Equatorial rain forests, Earth's lungs. A mass of a multitude of giant trees that harbour so much life yet its so quite. Early in the 20th century our civilisations looked at the wild as places to tame with development. The human agenda then was to cull as much of the wild as possible, exploit as much of its seemingly inexhaustible wealth. Beat it down with cities, factories and agriculture; get rid of beasts that are dangerous to humans. We humans rule this planet and we were intent in being the masters of nature.
Is nature humbling us now? We are products of nature. We can't go very far from it nor can we mess with its processes without dealing with troublesome consequences. We are realising that even if we don't live in forests anymore we need them more than ever. They are the silent manufacturers of the fresh air so vital to our survival. They provide us the atmospheric balance that make us take for granted that we are actually living in a comfortable blue-green bubble of life that is floating in the desolate and harsh environment of outer space. They are repositories of yet so much undiscovered variety that throws open the smorgasbord of potential inventions that can make our future exciting.
It is also the place we go for wonder and inspiration when we are tired of each other. Let's celebrate the wonder of Earth this Earth Day. Lets learn to leave nature alone. We need her more than she needs us.
 |
| Earth image courtesy of NASA: nasa.gov |
Photos are from Ulu Bendul Permanent Reserve Forest, Kuala Pilah, Malaysia. A watershed that supplies water for hundreds of thousands of people downstream. Taken April 16, 2016. Original photos are 20MP @ 180 res. If you like a copy of the original seen in this post just send me an email (except of course the Earth pix).
No comments:
Post a Comment