Sunday Observer | Human folly and nature‘s wrath

Human folly and nature‘s wrath
A devastating tsunami of an unprecedented ferocity instantly took the lives of over 200,000 people in three continents and destroyed the livelihood of several million who were rendered destitute. A ferocious hurricane Katrina struck the United States rendering thousands homeless and destroying entire cities which would take years to recover. Hurricane Wilma ripped through Central America and the Gulf States of the US. A deadly earthquake killed nearly 100,00 in South Asia exposing millions to the mercy of the cold weather in high Kashmir and Afghanistan. Hurricanes and tornados are flooding the Indian subcontinent and other parts of Asia with unprecedented frequency. New fissures have opened in the tectonic plates foreboding further disasters. It seemed as if nature has unleashed its wrath on humanity.
Are these simple natural disasters or did man‘s own folly contributed to accentuate them? Recent research by scientists and available knowledge point to a human hand too.
Unrestricted release of green house gases to the atmosphere, a result of so-called development has not only resulted in puncturing the protective ozone layer but also led to global warming as a consequence.
Scientists in the United Kingdom have traced a relation between global warming and the recent Katrina hurricane. Large-scale pollution of the atmosphere has caused average temperatures to rise disturbing the normal circulation of air in the region.
The United States refuses to sign the Kyoto Protocol limiting the production of green house gases. Today the US is reaping the consequences of this folly. Yet wiser counsel is still absent there.
Global warming threatens the rise of the sea level in alarming proportions. The melting of the ice caps in Greenland, Antarctica and elsewhere could raise the average sea level by several metres. This would totally inundate Maldives and affect the coastal areas of many littoral states including Sri Lanka. Even the City of London is threatened with submergence, according to scientists.
Warmer temperatures would make heat waves and wildfires more frequent. It would also lead to more intense rainstorms due to the increased energy of the climatic system. It would also enhance the frequency and destructive power of tropical hurricanes. In fact category number 4 and 5 hurricanes have greatly increased during the past 35 years.
All these changes will affect the water level and the purity of the water, thus making potable water one of the rarest commodities in the future. These in turn would affect agriculture and food security of the people.
The adverse effects of these negative developments would be more critical for the developing countries since they do not have the means and technological capacity even to offset to a certain degree these adverse effects unlike the affluent and the developed countries.
The time has come to put a halt to the plunder of the world‘s resources by a handful of transnational corporations and powerful nations, especially the rape of the Third World. Governments as well as people should be more concerned about preserving the environment for posterity. Development for the sake of development should be abandoned and instead we have to search for a path of sustainable development.
It augurs well that the new President has pledged to conserve the environment and protect natural resources. But words have to be translated into action. This is a serious challenge in view of the insatiable greed of capital to seek maximum profit in the minimum time irrespective of any consequences.
Greater Colombo flood protection
Recent heavy rains caused widespread floods in most parts of the Colombo City and its suburbs. Storm waters blocked city drains and flooded city streets and even areas hitherto safe from flash floods became vulnerable. This is in spite of a much talked about Greater Colombo Flood Protection Scheme.
Residents of Sri Jayawardhanapura and other adjoining areas saw unprecedented rise in floodwaters just after a few hours of rain. Even the Parliamentary complex was threatened. The main reason was the filling of the low-lying area that had earlier absorbed the floodwaters. Residents complain that powerful persons have filled and raised the ground level in many places despite a prohibition on land filling. Even the canals are not being maintained properly. Powerful mudalalis have encroached even into canal reservations and filled them to put up structures.
Unless Municipal and central administration bodies dealing with land use are cleaned of corrupt officials and unless powerful politicians harbouring and safeguarding them are punished this tragedy would continue unabated.
What is most pathetic is that every time such floods come it is the poor and the very poor that suffer most. Of course, they have the consolation of receiving a ‘lunch packet‘ from the mudalalis who are instrumental in filling the prohibited lands.