The Polar bear faces the threat of extinction. By the year 2030.
As I am sitting in my comfort-bound lifestyle, under a spinning fan, with a list of obligations to rant about, I can't help but hate myself. I hate myself for things I cannot do, or think I cannot do to save this species. It is easy to create awareness about the plight of endangered species. It is easy to care. It is even easy to say that 'we all have our share of problems' and guffaw at the thought of saving an animal that we have never seen or will probably never see in our entire lives. But to drive a species to the verge of extinction, is savage. It is generic for most people to link advancement with growing globalization. For nations to direct their finances towards nuclear science and military. National security. That seems to be the greatest problem we can think of.
We are lost in the 'virtuality' of things. It is on the basis of such virtuality that our civilization thrives. Hail bank loans, employment securities, investment policies, mortgage yada yada. Things that DON'T EXIST. They are like the invisible grains of sand we pride ourselves of succesfully clenching. Frankly, THEY DON'T MEAN ANYTHING. They populate our lives and breed a festering colony of problems and make us so very 'enclosed'. So enclosed that the moment a car loan gets sanctioned, we breathe a sigh of relief. What is this false sense of security? We watch documentaries, thinking that we do our bit in educating ourselves about nature's impending problems. But does it really concern us? Does it allow us to grow and think beyond our pocket money, electricity bills and good haircuts? It rarely does.
It is the overwhelming humility of an animal such as the polar bear that is causing me to write this down. It epitomises something that we have long since lost. The humility of our survival. The virtue of our morning prayers. The reverence of our daily bread. For an animal whose survival hangs by a thread, we can barely wait for somebody to flick the remote and change the channel from Discovery to MTV.
A Polar bear can no longer feed itself because of the growing water levels in the arctic, preventing it from migrating and forcing it into starvation. They are braving the climactic impact and heading into the open ocean but they can only swim for a few days at a stretch. Judging by the sharp decline of arctic glaciers, this species would not have a ground to stand on by the year 2030. They would either drown in the arctic seas or starve amidst the frigid glaciers.
Which imaginary ordeal do we need to cook up to save this animal?
Please watch Disney's "Earth" to understand the plight of polar bear in depth along with several other species that are facing a threat due to global warming and industrialization.
