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The Ailing Planet: the Green Movement’s Role, Part Four





The Ailing Planet: the Green Movement’s Role


PART FOUR
The Ailing Planet: the Green Movement’s Role     
Nani Palkhivala

Understanding the text
1. Locate the lines in the text that support the title ‘The Ailing Planet’.

Ans. The following lines support the title, ‘The Ailing Planet’.
1.             The earth’s vital signs reveal a patient in declining health.
2. “Are we to leave our successors a scorched planet of
advancing deserts, impoverished landscapes and ailing
  environment?”
     3. A three-year study using satellites and aerial photography
     conducted by the United Nations, warns that the environment
     has deteriorated so badly that it is ‘critical’ in many of the eighty-eight
     countries investigated.
     4. It has its own metabolic   needs and vital processes which need  to be         respected and preserved.


2. What does the notice ‘The world’s most dangerous animal’ at a cage in the zoo at Lusaka, Zambia, signify?

Ans. The notice at a cage in the zoo at Lusaka, Zambia, signifies the most destructive and dominative features of the human beings. It tries to open our eyes. It also shows that a new awareness has dawned upon us. We have started realizing that we must not dominate the other elements of nature. Our relation with them should be based on partnership.


3. How are the earth’s principal biological systems being depleted?
Ans. In his famous book, ‘The Global Economic Prospect’, Mr. Lester Brown brings it to our notice that the earth’s four principal biological systems are fisheries, forests, grasslands and croplands. They form the foundation of the global economic system. They not only supply our food but also provide raw material for our industries. These biological systems are depleting at a rapid rate because of human claim reaching an unsustainable level. Since the tropical forest, the powerhouse of evolution, is also decimating, several species of life face extinction.


4. Why does the author aver (affirm) that the growth of world population is
one of the strongest factors distorting the future of human society?

Ans. The population plays an important role in the growth of any country but over population can be equally catastrophic. More population does not mean more workers. It is simply more people without work and more people to feed, though it sounds very harsh, more place to live in, more schools etc. The studies conducted by the UN warn that the environment has deteriorated so badly that it is critical in many of the eighty-eight countries investigated. That is why the author avers that the overgrowth of population is one of the strongest factors distorting the future of human society.

Talking about the text

Discuss in groups of four.
1. Laws are never respected nor enforced in India.
Discussion :  It is very deplorable that India has the longest written constitution in the world but the laws are hardly respected in India. According the article 48A of the Constitution of India “the state shall endeavor to protect and improve the environment and to safeguard the forest and wildlife of the country”. However the result shows only 22% of the country’s total area is under forest. Besides, the practice of untouchability, casteism, and bonded labour is quite common in India despite the Constitution promises to protect us from these entire nuisance.

2. “Are we to leave our successors a scorched planet of advancing deserts, impoverished landscapes and an ailing environment?”

Discussion: It is a very pertinent question raised by Mr.L.K.Jha, member of Brandt Commission. The ecological balance is so disturbed that the environment is turning from bad to worse day by day and we are responsible for that. The earth’s four biological systems - fisheries, forests, grasslands and croplands have been lacerated (severely damaged) by us. The unsustainable development has caused this earth an irreparable loss and transforming this planet into a desert, a poor and sick place to live in for us as well as for the posterity( next generation).

3. “We have not inherited this earth from our forefathers; we have borrowed it from our children”.

Discussion: This is the very last line of the article.  These are the words of Mr. Lester Brown. It sums up our responsibility towards the next generation. It is, as if we borrowed our pristine planet from the children. Though it sounds very freaky, it’s true that when we borrow something from the children we have to return it invariably. No one can claim this planet as patrimony.


4. The problems of overpopulation that directly affect our everyday life.

Discussion: According to Malthusian (Thomas Robert Malthus, an economist) theory of population, the population increases in geometric progression, on the other hand food production increases in arithmetic progression. Stupendous growth in population has inversely affected our development. In 1800, the world population was merely one billion and in 1900, a second billion was added followed by another 3.7 billion in the twentieth century. At present the world population is staggering 7.6 billion. Our everyday life will drastically improve if we control our population. It will make this world a beautiful place to live in.



Thinking about language
The phrase ‘inter alia’ meaning ‘among other things’ is one of the
many Latin expressions commonly used in English. Find out what these Latin phrases mean.


1. prima facie                  at first sight / on the face of it / apparently
2. ad hoc                         for a particular purpose / impromptu
3. in camera                    in secret / in private
4. ad infinitum                endlessly / for ever
5. mutatis mutandis        with the necessary change being made
6. caveat                         a warning
7. tabula rasa                 Tabula rasa is a Latin phrase meaning "blank slate"

Working with words
I. Locate the following phrases in the text and study their connotation. (an idea suggested by a word in addition to its meaning)
1. gripped the imagination of
2. dawned upon
3. ushered in
4. passed into current coin
5. passport of the future

II. The words ‘grip’, ‘dawn’, ‘usher’, ‘coin’, ‘passport’ have a literal (basic and usual meaning) as well as a figurative(used in a way that is different from usual meaning). Write pairs of sentences using each word in the literal as well as the figurative senses.

a. I tried to grip the handle of the cycle tightly.
b. The principal needs to have grip on the teachers.
c. We started our journey at dawn.
d. At last a unique idea dawned upon me.
e. He ushered the chief guest in the auditorium.
f. The decision of the company ushered in a new hope among the workers.
g. Please, give me a two rupee coin.
h. Many new words are coined every year.
i. I have lost my passport.
j. His passport to success is his hard work and perseverance.


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