Everything in nature is shared; the water, plants/crops, and the land everything inhabits, the air we breathe, and the rest of the natural resources Mother Earth bestows to life. All animals (and humans) depend on the bounty of Earth. Everybody can equally benefit off of what they need from Earth, but when monetary incentives, greed, and competition are introduced to the symbiosis between man (aka animal) and nature, that relationship is defiled. Mankind has greatly perturbed the harmony and rhythm of nature.
Giant oil corporations extract massive amounts of oil in order to perpetuate income and maintain the infrastructure (cars, roads, buildings, planes). There isn’t enough petroleum to fulfill the desires of all the “thing addicts” out there. Oil and other non-renewable resources are being drained from the Earth at an exponential rate. Once all of the world’s main oil extraction spots are empty, these oil enterprises will be forced to invest in digging in a new location, otherwise business would stagnate. Many contingencies come into play if this transition is made, for instance, an extremely high cost to dig or the oil well could be too deep to reach, etc. If any of the aforementioned scenarios befall on the business, then investing in that project would cost them more money than what they would potentially produce.
According to the EPA, when oil is burned at power plants nitrous oxide is discharged into the atmosphere which contributes to and reinforces the photochemical ozone. The photochemical ozone is comprised of nitrous oxide and other volatile compounds. Other volatile compounds that aggregate the photochemical ozone are: Sulfur dioxide and mercury compounds. Sulfur dioxide (in high concentrations) can aggravate existing cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. Mercury compounds are highly toxic heavy metals that accumulate in the environment due to the excessive oil production. Mercury and heavy metals in general, have an adverse effect on humans and animals if inhaled or consumed (GMO foods/ prescription medication). If anything is exposed to enough mercury, neurological and kidney damage will befall on that individual. Carbon dioxide and methane are also discharged but are not as detrimental as the aforesaid.
It’s important to understand the system man has established. How it affects the animals and the ecosystem; we all coexist in (although humans are negatively exploiting it). These lucrative businesses that profit off of environmental extortion are leaving the largest footprint on our planet. Worldwide materialism is a close second. Nevertheless, humanities downfall would be from humanity itself. It would be difficult to revert back to the archaic lifestyle without electricity and advanced technology. Mankind is too accustomed to the technological prevalence in mainly “1st world” countries that has been brought about through the global effects of ongoing industrialization.
The bureaucracy we live under doesn’t recognize or support the essence of nature. In order to evoke change, there must be a paradigm shift so that man is able to see through the pretenses, recognize he issue, and find a solution. One of the pretenses that exists today is the acceptance of the egregious treatment (slaughter houses and environmental extortion) man has on the environment and its animal inhabitants. Advanced technology is a good thing but if used foolishly or valued too heavily, it becomes detrimental. Instead, technology should be fused with nature. It’s not one or the other, both are fundamental and can coexist together to create a better world. Rather than breaking Earths back trying to subsidize/ maintain industrialization, we could plant giant trees and create some sophisticated tree house that people can live in; no need for skyscrapers. If you just think beyond the contours of what society says is “possible” many great ideas will emerge, once those ideas are manifested into the physical plane and you give your utmost efforts to make it happen, then that idea will materialize. Many people have also conceptualized a civilization that lives WITH the environment, not separate from it. Now that idea must be integrated.
My yearly greenhouse gas emission was 19 tons of carbon dioxide which is lower than the national average. 23.6% of the energy I use comes from home activity, which is roughly 10% lower than the American average. I genuinely care for the environment and worry that foolish human activity is destroying the ecology of the planet. Ideally, if I were to reduce my yearly flights to one a year and drive a hybrid. The energy emission would be approximately 8% below the national average. One day I plan on reducing or maybe even eliminating meat from my diet.
Meat is the staple of the conventional diet and the demand for it is increasing every year; giant food corporations are financially obliged to satisfy that demand. The production methods involve slaughtering/torturing animals then distributing the edible remains to grocery stores so people can stuff their faces. Some companies don’t even use animals to create meat; they have some sort of pink slime and stuff it with antibiotics that taste analogous to meat (McDonalds and any other fast food franchise). That pseudo Meat is known as GMO (genetically modified organism). Any life shouldn’t be “from farm to fridge” that’s grotesque; heed and respect the lives of animals. Some people do rituals to honor the lives of animals before they eat them. I would condone purchasing organic food or harvesting your own crops. There are no benefits to GMO consumption, just risks. All of the studies that “prove” GMO’s are beneficial were conducted by the corporations that created them. These corporations reel in massive amounts of revenue from manufacturing GMO’s, so why would they want to jeopardize their sales? EarthOpenSource states, “A laboratory study in human cells shows that very low levels of glyphosate (the main chemical ingredient of Roundup herbicide, which most GM crops are engineered to tolerate) mimicked the hormone estrogen and stimulated the growth of breast cancer cells. The level of glyphosate that had this effect was below the level allowed in drinking water in Europe and far below the level allowed in the USA.” There is empirical and anecdotal evidence that proves that the GMO benefits are a hoax. GMO consumption slowly debilitates every function of the human body, making man more vulnerable to diseases, that’s why they call it a soft kill.
Cities are the faux manifestations of the human impact on Earth. The exploitation of animals epitomizes how some food businesses have no moral fiber and continue slaughtering animals for money. Entropy is present everywhere, but it seems as if it’s almost dominated our planet. A step in the right direction is necessary, so let’s set a few priorities: Protect all human and animal lives, stop the gratuitous and reprehensible treatment of the environment/animals, and exist in unity not a duality, create a society that allows true freedom, and change the technologically dependent system to one that coexists with nature. Humanity is currently undergoing a paradigm shift; however these changes are already being made. This change may not be imminent, but I’m confident that humanity will gravitate toward the better.
“If humans were to model the lifestyle displayed by a healthy community of cells , our societies and our planet would be more peaceful and vital”
–Bruce H Lipton
http://www.epa.gov/cleanenergy/energy-and-you/affect/oil.html