#science report

“The planet is facing a ‘ghastly future of mass extinction, declining health and climate-disruption upheavals’ that threaten human survival because of ignorance and inaction, according to an international group of scientists, who warn people still haven’t grasped the urgency of the biodiversity and climate crises.”

As a January the Guardian article informs, 17 experts, including scientists from Mexico, Australia, and the US wrote a report in Frontiers in Conservation Science which references more than 150 studies detailing the world’s major environmental challenges. Here are the main points:

"The planet is in a much worse state than most people – even scientists – understood. ... The delay between destruction of the natural world and the impacts of these actions means people do not recognize how vast the problem is."

Large populations and their continued growth drive soil degradation, biodiversity loss, the growing toxification of ecosystems, increasing chances of pandemics, etc.

"The enormity of the problem requires far-reaching changes to global capitalism, education and equality. These include abolishing the idea of perpetual economic growth, properly pricing environmental externalities, stopping the use of fossil fuels, reining in corporate lobbying, and empowering women."

“The report follows years of stark warnings about the state of the planet from the world’s leading scientists, including a statement by 11,000 scientists in 2019 that people will face ‘untold suffering due to the climate crisis’ unless major changes are made. In 2016, more than 150 of Australia’s climate scientists wrote an open letter to the then prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, demanding immediate action on reducing emissions. In the same year, 375 scientists – including 30 Nobel prize winners – wrote an open letter to the world about their frustrations over political inaction on climate change.”

“The report comes months after the world failed to meet a single UN Aichi biodiversity target, created to stem the destruction of the natural world, the second consecutive time governments have failed to meet their 10-year biodiversity goals.”

Doesn't all this mean that scientists should stop just writing warnings, and move on to some new, more radical actions?

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I love the notebook-style reports the kids gave in Season 1 of Magic School Bus. I wish they’d kept them for the later seasons.

Some of my favorite notebook moments:

“United Digestion,” by Dorothy Ann

Carlos explaining the rain shadow effect.

Keesha and Arnold rapping about decomposition.

Governments everywhere are devising new incentives to foster technology transfer, such as by setting up labs where businesses can ‘test before they invest’ in digital technologies. For their dual transition to succeed, governments will need to raise their commitment to research and development (R&D). The G20 still accounts for nine-tenths of research expenditure, researchers, publications and patents (Figure 1.1).

Although research expenditure rose in most regions between 2014 and 2018 (Figure 1.2), 80% of countries still invest less than 1% of GDP in R&D.

In some cases, the researcher population has risen faster than related expenditure (Figure 1.3), leaving less funding available to each researcher.

To succeed in their dual transition, governments will not only need to spend more on R&D; they will also need to invest these funds strategically. There has been a surge in international scientific collaboration in many parts of the world since 2015 (Figure 1.4).

This will entail taking the long-term view and aligning their economic, digital, environmental, industrial and agricultural policies, among others, to ensure that these are mutually reinforcing. To be coherent, reforms, policies and resources will all need to point in the same direction, towards the same strategic goal of sustainable development. For developing countries, the dual green and digital transition is accelerating a process of industrialization that would normally take decades. For all countries, this transition is demanding an integrated approach to long-term planning and a heavy investment in infrastructure. The rapid societal transformation under way offers exciting opportunities for social and economic experimentation that could make life much more comfortable. It also presents the risk of exacerbating social inequalities and, for countries implementing ambitious infrastructure projects, of debt vulnerability. The Covid-19 pandemic has accentuated both of these risk factors.

SCIENCE AND THE PANDEMIC.

During the pandemic, countries have turned to scienceIn late 2019, a novel strain of coronavirus, dubbed Covid-19, was detected in China before spreading rapidly around the world. From the outset, scientists shared information and data with one another, beginning with the sequenced genome of the coronavirus in early January 2020. The pandemic has showcased the benefits of this culture of sharing both within and beyond borders (see essay on The time for open science is now).