The Earth is in full „climatic emergency“, and „untold human suffering“ will be inevitable, without profound and lasting changes in human activities that contribute to greenhouse gas emissions and climate change. More than 11,000 researchers from 153 countries state this in a study in the BioScience magazine.

The climate emergency declaration is based on the analysis of 40 years of scientific data. The researchers propose six urgent measures to deal with the damage of planet fever. The first signatories of the ‚climate emergency declaration‘ are Thomas Newsome, Sydney University of Australia, William Ripple and Christopher Wolf, American State University of Oregon, Phoebe Barnard, of the South African University of Cape Town and William Moomaw, of the American Tuft University „It is a moral obligation for us scientists to send a clear warning to humanity in the presence of a catastrophic threat,“ the experts write.

Signatories, for example, point to various „signs of human activity“, such as the global reduction in tree cover, the growth of animal populations or the melting of ice. Six key objectives for scientists: the reform of the energy sector focusing on renewables, the reduction of pollutants, the safeguarding of natural ecosystems, that of populations, guaranteeing more social and economic justice, the optimization of food resources by reducing the consumption of meat, and the transition to a carbon-free economy with no carbon emissions.

The Earth is full. It’s full of us, it’s full of our stuff, full of our rubbish, full of our needs. Of course we are a brilliant and creative species, but we have created a little too much stuff, so much that our economy is now bigger than the planet that hosts it. It is not a philosophical statement. There are numerous scientific analyzes that prove it, but they all come to the same conclusion, that we are going too far. Eminent scientists of the Global Footprint Network calculate that it would take a Earth and a half to support this economy. In other words we would need 50% more Earth. In financial terms, it would be like always spending 50% more than what we earn. But natural resources cannot be borrowed.

The meaning is that our economy is not sustainable or rather our approach to being unsustainable. You will think, however, that economic growth cannot be stopped. But that’s what we’re going towards. In order not to stop economic growth, we will face the block of economic growth. Ironic, right? It will stop due to the exhaustion of exchange resources, raw materials, basic necessities (such as breathable air). Although it has brought many benefits, growth is based on a crazy idea, that is the possibility of infinite growth on a finite planet. „We need – the experts write – profound changes in the ways in which global societies work and interact with natural ecosystems“.

Scientists also highlight the presence of positive and encouraging signals, such as greater awareness of the risks associated with climate change, especially among students and younger generations. „Many citizens are asking for a change to support life on our planet, our only home and – they conclude – different communities, states and provinces, cities and businesses are starting to respond“.

-linate