The Genesis

ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT Articles

*Written by the Members of Katoy and the Protectors of Mother Earth.

Kurt Genesis Escopete Morilla

"Kurt"

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Getting Flood-er by the Minute

Written by Kurt Genesis E. Morilla

BS Biology 4A

I remembered last December 31, when the supposed year-end escapade with my family in the center of Legazpi turned out to be an agonizing ride due to the heavy rains that resulted to serious flooding. I won’t forget that day because in one moment the streets was soaked in the downpour that seemed to go endless, as if the entire Pacific ocean was poured in Legazpi (just an overstatement), and in another, water began to rise considerably in every corner of the city. And there’s no other way except to muddle your feet up with all the dirty water with floating garbage, animal excretions and if you’re that unfortunate, an occasional dead rat coming from an overflowing canal, besides the over-all soaking wet look that would leave you wondering that you shouldn’t have taken a bath earlier. In addition, going through the city by all transportation means was a difficult task. It was really a terrible bad-weather day, as well as the days before and after it.

Days after, I also found out from one of my classmates that, due to that continual rains and flooding, there exists in the middle of Legazpi City, believe it or not, passenger bancas (boats). Probably, the flooding got worse, and to facilitate transportation, the people devised a plan to go from one place to another through the boats. Imagine…. boats in the middle of Legazpi! Under normal circumstances you would think that it’s a ridiculous idea, but in times like those, nothing beats the good-old bancas.

It reminds me of a similar situation in my hometown, Donsol that I already get used to now. There is this part in the main road located in Brgy. Gura, more or less 8 kilometers from the town proper. Whenever there have been heavy rains, the day after you would expect an ocean-like flood which makes the road impassable therefore delaying the transportation of the people. And like what happened in Legazpi, some residents who owned a boat gives the stranded passengers a boat ride going along the flooded area to the road where transport is now possible. It turned out that due to the constant flooding in the area, a new business industry emerged through boat riding.

The local environmental management unit of Donsol roots the flooding in Gura in the overflow of rain water coming from the neighboring barangays in Pilar and going as far back as the upland areas of Daraga, which explains the fact that the flooding occurred a day after a heavy rain. In essence, that part of Donsol serves as the outlet of the excess flood water from those areas. Mostly, the flooding occurs in line with the rainy season. Adding to it is that the flood may at times subside only after two to three days, depending upon the intensity of the rain.

So what could this incessant flooding in Gura leads us to? Primarily, since in those parts of Donsol, hectares of rice fields occur, the flood could devastatingly affect the agricultural yield especially during rainy season. Besides this, like other flood effects, are serious damage to the residential properties and health of the residents living in those areas.

And most importantly, since Donsol is renowned all over the world as the site for whale-shark interaction whose season starts as early as December, still a rainy month, the flooding in Gura could affect the eco-tourism industry of the town. It could delay the entrance of tourists in the town proper since the flooded road is the only road available leading to it, except through the occasional private helicopters used by the celebrities and politicians which lands directly on the town proper of Donsol itself.
As far as the flooding is concerned, no actions have been taken regarding this matter, as it could successively affect the agricultural, economic and eco-tourism aspects of the municipality. Environmental sustainability programs may be conducted in the area such as tree-planting activities or restructuring of diversion floodways, which requires some considerable funds coming from the government.

We may never know when this flooding would cease, but for sure, it could only get worse once solutions have not been applied to it. There are a lot of choices for the government to make, and the action should be done as early as possible, so as not to make it more difficult when things get worse.

Let us be reminded of the Biblical story of the great flood which serves humanity right for the injustice that they have committed to the world and the environment. We are called to be goods steward’s of God’s creation, and we are bound to protect it. We, too, must do our shape in helping make this world a better place to live in, not just for us men, but also for every living creature.

Of Economic Consumption and the Environment

Written by Kurt Genesis E. Morilla

BS Biology 4A

We have reached a point in time when we have a lot of needs, a lot of demand, and a time when the basic needs of man has been updated to a more complex one, that if we fail to satisfy them it’s as if we can’t live without them. It’s time when food, shelter and clothing have been coupled with cellphones, computers, lotions, perfumes, tissue paper, wristwatch, sanitary napkins, shoes, designer clothes. The list goes on, as the “basic needs” of a typical modern-day person becomes more and more updated.

What’s to blame? It’s the economy – the basic interface that connects us humans with the resources of this world. It has becoming more and more evasive with our lives. The market always creates a demand, setting it up so as we, the consumers, felt as if it’s a need. If not for this process, a market would not become self-sufficient and at a point would cease its operation. Well, that’s what I see it, as far as the economy is concerned.

What used to be free in the early days was now expensive. Take for instance, water – which was used to freshly and cleanly exist during old times and now considered a priced commodity.

We can never totally wipe out economics in our lives because, since the advent of agriculture we keep on consuming and developing ways in consuming the resources of this planet for the satisfaction of our needs. But just like any other science, economics may have its disadvantages, and oftentimes, the disadvantages put its toll in the environment.

The economy has stripped the earth of its stored riches at an alarming rate. The considerably large quantity of earth’s resources which occurred in great abundance for lillions of years, have becoming less and less in just a short span of time. Socio-economically, material wealth increased, at least in the West, but at what price? The nature suffers irreparable damage.

The economy has created industry. A large portion of supposedly habitable land for a lot of living organisms has become sterile or wasteland – a product of man’s actions. It has been mined, dumped, polluted, buried, deforested, eroded, salinated and lot more gruesome effects to the environment. In addition, the economy has developed a kind of technology that serves its interest, resulting in the destruction of nature.

Aside from production, the consumption of the goods itself may become a threat to the environment. The waste materials, such as the plastic that packs a lot of commercial products or consumed car batteries may be disposed inadequately causing a lot of disastrous effects to nature if considered at a large scale.

I recalled in our Economics class that economics and biology have been always compared to each other, especially in terms of what the course could benefit the students more and how they could utilize their skills in a greater degree. And since economics somehow equates to more job opportunities and business success, etc., it is often argues that it is the better course. But if we look at it in terms of its profound implications, studying economics tends to serve only the person subject to it with its profits and capitals and all, but biology tends to put the person in service of the rest of humanity and of the world, the environment. But I guess that no one is in the position of determining which is better, since we all have a different perspective.

So I guess I would just like to make my point by asking this: isn’t it better to create as few needs as possible and satisfy them with the smallest possible consumption of natural resources and raw materials as well as energy, to cause the least possible damage to the environment? If the economics really is the science of the proper consumption of resources to satisfy human need’s, then we should let it that way, and set aside the economic interests of the rich and privileged.

Krasnoyark-26

Written by Kurt Genesis E. Morilla

BS Biology 4A

Have you ever heard of a city right inside a mountain, by that I mean literally inside, where a hundred thousand people live, eat and work for the rest of their lives? Probably you might think it was absurd. Who would even want to, and how could they ever survive living inside a mountain? And why in the world would they live there?

I am a Sidney Sheldon fan, and if you never heard of him, he’s an American novelist whose works include great masterpiece of suspense-thriller and mystery. And mostly, the novels he wrote have scientific background, and of course, I love how he narrates the story in a thrilling manner. In one of his works entitled “The Sky is Falling”, he mentions the existence of the city under a mountain that I was mentioning in the introduction. In the novel, the main character Dana Evans was ushered into the city inside the mountain itself and found out about the secrets within it – a place called Krasnoyark-26.

According to the novel, the Krasnoyark-26 was located in the barren lands of Russia and can be accessed by riding an elevator from the top of the mountain and going 600 feet below. And what can be found inside was a sight to behold. A city – a literal city complete with shops and restaurants and theaters, with streets and most importantly, people – will be found underneath that mountain.

So why exactly does Krasnoyark-26 ever existed? Well, it’s only purpose is to make plutonium. As far as we know, plutonium is the fuel of a nuclear warhead, the key ingredient in atomic weapons. And within that city beneath the mountain, one hundred thousand scientists and technicians live and work there. In the beginning, they were given the finest food and clothes and housing. But they are all there with one restriction – they must agree never to leave. Wow, talk about separation from the outside world – for good! It’s like living in Big Brother house only that instead of a hundred days, you would cut yourself off completely from the rest of the world until the end of your life.

At the center of Krasnoyark-26 was a brightly –lit laboratory, wherein three giant reactors were housed. This could produce enough plutonium to make an atomic bomb every three days. And the reactors produce half a ton of plutonium a year, enough to make a hundred bombs! How dangerous. That is why, Russia has become a candy store of atomic bombs, tanks, fighter planes and missile systems. Ironically, with all that large number of plutonium, they won’t stop producing it because they can’t turn the reactor off because the plutonium furnishes the power for the city. If they stop the reactor, there will be no light and no heat, and the people up there will freeze to death.

So you think that this is only a work of fiction, huh? But mind you, Krasnoyark-26 is real, a secret underground city and one of thirteen closed cities engaged in nuclear production. Krasnoyark-26 is located in central Siberia, two thousand miles from Moscow, and since its creation in 1958, it has produced more than forty-five tons of weapon-grade plutonium. Although two of its reactors were shut down in 1992, one remains active, currently producing half a ton of plutonium a year, which can be used to make atomic bombs.

In conclusion, I must agree that technology takes us far towards the boundaries of possibility. But we must remember that technology is a very powerful tool and once used in wrong means, it could lead us to a serious trouble. We must decide wisely, and take it responsibly. Unless technology is brought under our control, it will go its way unto destroying us.