Affluence biggest threat to world, not coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic? Here's the answer

New Delhi: Most people struggle throughout their life to become prosperous and live a comfortable life, but the latest studies, however, say that this hunger for affluence has become the biggest threat to the world. According to a new scientific report, excessive prosperity has become a bigger threat than coronavirus.

The new report prepared by scientists from Australia, Britain, and Switzerland claims that some people are resorting to excess accumulation and this habit has become a threat to nature. These scientists also believe that humans are consuming an excess of resources causing pollution, global warming, natural disasters, water crisis, and climate change. 

The DNA analysis today tries to understand the reasons behind this human greed causing immense problems. The greatest threat to humans will not be from nuclear weapons but from climate change in the next 10 years, says Global Economic Report of the World Economic Forum, which has prepared a list of 10 threats for the next 10 years.  

The top five reasons in the list of these threats are related to the environment and the root cause for these is human greed. The World Economic Forum conducted a survey on the upcoming dangers before the world, and how they will affect the way people live. 89 percent believed that excessive heat will be the biggest problem in the coming days, 88 percent believed that the biggest risk would come from deteriorating EcoSystem, 87 percent considered pollution to be the biggest threat and 86 percent termed water crisis, while 79 percent believed that forest fires would be the biggest threat.

But the root cause of all these situations is the greed of humans and their desire for more prosperity. This desire has given birth to an epidemic like coronavirus, which has clearly conveyed a message to the world that it makes no difference among human beings. The crisis is not over yet and scientists believe that this is just the beginning. 

Risk Managers around the world believed that the pandemic would cause the biggest loss to the global economy and recession will continue for a long time. 57 percent of Risk Managers believed that it would lead to large-scale shutdown or bankruptcy of industries, 49 percent believed that it will create mass unemployment that will persist for a long time. 38 percent, however, believed that emerging economies may collapse and 31 percent foresee that the world may face another epidemic like COVID-19.

Nature knows how to put a check on human greed, and from time to time, it gives a message that this greed is temporary and no greed can last long before nature. We can take the example of Alexander the Great, who about 2400 years ago established a city called Alexandria in Egypt which became the most prosperous city of that time. But an earthquake in Alexandria caused a devastating tsunami and the city was completely ruined. Human greed is also like a tsunami which would ultimately take away everything. 

A 2017 survey further elaborates on it. 66 percent of Hong Kong people believed they had excess goods, 60 percent in China, 50 percent in Germany, and Italy also confessed to having excess goods. In another survey conducted among people of East Asia, 33 percent believed that they felt depressed and bored when they do not shop, 33 percent believed that shopping spree continued only for a day, while 24 percent remained with this feeling merely for half a day. There was only 8 percent who made up their mind for a few moments but purchased a lot that they did not really need. 

Earning and spending are not bad as it can make you happy, but the effect of over-consumption leads to impact climate as well as nature. According to America's Museum of Natural History, the population of the world in 1970 was half of what it is today. There were 370 crore people living on the earth and today this number has increased to about 750 crores. In the US, the average size of a house in the 1950s was 983 square feet, but it tripled to 2,480 square feet by 2011. The same is true for other western countries while the population of these countries is decreasing rapidly.

According to a UN report, 130 million kilograms of food are wasted every year in the world costing over Rs 75 lakh crore. Surprisingly, food production accounts for 22 percent of the carbon emission annually in the whole world. Still, millions of people in the world waste huge amounts of food every year and harm nature. 

It is not wrong to become rich or to achieve prosperity, but when it goes beyond the limits of greed then it leads to problems. The richest in the world have just form half a percent of the global population, but the way of life these 4 crore people live is responsible for 14 percent carbon emission. Whereas there are 400 crore people in the world whose share in carbon emission is merely 10 percent. 

Apart from this, 43 percent loss to nature is caused by the lifestyle of 10 percent of people who are at the top in terms of earning. Oxfam report says that one percent of the worlds rich have more than double the total wealth of 700 million people in the world. Half of the world's population still earns merely Rs 410 per day on an average. 

The share of tax paid by rich people is equal to 4 paise for 1 rupee, while the richest in the world never pay 30 percent of their tax. Recently, millionaires from 6 countries, including the US and Britain, have asked their governments to impose more taxes on them as they want to help others. 

Through these examples, one can understand that those who have more wealth also have more responsibility towards the environment and nature.