10) From green paradise to the desert! Written by Rainer: rainer.lehrer@yahoo.com Learn languages (via Skype): Rainer: + 36 20 549 52 97 or + 36 20 334 79 74

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From green paradise to the desert! How does a jungle or green land become a barren desert? Humanity destroys nature, even with the simplest agriculture. When Moses led the Jewish tribes out of Egypt to show them the land of Canaan, after 40 years of wandering through the desert, they came to Palestine. Because of scientific research, we now know that milk and honey, as described in the Bible, were unlikely to flow there but that the quantity of rainfall was much higher than it is today. Today, oranges from this area exported in the whole world can only grow because of intensive irrigation. Ancient Greek myths tell us that Apollo killed the dragon at Delphi in a forest and later built the temple for the oracle there. Acteon was chasing a deer with his dogs across the forest when he saw Diana bathing naked in a small lake. Today, Greece is almost forestless. Titus Livius informs us about the Romans having to march across a large forest when they were at war with one of the nearby peoples. These neighbours had previously sawn the trees to bring them down all together and bury the Romans under them. The cunning plan worked out well and that way a whole legion was literally crushed without the least fighting. Another Roman writer declared that a monkey climbing a tree in Gibraltar could swing from branch to branch and reach the Pyrenees without even once touching the ground. This wealth of wood was later needed for shipbuilding. At the time of the greatest expansion of Roman Empire, just the small plain between Danube and Theiss had been omitted because it was deep swamp and forest, so the excellent Roman turtle combat formation couldn’t be used. Later the Hungarians with their small ponies hid in these swamps to escape the persecution of the German knights, who with their large horses and heavy armour would have immediately sunk in the swamp. This landscape dramatically changed only at the time of king Bela, who after the invasion of the Tartar had ditches dug, in order to drain the soil to make it suitable for agriculture. Catholicism lasted for a very long time in Wales, because the barbarian Angles, Saxons, and later Normans did not dare to enter the marshy area and the English king was only able to call it part of his kingdom after he had managed to dry it and cut most trees out. Northern and Western Europe were spared of agricultural devastation, as overpopulation found a channel to America in the form of emigration. In the background of this short historical overview, it can be observed that even careful or organic agriculture leads to the destruction of the soil and nature. The solution to this problem would be the reduction of the world's population to around 10 million, which would leave nature the opportunity to regenerate. It is very funny to hear some politicians irresponsibly talking about necessary population growth, especially considering that Europe (the territory of the European Union) is one of the most densely populated areas on Earth after India, China, Indonesia and Malaysia. Back to list!

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