15,000 Scientists Give Dire 'Warning to Humanity'
The newly formed Alliance of World Scientists has just released a dire Warning to Humanity about the fate of the world in the context of ongoing rampant consumption of limited resources by a growing population. The message has been endorsed by 15,000 scientists.
This Warning to Humanity updates one sent by the Union of Concerned Scientists (and backed by 1,700 signatories) 25 years ago. The updated warning states that the predicament humanity now finds itself in is far worse than it was in 1992, with most problems identified in the original message now being far more serious.
Environmental disaster is a particular focus of the warning, with catastrophic climate change, biodiversity loss, deforestation and ocean 'dead zones' — where little can live due to pollution and oxygen starvation — all part of the fate presented if radical action is not taken immediately.
Writing in BioScience about the warning, top US ecologist Professor William Ripple, from Oregon State University, argued:
'By failing to adequately limit population growth, reassess the role of an economy rooted in growth, reduce greenhouse gases, incentivise renewable energy, protect habitat, restore ecosystems, curb pollution, halt defaunation, and constrain invasive alien species, humanity is not taking the urgent steps needed to safeguard our imperilled biosphere.'
Read the full World Scientists’ Warning to Humanity: A Second Notice here.
Bangladesh has experienced multiple severe flood events throughout 2017. It is one of the most vulnerable places in the world to sea level rise, which is expected to make tens of millions of people homeless by 2050.
