Looming Disaster The world is in horrible, dangerous shape. The existence of life depends on “clean water, breathable air, fertile soil, pollination and a stable climate.” These essentials are under severe attack. Wetlands, grasslands and forests are vanishing. Half of the world’s major rivers are polluted or depleted. Each year, environmental degradation forces 50 million poor people to leave their villages and migrate to cities. As a result, half a billion people live in horrifi c slums or squatter camps. Such people live bereft of social harmony, a situation sure to result in upheaval. But the worst of the story is that the world is getting notably hotter. Global climate change, caused by the atmospheric accumulation of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases, is a hugely disturbing fact, not a theory. A dangerous side effect of the Industrial Age, global climate change is the most serious looming planetary catastrophe, an insidious nightmare. As fossil fuels deposit excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, the gas causes widespread, continuous heating and damage. For instance, as the oceans absorb CO2, the water’s acidity increases, destroying coral reefs critical to marine life. Rising levels of greenhouse gases and CO2 in the atmosphere eventually will “trigger ‘runaway’ effects,” causing more warming. It will take 30 to 50 years before scientists are even able to register the overall impact of current atmospheric CO2 levels. Once the world reaches that tipping point, global warming feedback will begin to occur. At that stage, humans may fi nd it impossible to shape the future in any signifi cant way. Scientists estimate that, to make a difference, humanity must enforce a 60% to 80% emissions reduction within the next two decades – that’s part of the “80/20 Challenge.” If it doesn’t happen, people may soon face global catastrophe. Not scared enough? Consider these grim facts and statistics: • The “Asian Brown Cloud,” an airborne sheet of industrial particles “has been blamed” for half a million deaths of respiratory illness each year just in India. “The human community has caused a lot of harm to the planet, and things need to change. Doing nothing is no longer an option.” “The time for shifting responsibility to others, or covering up deep problems with simplistic solutions that only make problems ‘go away’ for a short time, is running out.”