Earth's Payback

May 6, 2008

At a recent mass I heard, the priest began his homily with mention of a story. He officiated a funeral mass unlike any other he did before. This was of a 9-year old boy who died of cancer of the liver. During the homily, the priest jokingly said that one doctor told him that if you do not die of cancer, you are not in.

Now, I must admit, I’m a person who is in tune with the latest trends. However, in this case, I would rather not be “in”.

Not so long ago, maybe a few thousand years back, cancer was probably unheard of. If cancer did exist, it was probably not as prevalent so as to say it is a mortality trend. So how come today, when the most sophisticated medical equipment and most advanced medicines are available is this disease claiming more and more lives per year?

The human body naturally has cancer cells. But these cells are normally benign or dormant. What turns them into aggressive marauding cells are triggers present around us. Examples are asbestos, tobacco smoke, dioxins from food cartons, charred residues from overcooked barbecued meats, acrylamide from overheated French fries and potato chips, and arsenic in drinking beverages. These are commonly known as carcinogens. I can give you a list and probably not half of what is in it is naturally occurring or exposed in amounts now existing in the environment.

This leads me to my point that perhaps, the prevalence of these deadly cancers is our own undoing.

We have highly advanced technologies, able to produce more sophisticated and likewise advanced products all for the convenience of mankind. However, it is questionable the way we produce and use them. We generate electricity through nuclear reactions of radioactive elements. We create automobiles that are several times faster and more powerful than the horse-drawn carriages. We produce handy plastic containers, more durable and cheaper than paper boxes or wrappers. We invented air-conditioning that uses ozone-depleting substances.

However, until what point will technology bring convenience to us?

We have been creating convenience at the reckless expense of our natural resources. We take but we do not give enough back. We take fossil fuels and emit millions of tons of greenhouse gases enough to cause global warming. We use radioactive elements to generate electricity and then we dump radioactive by-products elsewhere. We consume trees and minerals, nature’s raw materials and convert them into substances and materials unnaturally existing while dumping thousands upon thousands of gallons of toxic chemicals into our rivers and seas. Well, in this case we do take and give back, much like a mugger taking all your cash and valuables then still giving you a hard blow on the face leaving a nasty cut across your head.

In the same manner, we are mugging earth. We are taking all its valuables and rather than paying her, we exploit her even more. And we do this not once, but over and over and over and a million times over again. Everyday, every second we burn fossil fuels, dump trash, pollute the rivers and claim wildlife’s habitat for development.

Maybe we get mugged once or even twice. We get a nasty cut on the head or a swollen bruise around the arm. Then we learn. We equip ourselves with pepper sprays and even learn judo for self-defense so that next time an attacker attempts another hold-up, he would not know what hit him. It is going to be payback time.

Likewise, we won’t know what will hit us, too. Earth will learn. After all, it is a living, breathing planet. Though she has been patient for so long, it only means that payback will even be greater.

Consider these payback scenarios. Global warming that will cause melting ice caps enough to raise the water level and wiping out 30% of the entire land surface. A nuclear reactor that has gone awry spewing radioactive particles into the jet stream across several continents causing cancers among millions in the years to come. Death of a thousand river systems that supply fresh drinking water caused by unabated pollution causing Water Wars among nations. Extreme weather conditions across the globe - snowstorms, tornadoes, hurricanes, drought, wreaking havoc to homes and lives of billions.

These are just a few, very real and very possible payback scenarios. At the rate we’re going, it is not a matter of “if it will happen” but rather of “when it will happen”.

The story above was a payback. How can a child at 9 years old have cancer of the liver? Genetics? Maybe. But at 9 years old? Unlikely. The food consumed or the water he drank during the 9 years of his life were perhaps contaminated with toxic substances enough to trigger an early cancer. These are the very same toxic substances that human activities in pursuit of greater convenience produced. Today, unborn fetuses with tumors are not unheard of, albeit rare. Tomorrow, it could be commonplace.

Earth may have claimed one life in that boy’s case. However, with the payback scenarios above, Earth may claim lives in the billions in the not so distant future. Convenience we say?

I believe it’s high time we pay her back the right way.