Avoiding collapse: Grand challenges for science and society to solve by 2050
Abstract We maintain that humanity’s grand challenge is solving the intertwined problems of human population growth and overconsumption, climate change, pollution, ecosystem destruction, disease spillovers, and extinction, in order to avoid environmental tipping points that would make human life mor...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:937cdc68f0ee45f3ab87d5a8379f0e88 2023-05-15T17:51:42+02:00 Avoiding collapse: Grand challenges for science and society to solve by 2050 Anthony D. Barnosky Paul R. Ehrlich Elizabeth A. Hadly 2016-03-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.12952/journal.elementa.000094 https://doaj.org/article/937cdc68f0ee45f3ab87d5a8379f0e88 EN eng BioOne http://elementascience.org/article/info:doi/10.12952/journal.elementa.000094 https://doaj.org/toc/2325-1026 2325-1026 doi:10.12952/journal.elementa.000094 https://doaj.org/article/937cdc68f0ee45f3ab87d5a8379f0e88 Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene (2016) global change tipping points human impacts Environmental sciences GE1-350 article 2016 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.12952/journal.elementa.000094 2022-12-31T10:52:30Z Abstract We maintain that humanity’s grand challenge is solving the intertwined problems of human population growth and overconsumption, climate change, pollution, ecosystem destruction, disease spillovers, and extinction, in order to avoid environmental tipping points that would make human life more difficult and would irrevocably damage planetary life support systems. These are not future issues: for example, detrimental impacts of climate change (increased wildfires and extreme weather, sea-level rise, ocean acidification), pollution (contaminated drinking water in many parts of the world), rapid population growth in some areas (contributing to poverty, war, and increasingly frequent migration) and overconsumption in others (a main driver of overexploitation of resources and greenhouse gas emissions), and new disease outbreaks (Ebola, Zika virus) already are apparent today, and if trends of the past half century continue, even more damaging, long-lasting impacts would be locked in within three decades. Solving these problems will require some scientific and technological breakthroughs, but that will not be enough. Even more critical will be effective collaboration of environmental and physical scientists with social scientists and those in the humanities, active exchange of information among practitioners in academics, politics, religion, and business and other stakeholders, and clear communication of relevant issues and solutions to the general public. This special feature offers examples of how researchers are addressing this grand challenge through the process of discovering new knowledge and relevant tools, transferring insights across disciplinary boundaries, and establishing critical dialogues with those outside academia to help effect positive global change. Article in Journal/Newspaper Ocean acidification Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene 4 000094 |
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English |
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global change tipping points human impacts Environmental sciences GE1-350 |
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global change tipping points human impacts Environmental sciences GE1-350 Anthony D. Barnosky Paul R. Ehrlich Elizabeth A. Hadly Avoiding collapse: Grand challenges for science and society to solve by 2050 |
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global change tipping points human impacts Environmental sciences GE1-350 |
description |
Abstract We maintain that humanity’s grand challenge is solving the intertwined problems of human population growth and overconsumption, climate change, pollution, ecosystem destruction, disease spillovers, and extinction, in order to avoid environmental tipping points that would make human life more difficult and would irrevocably damage planetary life support systems. These are not future issues: for example, detrimental impacts of climate change (increased wildfires and extreme weather, sea-level rise, ocean acidification), pollution (contaminated drinking water in many parts of the world), rapid population growth in some areas (contributing to poverty, war, and increasingly frequent migration) and overconsumption in others (a main driver of overexploitation of resources and greenhouse gas emissions), and new disease outbreaks (Ebola, Zika virus) already are apparent today, and if trends of the past half century continue, even more damaging, long-lasting impacts would be locked in within three decades. Solving these problems will require some scientific and technological breakthroughs, but that will not be enough. Even more critical will be effective collaboration of environmental and physical scientists with social scientists and those in the humanities, active exchange of information among practitioners in academics, politics, religion, and business and other stakeholders, and clear communication of relevant issues and solutions to the general public. This special feature offers examples of how researchers are addressing this grand challenge through the process of discovering new knowledge and relevant tools, transferring insights across disciplinary boundaries, and establishing critical dialogues with those outside academia to help effect positive global change. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Anthony D. Barnosky Paul R. Ehrlich Elizabeth A. Hadly |
author_facet |
Anthony D. Barnosky Paul R. Ehrlich Elizabeth A. Hadly |
author_sort |
Anthony D. Barnosky |
title |
Avoiding collapse: Grand challenges for science and society to solve by 2050 |
title_short |
Avoiding collapse: Grand challenges for science and society to solve by 2050 |
title_full |
Avoiding collapse: Grand challenges for science and society to solve by 2050 |
title_fullStr |
Avoiding collapse: Grand challenges for science and society to solve by 2050 |
title_full_unstemmed |
Avoiding collapse: Grand challenges for science and society to solve by 2050 |
title_sort |
avoiding collapse: grand challenges for science and society to solve by 2050 |
publisher |
BioOne |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.12952/journal.elementa.000094 https://doaj.org/article/937cdc68f0ee45f3ab87d5a8379f0e88 |
genre |
Ocean acidification |
genre_facet |
Ocean acidification |
op_source |
Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene (2016) |
op_relation |
http://elementascience.org/article/info:doi/10.12952/journal.elementa.000094 https://doaj.org/toc/2325-1026 2325-1026 doi:10.12952/journal.elementa.000094 https://doaj.org/article/937cdc68f0ee45f3ab87d5a8379f0e88 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.12952/journal.elementa.000094 |
container_title |
Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene |
container_volume |
4 |
container_start_page |
000094 |
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1766158920479408128 |