12
Wednesday, November 29, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Oregon professor wriges updaged ‘Warning go Humanigy’
By Bennett Hall
Corvallis Gazette-Times
CORVALLIS (AP) — In
November of 1992, more
than 1,500 scientists put their
signatures on an extraordi-
nary document titled “World
S c i e n t i s t s ’ Wa r n i n g t o
Humanity,” imploring global
leaders to save the planet from
environmental disaster.
Now, 25 years later, more
than 15,000 scientists have
signed an updated version of
that historic plea, saying “time
is running out.”
“World Scientists’ Warning
to Humanity: A Second
Notice,” published Monday
in the international journal
BioScience, charts the prog-
ress — or lack thereof — on
the issues highlighted in the
original document and renews
the call for urgent action.
Lead author William J.
Ripple, a distinguished pro-
fessor of ecology at Oregon
State University, said he
was astounded by the level
of support he and his seven
co-authors received for their
manuscript.
“I initially sent it out to
40 of my colleagues,” he
recalled. “After 24 hours
there were 600 scientists who
signed it. Within two days,
there were 1,200. There were
so many people signing that
our website crashed a couple
of times.”
By the time the paper
was ready for publication,
the authors had received the
endorsement of 15,364 fellow
scientists from 184 countries.
The original “Warning,”
published by the Union of
Concerned Scientists, was a
sort of environmental distress
signal that began with this
chilling statement: “Human
beings and the natural world
are on a collision course.”
It went on to lay out a num-
ber of alarming trends, includ-
ing a growing hole in the atmo-
spheric ozone layer, depletion
and pollution of freshwater
resources, overfishing in the
ocean, widespread deforesta-
tion, crashing wildlife popula-
tions, increasing greenhouse
gas emissions, rising global
temperatures and soaring
human population levels.
“A great change in our
stewardship of the earth and
the life on it is required,”
the authors declared, “if vast
human misery is to be avoided
and our global home on this
planet is not to be irretrievably
mutilated.”
As the manifesto’s 25th
anniversary approached,
Ripple and his co-authors
examined the available data to
determine whether any prog-
ress had been made on key
There’s something
special about gathering
around a glowing fi re!
e!!
global environmental issues
since 1992. By most mea-
sures, they concluded, human-
ity gets a failing grade.
“Especially troubling is the
current trajectory of poten-
tially catastrophic climate
change” from burning fossil
fuels and other human-caused
factors, the article states. It also
calls attention to a drastic loss
of biodiversity that the authors
call a “mass extinction event.”
Charts included with the
paper chronicle a number of
other disturbing developments
over the past quarter-century,
including a 28.9 percent
reduction in the abundance of
all vertebrate wildlife, a 62.1
percent increase in carbon
dioxide emissions, a 167.6
percent increase in global
average annual temperature
change and a 35.5 percent rise
in the global population — an
increase of 2 billion people.
On the plus side, the
researchers note a number of
positive trends.
Perhaps the biggest envi-
ronmental success story of the
past 25 years has been the sig-
nificant recovery of the ozone
layer since the 1987 Montreal
Protocol sharply curtailed the
use of damaging chlorofluoro-
carbons, or CFCs, in aerosol
sprays and other applications.
Other encouraging signs
include reductions in extreme
poverty and hunger, a slow-
down in deforestation in
some parts of the world, the
rapid growth of the renewable
energy sector and a sharp drop
in birth rates in certain regions
as women and girls obtain
greater access to education.
Nevertheless, the authors
conclude, urgent measures are
required to avert disaster. They
call on the scientific commu-
nity, the media and ordinary
citizens to pressure their gov-
ernments to “take immediate
action as a moral imperative to
current and future generations
of human and other life.”
They also call for change
at the individual level, ask-
ing people to voluntarily have
fewer children and consume
fewer resources, from fossil
fuels to meat.
“Humanity is now being
given a second notice, as
illustrated by these alarming
trends,” the scientists warn.
“We are jeopardizing our
future by not reining in our
intense but geographically
and demographically uneven
material consumption and
by not perceiving continued
rapid population growth as a
primary driver behind many
ecological and even societal
threats.”
STORE CLOSING!
MUST GO!
EVERYTHING
on gifts, collectibles,
Extreme markdowns
elry and more.
home decor, art, toys, antiques, jew
The
RAINWATER GIFT SHOP
161 E. Cascade Ave., In Town Square • 541-904-0153
Open every day 8 a.m.-7 p.m.
The average adult is
MISSING
AT LEAST
2 TEETH
Sisters Denture can help...
SISTERS
DENTURE
Free consultations!
541-549-0929
36 YEARS EXPERIENCE | LOCALLY OWNED
One-of-a-kind, custom
ironwork hand-forged
right here in Sisters
We have many
fi re pits to
choose from!
541-549-9280 | 207 W. Sisters Park Dr. | PonderosaForge.com | CCB# 87640
CONCEALED CARRY
PERMIT CLASS
MULTI-STATE
Wreath-Making
Extravaganza
All Women of Sisters Welcome
Sat., Dec. 2 • 10-Noon
At Sisters Fire Hall
FREE! Materials provided.
No experience needed.
Questions: Phyllis, 907-252-4294
Anne, 503-380-4408
Sponsored by VAST
December 8
1 p.m. & 6 p.m.
Best Western
Ponderosa Lodge,
500 Hwy. 20 W.,
Sisters
Multi-State $80
Oregon Included
Oregon Only: $45
Shaun Curtain 360-921-2071
or email FirearmTrainingNW@gmail.com | www.FirearmTrainingNW.com