Earth is being harmed by Human activity

Last month, upon an invitation of one of my colleague, I had been to his native place. It is a small, beautiful hamlet which is far away from today’s industrialization and urbanization. The beautiful whether, serene locale, fresh and unpolluted air of that beautiful country side are in stark contrast to what we witness daily in a busy city life. I have thoroughly enjoyed my stay over there and lost myself in the beauty of nature.

This visit has instigated me to think, with industrialization, urbanization and development are we really making this earth a better place for us to live? Are we not damaging the beauty of the nature? Some people may argue that development/industrialization is necessary for us to have luxury, happiness in our lives. However for me, my happiness lies in walking along a serene & beautiful locale rather than on busy city roads. I feel more luxurious by engaging myself with earth’s natural beauty.

In quest of development, we are in fact causing more damage to earth. According to a survey conducted by WHO, presence of green house gases has increased considerably in the last 3 decades. Industrial pollution, vehicular pollution are the main factors which contributed to this increase. Green house gases emitted by industries, vehicles & electronic home appliances have already polluted earth’s atmosphere. This pollution, in turn, is affecting our health. Various illnesses such as diabetes, High Blood pressure, Respiratory problems are mainly caused due to this pollution.

Deforestation is another major problem we are facing today. In India, 15 years ago , there was 15lask hectares of forest land where as now it was reduced to 7 lakh hectares. It led to the decrease in rain fall in many areas. Due to deforestation, while many species have already become extinct, some are endangered. Because of our greed to luxury, bio diversity of the earth has been changed drastically.

It is important for all of us understand the consequences of destroying the nature and polluting our atmosphere. We have to keep in mind that we can enjoy the fruits of technology and advances as long as this earth is conducive for our living. By destroying it, we are digging our own grave.

TOEFL listening discussions: A conversation between a university student and an employee in the university registrar’s office