Wednesday, May 21, 2014

For the love of environment

By Rumaitha al Busaidi -
r.albusaidi@gmail.com -
LOVE of ourselves, of others and of nature, seems to be linked where it connects us all together and connects us to the environment. It is a common thread which links humanity into one gigantic force.
If I were to go out and about in Oman and ask people whether they valued the environment, or whether it has a special place and standing, almost everyone across all 61 wilayats — be it young, old, local or expat – will agree. However, despite nice words and sentiments, we still lack that practical concern shown for the environment. In bioethics terms, this suggests that environmental protection is not a dominating motivation in people’s lives or behaviour. It is of course easier to be said than done and the inconsistency between words and actions has long been discussed in all cultures of the world, becoming one of the reasons why social organisations and laws have evolved to protect others against the failures from previous decisions.
A lot can be said in regard to the environment, climate change and the role we as individuals play that make adverse impacts on Mother Nature. But the question arises: Are we change makers or are we only sideline critics. We have all pretty much made our own accusations on mankind and how careless they are the moment we witness acts of disturbances firsthand that makes our eyes open to the bigger picture. Cyclone Gonu for one really put things into perspective for many of us living in the Sultanate and those who were abroad at the time as well. The end result showed how Mother Nature brought us altogether to work in unison and brought back the meaning of unity which seemed to have been taken for granted or long forgotten.
Interestingly, there was a scientific paper that went as far as claiming that Gonu and Phet were caused due to the melting ice caps of the Tibetan mountains, which in theory leads to more land exposed to warmer temperatures which causes the fluctuations in pressure translating into super storms and cyclones. And the main cause of the melting ice caps? Global warming that is currently in acceleration due to human activity.
Darryl Macer in the Turkish Journal of Medical Ethics mentions that while we as people of the world may pursue common goals, such as combating global environmental problems, the depletion of the ozone layer, deep ocean dumping of waste, or global warming, but we should still be aware of the concept of cultural plurity; social interaction within the same society of people with different ways of living and thinking. If we accept this notion, we would have respect for traditions of all in society and overcome any bias that may evolve. Unfortunately this view is seldom achieved.
If we think about the abuses of the environment, we can see consumption and pollution are high in any country with a modern lifestyle, no matter where it is located on the world map. Mostly developed countries as well as others contribute to the increasing volume of greenhouse gases at the expense of the environment.
In the end, there will always be people who do not seek harmony which makes this ethical argument of why aren’t conscientious and responsible, when it comes to our surrounding, fail miserably because we ignore one particular factor in human behaviour: selfishness.
The way to look at the bigger picture of anything is to stop being selfish, and we as a nation of young people who most of them were born during the second decade of the Renaissance need to take matters more seriously and look at it for the love of the country and what gems of environmental treasures it provides. Many of us disregard the role the government played in conservation and protection and just look at the view of environmentalism in a glass half empty approach rather then looking at it the other way around.
It is not the job of the governing body to do everything for us, it is up to us as individuals to take these efforts one to a thousand steps further. After all, saving the environment and going green isn’t restricted to the reuse and recycle of plastic bags but falls under a larger legislative and institutional umbrella that many of us are clueless of, which we need to educate ourselves on.

Wednesday 21st, May 2014 / 20:04 Written by  

No comments:

Post a Comment