I don’t think there will be cake.
At some point next year, the Union of Concerned Scientists will mark the 20th anniversary of its statement of warning to humankind.
["Many Canadians may want a slice.": photo link]
The statement is quite comprehensive and I suggest it as recommended reading. Information provided related to the environment and population growth is still relevant today.
E.g., “The earth is finite. Its ability to absorb wastes and destructive effluent is finite. Its ability to provide food and energy is finite. Its ability to provide for growing numbers of people is finite. And we are fast approaching many of the earth's limits.”
The list of statements re “WHAT WE MUST DO” also warrant our attention in 2011.
The first three statements are as follows:
We must bring environmentally damaging activities under control to restore and protect the integrity of the earth's systems we depend on.
We must, for example, move away from fossil fuels to more benign, inexhaustible energy sources to cut greenhouse gas emissions and the pollution of our air and water. Priority must be given to the development of energy sources matched to Third World needs -- small-scale and relatively easy to implement.
We must halt deforestation, injury to and loss of agricultural land, and the loss of terrestrial and marine plant and animal species.
As you can see, the above “we musts”, though 19 years old, are not out-of-date. The pressing nature of the above may even have grown two-fold in that period of time.
Next year, during Canada Day celebrations (our nation will be 145-years old!), make sure to grab a large slice of red cake with white icing.
Because I don’t think the Union of Concerned Scientists will be serving any.
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Please click here to read a related post re the UCS.
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