Industrialization, A friend or foe ?

Energy generation

Hi guys,

Do you know something about Industrialization, It's effect, causes and by-products? If not, Let me tell you a story!

This is a story of a small town in Japan named Minamata. Minamata was situated near a sea named Shiranui. Being near an endless source of fresh water, People of Minamata used to depend a lot on the sea for food and livelihood. People of the town were very happy in their lives until they started noticing few strange things. People of Minamata began to notice their cats were going crazy and falling into the sea.Some people thought cats were committing suicide.

Soon after, a strange illness appeared to be going around town. The people of Minamata reported numbness in their limbs and lips. Some had difficulty hearing or seeing. Others developed shaking (tremors) in their arms and legs, difficulty walking, and even brain damage. And, like the cats, some people seemed to be going crazy, shouting uncontrollably. Something was affecting their nervous system.

A large majority of people were affected, in thousands to be precise. Not only humans but also animals were affected. But how were these people and animals were being poisoned? After some time, in July, 1959, cause of illness was found(by researchers) to be 'mercury poisoning'.

Later, was found that a petrochemical plant dumped estimated 27 tons of mercury compounds into Minamata Bay. This dumping poisoned the fishes and aquatic life of the sea, which in turn poisoned people of the town as they were dependent on the sea for food. Not only that, As the mercury dumping continued, poisoned women gave birth to poisoned babies. These children were born with severe deformities including gnarled limbs, mental retardation, deafness, and blindness.

Now, have you ever heard of the term 'Industrialization' ? If not, then this incident can be termed as a 'by product of Industrialization'. Mass deaths of people was the 'effect' and cause is...well you think about that!. This was just one of the many examples. Here is a list of the major Industrial disasters.

In simple words according to wikipedia,
Industrialization is the process of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an industrial society, involving the extensive re-organisation of an economy for the purpose of manufacturing. 

So, Is it bad ? Is industrialization the root of all problems ? can it be stopped ? or a more relevant question is, does it needs to be stopped ? No, Industries are the base of a modern society as they create employment. Actually, Industries are an integral part of any country. We just need proper waste management system in every plant of the world. It can be a solution. Let's give a thought to it, Why people created industries in the first place, why did they felt a need of change, there is a good reason for that too, development. It's in our genes. We were derived from wild animals in past. We came all the way here accepting and improving the change we were going through in our initial days. Otherwise which chimpanzee would have thought of landing on moon or creating this mobile device on which you are reading this blog on, are you not blessed to be here where you are? Are you not grateful, Would be you happy climbing a tree, eating leaves or sitting in the tree's shade, eating sandwiches with your better half, Think 'bout that, mate. 

          "We Scientist don't know how to do that"

          "I used to think top environmental problems were biodiversity loss, ecosystem
          collapse and climate change.
      
          I thought that with 30 years of good science, we could address those problems

          But I was wrong.
          The top environmental problems are selfishness, greed and apathy...

          ...and to deal with those we need a spiritual and cultural transformation

          - and we scientist don't know how to do that."
                                                                                                                                           - Gus Speth 




We don't think twice before developing something, do we? So, why think twice for correcting our mistakes. We are already late to recover the earth fully. But, still somethings can be done to reduce the effect.

Certain steps that can be taken in favor of environment are:-

1. Pollution Prevention: Pollution, in any form is bad. Preventing pollution at low levels can be a major step. What we need to do is to manage our waste properly at first. This can be quite complex but we need to give it a start. Read online, educate yourself about waste management
2. Stop wasting resources: Preventing wastage and over usage of natural and artificial resources is very important. eg. saving excess water for future usage, saving paper etc.
3. Planting tress: This one by far has the most advantages. Planting trees directly and Indirectly is very good deed indeed.

Let me elaborate point no. 3 for you. Direct trees planting is when you plant trees yourself and indirectly when you donate money to NGO's that work for environment conservation or using 'Ecosia' search engine to browse web etc. People are creative. Creating new ways to seek help from people. Ecosia is the best example and itself a great initiative. Do use it guys.

Now, I'll wrap it up for this blog. Let me know in the comment section if you have any idea as to how common people can help save environment. We will be creating a blog on that topic as well in detail. 

Thank you for reading. Happy life and stay tuned!

Sources:

• Mind
• https://www.verywellhealth.com/minamata-disease-2860856
• http://environmentinsider.com/impact-industrialization-environment/
• https://sites.google.com/site/5effectsofindustrialization/effects-in-the-1900s-1920s
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrialisation
• https://www.ecosia.org/