The world of the future will not resemble the world we currently know. Our whole planet is changing. We are breaking down the ecosystem and thus weakening its ability to rebuild balance and stability on this planet. And we need natural harmony if the whole system is to thrive, which includes clear water, wholesome food and fresh air. There are many feasible solutions to this problem right now, and still more that are yet to be discovered. But to succeed, we will need a new type of leadership, one headed by such an individual as Richard Branson.
The Current Situation
A simple example such as the sperm whale can illustrate our current situation. Recent studies have shown that the tissue of sperm whales contains significant amounts of toxic metals like mercury, cadmium, chromium, titanium, silver, lead and aluminium in doses that are far beyond what is acceptable to an organism’s ability to reproduce and sustain its species. Chromium alone is known to cause cancer in humans. These findings show the unfolding danger not only for the fauna and flora of the oceans, but also of humans since many of us consume fish. Seafood is the primary source of animal protein for 1 billion people on our planet. The fact that whales contain such high levels of toxins demonstrates an obvious truth: that all other ocean-dwelling species are exposed to them as well.
The oceans are filled with toxins that were mostly created after the second World War when we dumped huge numbers of contaminants into the water, including the fertilizers we use on our crops that are washed from the fields and eventually flow into the oceans.
Such high levels of toxins are deadly because rather than being expelled from the body or system, they are absorbed and passed on to the next generation, thus accumulating. The level of mercury in whale tissue, for example, is as high as 16 parts per million. Keeping in mind that 1 part per million in the body of fish is considered inedible, you can see that this is a serious issue.
The state of the earth is like a Rubik’s cube—when you shift one square all the other sides shift as well. We have reached astounding achievements in our history, from inventions to scaling the highest peaks in the world to walking on the Moon, so we know we have the capacity to reverse this situation before it’s too late, but we need major changes.
So what kind of leadership skills will be required in the future?
Hi Martyna
Lots of things for the leaders of tomorrow to think about.
Posts like this help to remind us of the problems and keep us on our toes.
Keep up the good work.
BTW – love the simile “The state of the earth is like a Rubik’s cube”
hallo Keith:)
yes, it is great to know what happens around, so we can invent something useful! 🙂
Leaders of tomorrow will be the children of the problems we are facing today…
I feel like going back and reading your interesting post on associations again!
thanks,
Martyna
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“So what kind of leadership skills will be required in the future?”
Martyna, you ask a question that makes us consider whether or not our thinking is truly holistic and encompassing. One set of leadership skills must be rooted in the idea of sustainability. I live near a college campus and your post reminds me of something that consistently replays itself in my head whenever I’m on campus. That is, all the curricula should have interwoven in them some of the concepts from sustainable development. Helping instill this in our future leaders will plant ripples across all disciplines — reverberating goodness for our planet and its inhabitants.
Hi Vernessa
yes, try to direct somebody’s attention to the different areas of interest- tough but possible- necessity will create the outcome. We have no choice but to improve. And no doubts we will!
A good point about the Leadership Vernessa- if we have the leaders like Richard Branson who can successfully mix great life, business, profit and sustainable development…others will follow
🙂
thank you for your comment
Martyna
Ciao!
Martyna
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Wonderful post. It is sad to hear that the water bodies are contaminated to such a level. It is true that all this is due to human fault. We dispose off so much harmful substances in our water bodies not knowing that in one way or another the harmful items will come back to us. A good example is the fish we eat after polluting the water bodies.