Portrait of Lichen for the Laurels of Life: Oath on the Earth Day
“It is the same life that emerges in joy through the dust of the earth into the numberless waves of flower” (Tagore).
Over some time since my childhood days, I have developed the habit of plucking some beautiful insights that become an appetizer to spend the time amidst the solitude. A bibliography of a best seller in book recently visited stuck in my eyes. The title was “The Sixth Extinction” written by Kolbert Elizabeth. Kolbert is one of the winners of the prestigious, Pulitzer Prize. The title initially made me paradoxical and it forced me to walk down the evolution of the earth that speaks a lot of mass extinction of diversity as a part of the passage of time around the geological time scale. Over the half-billion years, the blue planet has experienced five mass extinctions and these catastrophes contracted the diversity of life forms dramatically. These unavoidable disasters have not been triggered by the wisdom of men and the asteroid impact had wiped out the mammoth animals like dinosaurs from the blue planet. The life of verse has now become the hard reality of prose of the earth. The 10000-year-old human passage garnished with knowledge and wisdom has expedited the alteration of life and the planet in a way no species has before. The writer, Kolbert provides the portrait of a moving and comprehensive account of the disappearances concurring before our eyes. The title of the book shows the possibility of a sixth extinction and that is likely to be mankind’s lasting legacy. This is high time to revisit the eternal question of what it means to be human. This embarrassing question has become more relevant in the context of some incidents happening across the globe- debate welcomes whether these are man-made or natural. Let’s take some examples. The Thar desert, the Sahara, the Gobi, The Taklamakan etc. are always infamous for their average highest mean temperature but if some countries like India and South East Asian countries suffer the highest temperature (50℃), humans must rethink its occurrences. A small town like Bankura, in West Bengal, India has become the world’s 7th hottest place is undoubtedly a serious concern. The year, 2023 was the hottest year on record with a global average temperature of 1.46℃ above the pre-industrial level this year was marked by six record-breaking months and two record-breaking seasons and the ongoing year is no less fascinating as per as the average temperature is concerned. For almost 8000 years of human civilization, the CO2 level was almost 280 ppm consistently but now it has become more than 420 ppm and it has more than doubled in comparison to the year mark of the first industrial revolution. The steady annual increase in this level of greenhouse gas is due to a “direct result to human activity” (NOAA). The devastating bush fires in the USA, locusts swarming across parts of Africa, and heat wave in Antarctica with a temperature rise of 20℃ for the first time are some of the examples that can speak of the devastation caused by the anthropogenic activities of the intelligent man garnished with wisdom (?). Although the hunger index is a global concern particularly in the devolved countries in one part of the coin, the other part speaks about the waste of food and the loss accounts for approximately One-quarter of greenhouse gas emissions annually. If food security is a problem in far western Africa, pollution due to food waste is the concern of all the nations irrespective of the GDP of each country. The population size of different vertebrates like mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish has been declining by an average of 69% between 1970 and 2016 contributing to the land use change, habitat destruction, illegal wildlife trades and other human commitments. Not only are those, more than 500 species of land animals on the brink of extinction; but the same numbers were lost over the whole of the last century as per the report published in this domain by the courtesy of human progress (?). If Google is your best friend in your study room, plastic has become a companion in your outdoor marketing. Since 1950, the world has been producing more than 2 million tons of plastic every year and it has reached nearly 500 million tons of plastic every year. 91% of plastic is not being recycled and more than 400 years are required to decompose the plastic if these are allowed to deposit by the conscious mind. Football is a symbol of brotherhood and team spirit but if 300 football grounds are being allowed to form due to the ruthless cutting of trees every hour, then the number of grounds will be much more than the soccer lovers across the globe. If deforestation is not to be controlled by the negative gear empowered with brake, only 10% of forests will be retained globally in 2030. The loss of forests is reflected by the intangible loss of the gene marked by gene erosion. Pollution is responsible for the death of the population and productivity.4.2–7 million people die every year due to air pollution as released by human toxic activities and greed. Do you have chronic acidity and you have left no stone upturned to overcome your growing health issue? But if the oceans suffer from acidity, what will happen as the oceans are the most productive ecosystem of the blue planet? Global temperatures garnished with the high rise of CO2 concentration are the causes of ocean acidification. Coral bleaching and subsequent coral reef loss happen when the rising temperature disrupts the symbiotic relationship between the reefs and algae. Renewable energy is the call of the time as non-renewable energy sources are being depleted day to day. We are habituated with the soft currency for being smart to smarter. 2G is history and we are marching towards 6G empowered with virtual reality. Without energy as stored with Cobalt is next to impossible. Cobalt mining is in full swing. Cobalt mining is also generating several health issues that deserve immediate addressing. Not only that, over-fishing, fashion and textiles waste, food and water insecurity etc are some of the issues which are seldom addressed in the large auditorium beautified with color and wisdom. These are all the pain-streaking yellow shabby portraits of the blue planet being reflected by the courtesy of anthropogenic activities. The laurels of life are not only sadness but they also speak about the various dimensions of human thoughts, wisdom, hopes, failures, and ups and downs of life. The journey of human life is a true saga of the symbiosis between the nature and the nurture. The surprisingly fascinating, wired and beautiful world of lichen can bring the promise of the human future. Lichen are all kinds of being and share a composite relationship between unrelated organisms of algae and fungi cosmopolitan distribution from temperate forest to icy cold tundra, from the tropics to the desert where human beings have invaded. They can even survive where the others dare to enjoy. But these slow-growing organisms can have incredibly developed defense mechanisms armored with 500 different biochemical compounds to survive against the odd environmental issues. Sensitive people are becoming endangered day to day in the prevalent market-driven society but still, the sensitiveness of lichen becomes the beauty to explore the degree of pollution in the environment. More the lichen, more the sensitive mind and they can address the issues of modern days. Surely, we will celebrate Earth Day on 22nd April, many decorated auditoriums will speak stories of human efforts along with the motto of the celebration. From delta to deserts, mountains to coastal areas, from plains to valleys, let us pledge to resurrect the thought of more lichens to glorify the laurels of optimistic hopes of life despite the ongoing pale, yellow chapters of Mother Earth.
