GIVE NATURE ITS DUE

Taking Nature for Granted

HUGE stores of water lie under the surface of the earth. Our stay on the solid surface of the earth can be likened to a small boat floating on the surface of the sea. Just as a sailor’s life is all too often at the mercy of the waves, so does the life of land dwellers depend, to a very great extent on subsoil water. So intricately linked is man with nature that he cannot continue to live on this planet while using the forces of nature without respecting it. One such abuse of nature came to light, in the gradual sinking of Mexico City. The Mexican capital, gigantic and overcrowded and situated 2,000 metres above sea level, is sinking by 9.5 cm per year.

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Blissfully unaware of the extent of his dependence, man frequently squanders natural resources to the point of abuse.

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This was detected in 1925, when engineer Roberto Gayol, building the flood gates which regulate the city sewage, observed that his work was sinking.

Upon closer scrutiny, his conclusion broadened: not only were his gates sinking but so was the whole city. The phenomenon had begun long before, probably in the middle of the last century. The main reason for the sinking is a hitherto unsuspected factor: the over-exploitation of the water layer of Mexico City’s subsoil, something which is also damaging the whole Mexican valley.

Blissfully unaware of the extent of his dependence, man frequently squanders natural resources to the point of abuse. How dependent is man’s existence on nature, and yet, how reckless he is in his neglect of it!