Eco-concept: Hydroarmonía - Water as a Looking Glass into Environmental Degradation
Envision this. Approximately 71 per cent of the Earth’s surface is engulfed by water. As we observe our oceans and seas, we are met by a distinctly crystal blue depth. Water, as we know, has no colour. When we see blue, we are seeing a reflection of the bird world - the sky. In this way, the sea and sky are tied together. Similarly, 60 per cent of the adult human body is comprised of water. We exist as bodies of water, as do animals, vegetables and other geographical fixtures. Hydroarmonía would suggest that we form one body of water in this way and are thus responsible for and able to communicate with one another via transcorporeal permeability. This communication, in reality, would reveal the violence of climate change. In enveloping ourselves with a solely human self-conception, we ignore our obligations to other Earthly bodies, which we have inflicted catastrophe upon through deliberate environmental degradation.
This eco-concept should thus assist our understanding that the Anthropocene epoch’s legacy of climate change requires immediate address, and that its consequences are not merely marked by rising water levels, but have eco-catastrophic effects on organisms. For example, our aqua-destructive omission of green house gases has impacted the water web at the level of plankton health. The phytoplankton/bacteria eco-relationship, which is crucial to oxygen and carbon cycles, is negatively impacted as a result.
The hydra, not a plankton, but a micro-organism nonetheless, is the perfect symbol with which we can understand the necessity of hydroarmonía. A better example yet, is the Hydra of Greek mythology. Where Hercules cut one head, an additional two grew to replace it. The micro-organism is also capable of regeneration. Reflecting the myth, in order to destroy climate change and degradation, humanity cannot take linear, obvious mechanisms to solve this issue. Like Hercules, we must communicate with our hydro-companions to slay the beast that is global warming.
Literary and scientific scholarship regarding the significance of the hydrosphere agree that it is an ultimate illustration of the detriments of global warming, manifested in water over-abundance, scarcity and pollution. Hydroarmonía, however, extends this research by suggesting that the current age of the Anthropocene should seek to harmonise water bodies (including human, animal, and plant bodies) through a process of eco-permeating responsible environmental habits with each other. This concept also works to suggest that this inherent connection between aqua-bodies should be utilised as a means of communication. Ultimately, hydroarmonía should result in scientific, political and ethical consideration of how each eco-dominion may cohabitate enviro-spheres to save the natural world. Humans have the largest burden of them all.
- Victoria Katsinas (z5364193)
References:
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Hodge, Bob. “The Hydra Paradox: Global Disaster Management in a World of Crises.” Globalisations, vol. 10, no. 3, 2013, pp. 355-366.
Neimanis, Astrida. “Feminist Subjectivity, Watered.” Feminist Review, no. 103, 2013, pp. 23-41.
Lugones, María. “Playfulness, ‘World’-Travelling, and Loving Perception.” Hypatia, vol. 2, no. 2, 1987, pp. 3-19.
Seymour, Justin. R. et al. “Zooming in on the phycosphere: the ecological interface for phytoplankton-bacteria relationships.” Nature Microbiology, vol. 2, no. 17065, 2017, pp. 1-12.