Our Existence Depends on Natural Equilibriums

Everything in the Universe is in a State of Equilibrium

The universe is full of opposing processes, like life and death, rise and fall, heat and cold. In nature, the sustainability of every dynamic thing, whether it is life or a solar system depends upon a stable equilibrium between these opposites. In every case, their stability is maintained by processes that ensure that deviation to one side is balanced by an equal movement on the other side.

In complex systems such as life or environment, such balance is generally achieved by a set of complex processes that are always there and consistently balance each other. When they break down the very existence of such systems in threatened. In life, the death of an individual is balanced by the birth of another. However, in environment, if the natural equilibriums break down, there can be an environmental crisis. The phenomenon of climate change or global warming is also such a crisis. To prevent them, we must look at restricting ourselves within the boundaries of sustainable environment. 

Carbon Cycle is an Example of a Natural Equilibrium

Nature sustains itself by maintaining equilibrium between opposite processes. In simple physical terms one can understand it as the balance between action and reaction, or the balance between movement and friction. For every action, there is a reaction, by which the nature balances itself. Similarly, while movement tends to push a thing, friction tends to stop it. When an object is pushed with force, the force of movement is initially stronger than friction but soon friction overcomes it and the moving thing becomes stable again.

Action and reaction are the opposite forces that balance each other. When one of them is more forceful than the other, there is movement, which can be understood as a readjustment of the equilibrium. When the moving object becomes stable again, a new equilibrium is achieved.

What is a Natural Equilibrium?

Equilibrium is a condition of stability that is achieved by the dynamic interaction of opposing sets of processes that have the effect of countering and reversing the changes induced by each other. Equilibrium can also be understood as a condition, where stability and sustenance is achieved by a balance between opposing forces or processes. Thus, folded hands with both palms pressing each other constitute a state of equilibrium between the opposing pressures exerted by the two hands.

When such equilibrium is achieved by the forces of nature, it is known as a natural equilibrium. Life and environment are two of the most commonly observed natural equilibriums. Each of them is sustained by a large number of processes that exist in balance to give rise to a stable state. 

What is the Characteristic Feature of Natural Equilibrium?

The significance of natural equilibrium lies in enabling dynamism with stability. For instance, in nature there are elements that have a high rate of inertia and stability, like the stones or the mountains, but such elements lack the dynamic nature of elements like water and fire which are very dynamic, but lack stability. Natural equilibriums create stability by balancing dynamic forces, and thereby create systems that are both stable and dynamic at the same time. 

What are the Examples of Natural Equilibriums?

A river, consisting of flowing water, which is very dynamic in nature can become stable when the water that is flowing into the seas or absorbed by the ground is constantly replaced in an equal quantity by rains or by the melting glaciers. 

A human society, such as a village, city or nation, consists of mortal human beings with relatively short life span, but a natural equilibrium between births and deaths can lead to stability of population and enable that society or civilization to survive for several thousand years.

There are many kinds of natural equilibriums. In fact, almost every process in nature is governed by some form of equilibrium. Within the human body there several such equilibriums. The amount of water and minerals that are lost from the body are equal to the amount of water and minerals that enter it. The thermostat of the body ensures that the amount of heat lost is replaced by an equal amount of heat generated by it. These natural equilibriums are the essence of biological life.

What Makes Natural Equilibriums Significant Today?

Today, when we are faced with a multitude of environmental crises, we can see that most of them are a result in the breaking down of natural equilibriums that have existed for very long periods. 

As per the laws of natural equilibrium, a sustainable population requires that the number of deaths should equal the number of births taking place. Stability of population is thus one of the essential ingredients of this equilibrium. In history, the growth in human population, especially the massive demographic expansion since the beginning of industrial revolution has come at the cost of dwindling population of other living species, some of which have even become extinct or are on the verge of extinction. The nature knows how to manage itself.

Similarly, the soil fertility can be sustained only if the amount of nitrogen and phosphorus taken up by the crops is equal to the additional fertilizer added to it. Soil is able to retain its fertility only if the ingredients drawn from it are returned to it. However, today a lot of those ingredients taken from soil end up in landfills of waste, which on one hands negatively affects the fertility of soil from where it is taken and also intoxicates the land around landfills, where these ingredients become concentrated in unhealthy quantities.

The same is also true of carbon cycle. The amount of carbon entering the atmosphere from all sources like fuel, animals and humans needs to be equal to the amount of carbon being sequestered by all the green plants, if we want the environment to remain stable. When that does not happen, we can end up having an environmental crisis on hand.

What are the Consequences of Breakdown of Natural Equilibriums?

Many of the crises that we find confronting us today are a result of breakdown of these equilibriums. When this happens in the body, results are diseases like fever, high blood pressure and obesity. When it happens in case of forests, it can lead to phenomenon like desertification. When it happens in case of a flowing river, it can cause deadly floods or droughts.

When the natural equilibrium of carbon cycle is broken there is a rise of carbon di oxide in the atmosphere, which in turn leads to the breakdown of the equilibrium of loss and gain of heat in the environment. The result is warming of atmosphere, a phenomenon that we call ‘global warming’. It leads to melting of glaciers, thereby disturbing the water equilibrium. As more water is added to the oceans compared to the water that leaves them by way of evaporation, the ocean levels begin to rise. This is the beginning of the catastrophe that we all fear today.

Is Global Warming a Consequence of Natural Equilibrium Breakdown?

The carbon equilibrium has been maintained for millions of years. In fact, the green forests have been gradually eating up the atmospheric carbon by way of sequestration, a process in which carbon is converted into organic matter by the process of photosynthesis using the energy of the Sun, which then gets deposited in the crust of the earth. This sequestered carbon along with the chemical energy absorbed from the Sun during photosynthesis is available to us today in the form of fossil fuels like coal, gas and other petroleum products. It is the cheapest and most readily form of energy available to us, and so not surprisingly, our whole civilization has come to depend upon it for its energy needs. 

The development of market has paralleled the scientific advances of mankind. Markets ensure that a cheaper product is consumed in preference to a costlier one. Unfortunately, markets dynamics takes into account only the cost borne by the seller, not the social cost that has to be borne by the society. In case of fuels, coal and gas are preferred by industry over all forms of renewable energy because of their cost advantage. However, this cost advantage is derived by ignoring the cost that fossil fuels impose on humanity in the form of green house gases, global warming and resultant environment crises. 

The damage to man and material will have to be borne by us and cannot be avoided. Though the markets and industrialists, who make the most of such mindless environmental exploitation and often unwilling to admit these costs and their significance, the increasing public awareness about them is exposing the follies of the market that the whole humanity is bound to pay for, sooner or later!

What Next?

If we are seriously interested in contributing towards averting the global warming crisis, we need to understand the inevitable need of respecting natural equilibriums. We need to understand that we cannot continue to exploit unlimited amounts of any natural resource, unless there is an opposing natural or man made process in place to refurbish our consumption. It primarily means two things. First, a need to restrain our consumption within the limits that can be sustained by the nature in the long run, and second, any excess consumption must necessarily be backed up by a man made process that puts the element consumed back into nature.