The ongoing heat wave in Europe is the result of Europe’s anthropocentric policies and actions that put Mother Nature in peril.
Anthropocentric Worldview
In the realm of social sciences, issues related to climate change have, of late, come to occupy an increasingly important space. The ongoing heat wave in Europe is the outcome of an anthropocentric worldview. Through this worldview, Europe has come to take Mother Nature for granted.
It believed that nature is a static entity that must be treated as a resource for ensuring humans’ growth and prosperity. It was this precise mindset that became one of the definitive factors in the commencement of the Industrial Revolution. Beginning in the 18th century in the UK, it gradually spread to other parts of the continent, particularly its western part. While the industrial revolution did lead to an increase in prosperity for the countries involved, this prosperity was attained at the cost of Mother Nature’s health.
The shift of production from manual labour to mass mechanization resulted in the deforestation of large swathes of forested areas, making way for factories; this resulted in a massive growth in Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GHG). In fact, the United Kingdom, Germany, and France account for the lion’s share of historic carbon and other Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GHG).
Policy Blunder
The heat wave in Europe did not leave the infrastructure unscathed. Power grids have been overwhelmed, railway tracks and roads have experienced a complete meltdown, and there is a mad rush for buying air conditioners. This clearly signals policy blunders in European political and bureaucratic circles. They spent years over-financializing their economy, but failed to anticipate that the changing vicissitudes of the climate, which began in the early 1970s, could one day wreak havoc in their countries.
This is clearly symptomatic of how, instead of investing in climate-resilient physical infrastructure, Europe was busy indulging in plotting and scheming how it could undermine the sovereignty of other countries, most notably Russia.
The Chickens Have Come Home to Roost
The Europeans have no one but themselves to blame for this mess. When Russia had offered to supply energy to Europe, not only did Europe refuse to buy it, but in conspiring with its crooked allies from the continent as well as America, it tried to undermine Russia’s energy exports in order to aid the Neo-Nazi regime of Ukraine.
What happened was far more ironic: Europe, which positions itself as the champion of the global campaign against climate change, has ended up resorting to the use of its decades-old coal-fired power plants. These coal-based power plants are not only polluting but have also been one of the major culprits behind the spike in average global temperatures as early as the 1960s.
Another aspect of this arrogant European attitude is how the continent looks down upon the rest of the world, particularly the Global South. It preached the need for the Global South to take expeditious actions in ‘mitigating’ climate change, particularly demanding that the Global South phase out hydrocarbon sources of energy.
But today, Europe is paying for its sins; its illusion of remaining insulated from the ill effects of climate change has been shattered. Further, the continent is really burning up in a mess of its own making. This certainly should send a message to the West, particularly the United States of America, that Mother Nature will never forgive them for rapaciously exploiting her.
Pranay Kumar Shome, a research analyst who is a PhD candidate at Mahatma Gandhi Central University, Bihar, India
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