like a sculpture- they defy the gravity and unhurriedly grow towards the sun to flourish. They capture light’s energy which turns into food- mineral, vegetable. The soil is linked with trees. It creates the layer of humus, which provides the fertile layer of soil on which everything we eat is grown. The documentary makes us think about what do we know actually about life on earth- the bonds of earth, the linkages on earth? Earth is a miracle and life remains a mystery. It is an endless process of adaptation. Plants, birds, and mammals everyone do it for survival; they all balance it out. Here’s where we as Homo sapiens enter the chain of life that existed in 20,000 years old legacy and yet managed to disrupt the whole equation of life. At the beginning humans dependent on hunting and wet lands and slowly settled down around the coastlines and riversides. The uncertainties of nature weigh on daily life. Children act as assets which is the only mean to get help. For further help humans depends on animals. For labor you require physical strength but nothing can be done on empty stomach, hence arose the concept of Agriculture. Agriculture is a gift, it acted as a foundation for civilization. Humans have successfully altered the land as per the conditions of water availability, the climate and available resources. Human activity is a major threat to the planet's biodiversity. This is because human population growth thus far has been exponential, meaning that its growth rate stays the same regardless of population size. The requirement for oil, gases and coal became the massive reason for destruction of world which happened rapidly in the last 60 years than compared to the other past generations. The agriculture which was previously known as a culture has now become industrialized and machine oriented that has resulted into the use of heavy pesticides and fertilizers which contaminated land as well as the air that we breathe.
- 2. The enormous jump in the population of world demanded not only increased agriculture but the need for meat too. The same change can be seen in fishing too. Excessive fishing has exhausted the 1/3 rd. of fishing spots, many species extinct. We have destroyed the cycle of life that was given to us, which came from the selfish human needs. These features make it possible to trace many of the harms inflicted on the natural world back to those responsible. The increase in the human population causes overcrowding. With the increase in population, the demand for space, food, resources, and employment increases. This directly leads to the clearing of forests or deforestation. India, Israel, United states, UAE, China are among the many countries that are facing harsh results of industrializations. We all know the disadvantages of Deforestation but we sometimes oversee that a huge amount of population still depends upon the coal, paper production. The difference between rich and poor is increasing and will widen more in the coming years, the poor are still struggling for basic necessities. The documentary not only speaks about the catastrophic effects caused by humans on nature but also the reverse effects that has happened on humans themselves. Poor health, dirty water, poverty, pollutions has affected millions of human lives. The global warming is another issue; transport, industry, deforestation and agriculture are our biggest activities that release gigantic quantities of Carbon Dioxide, which has upsetted the earth’s climatic balance. Melting of glaciers and rise in water level risks all the cities built on coastline and riverbanks. When on one hand we are worries about rising sea level, in contrast draughts are destroying the lands and agriculture. The clock of climate change is ticking and with every day that passes by. We have created phenomena we can’t control. Our actions have caused huge changes and depletion in flora and fauna. And all of this is only due to the actions and interference of human species. To correct this we have a little amount of time. Protecting and enhancing nature needs more than good intentions – it requires concerted, coordinated action. In today’s time education has been given to almost everyone from rich to poor, hence we as every individual has the power to break down every wall and make a change to contribute towards harmony between humans and nature. Truly sustainable growth and development means recognising that our long-term prosperity relies on rebalancing our demand of Nature’s goods and services with its capacity to supply them. Let’s be responsible consumers, think about what we buy, what we eat and what we do. If the fisherman takes care of the sea, if the agriculture is done at human scale, if meat production is done differently, if renewable energy sources are used for houses then maybe we can make a difference that counts. Land restoration, forest protection programs are few of the efforts taken by countries to save and protect what we have left. Also processes like recycling, establishing wildlife preserves and parks can create a positive impact on the ecosystem. Let’s find more and more solutions for the nature which might not promise big things but will surely generate awareness in the right direction. It’s time to come together and care for what is still remaining in our hands. The forests, rivers, oceans, lands and organisms everything can still be saved. Ultimately, we each have to serve as judge and jury for our own actions. And that cannot happen unless we develop an affection for Nature and its processes. Nature is our home, it demands we manage it better. It’s up to us now. Shalaka S. tawde
- 3. Questions: 1) Today’s agriculture is dependent on what? -Oil 2) Which city is a biggest example of building man made islands? -Dubai 3) What non-renewable resource has been used by Saudi Arabia (Desert Island) for cultivation? -Fossil water 4) Which is the world’s largest forest? - Amazon Forest 5) What measures can be taken to save the world from deforestation? - Reforestation, sustainable management of forests, paper recycling etc 6) Why did Rapa Nui Island couldn’t survive? - They exhausted all the available resources- especially trees