Ecocide is defined as any unlawful activity conducted in the full knowledge that it will cause invariable short-term or long-term harm to the earth. Thanks to ecocide, many people are experiencing climate extremes and sicknesses caused by widespread overexploitation of the planet. The repercussions of ecocide have been experienced by the intense and prolonged heat waves experienced in North America in the past three decades. The United Nations calls ecocide a crime against humanity because it undermines people’s ability to live in a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment. The migrations that communities have experienced worldwide due to drying rivers and lakes are due to the far-reaching consequences of ecocide and its ability to disrupt water dynamics. This essay argues and proves that ecocide is occurring across the earth by giving evidence of the damage to oceans, deforestation, consumerism, water pollution, and soil and air pollution.
The oceans remain out of human sight because many people are unaware of ocean dynamics or live far from oceans. Ecocide happens in the seas in many ways and not only interrupts the existence of flora and fauna but also undermines the lives of people who depend on the oceans for their livelihoods (Filho et al., 2023). Overfishing undermines the lives of fish populations because they cannot procreate. Overfishing also precludes fish from grazing, exposing coral reefs to algae overgrowth. Still, it destroys the food dynamics for communities near fishing grounds. Sometimes, fishing uses unconventional methods like blast fishing, which destroys fish habitats like coral reefs. Ocean mining has also caused considerable environmental damage, especially when oil spills kill fish by inhibiting air from penetrating the deep seas. When the carbon footprint is increased, carbon dioxide dissolves in oceans, which reacts with carbonates to form acids, destroying coral reefs and making fish unable to access their habitats.
Deforestation is also another way in which ecocide is instigated on the planet. Deforestation undermines access to clean air and food because the trees used to provide clean air and food are undermined. In the Amazon rainforest, the atmospheric rivers, caused by large-scale condensation, are shrinking, meaning that indigenous communities in the Amazon cannot live the same way they have been living for years (Raftopoulos & Morley, 2020). Still, these trees are being cut to clear it for large-scale agriculture, like the planting of oil palm, which not only inhibits carbon sequestration but has also led to the murder of many indigenous people who do not want to give up their lands for agriculture. Deforestation is also caused by intensive livestock farming, where forests are destroyed to create spaces for planting grass. Similarly, arson in forests, which has been increased due to dry undergrowth, has caused increased heatwaves, leading to the migration of animals and human beings.
When animals such as birds migrate, areas that used to be forests become inhospitable for people because humans cannot stabilize the ecosystem like wild animals. The destruction of forests is also caused by mining, significantly when forests are cleared to develop habitats for miners and to extract minerals. Because pristine forests cannot be substituted, the decline of forests due to agriculture will stabilize climate extremes and increasingly expose indigenous communities (Raftopoulos & Morley, 2020). Forests have evolved for years to attain competence in balancing weather patterns and cleaning the air. Deforestation is, therefore, ecocide because its consequences cannot be easily managed or reversed. Deforestation is, therefore, the antithesis of climate protection and global warming because of its proclivity to undermine existing systems. This way, the destruction of pristine forests acts as a form of resource depletion and is ecocide because it permanently disrupts the ecosystem.
Consumerism is another cause and evidence of ecocide because it means that natural resources are no longer exploited to benefit those who need them but to create luxury and convenience. Many of the foods that are usually processed do not get consumed and end up in rivers, lakes and oceans, thereby increasing the plastic footprint in the ocean. Consumerism is the cause of overfishing because it undermines the reason why people seek resources and seek to benefit customers and investors instead of the climate. In many areas that used to be occupied by rainforests, there has been a proliferation of large-scale monoculture of plants like oil palm due to its ability to be used in sweet products that seek to embellish the lifestyles of people (Calvão et al., 2021). Consumerism shows how the damage done to the environment can be intentional and could seek to benefit the lives of people who live far away. Consumerism, like the large-scale monoculture of soya beans for export, shows how individuals who keep the earth safe can be victimized to favour people who live far away. Thus, consumerism amounts to ecocide because it leads to a point where people who benefit from manufactured products are insulated from understanding the broader impacts of their activities.
Ecocide has a high propensity to make numerous places in the world to be unlivable for centuries. Many mining projects are going on in many countries, disrupting the existence of flora and fauna through soil pollution. However, many people have reasoned that technology has the power to bail humans out of ecocide. There are many questions that such thinkers fail to ask themselves. For example, people must question who owns the technology, who controls it, what its uses are, and whether they are positive or not. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, cobalt mining has increased cancer rates for individuals because of the disposition of cobalt waste on rivers and land (Calvão et al., 2021). In regard to soil pollution, ecocide is propagated because some groups of people do not consider themselves equal to others. Therefore, international cooperation and inquiries about the consequences of soil and water pollution hit snags because low-income communities are not considered equal to high-income communities.
Moreover, air pollution is the most common example of ecocide. Free market capitalism has led to the most incidences of air pollution because many companies that manufacture products and release them into the air are also owned by influential people (Juliana v. US, 2016). Air pollution also poisons the atmosphere and increases the chances of people being infected with lung cancer. Rapid urbanization has increased the number of cars, resulting in increased carbon dioxide being pumped into the atmosphere. Nuclear disasters like the Chornobyl disaster also increased pollution in the air in Ukraine and some parts of Europe. Up to this time, Pripyat town has been deserted, and the animals living there have been consuming contaminated food caused by air pollution. Radioactive releases and nuclear disasters poison the air and make places inhospitable for many years (Mousseau, 2021). Air pollution is ecocide because it can potentially poison the earth, making places inhospitable for many years.
In summary, ecocide not only describes the atrocities that have been committed against the planet but also shows the reaction of ongoing activities that undermine the dynamics of the ecosystems. The earth’s wellness depends on stabilizing the water cycle, forest cover, oceans and the air. Coral reefs may not be visible to humans, but their existence significantly impacts the survival and the balance of the earth’s dynamics in regard to food chains and human values. Ecocide significantly undermines humanity and can make people more ferocious against each other in the struggle for scarce resources. Still, pristine forests are irreplaceable since they protect the earth against forest fires and breathe clean air into the atmosphere. Deforestation has crippled the functionality of the Amazon rainforest and has exposed indigenous communities to capitalistic predators who want their land for cultivation. Lastly, ecocide related to soil, air and water pollution has been widely caused by increased consumerism, which has the potential to make some humans look less vulnerable.
References
Calvão, F., Mcdonald, C. E., & Bolay, M. (2021). Cobalt Mining and The Corporate Outsourcing of Responsibility in The Democratic Republic of Congo. The Extractive Industries and Society, 8(4), 100884. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.exis.2021.02.004
Filho, W. L., Wall, T., Salvia, A. L., Dinis, M. A., & Mifsud, M. (2023). The Central Role of Climate Action in Achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. Scientific Reports, 13(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-47746-w
Juliana v. US. (2016). Juliana v. US, 217 F. Supp. 3d 1224 – Dist. Court, D. Oregon 2016. Google Scholar. https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=12759102942089888368&q=Cases+of+ecocide&hl=en&as_sdt=2006
Mousseau, T. A. (2021). The biology of Chernobyl. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics, 52(1), 87-109. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-110218-024827
Raftopoulos, M., & Morley, J. (2020). Ecocide in the Amazon: The Contested Politics of Environmental Rights in Brazil. The International Journal of Human Rights, 24(10), 1616–1641. https://doi.org/10.1080/13642987.2020.1746648
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