Decades of economic expansion have produced more material wealth, consumption and technological advances than humanity has ever seen, but have simultaneously compromised our most basic life support system: planet earth. Humans are systematically destroying the ecosystems and biospheres of our planet, destabilizing the fragile environmental equilibrium that allows and accommodates life as we know it. Industrialization, fossil fuel combustion, land-use change and overexploitation of resources have raised the global mean surface temperature by almost 0.9 °Celsius since the end of the 19th century. The consequences include rising sea levels, loss of formerly arable lands, population displacement by extreme weather such as violent storms and floods, prolonged droughts, biodiversity loss, mass extinctions, watershed destabilization, and life-threatening food scarcity.
Извор: WUNRN – 11.09.2014
