On the face of Earth, the origin of life and
its historical development to humans is intimately related to the theory of Evolution.
Although this theory is scientifically proven and correct, yet the dogmatic
doctrines of various religious lineages stress upon the fact that creation of
world was completed in six days only. According to them, God created light in
darkness on day one followed by the creation of sky on day two. Dry land and
plants were created on day three; Sun, moon and stars on day four; water and
sky animals on day five and finally on sixth day, land animals and people were
created.
In the genesis of this creation, the outlook
of Earth also changed. The richness of sunset, the twinkle of stars and the
diversity of animals and plants made nature awe-inspiring, even to the point of
being almost incomprehensible. The trees that towered towards the sun, feathery
clouds that floated in the sky and the waves that pounded the shorelines added
to the beauty of nature. The glory of God with all its purity, piousness and
righteousness started reflecting in this nature and to join the ongoing work of
creation of God, the Humans, who are considered as the crown of God’s creation,
were entitled the task of working further and taking care of the mother earth
and nature.
The Humans,
however, have done nothing for the benefit of life on Earth. In reality, their
activities have impacted the nature negatively and made it less hospitable for
other species. All what this wonderful, intelligent, sparky species has done is
the initiatives such as healthcare, education, equity, art and science, that
has benefitted them more than any other species on earth. They have selfishly utilised
all the available resources on Earth for their personal gains and have created
an undue imbalance in nature, which has ultimately led to hazards of different
magnitude in every field on earth. It is estimated that they have increased the
normal rate of extinction by a factor of at least 100 and are responsible for
the sixth mass extinction.
Humans, by their
deeds, have pushed the planets life support system to the edge and according to
Living Planet Report 2020, global population of animals have plunged by 68%
between 1970 and 2016. This figure is definitely higher for the trees and
plants as human infiltration of land due to industrialization, urbanization and
deforestation has been on an unprecedented scale and only 17% is left untouched
as of now. The changes like these have resulted in the loss of balance in
ecosystem finally leading on to climate change, soil erosion, poor air quality
and undrinkable water.
As the
natural resources are on the verge of extinction on earth, the humans are busy in
exploring an alternative sources of such resources. The extra-terrestrial space
has become the subject of interest in this field as there are evidences of
innumerable resources in space than on earth itself. If we want to reach out
into the rest of the Solar system and wider universe, moon base is a necessity.
This is the reason that repeated attempts have been made to place a footprint
on moon so to strengthen that base and also to understand the soil, texture and
atmosphere around. The launch of Chandrayaan 2 (orbiters and rovers) on the
south pole of Moon in recent past has been a successful attempt in that
direction and a great deal about the relationship between the Moon and Earth
has been uncovered.
There are
some extremely valuable resources on the moon that could support a concept of
lunar economy. Helium-3, an attractive fuel for nuclear fusion reactors, is one
moon resource that is rare on earth but much more abundant on the lunar surface.
It could potentially be a cheaper option to mine it from the moon. Because
there are no clouds and no atmosphere, they offer an ideal place to generate
electricity from solar power. The Moon also contains metals such as iron,
titanium and uranium. Making rocket fuel with the resources on the Moon would
make it viable to refuel spacecraft in the lunar vicinity – all luring for
humans on earth.
The
collective behaviour of humans as per their stay on earth has been of an
exploitation and a footmark on moon is just the beginning or an extension of same.
The humans need to reduce their ecological footprints, stop exploitation and
crippling earth and/or space. As goal of life is to live in agreement with
nature, they need to stop working against the law of nature. If humans do not
modify their collective behaviour; forget about the exploration of moon and
space; it is possible that humans will have to face an extinction themselves and
life on Earth will continue without them and biodiversity would return—all good
for Mother Earth and Space too.
Dr. Pawan Suri
email:
psuricardio@gmail.com
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