A United Nations report on the global impact of human activity on the planet puts the world "on notice". The report was compiled by 400 experts from over 50 countries. It runs into 1,800 pages, but there is also a 40 page Summary for Policymakers. To say that the report is alarming, would be an understatement.
Still, if anyone has not yet been alarmed by what we knew already, I wonder if anything will wake these people up. The planet is going to pot before our very eyes, while the climate is going crazy. Scientists are tearing their hair out like possessed Cassandras. And for those of us who are old enough to remember, the countless butterflies that used to grace our fields are no more. In many places, you would be lucky if you saw a cabbage white!
This blog is full of articles on this topic, for instance:
- Our parasitic impact
- Playing the fiddle, while earth burns
- Polly Higgins, a quest to eradicate ecocide
- The climate changes as we look on
The situation is only getting worse
The situation seems to get worse with every new report. This one goes so far as to claim that "one in four species" is on the verge of extinction and it highlights the fact that our long term crop security is also at risk. These are not trivial issues. They concern one-fourth of all flora and fauna on this planet. Besides, if we are not part of the doomed percentage now, we soon could be.
Of course, the scramble for the limited and dwindling resources that remain may mean that we could kill each other off before starvation does. Either way, it won't be much fun.
The good news is that the report states that we are still in time to do something about this dire situation if we adopt very radical solutions. The bad news, however, remains that so far many of us have proved not to give a damn.
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