STOP me if you’ve heard this one: what do humans and giant asteroids have in common? Give up? I’ll tell you: they’re both responsible for mass extinctions.

Not funny? It’s not meant to be. There have thus far been five mass extinctions in human history, with the last being likely caused by the aforementioned giant asteroid, and when compared to the previous extinction, took place rather rapidly. That’s another thing we have in common with space debris; we don’t waste time when it comes to extermination.

If you compress Earth’s history to 24 hours, humans have been around for only one minute 17 seconds and we’ve really managed to mess things up in that short span. Whatever else we may be, we’re no slackers. Thus there is a serious debate among circles that enjoy debating such things, that the current era we live in be named the Anthropocene in a grim tribute to the impact we have had on the environment.

Don’t get me wrong, we’ve achieved incredible things: space flight, combustion engines, reality TV. But the price we paid for these achievements, and for everyday miracles like air conditioning and filtered water, has been far too high. Thus far that price has been paid by the other species that share this little blue spaceship with us. According to an analysis by the prestigious scientific journal Nature, 41pc of all amphibian species, 26pc of mammal species and 13pc of birds now face extinction.

The price we paid for our achievements has been far too high.

Why should that bother us, apart from the fact that this will negatively impact National Geographic’s programming? Well let’s take the small example of declining bee populations; bees, according to a 2014 report from the White House, add over $15 billion to the US economy alone, thanks to their pollination of crops. Globally, bees pollinate about 70 of the 100 or so food crops that feed 90pc of the world. So yes, while humanity hasn’t quite felt the full impact of its actions and inactions, make no mistake that the piper is very much here, and he’s demanding payment.

It gets worse, of course. A recent report by the Global Harvest Initiative states that the world’s population is set to hit 9bn by 2050 and at current rates of production, there won’t be enough food to feed humanity. Will agricultural output rates increase? Certainly richer countries will be able to further mechanise their procedures, and also rely on GM seeds to boost output. Poorer countries will however likely not be able to keep pace, and be forced to rely on increasingly expensive food imports. Compounding this is the fact that the countries expected to be worst hit by climate change are also those who are least responsible for it and least able to deal with it, economically, socially or politically.

Agricultural land in Pakistan, for example, is rapidly giving way to commercial developments, and the perennially increasing cost of inputs and scarcity of both water and energy all point towards an agricultural base that will not be able to provide for our growing population. This means more farmers moving off their lands and migrating to already crowded cities, it means that the chances for massive social unrest grow exponentially in the near future.

Then there’s water. This is a source of constant tension between provinces in Pakistan, and on a regional level is one of the major flashpoints between India and Pakistan. We see a similar situation between Egypt and Ethiopia and former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon even markedly pointed out control of water resources as one of the reasons for the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.

So apart from the math, what can we do? On a global level, not much; on a local level, however, there are steps that can be taken, low-impact though they may be. Note that I’m not talking in terms of government policies here as relying on the government to solve our problems won’t cut it. Instead, we need to leverage some of the positive traits we have as a nation.

Take the recent heatwave for example; here we saw bands of volunteers come together to take on the task of making sure hospitals receive urgent supplies. Now imagine if one were to take that initiative and turn it into a permanent, if informal, structure. We could create community gardens, using lawns, balconies and rooftops to grow vegetables. We can buy local, at least when it comes to foodstuffs and we can (please) stop bargaining over Rs20 with the sabziwallah when we uncomplainingly buy televisions worth Rs100,000.

We could link up with universities, challenging students and faculty to come up with innovative local solutions aimed at conservation. The Japanese have even invented a toilet that uses water from the sink; can’t we — a nation that excels at jugaar — do something similar? Because I assure you, our lives do depend on it.

The writer is a member of staff.

Twitter: @ZarrarKhuhro

Published in Dawn ,July 13th, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play