Time, an ever eluding paradox… A bemusing friend, an unlikely foe. Crying in the cradle, one moment and dwelling in regrets the next, we are. Time – simple, yet complex. The present becomes the past in the moment that follows. …and, “the future depends on the present.”
In other words, the present; making way continuously for the past, is also the womb to the future.
Sometimes, the thought of the ‘future’ in waiting makes me shudder. For, it is aptly said, the consequences of the past shall haunt us till eternity.
I look around to see a world, so noisily delightful, bubbling with life & vibrance, and yet, as catatonic as a task to figure the depth of a muddled pond.
It’s both an astonishing and a worrying fact that despite the warning bells nature has been tossing at us in the form of unrelenting heat-waves, unpredictable earthquakes, unseasonal deluges, uncontrolled weather extremes and now, an unfathomable pandemic; we continue to move ahead with our mundane lives, barely batting an eyelid and largely unperturbed, taking ‘tomorrow’ for granted without working for it today.
Our planet continues to gasp for breath due to our perpetually invasive concrete jungles while our forest covers are being depleted by mindless plundering. Nothing could be sadder, than the most intelligent race, humans, belittling the blue planet for greed, not need.
So many of us prioritise momentary luxuries over the quality of lives we lead. Ironically, the situation resembles a hapless mouse sleeping with abandon within a mouse trap due to its inability to find a safer place. This inexcusable foolishness and ignorance is both frightening & amusing.
On an average, 75,000 trees are felled each day for purposes ranging from valid to mindless…the need for paper is acceptable to some extent, while the unending constructions of buildings, skyscrapers, roads and concrete structures is often baffling.
In the midst of it all, one of the contributing reasons of global climate imbalance remains largely unspoken of and conveniently overlooked…
The human diet.
According to an increasing number of findings corroborated by research, the non-vegetarian diet causes a lot more danger to the earth than conceivable on the face of it. It’s a different matter that only a rare few possess the appetite to gulp the bare reality.
A research, led by scientists, found that simply cutting down meat consumption would make a large dent in the emissions of greenhouse gases. Feeding massive amounts of grain & water to farmed animals and then slaughtering them for storing their flesh for commercial consumption is an extremely energy-intensive process.
Forests-which absorb greenhouse gases, are cut down in order to supply pastureland and grow crops for farmed animals. Finally, the animals themselves, and all the manure that they produce release even more greenhouse gases into our atmosphere, according to data released by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) Group.
Researchers found that the diets of people who eat more than 3.5 ounces of meat, in a day generate 15.8 pounds of carbon dioxide, whereas, a vegetarian generates 8.4 pounds CO2, and a vegan (that is; a person, who takes in no animal based produce), 6.4 pounds CO2.
Consider this: The poultry farming industry has resulted in an exponential rise in the population of chickens. Each chicken thus bred is fed about 1.5 pounds of feed-grain in the course of its life to make it succulent enough for slaughter. A conservative estimate reveals that 137 million chickens are consumed worldwide each day. Reverse calculating the feed trail, this equals cutting down of roughly 200 million pounds of greenery for a day’s feed. Just a day’s feed.
The poultry farming industry is just an example. The entire meat production industry adds to the monumental depletion of green cover without adequate compensatory afforestation.
However, are these industries to blame? Or are those, whose consumption needs such industries are servicing? No such industry would have ever seen the light of day or continued to thrive without the pattern of consumption in the first place.
Just like tiny drops of water make the ocean, altering consumption habits that are seemingly inconsequential, but are either directly or indirectly depleting our planet of its green cover, will add to protecting Mother Earth.
It’s not just food for thought but a call for action clearly on our platter. Make no mistake, time’s running out and if we still continue running around in the same mindless ways we have been so far, what lies in store for us as a race is epically evident.
‘The future depends on the present. The present: On ourselves.’
Keep it up Naisha!
Thank you Prisha!
Okay, wow.. Good Work!
Thank you Arya!
Good going gurlllll🔥
Thank you!
Amazing work!! In addition to the writing, hats off to your vocabulary!!
Thank you Trisha!
Well… first of all, the kind of vocabulary you’ve used is…well let’s just say that the vocabulary I’m gonna use in my boards English essay will be 1/10th of the kind you’ve used(and that’s a compliment). Second… I like your topic of writing,which is focusing on what’s going on like this one and the way you’ve dug deep into the facts. I’m pretty sure it must have taken a lot of research and patience to find the points that fit in. And third…the topic you have written about, that shows real TRUTH, how our diet is a main factor of Global warming is really difficult to digest and gulp down whole and especially for me cause’ I’m a real fan of non-vegetarian food…😅
And,even though I’m a writer, I have never focused on these issues, though this is what we SHOULD be writing about if you look at today’s situation…and to be honest people really don’t pay attention to this stuff, which is wrong ,but from my view… I’m talking about my view, Naisha…humans once they develop a certain habit, and that too in the masses… it’s really hard to make them turn back. It’s part of our nature that we know there’s a problem like this, but we don’t do anything. And why’s that? Because it’s not gonna affect us now… it’s a long term process. But I don’t see a very… clear perspective of the way you’ve said this. I mean, yes we eat meat because it’s a part of our diet and I also know that if the entire population of this planet would go vegan, the food emissions would reduce by 70%. There are lots of benefits of going vegetarian… but the point is that will the world accept this? When there are a million reasons causing GW… I don’t believe that people are going to shake off that meat from their platter…though some people are there who can make this difference, accomplishing this is tough. And, I don’t think it’s all the non- vegetarian’s fault. Something that has been going on since human existence… is not easy to change.
Overall… amazing work,Naisha. Keep writing.👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽
🙏🏻🙂
Kudos, this is such an amazing write-up!
You have proven your point flawlessly with logic, and your choice of words is mesmerising. Keep it up👏🏻
Thank you 🙂
WOW Naisha it was very nice ….. I am sure that you have put great effort in it ….. and is a patient research work …… worth reading …… I loved your way of using the words …… keep it up .
Thank you so much! 🙂
Awesome story ….. loved it
Thank you so much! 🙂
Superb creative work. Keep it up.
Thank you so much! 🙂
ITS JUST AWESOME NAISHA!
I DON’T HAVE WORDS TO EXPRESS!
Thank you so much 🙂