Word Dynamics
Study the following sentences. Choose the letter of the word
or phrase that best gives the meaning of the italicized word or
phrase.
1. The planet earth is now heavily polluted because of
man's ruthless exploitation of his environment.
a. cruel utilization b. crude transformation
c. useless production d. careless habitation
2. With 5.1 billion human beings on earth today, man has
endangered this planet through sheer fecundity.
a. passion b. habit c. fertility d. sterility
3. Whole forests have been obliterated in the name of
progress. Thus, we have constant erosions and floods.
a. neglected b. destroyed c. purchased d.
forgotten
4. Oceans are smothering in the garbage and oil spillages
of human civilization.
a. shining b. shivering c. roaring d. dying
5. With constant assault against it, the earth cannot abide
forever.
a: wait b. move c. exist d. obey
6. Chimneys of industry poured noxious effluents into
rivers, lakes and marine shores.
a. liquid waste b. harmful c. poison d. red
tide
THINK: Have you ever done any harm to Mother Earth?
1. Recall what you might have done which caused harm to the
environment.
2. What do you think does the title mean? Find out if your
answer is correct after reading the selection.
Mea Culpa, Mother Earth
Adapted from "A Day for Mother Earth" by Jamil Flores
Philippine Panorama, April 2, 1990
On the third planet from the sun, the largest of the inner
planets of the solar system, human life has found a cozy home.
That home, in which man has emerged as the most successful
species of fauna for 2 or 3 million years now, is composed of
an atmosphere, a hydrosphere and a lithosphere. Air, oceans
and terra firma - all of them are heavily polluted in the course
of man's inexorable conquest and ruthless exploitation of his
environment. That is the reason the earth is an endangered
planet. Its most successful tenant seems determined to destroy
it and destroy himself as well.
How has man endangered the earth on which he live? By sheer
fecundity, in the first place. There are over 5.1 billion human
beings on earth today (most of them in Asia) all of them in
need of food and shelter that are often extracted directly from
nature, all of them producing waste and garbage every day.
For about 200 years now, chimneys of industry have been
sending up billowing clouds of toxic gases into the atmosphere
while pouring noxious effluents, into rivers, lakes and marine
shores that are already poisoned by the fertilizers and
pesticides of agriculture. That is perhaps why red tide blooms
are more frequent, more virulent and more toxic than they
have ever been - a super abundance of nutrients that find their
way into the oceans. Whole forests, the lungs of the earth, that
produce the oxygen without which human lives would not be
possible, have been obliterated in the name of progress. That is
why this country's mountain ranges are badly eroded, and
aquifers here run dry. For the past several decades, the human
race has been sending up chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) out of
spray cans, refrigerators, air conditioners, and hamburger
boxes into the atmosphere where they attack the only defense
that the earth has against the sun's, ultraviolet bombardment -
layer of ozone cells 10 to 30 miles up in the atmosphere.
Without that defense, we get a lot of problems; skin cancers,
eye cataract effect, the heating of the earth that could melt tie
polar caps and drown whole coastal cities (Metro Manila
among the first of them), and many more social ills.
How much more abuse can the earth take? No scientist in the
world today will claim that he knows, but reason says that, in
spite of the Ecclesiastes, given man's constant assaults against
it, the earth cannot abide forever. During an earlier age, the
land, the sea and the air had an effective defense against man -
their sublime immensity. Man looks puny in the bowels of the
jungle; adrift at sea, he is but a dot in eternity o' marine and
sky blue. But today, against 5.1 billion human beings that are
reproducing at a tremendous velocity, a jungle is less
awesome, and the sea grows vulnerable. Forests are being
burned and converted into something else (agricultural land,
industrial plan sites, for example) at the rate of an area the size
of a football field per second, And whole oceans are
smothering in the garbage and oil spillages of human
civilization. There are, indeed, big patches of dead coastal
waters in various parts of the world, incapable of supporting
marine life.
No. The earth does not abide forever. And the only way for her
to abide a bit longer is for man to convert from being her
attacker into being her protector. Here are some of the ways by
which we can help conserve, maintain and protect Nature:
 increase protection for endangered species and their
habitat
 a swift transition from non-renewable energy sources
 a ban on packaging that is neither recyclable nor
biodegradable and implementation of recycling
programs in every community
 a program for minimizing hazardous waste products
 a worldwide ban on chlorofluorocarbons which
destroy the ozone layer and contribute to global
warming
 the creation of a powerful international agency with
authority to safeguard the atmosphere, the oceans and
other global commons from international threats
 family planning ,
Comprehension Check
1. Enumerate the ways by which man has abused and
neglected Nature. What are the effects or results of
such abuse and neglect?
2. For what reasons does man act the way he does
towards the earth? Are these reasons acceptable?
Why? Why not?
3. Are there possible and practicable means by which
man can minimize these ill effects? What should man
do to maintain and preserve the earth?