Thousands of scientists issue bleak ‘second notice’ to humanity

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2017/11/13/thousands-of-scientists-issue-bleak-second-notice-to-humanity/?utm_term=.06c025bb9b71

by kawera • 9 years ago

40 9 9 years ago

washingtonpost.com

cpt1138• 9 years ago

What do these scientists suggest we/I do?

aryehof• 9 years ago

Isn't that evident from the article?

Stop pushing Earth's ecosystems to their breaking point. Find some sustainable way to achieve human existence and prosperity without just gobbling up all the world's natural resources. Stop poisoning our environment. Stop the runaway growth in human population and consumption, before nature steps in and does it for us.

perilunar• 9 years ago

Page 3 of the letter [1] has 13 examples of steps to take, including habitat conservation, re-wilding, reducing food waste, eating a mostly plant-based diet, and "massively adopting renewable energy sources". Nothing we haven't heard and mostly ignored many time before.

1. http://scientists.forestry.oregonstate.edu/sites/sw/files/Ri...

PeachPlum• 9 years ago

Nothing we haven't heard and mostly ignored many time before.

except for embarking on habitat conservation, programmes of re-wilding, reducing food waste, more people than ever eating a mostly plant-based diet, and "massively adopting renewable energy sources".

smn1234• 9 years ago

to stir controversy... war is the best form of population control?

jacquesm• 9 years ago

That's not exactly controversial, it is a fairly well established fact that historically humanity got rid of excess young males by waging war.

oicu812• 9 years ago

Disease and famine were also good controls on population growth that are now obsolete.

"Over the past century humankind has managed to do the impossible and rein in famine, plague, and war. This may seem hard to accept, but, as Harari explains in his trademark style—thorough, yet riveting—famine, plague and war have been transformed from incomprehensible and uncontrollable forces of nature into manageable challenges. For the first time ever, more people die from eating too much than from eating too little; more people die from old age than from infectious diseases; and more people commit suicide than are killed by soldiers, terrorists and criminals put together."

https://www.amazon.com/Homo-Deus-Brief-History-Tomorrow/dp/1...

LeeHwang• 9 years ago

I think apocalyptic warning don't work well for humans.

Competition and inspiration work better. We need to reframe the way we discuss this, because after 25 years its clear the current frame is not working.

After the replication crisis, I also think trust in science has decreased significantly. Its now nearly 3 years from the original crisis, and the crisis has spread from social sciences to biological sciences.

So I don't expect warnings from scientists to suddenly be more effective, but actually less effective from now until the next scientific reformation.

theonemind• 9 years ago

I feel like conversations about what to do always dance around the elephant in the room. People really don't like the message or don't want to think that we just have too many people. Honestly, at the end of the day, I don't especially care to live like a monk so that we can squeeze in one more person. I don't have any children and I don't plan to. Population grows geometrically on a planet of fixed size and resources for the most part.

Thousands of scientists issue bleak ‘second notice’ to humanity

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