"Green is serene, for in green, there is life. We take life in order to create a living."
I was sleeping by the window when I was awakened by the sound of thunder. I could get a tantalising aroma of petrichor. I open my eyes to see something extremely ravishing. Living a city life for more than 18 years in Dubai, this was unfamiliar. A city brimming with life and skyscrapers where the only green that I see is artificial.
I look outside to see the coconut trees, mango trees, a few vines and plenty of trees that I can't even name. For all I know is that the colour green is serene, for in green there is life. We live in a world where most of it has been destroyed in the name of creating cities. Cities with opportunities and filled with life. We humans take life in order to create a living.
Sometimes I wonder what the future beholds for us. We often create goals for the future, but how many times do we take a moment to think that there might not even be a possible future. I am not purely talking about the pandemic that has affected almost all countries worldwide. In the midst of all this, we have forgotten about global warming and biodiversity loss. During this quarantine period, we might have read many articles about how people staying in has enabled the regeneration of nature. Our greed has caused us to invade ecosystems, destroy habitats, and ultimately create circumstances for the spread of diseases. These viruses jump from these animals onto us. That's one of the reasons for the emergence of bat-associated viruses- loss of their habitat. This shows that we humans have created this virus because of our actions, spread it wide by our carelessness, and ultimately causing the end of humans. This would continue unless we decide to take action.
This pandemic may eventually be conquered, but if we fail to learn from it, it will remain just another footnote in history. Our actions have already caused irreversible damage to our planet, and unless we take immediate action, the consequences could be dire. We must recognize that the world will continue to evolve with or without us, and it's up to us to decide what role we want to play in shaping its future.