In 1992, Mr Al Gore published his famous book titled Earth in the Balance.  At that stage Al Gore was a Senator in the United States, and he was perhaps the first political leader anywhere in the world to write such a scholarly and insightful book on the challenges that human society and other species were facing as a result of widespread environmental damage across the globe.  The US has seen some pioneering thought leaders who have greatly influenced policies and actions at the local level, as a result of which, the environment around human habitation in the US has been transformed to an increasingly satisfactory state.  In the early 1970s when I was a doctoral student in the US, I interacted with Senator Gaylord Nelson, another pioneer on environmental issues, who, as a matter of fact, met Mr Ram Bux Singh, an employee in the Government of Uttar Pradesh and a promoter of biogas technology on a large scale in that State.  Senator Nelson appended a write-up about Ram Bux Singh and his work to a bill that he submitted to the US Congress for funding of biogas research and technology dissemination.  Before the two Senators, that I have mentioned, came Rachel Carson, an indomitable spirit who fought corporate lobbies and vested interests to highlight the danger and damage from chemicals that were being used recklessly in the US at that stage.  The result of the efforts by these pioneers was that in the 1970s and 80s, the US cleaned up its rivers, its neighbourhoods, and the air that people breathe, to a level that has provided major health benefits and reduced risks from environmental damage and degradation all around.

Despite the successful experience with reducing environmental damage from local pollutants, many countries have not yet created a global ethic for protecting the global commons. Consequently, the increase in emissions of greenhouse gases continues unabated, and even with the recent Paris agreement, we would achieve far less than what is required.  Paul Crutzen, a Nobel Prize winner and distinguished atmospheric scientist, has rightly labelled the current age in which we are living as the anthropocene, simply because far more than geology or any other natural phenomenon, it is human activities which are defining the state of this planet.  Against that background, the cover story entitled “Anthropogenic Pollutants: The Insidious Threat to the Environment” is very apt and raises questions of anthropogenic pollution which has clearly destroyed India’s rivers, much of its forests and biodiversity, and purity of the air that we breathe.  Air pollution in particular is not only a problem outdoor in large cities but a serious health hazard and threat to life in rural homes which burn poor quality biomass in ill-designed cookstoves, which are often nothing more than two bricks with a pot placed on it.  Anthropogenic pollution has indeed been generated throughout human history, ever since our ancestors learned to light fire, but the scale and intensity of pollution from anthropogenic sources has now reached levels which are far beyond our capacity to absorb.  We need knowledge and the strengthening of local institutions, existing forms of governance and initiatives by every individual to see that we deal effectively with this challenge, in order to protect the health and lives of seven billion plus people living on this planet.