PermeateFree said:
PermeateFree said:
PermeateFree said:
More than 11,000 scientists around the world have signed a scientific paper declaring a climate emergency, backing protesters across the world demanding action.
Key points:
The 11,000 scientists who put their name to the paper say they have a “moral obligation” to humanity
The scientists, from 153 countries, have backed governments across the world that made similar declarations
The group of scientists say there needs to be greater emphasis on human activities that can change the climate such as fertility rate, air travel and meat production
The paper, published in the journal BioScience, declares the climate crisis “has arrived” and is “accelerating faster than most scientists expect”.
“Scientists have a moral obligation to clearly warn humanity of any catastrophic threat,” the paper said.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-11-06/climate-change-emergency-11000-scientists-sign-petition/11672776
Additional Information:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/scientists-around-world-declare-climate-emergency-180973462/
>>According to the Paris Agreement, if the global average surface temperature rises more than 1.5 degrees Celsius, we’ll start seeing more extreme weather events and around two feet of sea level rise. If it rises more than 2 degrees, we’ll experience significant melting of the polar ice caps, widespread desertification and severe coastal flooding. If we do nothing at all about climate change, we could see 4 degrees or more of warming, which could trigger a so-called “hothouse Earth” scenario where runaway climate effects bring us past a point of no return, resulting in a world barely habitable for humans with major population losses around the globe.<<
>>In 2015, Victor authored a paper arguing that the climate debate needed more diverse metrics. Four years later, along with a large body of additional research, this new paper outlines a different way of looking at climate change. Surface temperatures are just one indicator out of many, but regardless of what you focus on, the picture looks increasingly grim.
Over the last decade, for example, the cost of hurricanes, fires, floods, droughts and other such disasters has nearly doubled. The world is projected to spend around $200 billion on climate-related disaster relief next year. That cost is only going to go up as the Earth gets warmer.<<
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/scientists-around-world-declare-climate-emergency-180973462/
>>And finally, the human population needs to be stabilized. The population on Earth grows by over 200,000 people per day or 80 million per year, and the UN estimates that it will peak at 10.9 billion people by the end of the century. This is unsustainable.
The study says that there are policies that have been shown to be effective in reducing birth rates, such as providing easy and global access to family planning services, and improving education access – particularly to girls and women.
According to a large recent study, average birth rates globally have dropped by half since 1950 – down to less than two births per woman. But the population continues to grow, due to momentum gained in previous decades and a declining death rate thanks to better health care.<<
