What does it mean to be an 'environmentalist'?

What does it mean to be an 'environmentalist'?

I believe being an environmentalist is about living life with an increased level of consciousness, wherein, we try to live with an in-depth understanding of the choices we make, our actions and their consequences on the society and on the environment.

Let us take the example of an action that we often witness, which is of throwing away an empty PET (polyethylene terephthalate) bottle on the side of the road after consuming a soft drink. Many among us just do not pay heed to the fact that there is a high possibility that the bottle could remain there for years and years to come primarily because of slow biodegradability of PET. Before mindlessly throwing away batteries it is imperative that one should be aware of the heavy metals like lead present in them and how they contaminate the soil. As Rachel Carson has clearly explained in her book, ‘The Silent Spring’, a seemingly harmless act of spraying pesticides in one’s garden or agricultural field has potentially calamitous effects on the local eco-system. Hence, being an environmentalist is primarily about living with an increased level of consciousness.

The role of an environmentalist is also to help society awaken to the realisation that our present lifestyle is absolutely unsustainable. The way to achieve this is through education. It is important that an environmentalist helps those around to understand that we are a part of the biosphere and not outside it, and will therefore have to face the repercussions of our own actions.

Another practice that I feel is central to the philosophy of being an environmentalist is one of ‘live and let live’. Often, in the zealous pursuit of trying to conserve the environment people do more harm than good. Take the example of a nature photographer. In the attempt at getting the perfect shot they often tend to disturb and put at risk the very wildlife they claim to be trying to protect. The beauty of nature is in being a part of it and not in trying to manipulate it to serve our selfish pursuits.

In the same vein, a true environmentalist should try to ensure that his or her actions do not in any way achieve the opposite of what they are trying to accomplish. For example, before engaging in a tree plantation drive one must ensure that the tree species chosen for planting are suitable to the locality.

Being an environmentalist should not be an attempted act of ‘greenwashing’ wherein one can assuage oneself by saying that having taken part in a tree plantation campaign, it is fine to cool off in an air-conditioned room all day. Being an environmentalist is about accepting and adopting a way of life which is not in conflict with the environment. It is a continuing endeavour to contribute towards developing a sustainable society, with a fraternity of humankind; at peace with the surroundings, and using resources in a sustainable manner.

After having studied Chemical Engineering at my Bachelor’s program, I have observed that the industry predominantly remains dependent on non-renewable sources of energy like coal and petroleum for its energy requirements. These energy sources continue to contribute towards global warming. From this, I have come to understand that environmentalism must be rooted both in science and society. Mere activism cannot be an answer to our problems. Theories and premises must have a strong backing with facts and scientific methods. Only then will people believe in the veracity of our claims and the genuineness of our intent. Thus, being an environmentalist is not just being guided by high ideals but also demands good training and experience which must be rooted in one's day to day life.

Mukund Palat Rao

A peek into the next few updates

The next update would probably be an interview I'd conducted of Dr. R.K Pachauri who is the Director General of TERI and the Chairman of the IPCC.

In line after that would be a write up about a paper bag making workshop that I will be conducting at my University next week in the run-up to the celebrations for Earth Hour.

The link below will take you to an article which appeared in 'The Hindu', which briefly mentioned me in reference to the celebration of World Poetry Day in Coimbatore on March 21st in Coimbatore.

http://www.thehindu.com/life-and-style/metroplus/article3154834.ece

Poem: The Future?

The Future?

There was a man, who once went out to sea,

He sailed to the Arctic,

And found it bereft of ice,

Then he stayed till the winter,

To discovered it was no longer cold,

And from there when he moved to Europe,

He discovered it uninhabited, with not even the old,

All that remained was ice, melt, death and uncommon cold.

He then travelled to the east,

From the Occident to the Orient,

He passed by India,

With its immense masses standing reduced,

Droughts in some parts and floods in the others,

But everywhere malaise and hunger had taken their toll.

From there to the South China Sea he went,

Which was fuming and frothing,

With typhoons raging,

And on reaching South America, he found the Amazon was gone,

No more squirrel monkeys, and no more macaws,

None left of the caiman and neither the poison arrow frogs.

On exploring further,

He found that all the humans had killed each other off,

They’d left Earth in a wretched mess of radioactive waste,

And had murdered themselves in coercing their enemies for fossil fuels,

They’d bombed the countries to their left and the countries to their right,

And they'd bombed and they'd shelled until they themselves were blown-up and damned.

Slowly now the mist has begun to clear,

When I told someone about my dream they told me they’d had the same dream,

Maybe I wasn’t just hallucinating,

This might be the future if went on this way,

And it’ll be just foolish if in spite of knowing the consequences we still don’t change.

Mukund Palat Rao (February 23, 2012)

Surface heat and fresh water fluxes causes density gradients in the oceans of the world. This results in oceanic circulations which are also called thermohaline circulations. These thermohaline circulations are also called the ocean conveyor belt. Higher salinity and colder temperatures result in an increase in the density of water. It has been postulated that if for some reason if these oceanic circulations were to cease then Europe could descend back into the midst of an ice-age. This explains the reason as to why I have chosen to portray Europe to be in the throngs of an ice-age. A little reading on the topics of the Younger Dryas and thermohaline circulations might help the reader gain a better insight into these potentially catastrophic consequences.

Poem : The Rain Dance

The Rain Dance

I sit next to the window pane,

The rain, it has started once again,

The mist and froth blows across my face,

And the rain drops fall down like beads on a lace.

A crow pheasant sits in my neighbour’s garage,

Drying herself after the rain disturbed her plumage,

And the old and yellow leaves of my jackfruit tree have begun to fall,

Twisting, twirling and dancing through it all.

The blue mountains play their game of hide and seek,

With the clouds hiding them and filling up their creeks,

And the frogs and toads seems to croak on and on,

Oblivious of my grandmother’s disapproving frown.

­­

With all this beauty around,

There is no place else I’ll sit than the one I have found,

And there is nothing else I’d rather do,

Than sit and write poetry for me and you.

Mukund Palat Rao (August 27, 2011)

“It really doesn’t matter that much”

“It really doesn’t matter that much”

Is climate change for real? Are the oceans really rising and the glaciers shrinking? While most of would definitely answer the above questions in the affirmative there are still many amongst us who would still say that they aren’t that sure. They call themselves the ‘Climate Change Sceptics’.

As has been rightly pointed out if we look at the history of mass extinctions we would learn that right now we are in the midst of the sixth major mass extinction. So, obviously there have been changes in the earth’s climate before this right? Yes, that is true; but that’s not the whole story.

It has been estimated that within the last five hundred years, at least eighty mammal species have gone extinct; this from a starting total of approximately 5,570 species. Now compare this to the average extinction rate for mammals of less than two for every million years. I am sure you don’t need any help with the math; it’s clear as daylight that the present rate of extinction is far greater than the average extinction rate previously. The other question is the reason behind this extinction? I’m am pretty sure, climate sceptic or not there is absolutely no doubt that this extinction is anthropogenic. In case of any lingering doubts one can easily check into the history behind the extinction of the dodos, the Javan and the Caspian tigers, the cheetahs in India and numerous other plant and animal species (even if the example was about the extinction of mammals this phenomenon is not limited to mammals alone).

Then should you be worried? Allow me to digress a bit and explain this with a short story. There is an oft quoted example where the earth is compared to an aeroplane and human beings to mechanics. We sit inside the aeroplane and then slowly start to unfasten all the screws in the whole aeroplane. Let us say, we start from the inside first and get rid of all the seats. No doubt the aeroplane will still fly. We then continue our experiment for a little while further and keep testing each time if the aeroplane still flies. Slowly once we had rid ourselves of all trivial screws we will eventually need to start medalling with the screws that keep the whole structure together. Eventually we reach a point where every new screw unfastened could be our last. If we go ahead and unscrew both engines the result is quite obvious. It isn’t going to matter that there are still so many screws left to unfasten. The whole system is definitely going to crash. Now, to explaining why I used this metaphor. Compare each screw lost to a species gone. The disappearance of one species isn’t obviously going to bring to whole eco-system down. However, slowly as more species start to disappear the web of life would start to become unsustainable. The predator-prey relationships would begin to become skewed favouring one side over the other, in the end leading to a dramatic collapse of the whole complex web of life. This is not taking into account the fact that most niche species and species in symbiotic relationships would be dead long before we ever got to this stage. 

http://www.bigelow.org/edhab/fitting_algae.html

http://www.bigelow.org/edhab/fitting_algae.html

Victor Summerhayes and Charles Elton's 1923 food web of Bear Island

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:EltonFW.jpg

Then is conservation important? Altruism isn’t a trait everyone is blessed with. Why worry about saving the earth, conserving minerals and electricity etc.? If I have the money then what pray is your problem, aye? The wars on oil don’t directly affect me; they are being fought in far-away lands. Just ensure that it still remains affordable and cheap. Kill as many as you want for it! Why should the displacement of tribal people in some distant and remote place bother me? I need those rare earth metals, for my music player to work don’t I?    

There are economists who claim that the cost of investing into green and eco-friendly technologies will cripple us so much that financially most large industries will have to shut shop. I don’t claim to know too much economics but I am sure that money spent on investing in better effluent discharge, better energy efficiencies etc. will probably do more good than harm. It has been proven worldwide that it is better to invest in more efficient technology now and pay less every month on maintenance than ending up footing higher recurring costs. If you add to it other benefits like lower particulate emissions, and less toxic discharges, it makes more sense to go green than to resist. The motivation really doesn’t matter; you could be an environmentalist or be in it for selfish reasons of leading a more luxurious life.  It is better to conserve now and have something for the future. Think of it as an investment. What is likely to be in high demand a decade from now will also obviously also fetch you a good price a decade from now too.

Here is one of the most persuasive letters to the editor I have read in recent times. The reply was to an article by Friedman in the New York Times titled, “Is it Weird Enough Yet?” Here is an excerpt from it; 

“The French philosopher and mathematician Blaise Pascal, in what has become known as Pascal’s wager, suggested that even people who did not believe in God should act as if they did, since being wrong could be catastrophic.

I would say to the climate skeptics[sic]: If you do not believe in climate change but act as if you did, even if you are right, the result would be a society with clean, sustainable jobs, less dependence on Mideast oil and healthier lives. But if you are wrong and we do not act immediately, the results would be catastrophic.”

PHILLIP GOTTSCHALK
Montville, N.J., Sept. 14, 2011

Mukund Palat Rao (September 20, 2011)

P.S Here is two interesting videos you might like to watch

The first video is from the Rio Summit of ’92.

·        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfbqWG88Ems

·        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGeXdv-uPaw&feature=player_embedded

Nadia of the Nile

Nadia of the Nile

This is a story from a long time ago,

A time when I was young and not so very old,

I was in the midst of a journey from Beirut to Tehran,

I had stopped in the desert to rest for the night,

It was cold, it was freezing,

Not a soul could be heard,

I was singing to my camel and putting her to sleep,

Rest was imperative, as from our destination we were still far.

Suddenly out of nowhere a voice awoke me with a start,

Do you mind if I could spend the night in your caravan?

To this I enquired, ‘What name do you go by?’

And then she replied, ‘I am Nadia of the Nile,

I was robbed of my tent in a skirmish by the town,

The wind, it is biting, and I am chilled to the bone,

I think I am injured and can’t carry on.’

I then told her she could spent the night in my tent,

But I secretly kept a sword by my side,

For you never know,

When the enemy is behind your back,

Being the host,

I then gently asked, ‘Would you care for some wine?

Your injuries are deep,

It might get better with the tincture of Iodine?’

And there I was kneeling and tending to her wounds,

There was as shard that was entwined in her back,

Even as I eased it out gently I knew it did hurt,

But from her side not a sinew did twich,

She continued to sit motionless with her clenched her jaw,

Without a sound she just gazed into the fire.

On her these wounds of war didn’t seem like aberrations,

They fit perfectly as a part of a beautiful whole,
With a body so graceful and green eyes so watchful.

In our mirth, we talked and we talked and conversed through the night,

It was cold, it was freezing,

And not a soul could be heard,

And we drew closer and closer until we were one,

But then as I was drifting into a slumber,

She told me she would depart by first light.

I don’t remember the time,

Except a kiss on my cheek,

She mentioned she was leaving and thanked me for everything,

And then she waited till I fell back asleep.

In the morning when I awoke,

I wasn’t sure if it was a dream,

But when I looked around; and I found my things gone,

I knew they had been stolen,

By Nadia of the Nile,

Except my camel now sitting,

With a look so benign.

Beside me lay my empty trunk,

Inside was a note pinned to the front,

It read, ‘I am indeed sorry for what I have done,

My story was true,

And I have no doubt that you saved my life,

Unfortunately I was paid not to leave you alive,

Last night when I came I was in too much pain,

And by the morning light I knew I would never be the same,

I knew I couldn’t kill you,

And I promise you’ll never see me again.’

I wept for my loss but thanked God I was alive,

I knew I was lucky for she didn’t get what she desired,

The papers, they were tied to the foreleg of my camel,

And those in my trunk; they were counterfeit,

But this I did realise that she’d probably have to die,

The fakes that she had obtained, they weren’t worth a dime,

And those who had paid her would slay her in their anger.

I cried for I knew it was because of me she would die,

And if I were dead she would still be alive.

Mukund Palat Rao (August 8, 2011)