Why The Next Three Months Are Crucial For The Future Of The Planet
Hillary Dehlinger
Our planet faces the interconnected crises of rapid climate change and biodiversity loss. We have years, not decades, to address these existential threats. In published research from The Nature Conservancy and 12 peer organizations, science points us to a better path for building a more sustainable, more hopeful future for the Earth.
Why the next three months are crucial for the future of the planet
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Climate change is the single most serious threat facing our planet today. We must reduce carbon emissions to, or below, levels agreed to in the Paris Climate Agreement to prevent catastrophic harm. And with global energy demand expected to increase 56% over the next couple decades, it will be impossible to meet those emissions targets if we stick primarily with traditional fossil fuels.
The new national survey by Pew Research Center, conducted April 20 to 29 among 13,749 U.S. adults, including 912 Gen Z adults, finds a majority of Americans (64%) say efforts to reduce the effects of climate change need to be prioritized today to ensure a sustainable planet for future generations, even if it means fewer resources for addressing other important problems; far fewer (34%) say climate change should be a lower priority, given other important problems facing Americans today.
"Something around 50% of the shallow water corals were killed literally over a couple of months, in some cases over a couple of weeks," Hoegh-Guldberg says. "If you extend that out into the future, we'll get to a point where the damage overwhelms the ability of corals to bounce back."
Still, even at 1.5 degree Celsius of warming, scientists warn that storms, heat waves and droughts will be more extreme. And they caution that 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming isn't a tipping point. For every tenth of a degree the planet gets hotter, the impacts get worse. But on the flip side, every tenth of a degree that's prevented can be crucial in limiting the extent of future damage.
In the College of Science, faculty and students understand that it is not your area of expertise, but your dedication and hard work that make real change happen. Throughout a diverse array of disciplines, OSU scientists are making key advances to help move the world forward to a greener future. We share just a few examples in this three-part series.
Life on earth is interconnected. For example, global biodiversity levels have fallen to 75% as compared to preindustrial levels when a 90% level is needed to sustain important ecological processes crucial for human survival. With sustainable practices, we contribute to building a better future for everyone.
In the next 2 months, thanks largely to the efforts of Madison and Hamilton in their own states, Virginia and New York both ratified while adding their own amendments. The margin for the Federalists in both states, however, was extremely close. Hamilton figured that the majority of the people in New York actually opposed the Constitution, and it is probable that a majority of people in the entire country opposed it. Only the promise of amendments had ensured a Federalist victory.
Madison's support of the bill of rights was of critical significance. One of the new representatives from Virginia to the First Federal Congress, as established by the new Constitution, he worked tirelessly to persuade the House to enact amendments. Defusing the anti-Federalists' objections to the Constitution, Madison was able to shepherd through 17 amendments in the early months of the Congress, a list that was later trimmed to 12 in the Senate. On October 2, 1789, President Washington sent to each of the states a copy of the 12 amendments adopted by the Congress in September. By December 15, 1791, three-fourths of the states had ratified the 10 amendments now so familiar to Americans as the "Bill of Rights."
The fate of the United States Constitution after its signing on September 17, 1787, can be contrasted sharply to the travels and physical abuse of America's other great parchment, the Declaration of Independence. As the Continental Congress, during the years of the revolutionary war, scurried from town to town, the rolled-up Declaration was carried along. After the formation of the new government under the Constitution, the one-page Declaration, eminently suited for display purposes, graced the walls of various government buildings in Washington, exposing it to prolonged damaging sunlight. It was also subjected to the work of early calligraphers responding to a demand for reproductions of the revered document. As any visitor to the National Archives can readily observe, the early treatment of the now barely legible Declaration took a disastrous toll. The Constitution, in excellent physical condition after more than 200 years, has enjoyed a more serene existence. By 1796 the Constitution was in the custody of the Department of State along with the Declaration and traveled with the federal government from New York to Philadelphia to Washington. Both documents were secretly moved to Leesburg, VA, before the imminent attack by the British on Washington in 1814. Following the war, the Constitution remained in the State Department while the Declaration continued its travels--to the Patent Office Building from 1841 to 1876, to Independence Hall in Philadelphia during the Centennial celebration, and back to Washington in 1877. On September 29, 1921, President Warren Harding issued an Executive order transferring the Constitution and the Declaration to the Library of Congress for preservation and exhibition. The next day Librarian of Congress Herbert Putnam, acting on authority of Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes, carried the Constitution and the Declaration in a Model-T Ford truck to the library and placed them in his office safe until an appropriate exhibit area could be constructed. The documents were officially put on display at a ceremony in the library on February 28, 1924. On February 20, 1933, at the laying of the cornerstone of the future National Archives Building, President Herbert Hoover remarked, "There will be aggregated here the most sacred documents of our history--the originals of the Declaration of Independence and of the Constitution of the United States." The two documents however, were not immediately transferred to the Archives. During World War II both were moved from the library to Fort Knox for protection and returned to the library in 1944. It was not until successful negotiations were completed between Librarian of Congress Luther Evans and Archivist of the United States Wayne Grover that the transfer to the National Archives was finally accomplished by special direction of the Joint Congressional Committee on the Library.
With the beginning of fall just two days away, the sun at the North Pole is about to dip below the horizon for the next six months and the Arctic summer, which saw a new record low ice extent, is coming to a close. For the first time since the beginning of satellite measurements not only the Northern Sea Route (NSR) but also all channels along the Northwest Passage (NWP) appeared to be virtually ice free for an extended period of time.
Growing economic activity in the Arctic invites questions about the medium- and long-term prospects of shipping along the NSR. Do Arctic shipping routes, especially the NSR, represent a commercially viable alternative to traditional shipping routes? What are the crucial variables in predicting the future of Arctic shipping?
Growing economic activity in the Arctic invites questions about the medium- and long-term prospects of shipping along the Northern Sea Route (NSR). Do Arctic shipping routes, especially the NSR, represent a commercially viable alternative to traditional shipping routes? What are the crucial variables in predicting the future of Arctic shipping? Part 2 looks at global trade dynamics and explains if the NSR would be compatible with world trade patterns.
Interstate Relations. Contestation over the management of shared river and groundwater basins probably will increase during the next two to three decades, as water demand, pollution, and environmental degradation increase. Agreements over shared water basins in the past have decreased the risk of conflict among stakeholders, but given the intensification of water security risks and a more competitive geopolitical landscape, cooperation in combination with good water governance and management is likely to be more difficult to achieve in the years ahead.
Monitoring is crucial to track the status of right whales and evaluate the effectiveness of our efforts to address threats. To achieve this goal, the Road to Recovery focuses on three objectives: monitor population and health, monitor threats, and monitor effectiveness of conservation.
Cities are not only centres of economic development; they symbolise equality, healthy communal coexistence and prosperity for all. Social inclusion should be a key pillar of urban growth and development for the cities of the future, bearing in mind the three building blocks identified by World Bank: spatial inclusion (providing affordable housing, water and sanitation), social inclusion (expanding equal rights and participation) and economic inclusion (creating jobs and offering citizens opportunities for economic development).
Machines run 24/7, and there are operations and tasks that cities perform that will become increasingly smart and powered by artificial intelligence (AI). AI will contribute to the optimisation of operational efficiencies, benefiting city managers, and ultimately citizens, through reshaped service delivery. In an ESI ThoughtLab study, 66 per cent of 167 cities surveyed are investing heavily in AI, and 80 per cent will do so over the next three years.54
One of the best things you can do for wildlife and the planet, today and for the future, is to get politically involved in your community and at the national level. Vote for candidates with strong environmental platforms. Urge your representatives to pass stronger policies to limit greenhouse gases, fight climate change, protect wildlife and public lands and support access to reproductive health services. Vote with your wallet by donating to organizations fighting to end the extinction crisis. Sign and share action alerts, attend events, and talk to your friends about endangered species protection and the need to address human population growth and overconsumption.