UNHEALTHY COMMUNITY AND ENVIRONMENT: SAVE OUR COMMUNITY AFRICA
Undoubtedly, humans have been altering their local environments ever since they arrived on the scene as a distinct species several hundred thousand years ago. Our debut as major players on the global stage—players comparable in influence to the classical roles played by erosion, volcanism, natural selection, and the like—is a much more recent phenomenon. This goes back several thousand years at most, but has greatly accelerated in scope and influence in recent centuries. According to Crutzen (2002), “We live today in what might be called the ‘Anthropocene’, a new geological epoch in which the human species has emerged as a globally significant and potentially intelligent force capable of reshaping the face of the planet.” The Italian geologist Anthonio Stoppani (1873) described humanity’s activities as a “new telluric force, which in power and universality can be compared with the greatest forces on Earth.” Several international conferences have been held to address environmental issues. Some examples are the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 1992, the World Summit on Sustainable Development, held in Johannesburg in 2002, etc. The need to harness science and technology in support of efforts to achieve the goal of environmentally sustainable human development in the Anthropocene was generally recognized at the Johannesburg Summit. Environmental hazards are a contemporary problem in Africa, but before delving into the causes of the problems and some solutions, I would give some definitions and characteristics of the environment. I will also use Nigeria (an African country) as a case study due to limitations of the work.
DEFINITIONS AND CHARACTERISTICS OF THE ENVIRONMENT
The unfortunate old, erroneous and simplistic definition of the environment is that it is the resource that was created for human use. It is that mechanical aspect that exists to serve human beings. This definition is unfortunate and wrong because it explained the environment as something inanimate; something that exists solely for human recreation, pleasures, and needs. The background to this definition includes anthropological, religious, psychological, economic, and philosophical explanations of the origin and nature of the environment. The environment is also defined as the natural environment in which people, animals and plants live. Uchebu (1998) classified the environment into physical and non-physical. The physical environment includes terrestrial (terrestrial), aerial, aquatic (aquatic) environments, and non-physical environments – cultural and socioeconomic. Therefore, the environment works according to Kankwenda (2001) as:
(1) A source of raw materials and energy (non-renewable resources);
(2) A provider of services such as system maintenance/climate stability and ecological cycle (renewable resources), including forests, agricultural land, water, etc.
(3) And a waste sink.
ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
Environmental problems are the central theme of the XX and XXI centuries (XX-XXI). This is because the dangers it contains are as deep and serious as they are lasting in their effects for MAN and the ecosystem itself. According to “Awake” magazine, humanity is currently sitting on a time bomb due to environmental effects, be it in the form of weaponry and/or pollution and hazards such as floods, droughts, soil erosion, deforestation, volcanism, earthquakes. , radio-chemical hazards etc.
Nigeria as a nation encompasses multiple climates that require and extend across various physiographic units. There are several ecological zones ranging from the Sahel Savanna, Sudan Savanna, and Guinea Savanna through tropical rainforest to mangrove and swamp forests. The various ecological zones respond differently to the impact of human activities by virtue of their natural stress response capacities and inherent carrying capacities. The Sahelian Savannah is highly susceptible to desertification; Sudan’s savannah is barely able to cope with the human pressures emanating from rapidly growing populations, fuelwood, harvesting and cattle grazing. The Guinea area is normally subject to pressures as a natural buffer between encroaching desert and the forest belt. The rainforest belt is under undue pressure due to poor regulation and overexploitation of forest products and other economic activities resulting in the clearing of vast areas of land. Added to this, especially in the Niger Delta area, are the large-scale exploration, exploitation and processing activities of the oil industry, which have left their impact through spills of crude oil and petroleum products, problems related to gas flaring, land degradation and farm depletion. land, water pollution and the deterioration of critical habitats for fish populations. Soil and gully erosion, especially in eastern Nigeria, flooding in the lower mangrove belt and freshwater swamps, and uncontrolled logging with its inherent problems of destruction and loss of biodiversity have greatly contributed to a further exacerbation of the deterioration of the environmental scenario.
The above are the various causes and effects of environmental hazards in Nigeria. But there are large, noticeable changes in the environment as a result of human pressure on it. These include viz.
(1) Loss of biodiversity resulting in a reduced variety of genetic strains, species and ecosystems, depletion and extinction of species, etc.
(2) Increasing rate of soil degradation and desertification, as well as air and water pollution.
(3) Increase in greenhouse gases that are expected to lead to an increase in average global temperature from 200 to 500C. (Global warming)
(4) Massive release of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) into the stratosphere, resulting in increased ultraviolet radiation from the sun due to ozone depletion.
FUTURE FORECAST
The forecast of continued and sustainable improvements in human well-being in a transformed environment is guarded at best. The two general causes of environmental hazards are environmental pollution caused by industry and wasteful private consumption by the entire population living in modern urban conditions. While the first evil is committed by a very limited number of humanity, the second is perpetrated by all humanity whose greed has been triggered by the post-industrial-age hype of wanting to have more and more stuff and squandering the resources of nature. Consequently, while political regulations, laws, civil movements and pressure groups can compel industries to safeguard the environment. Such coercive and institutional measures cannot work for contamination by all citizens. Rather, a change of attitude and action towards environmental sustainability would be based on the voluntary action of individuals. Because everything that affects and contaminates the environment also affects us. Therefore, I propose an approach or relationship between man and the environment called “Ecocentrism”. The spirit behind this approach is to postulate that the environment is really animate in the sense of being alive. Therefore, it is wrong to interpret the environment as inert or inanimate.
Therefore, the practical way for man to control environmental pollution and hazards according to Chigbo Joseph are viz.
– Limit the consumption of resources to a minimum and change the ways of using waste products in production.
– Make the most of the physical energy of the human body to maintain greater human health.
– Be careful about the use of artificial food additives and other chemicals and be aware that harm almost invariably accompanies any good these substances do.
– Ethically/humblely focused scientists and technologists in their research and production.
– Leaders to imbue themselves with the conscience of saving man and the planet earth in their decisions.
In addition to the above, regulatory agencies with varying powers should be established to effectively monitor and control sources of pollutants. An example is FEPA – Federal Environmental Protection Agency/Federal Ministry for the Environment.
In a nutshell, the environment is a complex and delicate system that (i) if managed correctly can accommodate aesthetic and even spiritual, productive and domestic requirements (ii) when poorly managed, the environment could easily become dangerous and threaten human survival.
