Wednesday, May 17, 2023

The Devil's Element by Dan Egan

The devil's element is Phosphorous and it is called so because it glows in dark, and can catch fire on in air with moderate temperature.

The whole ecosystem which supports the life as we see is a very fine balance between all the elements in nature. The human consumption behaviour at a large scale can disturb this balance which results in catastrophic events which is not just global warming but others as well.

This one is focused on Phosphorous which was part of this balance but the imbalance due to human activities (industries, agriculture and even dairy farms) has tipped the balance, and once this phosphorous shows up in the fresh water lakes and rivers, its immediately puts the life around it in danger. Not just the marine life but human life as well. The books explains the results of free phosphorous in the nature, and does explore its historical origin when the humans started using at an industrial scale.

Ozone layer was a victim of such industrialisation and a restriction over CPC set the path for its recovery. This can be done again with Phosphorous but it needs more efforts and coordination not just with the industries but people's consumption habits as well. This requires education not only for the policy makers but it also needs wider visibility among consumers.

Peace

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