After our quick meal, as I poured us each a second cup of tea, Dharma began my lesson, "Tadpole, a frog cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around him. Everything he does makes a difference and he must decide what kind of a difference he wants to make. October the 4th, in the human world, is Wildlife Day, a day that focuses the attention of both humans and frogs on endangered species, preservation, and conservation efforts around the world. I find that it's important, too, for everyone to learn why it's important to honor and protect nature. And that, my boy, is where we begin today's lesson." I get excited whenever Dharma's lessons focus on nature. As I'm sure you can imagine, nature plays a huge role in my life. So today's Wildlife Day lesson makes my heart sing. I hope it does yours, as well.
These are the highlights of Dharma's lesson.
"The influence of anthropogenic factors is now intruded into every aspect of the environment. Emissions of chemical compounds into our air has greatly altered and modified the composition and energy balance of the atmosphere, thus accelerating the pace of climate change. The expansion of human activities into the natural landscapes, mostly manifested by urbanization and agriculture developments, has led to the reduction and fragmentation of wildlife habitats and loss of valuable Fauna and Flora. It seems that human beings and, unfortunately, a few frogs as well, regard themselves as the dominant species because of their cleverness and inventiveness, are pushing the earth into a danger zone." According to the wise Dharma Frog, "Human-induced environmental issues are not new. The problem of deforestation, desertification, water pollution, climate change and the extinction of species have been present throughout the antiquity. However, with today’s advanced science and technology, people can do greater damages to nature and do it more quickly."
After hearing all this terrible news, I was feeling a bit defeated, but decided to ask this anyway, "So what's the answer, Wise One? How can we teach humans to respect nature, to protect our planet?" "That's an excellent question, my boy, and one that's not easily answered. The cause of environmental degradation is deeply rooted in human culture. Through hundreds of years of industrialization and exploitation of natural resources, humans are acting on the assumption that they are the dominant species on earth. Because of their cleverness, science and power and the pursuit for materialism have deprived humans of due reverence to nature. In a world emphatically and unabashedly upholding a materialistic standard, people are motivated to exploit more natural resources, since personal wealth is becoming the ultimate measure of success in the eye of society. And until that changes, humans will never fully respect and honor the world we all inhabit. It might be helpful, however, if they can learn the reason why it's important for everyone, humans and animals alike, to take care of our planet."
"Nature is not simply a warehouse of resources to serve human needs. Rather, it is a highly integrated, interdependent functioning system upon which all life forms, including the soil, water, plants, animals, and humans depend for survival. Modern science has provided extensive empirical evidence which indicated that nature was a complex collection of water, air, soil, animal, plants, and human beings. The components were sufficiently interdependent that the failure of one part of the system could undermine the productivity of other parts. As a result, all of us must treat the natural environment with love and respect because the failure of the system would ultimately threaten the subsistence of human beings...not to mention all the critters that live here, as well. For the society to truly flourish, it is obliged for humans to fulfill their responsibility to preserve nature. Nature is feelingless, but it shows leniency and generosity to humans all the time by providing them with abundant resources and enduring the ravage of our exploitation. Thus, humans should be grateful in their hearts and not tread on nature’s vulnerability."
My next question was, "What can they do, Dharma, to help protect the only world we all have?" "There is some good news, Irwin. humans don’t have to be an expert or a millionaire to save the Planet - everyone can help to do their bit for the environment. In other words, if every human can be more conscious of environmental issues and willing to take some simple steps to save the Planet, they can make a huge contribution. With increasing environmental awareness among the public, people and we animals around the world are coming together to fight for a greener future, and the effort has achieved great results. There are many wonderful environmental groups, like Better World International that are committed to improving and caring for our surrounding environment by providing practical tips to its members on the things they can do to live more sustainably and save the Earth. I hope you'll encourage your readers, Tadpole, to do everything they can to help save nature. And with National Wildlife Day being celebrated today, there's no better time for each of us to put together a checklist of the ways we can honor wildlife and help sustain our planet for centuries to come."
I am so happy that Dharma decided to have this lesson today. In my humble opinion, every day should be Wildlife Day and Earth Day. If we don't do our part to protect wildlife and endangered species by protecting our planet every single day, just as if it were a special day like today, there will soon come a time when it will be too late to do anything.
After a long weekend spent eating too much unhealthy stuff, I thought it might be appropriate to take a look at weight gain. Have you ever wondered if there is a limit to how much weight someone can gain in a single day? I have. And tomorrow we'll dive deeper into this subject. I hope you'll take a little time today to honor the planet and find ways to help endangered species. Until tomorrow, or whenever we meet up again, I wish you
PEACE.