HOW SANE ARE WE?
Anuradha
Chaudhary,
Bangladesh
(1947-)
Main points
of the essay:
1. 20% of the greenhouse effect is caused by CFCS.
2. Human beings lack rationality in their thoughts and behaviors.
They are irresponsible, and they don’t care about nature and ecological issues.
3. Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) are very harmful man-made chemicals
that affect the ozone layer and cause the greenhouse effect.
4. The ozone layer is made up of oxygen atoms and blocks 99% of the
sun’s ultraviolet (UV) rays and protects life on Earth.
5. If the ozone layer depletes, it will very badly affect the
Ecosystem, agricultural production will decrease, and people will suffer from
skin cancer and eye cataracts.
6. Developed countries have banned the use of CFCs to control ozone
layer depletion.
7. Science fiction has also warned people of the harmful effects
due to the destruction of the Ecosystem and the ozone layer.
Summary
and Analysis:
The
Essay "How Sane Are We?" by Anuradha Chaudhary is based on the
environmental problem. She is a professor of environmental biology. In this
essay, as a researcher of the environment, she talks about the degrading
condition of nature and its surroundings. Basically, she presents her ideas
that human beings have been too irresponsible and indifferent to the
conservation of the environment, and she predicts that it will make their life
quite difficult. She believes that due to human indifference, rapid urbanization,
and industrialization, the environment is getting heavily polluted. Mainly, she believes that the gases produced
by the industry, mishandling of the chemicals, and the excessive use of CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons)
have greatly contributed to the destruction of the ozone layer, which
causes skin cancer, the greenhouse effect, and other various epidemics.
Similarly, people have been greatly suffering from various natural
calamities such as floods, but still, people don't seem concerned about the
direction of their preservation. Finally, she believes that if it continues, it
will be impossible to continue living on it.
We
are made to believe that man is a rational animal. We believe that human
beings, hence, act rationally. This is only a constructed myth. The various
facts at the present time tell how important it is to preserve the biosphere
for human beings’ survival, but when the time comes to act rationally, we
behave most irrationally. Chaudhary’s essay cites one example, which is the way
we are interfering with the Ozone layer with the massive production of
Chlorofluorocarbons.
Ozone
stops the harmful ultraviolet radiation from outer space from getting down to
us, and it thus acts as a natural shield to protect living beings on Earth. If
this shield is destroyed, life may disappear from the planet. Chaudhary writes
that chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) cause a 20% greenhouse effect, which is capable
of completely destroying life on Earth. Chaudhary also mentions that the ozone
layer protects our lives by absorbing 99% of ultraviolet rays. If it reaches the
earth, she believes more than 240 million people will get skin cancer, and
eight million might get eye cataracts, which would result in millions of deaths.
Chaudhary appreciates the decision of some developed countries like the United
States, Canada, Sweden, and Norway to have banned the use of CFCs in
aerosol (a dispenser that holds a substance under pressure and that can
release it as a fine spray) sprays.
Chaudhary’s
essay, therefore, explores an important flaw in human nature. She strikes at
the root of humankind’s problem and traces it to our greed, lethargy, and above
all, irrationality.
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