1,575 scientists signed the World Scientists' Warning to Humanity in 1992, including more than half of all living scientists awarded the Nobel Prize. More and more add their names to this momentous document. We must all broadcast this alarm. The imminent ecological collapse facing the natural world cries out for immediate global action. Only concerted cooperation of world governments offers hope of reversing this ominous trend. The United States alone has the means and stature to become the leader among nations for humanity's rescue. Vice President Al Gore's book, Earth in the Balance, offers practical solutions that would not only reverse these trends, but eliminate poverty and generate the greatest economic prosperity humanity ever experienced. Henry Kendall, Nobel laureate, Physics, and Chairman of the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), organized the magisterial work that produced this warning. No other issue today is more important than this one because without restoring balance and insuring survival of life on this planet, all other issues cease to exist.
World Scientists' Warning to Humanity
IntroductionHuman beings and the natural world are on a collision course. Human activities inflict harsh and often irreversible damage to the environment and on critical resources. If not checked, many of our current practices put at serious risk the future that we wish for human society and the plant and animal kingdoms, and may so alter the living world that it will be unable to sustain life in the manner that we know. Fundamental changes are urgent if we are to avoid the collision our present course will bring about.The EnvironmentThe environment is suffering critical stress:
The AtmosphereStratospheric ozone depletion threatens us with enhanced ultraviolet radiation at the earth's surface, which can be damaging or lethal to many life forms. Air pollution near ground level, and acid precipitation, are already causing widespread injury to humans, forests,...