3 Rules of sustainable development: Environmental - Economic - Sociopolitical

Our planet’s biosphere, our common home, is not as vast as it seems. The portion of the biosphere that is intimately linked to man’s survival is in fact quite small. In the oceans, it is only a kilometer deep, in the land only two meters in depth, and the ceiling is relatively low, since beyond 7,000 meters the air is unbreathable and the cold is unbearable.

With such a low ceiling and thin layer of breathable air, it becomes difficult to understand how there are still people who do not believe that human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels and other industrial activities have a harmful effect on our habitat.

The History of the Concept
With the industrial revolution, the mechanization of agriculture, the expansion of trade and globalization, the Western world, the developing countries and the poor countries, in this order, have experienced an unprecedented development at all levels: increased production, population increase, increased consumption, increased needs for energy, and increased means of transportation, especially planes and automobiles, to the point that each family in the richer countries owns more than one car. Sadly, pollution and the environmental deterioration have been the inevitable consequences of this unbalanced development.

Only our planet did not increase, and since it did not increase, the results of this too fast and haphazard growth soon appeared, especially because of the “use and throw away” philosophy that has been in force for several decades. The concept of recycling is recent, and has not yet entered the minds of many people, which is quite strange as we have said in the previous article about the cycles of water, nitrogen, carbon, oxygen etc. which showed that life on this planet has always depended on recycling finite amounts of elements.

Recycling has always been the philosophy of life on our planet, although its inhabitants have lived for a long time, and many will still do, according to the “use and throw away” thinking. Nowadays, it is cheaper, and less hassle, to buy new than to repair. But to which is it cheaper? To the economy or to the planet? What kind of toll do we place on our planet with this type of short-sighted ill-considered choice?

The idea of sustainable development emerged at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro, in 1992. Initially, only the environmental impact on development was considered, that is, the capacity of our planet to sustain a given level of development without depleting its resources or jeopardizing the lives of the future generations. The other two pillars – economic and social – appeared later.

It is easy to know whether what we are doing is sustainable or not; we just need ask ourselves if we can continue doing this over and over again, forever? The first thing to inquire is the environment – does it compromise the environment for the next generation? Secondly, we need to ask if it is conducive to economic growth. And thirdly, if this economic benefit extends to all or only to selected few, and whether it promotes peace, justice and social stability.

What we have seen so far is that the wealth that some produce is proportional to the poverty they cause, in short, the more wealth, the more poverty. Furthermore, in relation to the environment, we have lived with the mentality of the mule that says “after I die if there is no more grass that grows on all the Earth, I don’t care for I no longer need it”.

Development seen solely as economic growth destroys the environment and causes deep social inequalities. For development to be sustainable, it has to be tridimensional, that is, the aspects of social justice and environmental protection should be just as important as economic growth.

The Real Situation
“Long before we exhaust the physical limits of our planet there will be grave social upheavals provoked by the great divide existing between the income of rich countries and poor countries.” III Report of the Club of Rome (1976)

For a bench to stand, it must have at least three legs; it cannot stand on one or two; this is the same with sustainable development. Capitalism has long inflated economic development without thinking of the other two and this has created a world where 1% of humanity has more wealth than the remaining 99%.

More concretely, one percent of the world population holds 54% of the world wealth and the rest of humanity only 46%. The difference is abysmal and even worse is that the gap between the rich and the poor continues to grow… The capitalism that has created the middle class is destroying it, even in the rich and developing countries.

Immigration – The “grave social upheavals provoked by the great divide between the income between rich countries and poor countries” advocated by the Club of Rome are already happening. To defend themselves, the rich have entrenched themselves behind thick walls, some in process of being constructed between US and Mexico, others in the form of natural barriers such as the Mediterranean Sea, preventing the Africans from entering Europe.

The poor are barred from entering the European fortress or into North America, or Japan or Australia. However, the highly qualified professionals, surgeons, football players, musicians, architects, and lawyers always have the doors open to them. To the poor countries we search for raw material at low cost, cheap labour, human trafficking for adoption (not all bad), but also for prostitution, organ trafficking etc. This leads us to the next issue – globalization.

Globalization – Through globalization, the Earth functions as a unit. The means of communication have removed the constraints of space and time. Today, we no longer get to know what happened in the recent past, we get to know while it is still happening.

But beyond the informational aspect, globalization is fundamentally economics and its leaders are less and less the states and more and more the multinational companies. In the continuing quest for cheap manual labour, which often involves child labour, the multinational brands and logos call for a lifestyle and form a global culture that little by little replaces the local culture.

Globalization per se would not be bad in fostering close communication among all peoples. Following the physical principle of the communicating vessels, when we connect an almost empty bucket of water to a full one, water flows from the bucket that has more to the one that has less, until equilibrium is reached between the two. In principle, through globalization we should reach equality between peoples.

The problem is that globalization is an invention of the rich to exploit the poor. The communication is made through valves which are devices that allow the movement to happen in only one direction. In this case, the movement occurs from the poor countries to the rich and not from the rich to the poor.

Atmospheric Contamination – The industrial civilization derived its energy mainly from non-renewable raw materials (fossil fuels, especially coal and oil). It used these raw materials without control, as if they were inexhaustible. Air pollution is increasing at an astonishing rate: it has doubled in a single decade. The Earth’s ability to sustain this contamination and avoid its harmful consequences is limited.

Industries and automobiles remove large amounts of oxygen from the air, and in return emit large quantities of carbon dioxide. As the result, we are breathing more and more rarified air that can cause diseases, namely cancer; it also raises the average temperature of the planet by increasing the greenhouse effect, thus trapping too much heat, not letting it escape into space. Our planet is heading towards a planet like Venus by the ever increasing amount of carbon dioxide.

From the point of view of biology, the human species is doomed to extinction if it persists in destroying its environment. Every organism that destroys the environment in which it lives, will end up destroying itself. Science affirms that in order to survive, it is not enough to cut the CO2 emissions by 20% or 60% by 2050, it is necessary to cut it by 90% by 2030.

The Problem of Water – In many countries, the lack of water is the main reason why people cannot get out of poverty. Around 3.4 million people, mostly children, die every year from diseases associated with the shortage of safe drinking water, inadequate sanitation and lack of hygiene. The waterborne diseases are the leading cause of death worldwide – 80% of all diseases in the world. It is predicted that by 2035 half of the world’s population is expected to live in conditions of “insecurity” in relation to the supply of drinkable water.

• “If the wars of this century were fought over oil, the wars of the next century will be fought over water.” Ismail Serageldin, World Bank vice president in 1995
•  “The next war in the Middle East will break out due to scarcity of water supply.” Muammar Gaddafi
• “The conditions are set for a century of conflicts over water.” The Economist

 The Plastic – We are not just talking about the tons of plastics found in the stomachs of whales, but the micro plastics coming from the microfibers that are part of our clothing are even worse. These come from the washing machines, go into the rivers and seas, and become part of fish diet which we later consume.

In addition to plastics, fish are no longer a healthy choice of food that they once were because of the levels of mercury present in the sea water continue to rise. The older the fish, the more mercury is absorbed into its system.

A Planet With Only Duties – No one defends the rights of the planet. The Earth has no rights, it only has the duty to feed us. If we don’t take good care of it, it cannot take care of us and sustain our life.

Deforestation – Livestock farming or monoculture, of soya beans for example, is causing desertification. The land used was rich only within the forest ecosystem; without trees, it is quickly depleted, and it becomes necessary to resort to chemical fertilizers so that some agriculture can be practiced.

Deforestation is proceeding at a rapid pace, without taking into account that growth or recovery is slow. We need the trees, not so much to produce oxygen, because the great majority of oxygen comes from the marine forests, but to absorb CO2.

Forest fires of criminal origin that occur systematically in Portugal, California, Australia, have killed hundreds of people year after year, in addition to emitting CO2 into the atmosphere and desertifying previously luscious leafy zones.

The ozone layer, or the blue gas that protects us from solar radiation, has decreased so much due to the use and misuse of aerosols that it is no longer good for health to sunbathe. The truth is that we need very much to be exposed to sunlight in order to synthesize vitamin D which is so important to our overall health.

Garbage – Our cities produce tons and tons of garbage every day. On one hand, there is an increasing public awareness to recycle household waste in large cities, and on the other, it is forbidden to recycle leftover food by feeding it to animals. As the result, a lot of food ends up in the trash, which is in itself contradictory to the new mentality of recycling.

Oil tanker accidents at sea ruin the ecosystems for many years. It takes a long time to clean them up. Crimes, like the deliberate blaze of oil wells during the Iraq war that lasted years, have ejected into the atmosphere billions of tons of CO2.

Not many years have passed since the beginning of space exploration and already the orbit of our planet is littered with orbital debris or space junk comprised of various old satellites that stopped functioning. Everyone is thinking of putting more and more satellites into orbit, but no one thinks of retrieving those that no longer work.

The Attitude of Denial – We are sweeping the problems under the carpet. We postpone finding answers to the problems we have at this moment which will only get worse in the future. The attitude in general is that of denial, of not wanting to see, of not taking responsibility for the present behaviours that will deny the future of the next generations. God forgives always, human beings only sometimes, but Mother Nature does not forgive nor forget. Someone once said that with respect to the poisoning of our planet it is like poisoning the placenta that feeds the child.

Greenpeace has stated that if all the inhabitants of the planet were to live like the citizens of the rich countries, consuming and wasting the resources of our planet, the Earth would sustain life for a meager 3 months and then would die, contaminated and depleted of resources. For the latter not to happen, it would take the resources of 10 planets like ours.

Sustainable development is based on the principle that a sustainable and viable economic development is possible without destroying the environment or compromising justice, the world peace, and the habitability of the planet for the future generations.  Sustainable development is one that harmonizes economic growth with the reality of the biosphere or the protection of the environment and the individual and social needs of all the peoples living on the planet, that is, with the social inclusion of all.

Protection of the Environment
Regarding air quality, which is the most burning ecological problem, carbon dioxide that the economy emits into the atmosphere should not exceed the amount that plants can absorb by photosynthesis. It is similar to the scenario that a person should not drink more alcohol than his liver can break down. Currently, we are not able to maintain this balance.

Environmental degradation causes problems of physical health, but on the other hand, this same degradation arises from the moral and social values of people who annihilate the preservation of the environment. Forty-six percent of the world population lives in cities. This is why it is necessary to improve the air quality in urban centers by building more green spaces in the middle of cities that can improve the air and trap dust particles.  The covering of roofs of homes with solar hot water and photovoltaic panels connected to the electrical grid would save a lot of energy when it is most needed: during the day.

The environmental impact analysis refers to the care to be taken when building a business. The impact it will have on the ecosystem, on plant and animal life, needs to be calculated and considered without compromise. There are more and more species of plants and animals that are disappearing from the face of the Earth, and what is scary is a future where plant and animal life will be reduced only to those produced by agriculture and domestic animals – the planet will have no wild animals because there will be no more forests as these will be occupied by man.

At the time of this of writing, it is becoming big news the dramatic decrease of insect population due to the abuse of chemicals in agriculture. The insects are the ones responsible for the pollination of agricultural plants; without them there is no agriculture.

Economic Growth
A company needs to be profitable for it to survive and continue to exist. The problem is to make profit at any cost. There are many so-called “healthy” economies that operate at the expense of the health of the human beings who sustain them. What will be more important: the health of the economy or the health of those who sustain the economy? Paraphrasing the Gospel, the economy was made for man and not man for the economy. A healthy economy based on the exploitation of those who maintain it through low wages, no holidays, with shifts of more than 8 hours, will sooner or later collapse, since companies cannot operate in this way for long.

In order for an economy to be healthy, it has to have a balance between births and deaths; it has to have enough young workers to replace those who achieve reform and subsidize their reforms – or that what is called solidarity between generations.

In the last 200 years, the world economy grew six times more than in the past, and in the rich countries ten times more. This economic growth occurred at the expense of coal, in the first phase of the industrial revolution, and of oil in the second. To save the Earth we should move immediately toward renewable energies. But if we move in this direction, the economy will cease to grow as it has done in the recent past. On the other hand, the rich countries’ mode of life is not sustainable because if all peoples were to live according to this model, the Earth would die shortly.

To care for the Earth and at the same time let the poor live with more dignity, there can be no economic growth in the rich countries. We would have to lower our standard of living, but since we are not doing this, we find mechanisms to ensure that the rich are always rich and the poor always poor. For this reason the sustainable development is a utopia, a chimera.

Social Inclusion
Sustainability should be sought locally by each company. It should look around itself and bring together all those whose lives are touched by the company: suppliers of raw material, producers, transporters and consumers of the products. All must be included, because they form a greater community. If one loses, all lose in the short or long term.

A company that cares about its workers, that shares its profits among them, and supports social causes, is a company esteemed by workers who are motivated, productive and work better – whoever runs for love does not tire. The explorer explores the Earth, if a company exploits both the environment and the workers, thinking solely of profit, it will end up losing both.

Politics play an important role in rewarding companies that are sustainable at all three levels and penalizing those that are not, because they pollute more, because they do not take care of their employees, etc. In this way, being sustainable becomes now fashionable, because there are financial incentives in place. This is one way that politics tries to influence the economy, so that the latter is not the only one driving the world. All business activity must be economically profitable, socially just, and environmentally sound.

At the company level, this seems to be relatively easy and doable. During the first industrial revolution, there were some businessmen who, in a personal capacity, applied these models and were called philanthropists. To extend these practices to the global level does not seem to be as easy. However, according to the slogan “Think globally and act locally”, sustainability must be sought by each and every company but not imposed in an ideological manner.

Seventeen Sustainable Development Objectives for 2030
These were the millennium goals. As they were not realized within that time frame, they became the goals for 2015; and as the deadline passed once again without achieving them, they are now the objectives for 2030. We will see if they will finally be reached that year, but it does not seem that we are heading in that direction, when several countries have already abandoned the agreements signed such as the one in Paris and others, without fulfilling them.

1. End poverty in all its forms, in all places;
2. End hunger, achieve food security, improve nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture;
3. Ensure a healthy life and promote the well-being for all, at all ages;
4. Guarantee inclusive and equitable quality education, and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all;
5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls;
6. Guarantee availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all;
7. Guarantee access to cheap, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all;
8. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full-time and productive employment and decent work for all;
9. Build resilient infrastructures, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization, and foster innovation;
10. Reduce inequality between and within countries;
11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable;
12. Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns;
13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts, recognizing that the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is the principal international and intergovernmental forum to negotiate the global response to climate change;
14. Conserve and promote the sustainable use of oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development;
15. Protect, restore and promote the sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and loss of biodiversity;
16. Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, proportionate access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels;
17. Strengthen the implementation mechanisms and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development.

Be Part of the Solution and Not Part of the Problem
“Water and air, the two essential fluids on which life depends, have become global trash cans.” Jacques Cousteau

The market produces everything we want, according to the law of supply and demand. This law places an enormous power in our hands: through our demand, we have the capacity to influence the supply of the market. As consumers we are not aware of this power, but the producers of goods acknowledge us, for this reason they say that the client is always right.

The economic system of our society has accustomed us to use and enjoy consumer goods without educating us of their acquisition – it does not tell us how these good are made, by whom, under what working conditions, with what resources, how far they travelled to reach us.

As consumers, by our choices, we send messages to the market – if we prefer a product with certain characteristics, the market will try to produce it; if we choose to buy products from companies that adopt conducts that respect their employees and the environment, the market will ipso facto orient itself in that direction.

Similarly, if we reject a product because it was produce against our values, travelled many kilometers to reach us, used cheap labour or, even worse, child labour, contaminated the environment, if we set it aside and stop buying it, the market will in turn cease to produce it; it is enough that the sales fall by a mere 5% for the market to reorient itself.

In addition to being aware in our daily lives and adopting good ecological habits in our personal lives – such as saving water in the shower, walking short distances instead of taking the car, recycling household waste, turning off excessive and unnecessary lights – the use of power that we have as consumers has immediate and lasting effects that contribute to sustainable development based on the protection of the environment and on economic growth where everyone wins.

Fr. Jorge Amaro, IMC

3 Types of Solid Matter: Mineral - Metal - Organic

After studying that matter appears in the universe in three different physical states – solid, liquid and gas – and that among all the matter and elements in the periodic table only water exists in nature in these three states, we now turn to the three types of solid matter existing on Earth. These are the mineral, metal and organic solid matter.

We can look at the history of mankind from the relationship it established with these materials over time. These materials shaped and deepened the life of human beings, created culture and raised civilizations and empires.

Human beings were first introduced to the minerals: the Stone Age was the time when man used minerals fundamentally to make tools needed for his activities. This Age is divided into three distinct periods: the Paleolithic, the Mesolithic, and the Neolithic. Then came the Metal Age which is also divided into three periods: the Copper, the Bronze and the Iron. In relation to the organic matter, humans invented agriculture, plant cultivation and pastoralism, the rearing and domestication of animals, which were used as food, working aids, transport and power.

The Organic Versus the Inorganic
In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning the first day.

And God said, ‘Let there be a dome in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.’ So God made the dome and separated the waters that were under the dome from the waters that were above the dome. And it was so. God called the dome Sky. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.

And God said, ‘Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.’ And it was so. God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, ‘Let the earth put forth vegetation: plants yielding seed, and fruit trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it.’ And it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation: plants yielding seed of every kind, and trees of every kind bearing fruit with the seed in it. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the third day. Genesis 1:1-13

Paraphrasing the book of Genesis, in the beginning, everything was inorganic, that is, organic matter is composed of at least two kinds of inorganic elements, three in the case of carbohydrates, and four or more depending on the complexity of the organic matter. The first, and the sine qua non condition for organic matter, is the presence of carbon atoms. The second is the presence of hydrogen atom, almost all organic compounds contain hydrogen but there are exceptions. We can say that carbon and hydrogen are the backbone of organic matter, and therefore, of life. Note that life in the account of creation in the book of Genesis appeared on the third day, in the form of plant life.

Inorganic molecules may contain hydrogen or carbon in their composition: water, for example, contains hydrogen, but is inorganic because it does not contain carbon. Carbon dioxide contains carbon but is not organic because it does not have hydrogen. Any molecule containing carbon and hydrogen is necessarily organic.

Inorganic molecules are smaller than organic, they are usually found outside of living beings, animals or plants, and do not have carbon as the main element. The fact that they are inorganic does not mean that they are not of great importance to life, take for instance the case of water, mineral salts and even some metals.

Minerals versus Metals
Concerning the differences between organic and inorganic matter, both minerals as well as metals are regarded as inorganic.

Minerals – are inorganic solid substances, and are formed naturally and spontaneously in nature, without human intervention. They may take the form of compounds or mixtures of various minerals or as one of the 118 elements in the periodic table occurring in its native form.

Minerals contain a characteristic internal structure and specific physical properties, a definite chemical composition and a crystalline structure, that is, the atoms of minerals are organized in orderly repetitive three-dimensional geometric forms. Currently, approximately 4000 minerals have been catalogued and the rate that geological studies are advancing, more and more minerals are being discovered, some of them even of extraterrestrial origin.

Metals – are solid matter with the exception of mercury which is liquid at room temperature, and they can be composites or alloys, such as stainless steel and brass, and even simple elements in the periodic table, where about 80% of the elements are classified as metals. They are hard, opaque or shiny, and are good electrical and thermal conductors. In general, they are malleable, meaning they can be hammered into thin sheet, or ductile meaning they can be drawn into wires. It is also possible to fuse them to make alloys or more defined shapes than being hammered into sheets.

Ninety-one of the 118 elements in the periodic table are metals; while the others are either non-metal or metalloid, that is, elements that have properties of both metal and non-metal.

When we say that we need magnesium or iron in our diet, this does not mean that we need to ingest the metal form of these compounds, but rather that we should consume certain foods that contain the salt of these metals. In nutrition, minerals are inorganic chemicals that we need to thrive, for tissue repair, for metabolism, and for carrying out other bodily functions.

Let us now study mineral, metal, and both organic and inorganic matter which are composed of many elements that are individually inorganic, but together they form the basis of life.

Minerals
As was mentioned earlier, minerals are inorganic solid matter that are formed naturally in nature, and they have a definitive chemical composition, as well as an internal crystalline structure. In minerals, the specific atoms are generally arranged in an ordered internal structure with an established chemical chain responsible for giving this mineral its physical properties.

It is made up of the same chemical composition throughout. The 4000 or so minerals identified, each has a unique set of physical properties, and are classified according to colour, streak, luster, cleavage, hardness, reaction to acids, the shape that it maintains when fractured, transparency, density and electrical properties. As to their nature, minerals are divided into two main groups: the silicates which make up more than 90% of the earth’s crust, and the non-silicates which are subdivided into carbonates, sulfides, oxides, sulfates, halides and phosphates, and native elements such as gold, silver, copper ores.

‘Organic’ Minerals
As we have already mentioned, all minerals have inorganic origin but some substances are better viewed as organic minerals. What I mean by this is that there are compounds or solid matter that appear to be minerals, like pearl and amber, but we know have organic origin.

Pearl is formed when a foreign body or irritant, like a parasite or a grain of sand, enters into an oyster, mussel or clam. In order to defend itself, the mollusk secretes a substance called nacre or mother of pearl, the same material that lines the inner walls of the shell. The mollusk wraps the irritant in layers of nacre, and in this way, gets rid of the problem and heals the wound made by the irritant. The pearl is basically a healed wound.

Amber, on the other hand, is of plant origin. It is fossilized resins produced millions of years ago by various types of trees that are now extinct.

Rocks
These are composed of two or more minerals and are classified based on the presence of the most abundant one. As far as the formation process is concerned, there are three main classes of rocks: igneous or magmatic, metamorphic and sedimentary. The earth’s crust is made up of 80% igneous or magmatic, 15% metamorphic and only 5% sedimentary rock.

Igneous or Magmatic Rocks – These are rocks that are formed from the cooling and hardening of magma or lava. They are therefore crystallized from a liquid, beneath the earth’s surface from magma or at the earth’s surface from lava. The rate of cooling of the melt determines the texture of the igneous rocks, with fast cooling yielding small fine-grained crystals while slow cooling allowing large crystals to form resulting in coarse-grained crystals. Lava cool quickly at earth’s surface while magma cool and crystallize slowly. For example, basalt is a fine-grained igneous rock which leads us to conclude that it is formed by rapid cooling of lava at the earth’s surface.

Metamorphic Rocks – These are rocks that formed from the physical or chemical alteration of other rocks, igneous or sedimentary or another older metamorphic rock, as the result of extreme pressure and heat. This means that all metamorphic processes involve solid state transformation of existing rock types in a process known as metamorphism, or “change in form”. In other words, the creation of a metamorphic rock requires that the transformation of the pre-existing rock has not undergone lithification (transformation into magma) or sedimentation (breaking rocks into particles).

Sedimentary Rocks – When rocks undergo erosive processes, such as from the action of water and wind that “shatter” them into small particles, sediments (like the sand on a beach) are formed. These sediments, in turn, are deposited in the lower relief zones and as they clump together they can form new rocks, called sedimentary rocks. For example, limestone that exists in the coastal regions are formed by the accumulation of shells, corals, and bodies and parts of dead aquatic organisms is simultaneously a sedimentary and organic rock.

Ore – Rocks have minerals and when these occur in large concentration they are called ores. Ores are mined for metals like iron, copper, or non-metals like talc. Ores are minerals containing metals that have great economic value, which justifies their extraction. Iron, for example, is taken from a mineral called hematite; therefore, hematite is the iron ore. Aluminum is extracted from an ore called bauxite, while lead is extracted from an ore called galena.

Does this mean that metals are minerals? Recalling the definition of mineral above, we know that it is any inorganic, solid, and naturally occurring compound that has a crystalline internal structure and a definite chemical formula. Now metals are indeed inorganic, solid, and most have crystalline structures; but do they occur naturally? There are metals like gold that can be called mineral and metal at the same time because they are found in nature in their metal form and not from a melted mineral.

The Stone Age
For their activities, human beings needed tools. The provenance and nature of these tools have been changing with a gradual increase in complexity over time. Not having yet discovered metal, humans began by making tools out of stone. The Stone Age is, therefore, the time where stones were used as the preferential tool, in addition to tools from animal bones and wood. This great period began two and a half million years ago, and lasted until the end of the second or last Ice Age, around 9600 BC. It is divided into three different periods: Paleolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic.

Paleolithic – or Old Stone Age, is a period where humans survived exclusively from hunting and gathering of fruits and plants; they were nomads, going from place to place searching for food.

Mesolithic – this is a transition period, in which in addition to hunting and gathering vegetation, humans learned to fish; they were still nomads.

Neolithic – or New Stone Age, the great revolution of this period was the introduction of agriculture and animal husbandry.  Propelled by shortage of food, human intelligence replaced the gathering of fruits with agriculture and hunting with animal domestication and husbandry. The appearance of the first settlements started and humans ceased to be nomadic. This period lasted until 4000 BC.

The Nature of Metals
Unlike minerals, the internal crystalline structures of metals are less static: since the atoms of metals are in close proximity to one another, the outer electrons of the atoms have great mobility, being attracted simultaneously to the nuclei of neighbouring atoms. In this way, they are no longer tightly bonded to a specific atom, but are free to wander through the entire metal.

It is for this reason that metals are malleable and good conductors of heat and electricity. We need to recall when we talked about atom, that the electrons are the most active part of an atom, and that atoms are linked to one another via their electrons to form compounds.

The Characteristics of Metals
Conductivity – metals are by nature good thermal and electrical conductors.
Malleability – they are very malleable, especially when subjected to high temperatures.
Elasticity – they are susceptible to deformation or shape changing when subjected to external actions.
Ductility – this is the ability of metals to be stretched to form cables and wires.
Luster – in general, metals are not dull but can reflect light very well from their surface, and can be polished.

The periodic table of elements does not, so to speak, recognize minerals as it divides its 118 elements into metals, non-metals and metalloids. As already mentioned, metals are malleable and good thermal and electrical conductors. Non-metals, on the other hand, are poor conductors of heat and electricity, and are not easily bent, like carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, oxygen, sulfur, selenium, fluorine, chlorine, bromine, iodine and astatine. Metalloids have both metallic and non-metallic properties, examples are boron, silicon, germanium, arsenic, antimony and tellurium.

Our Everyday Metals
Metals can be divided into ferrous metals like iron and steel, and non-ferrous metals like aluminum, copper, tin, nickel, brass and bronze.

Copper – it is used particularly in electrical equipment such as motors, circuits (cables, switches etc.). They are also coins made of copper.

Iron – it accounts for about 95% of the world’s metal production, and is widely used in cars, boats, and buildings due to its low cost and high strength. It is sometimes replaced by steel when a higher hardness and strength is required.

Zinc – it is used widely in the production of brass and due to its low cost, it was used for a long time to make bowls; it is still used to cover the roofs of rural homes in Africa, in place of straws.

Tin – it is principally used in alloys, such as bronze, the bell metal (copper and tin), phosphor bronze, soft solder and pewter. It is also essential in the production of glass, soaps, perfumes, paper, medicines and fungicides. The sheets wrapping chocolates or cigarettes, for example, also contain tin.

Aluminum – it is used in windows and in structures where the resistance of iron is not necessary, aluminum is used because it is lighter.

Nickel – it is widely used in the fabrication of coins.

The Metal Age
With the introduction of agriculture and animal husbandry, human beings became less dependent on nature, freer and more independent, thus  with more free time to think. The tools invented completely changed with the discovery of metals. The metals that were discovered defined three periods: Copper, Bronze, and Iron.

The Copper Age (3200 - 2300 BC) – possibly the first discovery of a metallic material occurred by chance, when the stones that used to contain bonfires contained copper oxide and were reduced to metal by the heat. This will be the beginning of the extraction in metallurgy, based essentially on empiricism and in the direct and personal transfer of knowledge. Since copper is not very hard, the first use of this metal was in ornaments.

The Bronze Age (2300 – 700 BC) – bronze is an alloy or a mixture of two metals, primarily of copper with tin. Both metals are not very hard and are very malleable, yet together they form bronze which is a hard metal. Because of its hardness, bronze was not used for ornaments, but rather in agriculture tools, domestic utensils, and for weapons.

The Iron Age (1200 BC) – lastly the Iron Age, a metal that is more common than the previous two, and the last one to be discovered. The Earth’s crust is composed of 5% iron. As we have said above, this is the metal most used by man, since its discovery until today. Hence we can say that we are still in the Iron Age.

Organic Matter
As we have seen, the boundary between organic and inorganic matter is not always very clear.

• In general, organic compounds are produced by living organisms, inorganic compounds are produced by nature or man-made.
• Inorganic compounds can form salts, organic compounds cannot.
• Organic compounds always contain carbon, inorganic compounds do not.
• Organic compounds contain hydrogen-carbon bonds, inorganic compounds do not.
• Inorganic compounds contain atoms of metal, organic compounds do not.

Soil Composition
The soil or land that covers most of the Earth’s surface, with the exception of rocky surface, is also composed of particles that belong to three different classification:

Sand particles – are the largest of the three types of soil particles. Sandy soil has up to 80% sand; this type of soil do not retain water and nutrients well, so it has a very low value for life.

Silt particles – are the next largest soil particles, they make up the sludge or sediments. Soils with high silt content are found along riverbanks and are the most fertile in the world.

Clay particles – are the smallest of the three soil types, hence retain water the best but run the risk of becoming waterlogged, making it difficult for plants to grow. Therefore both clay and sand particles are not very fertile.

Fertile Soil
In addition to the three types of particles that make up all kinds of soil, good soils that are fertile rely on water and air, that is, on moisture and aeration. The amount of sand that the soil contains allows for the presence of air, the sand particles separate the organic matter and the clay, making it possible for air to enter. The quantity of clay allows for the presence and retention of water.

The humus that all fertile soil must contain, results from decomposition of plant residues and animal carcasses by the action of microorganisms. Humus is, in fact, the final result of this decomposition and confers a high degree of fertility to a soil; we can conclude that life feeds on life. It is nature that recycles itself and it is life that is diversified. The ideal soil for agriculture, which human beings discovered in the Neolithic Period, should be made up of 45% minerals (sand, silt, clay), 25% water and 5% organic matter.

The Chemical Composition of the Human Body
The human body is formed by the interaction of the same elements that make up the universe; it is therefore a micro-universe in itself.

Present in large quantities
Hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen – are the constituents of substances present in the body in large quantities (sugars, proteins, fats etc.). Among them, hydrogen and oxygen form water which is responsible for more than half of the mass of a human body.

Present in smaller quantity
Sodium – present in blood and in other bodily fluids.
Magnesium – plays an important role in muscle function and in calcium synthesis.
Phosphorus – present in phosphate which allows for energy storage.
Sulfur – participates in the composition of some proteins.
Chlorine – present in blood and other bodily fluids.
Potassium – present in blood and other bodily fluids.
Calcium – constituent of bones and teeth.

Present in trace quantities
Fluorine – is part of teeth enamel that prevents cavity formation.
Chromium – participates in sugar metabolism.
Manganese – participates in the metabolism of sugars, fats, and in bone formation.
Iron – a component of hemoglobin, a pigment that carries oxygen in the blood.
Cobalt – part of vitamin B12 composition, which helps keep the body’s nerve and blood cells healthy.
Copper – helps in the occurrence of some chemical reactions.
Zinc – necessary for normal growth.
Selenium – aids in digestion and assimilation of oils and fats.
Molybdenum – helps in the occurrence of some chemical reactions.
Iodine – important for proper thyroid function.

The body or matter of a living organism is a complex and mysterious combination of organic and inorganic materials; with each organic material being in itself composed of simpler inorganic elements. Some of these simpler inorganic elements, on their own, that is, without being part of organic compounds, are needed for life to exist and to process itself. Examples of these are water and oxygen.

Inorganic materials therefore concur twice to make life possible. First, they are part of the organic materials that form the matter or body of a living organism, and second, they facilitate, support and make possible the life of that living organism. So, inorganic matter not only make up the core of the body or matter of a living organism but they also, at the same time, facilitate, promote and create the environment where the living organism thrives.

Fr. Jorge Amaro, IMC