Last Planet Standing

By: Gladys N. Gatiba

What proof exists to show that there was life on earth before we came to being…and by the way when did we come to being, the human race? Is it the time of Adam and Eve as the Holy Book says…is it during the evolution of man from homopithecus to homosapiens sapiens..

The world may have been a paradise and heaven like in our greatest grandparents time, they had adequate of it all, food, water etc, floods could have been a form of punishment during the time of Noah and drought and famine during the time of Moses…or were they birth…I meant population control methods of nature? Man begun experimenting…he discovered fire, then discovered the wheel, his brain and eyes gradually opened up to the world of opportunities, to his ability to innovate and charge the world, Acculturate it to his preference, then came colonization, industrialization, globalization etc came the rise of incurable diseases like cancers and HIV, men became their own enemies, growth and development at the expense of their counterparts, it is survival for the fittest. Manufacturing goods to improve living standards and comfort…even creating ‘new improved ‘human beings, test tube babies.

Impacts of our industrial human activities have begun catching up with us, floods, earth quakes long periods of drought…but we are still evolving, we are still trying to overcome the same challenges we created, GMO food to climate proof while worsening the situation further this food is being fed to our children hence ‘GMO children’ are coming up, a 13 year old girl looks 20 years of age.

Planet Venus, the morning and evening star and the goddess of love has been described to have the same gravity as earth and almost the same size. But up-close with this planet shows you what we might be heading to, global warming gone wild, a ball of fire abundant in volcanic activity yellow clouds: masses of sulfuric acid, the sun drives the planets horrifying activities, hell in the making. Could there have been life in planet Venus but the populace succumbed to global warming, could we be the last planet standing since some of the other planet have also been suspected to have had life. Look at Mars, strange organisms still exist, were they once like us but their destructive activities to their habitat caught up with them? We are an extinct species as well as our habitat…and we could be the only ones’ standing..

Therefore as we loathe the scotching sun, moan the floods, mudslides and disease outbreaks. The result to seeking aid during drought and famine disasters, negotiate and renegotiate our policies but end as climate tourists. Endlessly complain about their industries vomiting pollutants to our air, while we enjoy the products…Cancers have become common phenomena compromising our siblings tomorrow. We call it inhabitable...and point fingers, innovations exceed the number of births…their impacts far reaching but we go mum.

Closer home, we all desire to live in bungalows and work in high-rise offices, a cool home next to the beach, with constant water supply and electricity to run the fridge, TV, water showers, iron boxes, disco-like sound systems, air conditioners etc, in return we open channels of latrine waste to the ocean, lakes and rivers nearby, burn plastics or dump them at the estate corner, clear and burn vegetation for agricultural land which we over cultivate hence soil erosion and loss of fertility.

It gets worse every day….turning our mother earth to planet Venus.. Let us not wait until we’ve lost it all. Let us save the remaining good one’s…let’s live sustainable lifestyles and promote sustainable development, give this planet longer life We only got one habitable planet, one world, and one earth.