When air is no more free...

Introduction

The crystallization of human civilization is the cities scattered around the globe. For any nation be it western-eastern, rich-poor, developed-developing-underdeveloped, cities are the center of economic development, socio-cultural bubble, historical precedence, political power, a technological leap, and much more; the physical manifestation of human creativity and will-power shaped after decades, centuries, or even millennium. The rise and fall of these cities is irreversibly entwined with the prosperity and hardship of its inhabitants and more importantly with the collective legacy of those people who live their life, follow their vocation, enjoy the prosperity and endure the hardships with the city they call home as or identify themselves with

Energy 

Massive energy is a must to power and run cities. With absolute certainty, during the night-time, any observer from space can witness thousands and thousands of scattered lights on earth. Man has harnessed the sublime power of nature in the form of the widely used petroleum products, potent nuclear energy, cleanest hydro energy, and many other forms of energy to fuel those great engines of civilization. Likewise, populations have boomed and are far more concentrated than ever before in the megacities and even places labeled as cities or close to it, thereby it is apparent, they are more convoluted than ever, with each ubiquitous unplanned expansion or discernible planned urbane. Of course, those beautifully planned urbane areas and meticulously built are far beyond the means of the majority of people with modest financial and humble backgrounds. The bursting of the economic bubble of 2008 proved that it is best to leave the housing to those who can truly afford it and focus more on the affordable option. Consequently, highly populated cities around the world cater to highly dense unplanned residential areas, often lacking ease of access to proper drinking water, broad spaces, educational institutions, or properly planned private and public places. Small vehicles are the norm for these places especially two-wheelers that can easily pass through the narrow passages and streets. 

Transportation concerns the majority of the energy. Powered by petroleum, different vehicles transport the much-needed resource: human, thereafter resources to sustain them. The reason is obvious; not all of these people can afford to live in the properly developed areas or cities, so they live in the suburbs, from where they need to travel daily to and fro. Work in the cities is better paid and offers more opportunities to climb the career (be it political/financial/social) ladder that can overcome the limitation of one's situation for many people. Other than that there are more opportunities for furthering the level of education (academic/professional), begin and expand entrepreneurial/commercial activities, and such. Shopping malls and markets offer goods not only from local but distant countries thousand and thousands of miles away possibly from across the ocean. Government offices and most of the headquarters of commercial/social/technological and other major and minor organizations are situated there. All of these institutions use energy generally in the form of electricity to function. Thereby, cities are like an organism that need and use a huge amount of resources just to stay alive and function as it is supposed to.

The bane of civilization

Pollution, the degradation of the condition of the environment is a major headache for cities. Lands are scarce resources and thereby tall buildings especially sky-scrapers came into being. Similarly, water is also precious, especially in highly populated cities where water requires tankers or underground boring. Spaces are congested and noise is another specialty of those areas. Other than that, even if nuclear energy is set up, it creates waste that is radioactive and safe disposal is very difficult and expensive. Though it does not contribute to global warming, local thermal pollution from wastewater affects marine life.

To power, the cities require a lot of energy, and thereby the cost is massive. Humanity is not known for its wisdom, but its cleverness. Currency the lifeblood of any economy, as well as time, is more precious than ever, and to save time and cost, quick and dirty energy i.e. petroleum is prioritized over the others. Consequently, Sustainability has become academic and in practice, a normal family or individual is focused on survival rather than the environment around him/her. As mentioned highly concentrated residential areas lack space for disposal of waste, thereby what they do is burn the waste. Even if there is a waste collection service, the problem in its management increases due to the ever-growing population, this leads to pollution inland (disposal in landfills), air (burning of waste/factories/vehicles), water (if residential/buildings are without safety tank and restrooms directly joined to the rivers/water source lacking latrine system) or noise (increasing traffic/construction noise). Rampant use of resources without concerning the consequences is the reason why pollution is so rife in the present day. The contrasting effects on the environment are evident during the lockdown period of COVID but as life became normal, the condition is deteriorating as before, maybe worse

When air is no more, free

Once upon a time, humanity though ignorant was reverent to the forces of nature. Faith-based on those entities so believed created a kind of harmony. Of course, most of those were so based on fear of angering those "gods" and "goddesses" and thereby it was unhealthy. Yet, still, the earth was green with land virgin, the sky blue without dark plumes of industrialization, the water crystal clear flowing free, a calm silence and music of birds twittering in the air... there was a kind of magic untouched by human greed.

 Air; once it was pristine. But, with each adulteration in the name of development, humanity has lost the priceless gift of nature which beautified all forms of life. By putting the price in everything, from water, land, and even the air, nothing is free. It seems the air is free but it is not. People may not be paying money to breathe it in, but they are paying the price with health and their well-being. The masks we wear in the morning becomes dark with dust-colored with different shades of brown as evening deepens tonight.

 The roads are getting broad but the vehicles running to and fro are increasing more. With the internet technology transforming the world into a global village, products and services are accessible in one-click. Yet with globalization, products are mass-produced in cities of China, India, and countries with cheap labor. Their cities are clouded by smog. Cities such as Kanpur, Gaya, Bamenda, Peshawar, Kampala, Taiyuan, Beijing, Urumqi, Lanzhou, Gurugram, and so on are top of the list. Even our very own capital Kathmandu is known for being one of the most polluted cities. Being a valley, fumes from the large assortment of vehicles with outdated motors and diesel engines stay rather than dispersing and thereby the pollution is concentrated in its depth

Prophesy of the critical mind

Without a doubt, there will come a time when the air will be priced too. While indoor like electricity, air will be needed to be stocked and so used by all likewise based on the meter. Whereas when outdoors, we will be wearing air purifiers and protective equipment like glasses and protective clothing. The sun will be a myth with smog blanketing the sky of human settlements. Similarly, neon lights will replace natural greenery. Land being precious, the land traffic will be replaced by air traffic with vehicles taking the sky between the sky-scrapers. Residential areas and business districts will still be congested. The gulf between rich and poor will be more discernable than ever as the quality of air in living spaces with the touch of natural architecture will be one of the demarcating factors distinguishing higher from lower social classes in society.  

When even air is no more, free, it will be the victory of materialistic society and defeat of the soul of humanity. If even our greed and carelessness turns the air unbreathable, then the end is coming for our race. It signals the tightening of the noose for the coming generation by each past generation through the present, created by those erudite historical pioneers who shaped the direction of entire mankind towards materialistic prosperity away from spiritual fulfillment of inner peace. Indeed it is absolutely true, "You reap what you sow" and so will the future be...

Reference

https://www.iqair.com/us/nepal/central-region/kathmandu

Photo Credit:

https://giphy.com/

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