Plastics: Here, There and Everywhere

What was once thought as a bright invention, is now causing a major concern not only from environmentalists but from almost every waste management bodies in the world. I am talking about man’s discovery of plastics and its current threat to our environment. There is no doubt that plastics are very useful to people because of its durable and light property; they made up more than 50% of products we use at our homes, from containers, furnitures, home appliances, electronic gadgets and even our cars. According to businessmen who manufacture plastic products, “it’s easier and cheaper to mold products from plastics than from wood or metals”, this refers to the malleability of plastic to be cast, pressed, and extruded into variety of shapes. Plastics can also be recycled, giving the assurance of sustainability of raw materials for future plastic needs.

Environmental Issues

Plastics are durable and degrade very slowly; the molecular bonds that make plastic so durable make it equally resistant to natural processes of degradation. It is estimated that an ordinary plastic product will take about one hundred to a thousand years to degrade, and at the rate we are producing plastic products, it would have covered our entire planet many times over before we can even see the first batch of them degrade back into a biomaterial. Critical to this present generation is how to address the piling garbage mostly made up of discarded plastic products; another is the health hazards that they pose on human beings and other living organisms on this planet. Manufacturing of plastics often creates large quantities of chemical pollutants while burning them can release toxic fumes, this is the reason why incinerators were never considered as a solution to the plastic garbage problem. At present, there is no full proof solution yet discovered for the plastic garbage menace, what we can do right now is to abstain or regulate its use.

Our Role

Environmental organizations such as the Green Peace are admonishing governments to regulate the production of plastic products; they are pushing the use of substitute materials for products that can dispense with plastics, so as not to aggravate our present problem with plastic wastes. Our world does not belong only to us; it also belongs to our children, our children’s children, and the next generations to come. So let us preserve and protect it with utmost care, we can start now by practicing the least at our very homes. Are you willing to consider this advocacy the next time you buy your groceries?

Sign of the Times: Earthquakes Are Getting Stronger and More Frequent?

First it was Haiti, then Chile; two devastating earthquakes that occurred both on the first quarter of 2010. Only less than two (2) months apart, these two earthquakes measuring magnitudes of 7.0 and 8.8 on the Richter Scale respectively, surpassed the record of the past decade, in terms of number of deaths and damage to infrastructure. In Haiti alone, about a quarter of a million is the estimate for human death casualties, less than half a million were injured, and about a million families were left homeless.

Earthquakes as we all know is a natural occurrence, these involve movements on the earth’s crust as a result of our earth’s effort to relieve itself from pressure. The epicenter of the earthquake registers the strongest magnitude, and usually is more fatal inland. The area where large numbers of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur is called the “Pacific Ring of Fire”; it is a horseshoe shape region that stretches 40,000 kilometers in the pacific, and home to about 452 active and dormant volcanoes. About 80-90 percent of the world’s strongest earthquakes occur along the Ring of Fire.

According to the records of earthquakes registered during the last one hundred years, the earthquakes that occurred during the last twenty years are more frequent and stronger. Some are attributing this to the sad state of our world especially of its environment. Mother Earth, they say is now exhibiting signs of wear and tear, and humans are largely to be blame for this; we have over exploited her resources and severely damaged the very environment that sustains us. Most of the environmental issues that we are facing today are man-made, but the efforts we are exhausting that should solve them are not being seriously taken.

Many believe that the sad state of our world is irreversible, that the only direction it is headed is from bad to worst. We can’t help but remember what the Bible is telling us regarding what occurrences there will be before the coming of the Lord. Probably, in the mind of God; He values the lives of His creatures and this planet; that He will make sure to be here to save us and our world, before we destroy ourselves and our home. Have you made yourself ready for the worst?

The El Nino Phenomenon: Are We Party to the Worsening Condition?

Rains, and now drought? The sudden shift of weather pattern is really very bothering. For the past week, all I’ve been hearing from the local news was the havoc that El Nino is inflicting to the agriculture in Northern Luzon, Panay Island and parts of Mindanao. The irony of this was our situation during the last quarter of 2009, when we experienced the heaviest rains. Many of us that time were probably praying that the rain would stop; the rain was so furious that most cities in our country were either flooded or soaked with mud.

According to scientists, El Nino is a weather pattern that occurs in tropical Pacific Ocean on average every five years; it is associated with droughts, floods and other weather disturbances in many regions of the world. Mostly affected by ENSO (El Nino Southern Oscillation) are countries around the pacific region, and that is certainly where we are. No wonder why we are experiencing this seemingly crazy weather. As of present, the government estimated the loss to agricultural products to more than a billion pesos, but this could go as high as 2 billion pesos or at worst less than 3 billions.

Many Scientists believe that global warming will worsen the effects of El Nino, that it will bring more and stronger typhoons to us. We can therefore conclude that man has a part on this. But it’s not yet late, we can reverse global warming by becoming responsible individuals and by pushing our legislators to enact laws that will protect our environment. Let us remember that this is the only planet we have. Are you with me on this?