Dr. Anil K. Rajvanshi
Field of reference: Ecology, Biology
Description: examples for why sustainability and balance with nature are imperative
"How Nature Helps Us Nature provides us direct benefits and without it we will not be able to survive. Majority of medicines presently in use and all our foods are derived from plants and animals. The cost of over-the-counter drugs from plants alone has been estimated to be about US$ 84 billion worldwide 1. Yet a tiny fraction of biodiversity has been utilized in the allopathic medicines. Similarly in 1997 an international team of economists and environmental scientists came out with a figure of US$ 33 trillion for all ecosystem services provided by natural systems to humanity free of charge. This amount was more than twice the total GDP of the world
2. Ecosystem services include regulation of the atmosphere and climate; purification and retention of fresh water; formation and enrichment of soil; nutrient cycling; detoxification and recirculation of waste; pollination of crops and the production of lumber, fodder and biomass fuel. Even if by magic we get the necessary technology and this much money to provide these services, the physical task will be nearly impossible to accomplish it thereby proving the superiority of natural systems over manmade ones. Besides providing ecosystem utilities, nature also provides us knowledge for our future science and technology. Nature had billions of years of head start and hence it has evolved through infinite permutations and combinations of designs. Since our brains are a product of natural evolution and earth time, it can be conjectured that we cannot think more than what already exists in nature. Thus the fastest way for us to progress is to copy nature. For if we destroy nature we will be robbed of the design template for our further development."
| שייך לנושאים: 1-13 - חינוך אינטגרלי, -מקורות מדעיים, הטבע, 3. איזון עם הטבע |
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