The Ailing Planet: the Green Movement’s Role

Chapter Summary

The story in the chapter The Ailing Planet: The Green Movement's Role is written by Nani Palkhivala and was published in The Indian Express. The story mainly describes the Green Movement and it describes how a zoo declared humans as the world’s most dangerous animals. The story mainly states how the world is suffering from an ailment and how humans are responsible for it.

It also describes the matter of ecological viewpoint that describes how humans do not care about continuously the only planet they have. The planet is described as a living organism with its metabolism. The speaker here shows that humans are dominating all the resources of the planet as they only belong to humans and no other organisms.

The speaker here expresses his worry about the environment and gives a brief description of sustainability and sustainable growth. The author makes a journey from the materialistic view of society to the ecological view of the world in this story. As per the concept of this story, humans must consume sustainably and leave something for the next generations. The view of the writer is that humans are the partners of resources, not the owners. The resources are based on forests, croplands, fisheries, and grasslands. Humans are using these resources without thinking of the future and destroying the rest.

What does the notice ‘The World’s Most Dangerous Animal’ at a cage in the zoo at Lusaka, Zambia, signify?

The line has a specific meaning and it signifies the most important matter in a meaningful way. Here, the line signifies that human has deteriorated the planet for a long time. That is the reason that the survival of humans is under threat now. Here the line depicts that humans are the most dangerous animals.

They are the most harmful animals and they are outside a cage in the zoo in Lusaka, Zambia. It seems that there are no animals within the cage, only a mirror in which one may view one's reflection. The expression is nothing but the satirical way of pointing out humans.

It seems that humans are responsible for any kind of sufferings in the world. They are the cause of resource depletion and environmental degradation. Therefore, it is seen that humans are the cause of ecology and environment degradation. Therefore, it can say that the line means inside there is no animal but a mirror can show the animal in a significant way.

How the Earth’s Principal Biological Systems are Depleted?

The story shows that earth’s principal biological systems can be divided into four categories. They are woods, grasslands, fisheries, and croplands and have a significant effect on the earth. These four systems provide raw materials for the industry and supply food to humans. The unsustainable increase in human demand decreases the productivity of the systems.

The excess demand for these products causes these resources to deteriorate and be depleted. Here, overfishing leads to the collapse of fisheries in the area. In this part, grasslands have devolved into deserts, and food production is declining. Firewood is the cause of destroying forests and as a result, several species have been extinct.

This is the depletion of the tropical forests and is the cause of forest destruction. Therefore, it can be said that these are the reasons for earth’s principal biological systems being depleted.

Why does the author aver that the World Population Growth is one of the strongest factors distorting the Future of Human Society?

The story shows that the growth of world population or overpopulation is one of the significant causes of poverty and unemployment in a country. It is the cause of disruption of earth’s major biological processes. The result of this factor is environmental deterioration. Here, the mentality of the impoverished helps to denote the matter of overpopulation.

It describes that having more children implies having more labor to make money. People are not aware of the fact that more children mean more jobless individuals. A small population can lead to development in education, improved health, and increased affluence. Education can lead to a decrease in the fertility rate. The most important factor here is that the decision is basically between population control and poverty perpetuation.

FAQs

Q1. How does overpopulation affect everyday life?

Ans. Overpopulation has the most negative effects and it leads to many problems for mankind and natural resources. It has resulted in unemployment and poverty and the poor children lead the same life as their parents did due to lack of resources and facilities.

Q2.What does the depression We have not inherited this earth from our forefathers mean?

Ans. Humans are consuming the natural resources of the earth for many decades. They do not take care of the future generations as well as for other organisms on earth. Now the condition has become very tough as resources have limitations. The line mostly wants to express that humans must protect the resources for future generations.

Q3. What do the terms tabula rasa, ad hoc, prima facie, mutatis mutandis mean?

Ans. The story uses many Latin phases and they express different meanings. Here, tabula rasa means without any prior knowledge. Ad hoc refers to for a specific purpose or situation. Mutatis mutandis means changing only those things which need to be changed. Prima Facie indicates at first sight, before closer inspection.