Hornbill - 11th, Lesson - 5, The Ailing Planet - The Green Movement's Role - Nani Palkhiwala Glossary, Summary, Questions And Answers. ...
Hornbill - 11th, Lesson - 5,
The Ailing Planet - The Green Movement's Role - Nani Palkhiwala
Glossary, Summary, Questions And Answers.
Glossary -
1. ailing - in poor health
2. relevance - important to the matter at hand
3. irrevocably - stably, a decision that can not be changed
4. a holistic and ecological view - considered as a whole
5. enormous - very big, large
6. sustainable development - development without harming the environment
7. reckon - to calculate something approximately
8. languish - to suffer for a long time
9. ignominious darkness - disgraced or dishonoured as nobody has knowledge about them
10. scorched - burned by flames or heat
11. croplands - land used for growing crops
12. impaired - to damage something
13. decimated - to kill, destroy, or remove
14. precede - prior, before
15. patrimony - property inherited
16. eroding - to destroy something slowly
17. endeavour - try hard to achieve something
18. catastrophic depletion - harmful reduction in India's forests
19. contraceptive - methods serving to prevent pregnancy
20. beget - the process of reproduction
21. perpetuation - never-ending
22. hutments - a collection of huts
23. transcending concern - the concern for the next generation
24. holistic - considered as a whole
25. tenancy - possession of land or property on a rental basis
Summary - The lesson, " The Ailing Planet: The Green Movement's Role" is written by the writer Nani Palkhiwala where he expresses his great concern and worries about how our planet, Mother Earth becoming unhealthy because of human greed and interference with its metabolic functioning, how every day, every hour rather be more precise every second we are losing its valuable resources, converting green forests into barren lands and deserts and what exactly we are going to offer to our next generations. There are various reasons behind the heavy decline of our planet, but the most prominent is the increasing population and eventually growing needs and the pressure ultimately comes on the earth and its valuable resources, even our industries could run quietly if we protect and conserve our planet. In the lesson he highlighted how mankind is responsible for its depletion, he quoted, " The world's most dangerous animal", inside the cage, there is no animal but a mirror where you see yourself and another one, 'We have not inherited this earth from our forefathers; we have borrowed it from our children." So, it is our wholesome responsibility to protect and conserve this beautiful planet for future generations.
Understanding the text -
1. Locate the lines in the text that support the title, " The Ailing Planet".
Ans - Many lines in the text suggest the title, "The Ailing Planet"-
1) "The earth's vital signs reveal a patient in declining health"
2) "Are we to leave our successors a scorched planet of advancing deserts, impoverished landscapes, and an ailing environment"?
3) " When this happens, fisheries collapse, forests disappear, grasslands are converted into a barren wasteland and croplands deteriorate".
4) " It has been well said that forests precede mankind, deserts follow".
2. What does the notice, "The world's most dangerous animal" at a cage in the zoo at Lusaka, Zambia signify?
Ans - Nothing could be more expressive and significant than the notice in the zoo in Alaska, that when a person enters the cage and sees his own reflection in the mirror, that human being is responsible for the destruction of the environment, not only the depletion but responsible for the extinction of millions of species which were a very important part of our food web and ecosystem. We are continuously over-exploiting natural resources for our neverending so-called needs. We need to balance our environment otherwise our own survival will be in danger and we will have no answer for the next generation.
3. How are the earth's principal biological systems being depleted?
Ans - There are four major biological systems of the earth and they are fisheries, forests, grasslands and croplands but unfortunately each of the systems is depleted because of increasing demands, fisheries are over-exploited to meet the increasing demand of protein conscious world, also other major reasons are supplying raw materials for industries, supplying food to us, and to procure firewood for cooking, these biological systems are being depleted extensively.
4. Why does the author say that the growth of the world population is one of the strongest factors distorting the future of human society?
Ans - The author believes that overpopulation is one of the strongest factors responsible for a nation's poverty and unemployment, it disturbs the earth's principal biological systems leading to the degradation of the environment. More population simply means more demand for all the commodities that are essential for the survival of human beings. Many poor people believe that more children will provide them more working hands that can remove them from the never-ending cycle of poverty, but this is not true, only education, and awareness of health, could lead them on the path of development, so the population control must be given topmost priority.
Talking about the text -
Discuss in groups of four.
1. Laws are never respected nor enforced in India.
Ans - In India, there exist strict laws, policies, rules, and regulations to safeguard the rights of an individual as well as for natural resources, but unfortunately seldom are implemented and executed, for instance, the constitution says that casteism, untouchability, and bonded labour shall be abolished, but they flourish shamelessly even after forty-four years of the operation of the constitution. As a consequence of the welfare of forests, article 48A states that " the state shall endeavour to protect and improve the environment and safeguard the forests and wildlife in the country", but the ground reality is quite alarming and eye-opening because some forests are already virtually treeless. So making the laws is not enough but its strict implementation is mandatory.
2." Are we to leave our successors a scorched planet of advancing deserts, impoverished landscapes, and an ailing environment"?
Ans - The above question is raised in the first Brandt Report by Mr. L.K.Jha, one of the distinguished members of the Ecology and Environment Commission, and if we go on doing the same practices for years to come, then our successors are going to get the earth as a very unhealthy planet. Through the text, we have learned that it is our holistic and ecological responsibility to protect the planet because a single contribution is not at all enough, we all come together and make collective efforts, spreading awareness among the masses and putting every single step for the well being of the planet, otherwise, the above report will prove its authenticity.
3. "We have not inherited this earth from our forefathers, we have borrowed it from our children".
Ans - As per Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, "No generation has a freehold on this earth. All we have is a life tenancy - with a full repair lease. This line very well describes everything, that we do not have any right on the earth, neither we are owners but merely caretakers and tenants on the lease and it is our wholesome responsibility to pass on this beautiful planet to the next generations, as we have inherited from our forefathers. Somewhere we should balance taking and giving to the planet, many times in the name of development, we exploit our resources. Sustainable development has become the need of an hour, otherwise, there would be no explanation left to us for our children.
4. The problems of overpopulation that directly affect our everyday life.
Ans - In India, it has always been witnessed that overpopulation is the root cause of maximum issues like unemployment, poverty, and lack of development and prosperity. It leads to the consumption of natural resources at a much higher and faster rate, more population means more requirements for food, clothing, and shelter and to fulfill the growing needs, all the available resources will be over-exploited, thus causing natural disbalance, eventually causing other natural calamities such as global warming, forest fire, tsunami, flood, drought, etc. In our daily life too, if a person is unable to fulfill his want even though he is eligible, overpopulation is the root cause. Let us put it in simple words, e.g. if a qualifying person is unable to get his desired job, overpopulation is the cause because the no. of vacant posts is 10, and the number of applicants is 10,000. So in this way overpopulation badly affects our daily life too!
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