Conquest without conscience.

To what extent would you agree

with this assessment of our relationship with the environment?

Humans are the masters of the Earth today. Clearly, it is not due to
our physical prowess that gave us such a title. It is our intellect, innovation
and creativity that have allowed the human race to rise in power against all
the other animal species that are more physically advanced compared to
us. It is through innovation that has allowed us to win the conquest against
the animal species, bending them over to our will and subjecting these
animals to whatever we please. Since cavemen conquered the animal
species, humans have become bolder. Even in todays modern world,
conquests are made, in the form of the uncountable inventions appearing
daily, to improve the quality of life. However, the negative effects of the
numerous battles we have held to become more technologically
advanced over the centuries is showing in the home we reside in, Mother
Earth. These battles, regrettably, are still fought daily, and we show almost
no effort to stop. In my opinion, I feel that Conquest without conscience is
an accurate description of the humans relationship to the environment.
Numerous acts by humans clearly justify my view.

First, there is the act of pollution. Many of the daily tasks that we do in
our everyday life involve polluting the environment. These tasks take up a
majority of our lives and are often done without a second thought to spare
for the environment. China, a country that has up to 1.3 billion people is one
of the largest contributors to pollution. It is not only due to the large number
of people living in the country that causes the pollution to be high. One of
the main reasons that I have singled China out is due to their burning of coal
to generate electrical power for the masses. The usage of coal is highly
polluting and the main reason on why China uses it is due to the cost
effectiveness of coal. The more expensive but cleaner alternative of fossil
fuels, however, is adopted in many countries around the world. The usage of
coal to generate electrical power for so many people is significant to the
global emission levels of carbon monoxide gas. This selfish act of rating cost
effectiveness over the harm caused to the environment shows how the
humans are involved with the notion of a conquest for advancement without
conscience. Mother Earth is then made to inhale so much more of these toxic
gases at the expense of coal being cheaper than fossil fuels. Pollution is the
result our never-ending need for cheaper energy to power our never-ending
consumption of resources.

Second, deforestation too, leads to air pollution. Deforestation is
deemed as necessary for many countries as it is the only way for more land
to be developed for industrial purposes and for housing. As a result, large
areas of woodland are cleared on a regular basis to ensure that there is more
space for development to occur. In many countries, there is a more eco-
friendly approach in uprooting the trees such that another tree is planted in
another region. However, in the case of Indonesia, the deforestation
technique is to burn the forest by large areas such that large areas of land
can be cleared at once. The usage of this slash-and-burn technique to clear
the land, more notably by poor farmers, causes mass pollution for the country
of Indonesia. The haze generated by the fire is then blown by the wind over
to South East Asian countries, causing an inconvenience to the locals living
there and affecting the air quality in these countries. Such acts by the
Indonesians further support the claim on how conquests by the humans are
made without conscience. The Indonesians, in the conquest to clear more
land, not only contributes to the pollution, but also seriously inconveniencing
the locals in the Southeast Asian countries. Hence, their selfish methods of
clearing land for development illustrates the little conscience they have in
the conquest for land for development purposes.

Even in the world of medicine, the statement is relevant. In medicine,
new drugs are formulated daily in order to battle against the many sicknesses
and illnesses that cause harm to humans. However, due to the reluctance of
humans in trying out the drug for fear of adverse side effects, the scientists
turn to animals. In laboratories that deal with medicine, rats are bred, for the
sole purpose of testing the drug on them. These rats are first injected with the
virus, then with the drug and kept under observation. It is only when the rat is
close to death that is it put to sleep. These animals form part of our
environment, and yet are subjected to pain and misery due to our conquest
against diseases. Little thought is spared for how the animal may be feeling
during the process of being injected with the virus. Hence, in the conquest
against illness and diseases, the humans are too, without conscience and do
not mind doing the species that share the planet with us, harm.

However, as our daily activities contribute increasingly to harming the
environment, we too, have been trying to make up for our wrong doings and
lessening the impact of our rash conquests. First, countries are working
together on a global scale to scale down the effects of their global emissions
on a regular basis. In 2009, a summit was held at Copenhagen and it was
attended by almost every country in the world to discuss issues regarding
global emissions and what can be done by each and every country to scale
down their carbon emissions. At the summit, many countries, notably China,
had each made an effort to reduce the impact of our conquests on the
environment. Such acts by the leaders of the countries of the world then
demonstrates that although pollution is not going to stop any time soon, the
negative effects of pollution to the environment have been recognised and
something is being done about it. Even in the upcoming world expo that is
going to be held in Shanghai this year, exhibits of the countries are to have a
green theme to them, raising awareness on the need to cut down pollution.
Hence, there is a conscience present for the environmental damage caused
and things are being done about it.

Also, other than global efforts, even automobile companies are starting
to play their part in showing their regret in harming the Earth. More
environmentally friendly cars are emerging as automobile companies try to
cut down global emissions due to their cars. These new cars, many of them
hybrid cars, can run on the conventional fuel for convenience sake and too,
can run on the bio-diesel that is quoted to be environmentally-friendly. Such
acts by the giants in the automobile industry will demonstrate how the harm
caused to the environment is noted and that the owners of the automobile
industry recognise that part of the fault is theirs and something is being done
about it.

There is then a conscience present in these car-makers such that they
are willing to do something for the harm they have caused in their conquest.
All in all, great amount of harm is being dealt to the environment in our
conquest for a more advanced and easier life. However, this harm is being
compensated for by a few environmentally-mind individuals that actively
care for the environment. These are the people, sadly to say, the minority
that possess a conscience for the various conquests made