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The Jains through Time
Jain Education International
exhale carbon dioxide and inhale the oxygen produced by the trees. Trees are the lungs of the planet, absorbing our waste products and breathing out the pure fresh air we need to survive. This exchange is nature's gift to us all. Vegetation is essential to both man and animal.
Apart from carbon dioxide, our workshops and factories are continuously pumping sulphur dioxide, cadmium, lead, nitrogen oxide and so forth into the atmosphere. There are parts of Tokyo, New York and London where it is difficult to breathe. The air has become so poisonous that breathing it in is as harmful as the daily consumption of forty cigarettes. The toxins in the air cause problems such as lead poisoning that damages the kidneys, raises blood pressure and impairs mental function. The inhalation of sulphur dioxide causes asthma and other respiratory ailments. Like the god Shiva, the trees 'drink up' all of these poisons and as Shiva gives us blessings in return, so the trees release life-giving oxygen to us. How good and kind then is the tree! Its every leaf is a blessing!
Dr. T. M. Das, a prominent environmental scientist attached to Calcutta University's College of Agriculture, recently revealed the amazing fact that an average tree during the 50 years of its life, provides Rs.1.5 million worth of benefit to humanity in the form of oxygen production. On the other hand, the cutting down of one tree will bring in a maximum of Rs. 2,000 or Rs.3,000. For this small immediate gain, a gift to humanity worth Rs. 1.5 million is lost.
Trees, forests, shrubs and creepers are truly man's most selfless benefactors. They are nature's mightiest watchmen and the environment's most trustworthy guardians. Without them, all life is in danger.
Scientists have proved that in the coming years, trees will be our most important natural defence against modern hazards such as atomic radiation. So, in order to safeguard your future, protect and nurture all plant life.
At the sacred spot of Veerayatan, in the land of Tirthankar Mahavir, the sound of his
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