Earth is Literally Dying, Stop Ignoring Climate Changes Warns Panel of 14,000 Scientists

Earth is dying, and we will soon see the consequences. Damage caused by humanity is visible in the climate changes that have left the earth helpless. And recently more than 14,000 scientists have signed the climate emergency paper, warning that the earth is indeed in a state of emergency and untold suffering awaits us if we don’t tackle the global crisis.

According to a report published on July 28 in the BioScience journal led by researchers from Oregon State University, we have a “climate emergency”, and governments all around the globe are failing to manage the crisis adequately. 

Scientists have evaluated the earth’s vital signs based on 31 variables – greenhouse gases, temperature increase, melting of glaciers, Amazon rain forests, fossil fuels, and other social issues. And only deterioration is seen in the earth’s condition since the last two years as 18 out of those 31 are facing all-time poor results, reports Agence France-Presse.

Greenhouses gases are at their highest, glacier thickness at its lowest, and are melting 31 percent faster compared to 15 years ago. The world is getting richer with every passing day, and pollution is growing at the same rate. It apprises that development is happening at the cost of the environment.

Carbon dioxide levels are increasing and increasing in the oceans and sea temperature making new records since 2019 along with deforestation in the Brazillian Amazon Rainforest hitting the annual loss rate 12-year high in 2020.

The researchers of the University of Exeter’s Global System Institute say, “mounting evidence of humanity is responsible for the melting of ice sheets in Greenland and West Antarctica.”

Authors believe that COVID 19 though it was a pandemic, was also a chance for the environment to breathe. Due to the pandemic, transportation decreased, consumption of harmful products reduced, and the massive lockdown paused human activities. But when the activities of the industries were resumed in 2021, the percentage hit high and resulting in the behaving in shocking, unexpected ways.

To safeguard our planet a three-pronged policy has been suggested, that includes:

1. Implementation of significant carbon prices globally, to reduce carbon emissions.
2. Slowly get rid of fossil fuels.
3. A carbon-rich ecosystem like forests and wetlands needs protection to protect biodiversity.

Though climate change is irreversible and will require consistent efforts for centuries. But, we need to start today by following the policies and cutting off the harmful emissions to maintain sustainability before the planet collapses.

And as William Ripple, distinguished professor of ecology at Oregon State University’s College of Forestry stated to AFP that,

“We need to stop treating the climate emergency as a stand-alone issue – global heating is not the sole symptom of our stressed Earth system. Policies to combat the climate crisis or any other symptoms should address their root cause: human overexploitation of the planet.”