She’s sick not dead

Human activities have had an impact on the earth we live in. Especially with the phenomenon of industrialization the strain on the earth and its resources are being keenly felt by the inhabitants of the world. With all the problems such as climate change, rising sea levels and deforestation, all being a product of our thirst for energy and production, it is impossible to hope that things can go back to what they once were. That would have to involve human societies reverting back to the old ways of small subsistence farming and hunting and gathering, this is of course on the assumption that the world has suffered reversible damage and not a malignant cancer metastasized beyond the point of no return. Unfortunately even if we were able to all agree to stop using cars and travel on foot; the effects would still be there. However the fact still remains, the world is in crisis, not the crisis between societies, but Mother Nature herself is sick and that simultaneously threatens our very existence. But our existence as society will move along till the point when Mother Nature finally croaks, she’s sick, she’s not dead. Hence our lives must continue, our economic aims must be met, we must consume therefore we must produce; the population of the earth must be fed. We cannot by any means turn the hands of time, at the same time we cannot at any point stagger the progression of our existence just because Mother Nature is sick.

There is now a worldwide movement to attempt to do something about Mother Nature’s hiccups, one that has risen to prominence is the growing awareness to the harmful effects of the burning of fossil fuels, this is taken in isolation besides the fact that fossil fuels will one day run out and we shall have to look for an alternative regardless of the earth’s condition. This growing awareness has heralded new discoveries in terms of new types of energies which are not only renewable but also brings with it clean energy. These new forms of energy however, have their limitations as do oil and the implementation of these forms of energy will require added costs that might counter act this thankless cause of saving the earth, but perhaps societies are not seriously considering integrating these types of energy into our daily lives. It is but an alien concept that brings an image of causing some discomfort to our lives at some point, therefore most people would continue with their lives regardless of the environmental damage; imagine riding a bicycle instead of taking the bus in tropical Singapore.

However what if we can find creative solutions to integrate these fuels into our homes at minimum disruption, Solar panels for example, imagine the rooftops of every HDB block fitted with them, since most of the rooftops are flat anyway and they are unblocked form the sun’s glare would it be enough to at least light the corridors at night? How about the sides of the high rises? Since HDB is a housing project and if all the blocks are fitted with a sea of solar panels, would we not perhaps be able to lower the costs of production and installation? Of course not all forms of energy are all good, there’s too many strings attached should we go with nuclear power, for instance but what about the water from our homes, could we harness the gravitational force exerted on the water as it flows through the pipes of our high rises to turn a turbine to power our lifts perhaps? Surely the feasibility of these ideas would have to be explored but performed simultaneously these installations might just reduce our dependency on not only fossil fuels but power stations. It would reshape the way we live, imagine every small action in our daily lives, things we take for granted counting towards stored energy for use.

This would not be a solution for all countries or even districts, but perhaps the solutions we require are not in the mass production of renewable or not renewable resources or the developments of technology, perhaps there is no unilateral answer to high carbon emissions in countries, each and every society must develop its own methods that are not only unique but also practical to the uses of its people, allowing in to be internalised as part of their daily lives. Perhaps if societies with an advanced stage of development take the lead, developing countries will follow as well thus perpetuating this movement to rehabilitate the blue planet.