Warning to Planet Earth - 28th July

Every 28 of July, the world celebrates World Nature Conservation Day

It aims to raise awareness about protecting the natural resources..but is it reaching people!? Well, guess only a few!!

_{Figure 1. Satirical Cartoon Illustrating the Gap between Scientists and Policy Makers. Image courtesy of Union of Concerned Scientists/Justin Bilicki in Saving the World with Satire}

Warning to humanity

In 2017 Ripple et al. along with 15 364 scientist signatories from 184 countries launched ‘World scientists’ warning to humanity: a second notice’. In this paper the authors captured the environmental trends over the last 25 years, showed realistic concern, and suggested a few examples of possible remedies to protect planet Earth.

Although...
Chapron et al., speaking in the name of billions of people decided to categorically reject this agenda.

Whaaat!? Let's see what is their perspective:

• "No amount of facts showing that planet Earth is in a dire state will have us changing our mindset, (...). We do not care about planet Earth. We care about our next devices and their latest cool features. We want more stuff".
  _{(oohhh, I've heard this before!)}
• "(...) real-world wildlife has now become obsolete. We simply take our smartphones to overlay customized virtual creatures on our surrounding environment and dispose of them when new trends dictate.
• ". More iPhones are sold in a few days than there are tigers, elephants, and gorillas on the planet (...)
  _(Creepy!!)
• "We refuse to accept any type of limits: growth must indefinitely prevail unrestricted. We officially summon planet Earth to abandon its intransigent attitude and accept the inevitable: an extension of its biological and physical limits."
• "Ecosystems must fight for their survival like any other business (...) If our agricultural
  practices endanger the bees that pollinate crops, this does not imply we should change these practices. Instead we will let bees disappear and replace them by AI-powered microdrones – which create many jobs and do not sting."
• ". We find this unacceptable and call on the 15 364 signatories to join us on the side of winners against planet Earth"
• "Fellow scientists, ask not what more you can do for planet Earth, ask what more planet Earth can do for you"
• "Planet Earth: consider yourself warned."

The very first time I read Chapron paper I thought he must be kidding. Obviously, he was using irony to explain what must be the population view of the world.

I recommend the lecture:

• A Final Warning to Planet Earth
• Saving the World with Satire: A Response to Chapron et al.

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Greta Thunberg posted on Instagram this picture which speaks for itself:

It seems a joke, right!?