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Where are we all heading?
Last month, I wrote about environmental changes and
polluting of nature, as well as the fact that nature gets its revenge. A
mighty proof is all that is happening recently around the world…dreary
pictures and incidents which have affected me deeply. I did not plan to
broach the same subject again but all this wretchedness has shaken me a lot.
In Russia, the cloud from the fires which started, due
to the continuing heat wave, has covered Moscow and has created very serious
problems for the people. The continuing high temperatures have affected the
Russian crops, which are a basic source of income for the country. It is
said they will need 300 years in order for the burned forest regions to
reinvent.
In Pakistan, those
affected by the floods have exceeded 14,000,000, while many regions remain
cut-off. A total picture of the situation is not even possible yet, as all
communication has been lost from numerous regions.
An ugly situation has also surfaced in the
neighbouring Afghanistan; due to floods and
landslides in the eastern part of the country, at least 65 people have lost
their life and many thousands face serious problems. In Spain and Portugal, a lot of regions are
burning up while people as well as the ecosystem are in a state of
emergency.
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This year, hundreds of thousands of acres of vegetation
have burned. Specifically, in
Spain
two fires burned over 13,000 acres of forest land. It is calculated that
fires globally have burned 750,000 acres. In Portugal, by August 15, more
from 30 big fires destroyed over 90,000 acres of vegetation. In China, the
dead from landslides in Gansu have exceeded 1,200. Meanwhile, there is a
rampant fear for an outbreak of new diseases due to polluted water and for
new rainfalls and still more damages. Moreover, India suffered big floods
due to continuous and powerful rainfalls.
All of the above were in the news during August. I
wonder if anyone was puzzled after reading about all these phenomena. Or
did we all just scan over the news headlines? I hope nothing else has
happened by the time you read this. But thinking about it, what other ills
could happen? So, all of these events, together with the fact that recently
I saw an insensitive slob toss out his car window an empty water bottle
which could cause a car accident , not to mention all the environmental
implications, brings to mind a line from an old Greek comedy: where are
we all heading folks? Where?
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