Over 15,000 Scientists Just Issued a ‘Second Notice’ to Humanity. Can We Listen Now?
The “second notice” to humanity warns of “widespread misery and massive species loss” if hugetren changes are not made to the way humans are living.
Yikes.
Over 15,000 scientists from more than 180 countries just issued a warning to humanity:
“Time is running out”, as the planet suffers from rising greenhouse gases and biodiversity loss.
The new warning was published Monday in the international journal BioScience. It is an update to the “World Scientists’ Warning to Humanity” issued by nearly 1,700 leading scientists 25 years ago.
The 1992 warning was largely ignored.
“Some people might ignore this evidence and think we are trying to scare people,” said William Ripple, professor in the College of Forestry at Oregon State University. “Scientists analyze data and look at the long-term consequences. Those who signed this second warning aren’t raising a false alarm. They are acknowledging that we are going down an unsustainable path.”
The new statement—a “Second Notice” to humanity—does say there have been some positive steps forward. For example, the improvement in the ozone layer and improvements in reducing hunger since the 1992 warning. But, humanity has made little progress. In fact, key environmental threats from a quarter of a century ago are worse now.
Among the worrying trends, they write, are rising greenhouse gas emissions, deforestation, agricultural production, and the sixth mass extinction event underway.
Taking a look at how some of the threats have grown since 1992, the scientists note that there’s been a 26.1 percent loss in fresh water available; a 75.3 percent increase in the number of “dead zones” – areas of water low in oxygen and little life; a 62.1 percent increase in CO2 emissions per year; and 35.5 percent rise in the human population.
Humanity is not taking the urgent steps needed to safeguard our endangered biosphere. Humans have failed to:
- limit population growth
- reduce greenhouse gases
- incentivize renewable energy
- protect habitat
- restore ecosystems
- reduce pollution
- stop species loss
- slow invasive alien species- animals introduced to new areas
Among the steps that could help to prevent catastrophe are:
- promoting plant-based diets
- reducing wealth inequality
- stopping conversions of forests and grasslands
- government attempts to reduce biodiversity loss via poaching and illegal trade
- adopting renewable energy sources” while stopping fossil fuel subsidies.
Taking such actions are necessary to stop “widespread misery and catastrophic biodiversity loss.”
Soon it will be too late to ,move away from our failing path, and time is running out.
The goal of the paper, said Ripple, is to “ignite a wide-spread public debate about the global environment and climate.”