Role of Ecocriticism in the Age of Environmental Crisis

Abstract

The Multi-faceted challenge of the environmental crisis threatens the planet's ecosystems, along with biodiversity, and livelihood of human beings. Impacts of climate change are found in the form of global warming, continuous increase in the height of sea water level due to melting of ice and many other reasons, greenhouse effect and intensified cyclones, droughts, floods and forest fires. The further destruction of tropical rainforests, fragmentation and pollution, has caused a massive decline in species and brought many to the edge of extinction. Currently, oceans are overfished, acids, and plied with plastics, and fresh water sources are being depleted through over drafting and pollution. Superimposed over this misery, industrial practices remain unsustainable, urbanization is on the rise, and resources are distributed in an appalling incomprehensible manner, especially in vulnerable populations. Thus, tackling this crisis has become an urgent need of the hour. International cooperation, actions towards new legislation to protect the environment, introduction of sustainable technologies and the joint desire to leave a clean world for generations to come are highly recommended. Apart from these, ecocriticism plays a significant role in dealing with the said crisis, giving hope for balancing the ecosystem.  The present paper Role of Ecocriticism in the Age of Environmental Crisis focuses on the significance of ecocriticism as a branch of multidisciplinary research in the context of global environmental crisis.  The paper will explore various approaches of eco criticism and its relevance in the field of literary criticism. It will discuss the scope of eco criticism as a multidisciplinary branch. The study will throw light on how an eco critical approach to literature can contribute to ecosystem sustainability and attainment of the UN's SDGs.