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Science has No Miracle Cure for World’s Ills

Linda B Bolide writer from Cairo
***There is a widespread and mixtahfn belief. that ax tn the pant, science and technology can produce 'miracles' to solve current problems so we can go ahead ax before***
IF humanity does not ztab tUze the global population In a humane and gentle way nature will do it brutally and savagely
If consumption Is not curbed, people will leave a ravaged earth.
And science and techno! ogy. wanted physicist Henry Kendall, a 1990 Nobel Prize winner, ^>111 not provide-the answers to halt this drift towards certain destruction
In one of two lectures presented during the recent International Conference on Population and
Development!ICPD) here. Dr Kendall, a physics professor at the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the United States said: "(There is) a widespread and mistaken belief that science and technology, through previous miracles can produce so lutlons to (current) problems. So we can go ahead as before because science and technol ogy will rescue the world '
Dr Kendall said -the scien tlfic community does not believe this nor should anyone else.
While science, and tedhnol ogy are important for the task ahead, he said they will not rescue people from their dlffi culties because they are human problems and will have to be dealt with on that basis. He said the nature of 'current problems is not of science and technology.
The Nobel laureate reiter
ated the 1992 warning of the Union of Concerned Scientists that human beings and the natural world are on a collision course Many human activities being carried out in huge scales are putting a tremen clous pressure on systems on which life depends The pres sure worsens as the capacity of human beings Increases
People have "already altered the natural world In very sig nificant ways Dr Kendall said citing, among other things, climatic change, ozone deple tlon due to certain chemicals and acid rain.
While the bulk of these harmful activities relate to energy production and use. human activity has also altered land surface. It has caused deforestation and loss of species, with the .lumbers of anlmais and plants decreasing at very alarnupg rates. The destruction of land is affecting food production, the physicist said
Earth faces water and irrigation problems Groundwater, which is not replaceable is being drawn at disturbing quantities and salinization is worsening, threatening the world with severe water short ages.
Pressure on the oceans is increasing due to pollution caused by soil runoff, industrial and agricultural chemicals, among others.
The Green Revolution, which allowed food production to grow at very impressive" rates especially during the
196Os and to outpace popula tlon increase, has contributed to many of current problems because it was not pursued sustainably, kforeover. Dr Kendall said. It is unlikely that similar increases coufd be achieved In the near future.
The physicist said that Just to keep up with current population increases, food and energy productions will have to grow at twice the current rates at the very least.
The Nobel winner stressed that the stabilization of population is a prerequisite if remedies proposed are to become achievable. He said this is clear to those who have looked at the problem.
On the other hand, the physicist said developed countries (which is home to one in five of the world's people) have the responsibility to reduce overconsumption and wastage of resources. Calling the developed nations the world's largest polluters, especially the US. he said these countries have to reduce pressure on resources and the environment He added that developed nations have to help the developing countries improve food accessibility and distribution.
Dr KendaU stressed that earth and its resources are fi nite There are limits to the global systems capacity to provide food and fuel, absorb waste, and support people. Humanity is approaching those limits and Injuring ihe systems at the same time.
He said even the scientific community is deeply troubled by recent developments. Given the size and magnitude of current problems, as well as the speed of development of problems. Dr Kendall said this means the present generation will have to cope with them and not leave their solution to the next generation
In another ICPD lecture. Dr M S Swaminathan, head of the Centre for Research on Sustainable Agricultural and Rural Development in Madras. India and former director-general of the Philippine-based International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). stressed that food security is not simply physical but also economic access to food.
"The problem is not so much physical access but lack of purchasing power due to lack of employment and income. The ability to buy as well
as availability of food are important in food security Dr Swaminathan said
Moreover • according |o him what Is important is food security at the household or individual level particularly lor women and girls not at the internauonal/natlonal level
Dr Swaminathan pointed out that despite impressive successes in improving food prodticuon in quantitative terms there IS still a lot of hunger, especially chronic malnutrition In many parts of the world.
He stressed that It will be very difficult for people to have a satisfactory way of life, par ticularly In terms of safe water supply and balanced diet, if the human population conUnues to
Like Dr Kendall. he stressed Ihe need to maintain a balance between population and food supply He also echoed tire physicist s assessment that at least a doubling of food production will be needed to keep peace 'with xhe continued growth in human population. ,
Dr Swaminathan said what is important is to marry, ecology. technology and economics in a sustainable way Biological diversity — or the mix of living organisms which ensure each others’ survival — has to be looked ,at in ecological, economic and social terms.
He said taking action Is necessary to avoid the dire predictions about humanity's
future
In a statement at the ICPD plenary. Jacques Diouf director general of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reiterated some of the points raised by Dr Swaminathan.
He reported that there are still 78 countries classified as low income food-deficit nations These nations have a combined population of billion. About 800 million people in the developing world have too little food to eat to lead a productive and healthy life.
"This year, additional millions are again living under the threat of famine.” Mr Diouf said
He added: "FAO believes that to succeed, population policies must be an integral part of an overall development strategy which has food security as one of Its main objectives.”
On the other hand. James Gustave Speth administrator of the UN Development Programme (UNDP) joined in Dr Kendall's indictment of the Industrialized world for the current global crises
At the global level, population growth in the developing world Isn't the main threat to our planet's sustainability. The biggest threat comes • from population growth and resource consumption in the industrialized world,” Mr Speth staled.
— Depthnews Asia